Saki Hayashiro Pokemon Cards Guide: SwSh V-Series Secret Rares

Who Is Saki Hayashiro?

An artist search on Limitless returns 42 Pokemon TCG cards under Saki Hayashiro’s name, and the catalog leans heavily toward the game’s highest rarity tiers: 18 of those 42 cards — close to half — are Secret Rares or Special Art Rares. That output is largely concentrated in the Sword & Shield era’s « V » line, where Hayashiro was a recurring artist on the full-art Secret Rare treatment across multiple sets.

Per Bulbapedia and Bleeding Cool’s Artist Spotlight coverage, Hayashiro’s first Pokemon TCG credit was Ninetales V, printed in English as part of Rebel Clash (Japanese print: S2, « Rebel Clash » era). From that debut, the catalog builds out through several years of Sword & Shield V-series Secret Rares before moving into Scarlet & Violet-era work.

Bleeding Cool’s Artist Spotlight also notes that the gold Shiny Mew card from the 25th Anniversary Celebrations set — the chase card of that set — is often cited as Hayashiro’s most recognized single piece. We don’t currently carry that card in our PSA 10 vault, so it’s mentioned here as catalog context rather than a stock listing.

The Sword & Shield « V » Secret Rare tier that makes up most of Hayashiro’s catalog was one of the era’s most collected chase categories. That’s part of why a name with only 42 total credits can still carry an outsized share of Secret Rares: Hayashiro worked repeatedly at that top tier over several years.

Hayashiro’s V-series work sits alongside other Japanese illustrators we track closely, including our Akira Komayama guide, which covers a contemporary catalog of Special Art Rares and alternate-art Ultra Rares.

Two Pikachu V Cards: Amazing Volt Tackle and the VMAX Climax RR We Stock

Hayashiro illustrated Pikachu V twice, roughly fourteen months apart, in two different sets and two different rarity tiers — and one of them is the single card we currently carry from this catalog.

Pikachu V SR, S4 104/100, Amazing Volt Tackle

Pikachu V RR, S8b 045/184, VMAX Climax

The first, Pikachu V, is a Secret Rare numbered S4 104/100 from Amazing Volt Tackle, released September 18, 2020. Bleeding Cool’s Artist Spotlight singles out this printing’s English counterpart — the Vivid Voltage full art — as one of Hayashiro’s representative pieces. We don’t currently hold a PSA 10 copy in our vault; it’s a Quick Order sourcing candidate like the Special Art V cards above.

The second is the card we actually stock: Pikachu V RR, numbered S8b 045/184 from VMAX Climax, released December 3, 2021. Our PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥11,845 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) and is available here (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) while this listing lasts.

For the rest of the set this card comes from, our VMAX Climax set guide covers the wider Character Super Rare and Secret Rare lineup around it. If Pikachu cards specifically are what brought you here, our top Japanese Pikachu cards list ranks this printing alongside the rest of the character’s most notable Japanese prints.

Saki Hayashiro Checklist: In Stock and Sourcing Status

All eight verified Saki Hayashiro cards covered in this guide, in the order they appear above. One is currently listed; the rest are catalog references you can request through Quick Order. Six of the eight are Secret Rare or Special Art Secret Rare V cards from the Sword & Shield era; the remaining two — the Shiny Ultra Rare Ditto V and Wigglytuff ex — span the set known for its shiny Pokemon lineup and the Scarlet & Violet-era 151 set, respectively.

Pikachu V RR is the one live listing in this catalog right now, and it’s a single copy — when it sells, it’s gone unless a new PSA 10 copy is sourced. For the other seven, Commande rapide is the fastest way to flag interest for when a fresh copy surfaces on the Japanese secondary market. On grading standards generally, our PSA 10 vs. raw Japanese cards guide covers what separates a Gem Mint slab from a raw copy of the same print.

Foire aux questions