Two consecutive cards in 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION (S8a), Xerneas at 012/028 and Yveltal at 013/028, share the same illustrator credit in the official card database: AKIRA EGAWA. That name turns up a third time in the set, in a place most checklists skip — the 25-name credit list printed on the Pikachu V-UNION page at 025/028.
This guide starts from that illustrator credit, then covers Xerneas’s own card text, its position in the set’s numbering, its appearances (and non-appearances) elsewhere in the 25th Anniversary line, and what our own S8a box listing looks like now.
Xerneas S8a 012/028 is a Psychic-type Basic Pokémon, 120 HP, credited to AKIRA EGAWA, with one attack (Breath of Life) plus a plain-damage attack (Aurora Horn). Its database page also lists a Xerneas BREAK entry in the evolution panel. No PSA 10 single of this print is currently listed on our site. Our S8A-25th Anniversary Collection Booster Box is currently listed at ¥67,200 (~$436) (September 17, 2026).
Illustrator AKIRA EGAWA: Xerneas, Yveltal and the V-UNION
AKIRA EGAWA is credited on two S8a cards, numbered back to back: Xerneas at 012/028 and Yveltal at 013/028. The same name is also one of the 25 illustrators listed on the Pikachu V-UNION page at 025/028. The official 25th anniversary site describes that card, verbatim, as 「25名のイラストレーターによって描かれた、いろいろなピカチュウが大集合する特別なカードになっているよ！」 — a special card on which many different Pikachu, drawn by 25 illustrators, come together.
The database prints that full credit list on the V-UNION’s detail page: 5ban Graphics, Taira Akitsu, Hitoshi Ariga, Mitsuhiro Arita, AKIRA EGAWA, OOYAMA, kawayoo, Naoyo Kimura, kirisAki, Tomokazu Komiya, Kouki Saitou, Naoki Saito, Sanosuke Sakuma, Jiro Sasumo, Narumi Sato, Shibuzoh., sui, sowsow, Miki Tanaka, Saya Tsuruta, Atsuko Nishida, Yuu Nishida, Kagemaru Himeno, Masakazu Fukuda and Ryota Murayama. Several of those names also hold solo credits in the same set: Mitsuhiro Arita on Pikachu 001/028, Yuu Nishida on Mew 002/028, Kouki Saitou on Ho-Oh 004/028 and Lugia 005/028, and kirisAki across the Cosmog line at 014/028 to 017/028. S8a-P, by contrast, carries no illustrator information at all, because that set was never entered into the official database.
Both Xerneas and Yveltal also carry a BREAK entry in their database evolution panels: Xerneas’s page lists ゼルネアスBREAK above [THIS CARD] ゼルネアス, and Yveltal’s lists イベルタルBREAK.
Xerneas S8a 012/028: Card Details
Pokédex panel, verbatim: “No.716 せいめいポケモン / 高さ：3.0 m 重さ：215.0 kg / 頭の ツノが 七色に 輝くとき 永遠の 命を 分け与えると 言われている。” Our rendering: Xerneas is Dex No. 716, the Life Pokémon, 3.0 m tall and 215.0 kg, said to grant eternal life when the horns on its head shine in seven colours.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Card number | 012/028 |
| JP name | ゼルネアス |
| Type | Psychic |
| HP | 120 |
| Weakness | Metal (×2) |
| Retreat | 2 Colorless |
- [{C}{C}] Breath of Life (せいめいのいぶき) — JP, verbatim: “自分の山札から、それぞれちがうタイプの基本エネルギーを3枚まで選び、自分のポケモンに好きなようにつける。そして山札を切る。” Our rendering: Search your deck for up to 3 basic Energy cards of different types and attach them to your Pokémon in any way you like. Then shuffle your deck.
- [{P}{C}{C}] Aurora Horn — 100 (オーロラホーン) — a plain 100-damage attack; the database lists no additional effect text for it.
Breath of Life deals no damage of its own: it searches the deck for up to three basic Energy cards of different types. Aurora Horn is the card’s only damaging attack, at a flat 100. Alongside the numbered cards, S8a carries eight Energy prints, Basic Psychic among them, and the database gives none of them a number.
Reading the 012/028 Number
The card database only carries pages for 25 numbered S8a cards, 001/028 through 025/028, plus eight basic Energy cards printed with no number. Numbers 026/028 through 028/028 are not separate database entries. The set’s one secret rare with a database page is the 029/028 Professor’s Research SR, credited to Ken Sugimori, printing the same Supporter text as the regular 003/028 card.
