Price Trends: Pokémon Cards Climbing in Price - 09/09/2025
By Peter Day •
We want you to have the best information available when you price cards on the TCGplayer Marketplace. So to help you get the most from your inventory, we’ve put together a downloadable CSV report of Pokémon cards that have dramatically increased in Market Price in the past 30 days.
(Note: This report only considers Near Mint copies of cards with at least five sales between August 9 and September 7, 2025.)
Here are ten highlights from that report. First, we have the five cards that gained the most value in the past 30 days after starting with a Market Price of $30 or less.
Top 5 Price Increases—PKMN Cards $30 or Less
- Set: Celebrations: Classic Collection
- Increase: +$19.06
- Current Market Price: $46.92
Shining Magikarp has trended down for most of its time in circulation, only rising in huge spikes after a buyout. The most recent of those on August 25 pushed the average number of copies sold per buyer to 10.6, and the Market Price of this Classic Collection hit to over $30 for the first time.
This follows a pattern of cards from the 25th Anniversary set Celebrations and the 20th Anniversary sets Generations and Evolutions being targeted by speculators, likely in anticipation of the Pokémon franchise’s 30th anniversary in 2026.
#4 Mew
- Set: Crown Zenith: Galarian Gallery
- Increase: +$20.43
- Current Market Price: $42.22
While this Mew has seen a few days of elevated sales that look like mini-buyouts, it’s also seen consistent demand from buyers all year that has slowly eaten away at the number of copies on the Marketplace for less than $30. Many of the top chase cards from Crown Zenith (and its “Galarian Gallery” subset) have trended up in the last month. It could be coincidence, but it feels significant that the last set of the previous TCG Series is getting attention here at the end of the current TCG Series.
#3 Pecharunt - 129 (Pokemon Center Exclusive)
- Set: Scarlet & Violet Promo Cards
- Increase: +$20.86
- Current Market Price: $35.51
This promo card came with the Pokémon Center-Exclusive Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box. It’s been stuck at $15 for most of the year (which it dropped to soon after a pair of buyouts on February 8 and March 14), but another wave of buyouts starting on August 24 made it spike again and surpass its previous all-time high of $33.
- Set: SM Promos
- Increase: +$22.32
- Current Market Price: $44.44
This Mimikyu was originally distributed in Team Up Single Pack Blisters. Its current price appears to be a delayed reaction to several buyouts earlier in the year. Back in March, a buyout raised the average number of copies per buyer to 19.8. Other buyouts followed on April 8 (34 copies per buyer), and July 5 (8.8 copies per buyer), but the card’s movement didn’t look too dramatic until a few sales in mid-August pushed it over the edge and turned it into a $40 card.
- Set: Scarlet & Violet Promo Cards
- Increase: +$22.68
- Current Market Price: $47.19
Distributed in the Marnie Rival Battle Deck, this promo saw massively elevated sales on September 2 that pushed it from a $30 card to a nearly $50 card.
Next, these are the five cards that gained the most value in the past 30 days after starting with a Market Price over $30.
Top 5 Price Increases—PKMN Cards Over $30
#5 Dragonite V (Alternate Full Art)
- Set: Evolving Skies
- Increase: +$112.68
- Current Market Price: $365.70
The #4 card from Evolving Skies, Dragonite V was slowly coming down from the all-time high it set in April until a buyout on July 9 (7 copies per buyer) sent it in the opposite direction. Another buyout on August 7 (7.5 copies per buyer) made it spike to over $350 for the first time.
#4 Charmander - 044 (Pokemon Center Exclusive)
- Set: Scarlet & Violet Promo Cards
- Increase: +$132.87
- Current Market Price: $245.20
This special version of SVP 44 was only available in Pokémon Center-Exclusive Obsidian Flames Elite Trainer Box. It went from a cute, optional promo to a mandatory collectible when matching Squirtle and Bulbasaur cards were released in Stellar Crown.
After coming down from its previous all-time high of just under $200 in March, Charmander reversed direction in July, despite total sales remaining low. A pair of small buyouts in late August accelerated the process.
#3 Umbreon V (Alternate Full Art)
- Set: Evolving Skies
- Increase: +$166.83
- Current Market Price: $389.34
Alternate-Art Umbreon V from Evolving Skies had been trending down from its height during the early 2025 Pokémon card boom until someone bought 10 copies at once on August 8. That buyout was followed by several more in quick succession which sent Umbreon rocketing to its current price, a new all-time high.
#2 Umbreon VMAX (Alternate Art Secret)
- Set: Evolving Skies
- Increase: +$221.67
- Current Market Price: $1,556.95
Moonbreon’s back. After a few months of dropping from its all-time high of $1860, the grail card of the Sword & Shield Series is starting to trend back up. The inflection point came after a particularly heavy day of sales on August 19, which may have been a buyout judging by volume, but only translated to an average of 2.2 copies per buyer.
- Set: Paldean Fates
- Increase: +$262.00
- Current Market Price: $699.22
Finally, the big winner this month was Special Illustration Rare Mew ex from Paldean Fates, aka “Bubble Mew.” USGMEN’s debut card illustration is now the second-most expensive card of the entire Scarlet & Violet Series, just a couple hundred dollars behind Umbreon ex from Prismatic Evolutions.
While speculators were absolutely a factor in this card’s rise—leading to buyouts like the one on May 1, when the average number of copies per buyer rose to 23.0—the purchases that finally pushed Bubble Mew over the $500 threshold in early August appear organic. A small group of buyers decided they were willing to pay half a thousand dollars to own a copy of Bubble Mew, and the market reacted accordingly.
By selling these cards online, you can reach a broad audience of customers who are willing to pay what these cards are truly worth. Download the September 2025 Price Trends Report to review every Pokémon card that went up in value this month. Then list those cards on TCGplayer so your inventory can do more for your business.
Download the Pokémon Price Trends Report
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