By type, 012/028 lands in the set’s Psychic group: Mew at 002/028 (60 HP, Yuu Nishida), Xerneas itself, Cosmog at 014/028, Cosmoem at 015/028 and Lunala at 017/028 (all three credited to kirisAki), and Zacian V at 018/028 (220 HP, Mitsuhiro Arita), which the database files as Psychic rather than Metal. Xerneas’s direct neighbours are Zekrom at 011/028 and Yveltal at 013/028. Keep 012/028 distinct from a second, unrelated card: S8a-P 023/025 Xerneas-EX, a different promo print with its own guide. Our 25th Anniversary Collection booster box guide covers the checklist as a whole.
Xerneas Elsewhere in the 25th Anniversary Line
Xerneas’s species does have another 25th Anniversary print, but it is a different card entirely: Xerneas-EX S8a-P 023/025, part of the Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition. The official 25th anniversary site describes that promo, verbatim, as 「初めて登場した、フェアリータイプの「ポケモンEX」だ！」 — the first Fairy-type Pokémon EX ever to appear. That’s a 2013-era reproduction with no database entry of its own, distinct in card type, era and mechanics from this Basic 012/028 print. The Golden Box’s S8a-G subset is 16 database entries — 001/015 through 015/015 plus an unnumbered Basic Lightning Energy, being five Pikachu-line Pokémon, six Items, four Supporters and that one Energy card — and it contains no Xerneas either.
Xerneas also appears in 2026’s 30th CELEBRATION at 063/103 — a separate card from this 012/028 print.
For the wider S8a checklist, see our S8a pull rates and best cards guide, and for other Japanese Xerneas prints beyond the 25th Anniversary line, our general Xerneas & Yveltal card guide.
Our Sealed S8a Listing and Xerneas Singles
Graded Xerneas first: 012/028 is not among the 25th Anniversary singles currently listed on our site, and sourcing requests for it go through Snel bestellen.
Sealed product is the other route to the card. Our S8A-25th Anniversary Collection Booster Box is currently listed at ¥67,200 (~$436) (September 17, 2026), holding packs the official page prices at ¥297 tax included, five holo cards each including one basic Energy; that page states no packs-per-box figure.
Where to Buy S8a Sealed and Graded Xerneas
Xerneas 012/028 itself is not listed as a single on our site at the moment; requests go through Snel bestellen. Our S8A-25th Anniversary Collection Booster Box is currently listed at ¥67,200 (~$436) (September 17, 2026).
If you are shopping beyond S8a, the Japanese Pokémon card collection spans sealed product and singles, and the PSA 10 collection lists the graded cards on their own.
USD figures convert at ¥154/USD (approximate).
Xerneas 012/028: Frequent Questions
Who illustrated Xerneas S8a 012/028?
AKIRA EGAWA, per the official card database. The same credit appears on Yveltal at 013/028, and AKIRA EGAWA is one of the 25 illustrators listed on the Pikachu V-UNION page at 025/028.
What are Xerneas’s attacks in 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION?
Breath of Life searches the deck for up to 3 basic Energy of different types and attaches them freely. Aurora Horn is a plain 100-damage attack with no listed extra effect.
Is S8a 012/028 Xerneas the same card as Xerneas-EX?
No. Xerneas-EX is S8a-P 023/025 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), a separate 2013-era promo reproduction in the Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition, with no database entry of its own.
Where does Xerneas sit in the S8a numbering?
At 012/028, between Zekrom at 011/028 and Yveltal at 013/028, in the set’s Psychic group alongside Mew 002/028, the Cosmog line and Zacian V 018/028.
Is a PSA 10 Xerneas S8a 012/028 available on your site?
Not at the moment. Sourcing requests go through Quick Order.
What does a sealed S8a box cost on samuraiswordtokyo.com?
The S8A-25th Anniversary Collection Booster Box is currently listed at ¥67,200 (~$436) (September 17, 2026). Each pack inside holds five holo cards, one of them a basic Energy.
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Log in of maak een account aan om te claimen · Eén keer te gebruiken per account · Eén kortingscode per bestelling · Niet geldig op pre-orders · Eindigt 24 sep 2026 om 23:59 JST · Invoerrechten, belastingen en douanekosten zijn niet inbegrepen in de prijs en worden bij levering geïnd, behalve voor bestemmingen waarnaar we rechten-betaald verzenden.
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