Top Selling Pokémon Cards on TCGplayer: May 2025

The first step to serving customer demand is to understand it. So to help you follow what’s currently popular with players and collectors, we’ve put together a pair of downloadable CSV reports of the top-selling Pokémon cards of the past month.

These reports show the name and set of the Pokémon cards with the highest total number of copies sold on the TCGplayer Marketplace between May 1 and May 31, 2025. The reports consider cards from different sets to be distinct (even if they have the same name), but do not distinguish copies sold by condition (Near Mint, Lightly Played, etc.) or by printing (Foil, etc.).

The two reports cover cards that had an average sale price in May within two ranges: $50.00 or more, and $1.00 to $49.99.

• Download Top Selling Report: PKMN Cards $50 or More
• Download Top Selling Report: PKMN Cards $1 to $50

Here are five highlights from each report.

Top Selling Pokémon Cards: $50 or More
#1 Charizard ex - 223/197
Set: Obsidian Flames
Average Sale Price: $55.77

The original Special Illustration Rare printing of Charizard ex from Obsidian Flames is back for yet another month.

Charizard has all the appeal you’d expect for collectors, but due to reprints and Obsidian Flames’s generous pull rates, SIR Charizard stayed below the $50 cutoff until November. With Obsidian Flames more than a year old, the supply for this card is drying up, and its price hasn’t dipped below that threshold all year.

#2 Zapdos ex - 202/165
Set: Scarlet & Violet—151
Average Sale Price: $51.66

151 was never exactly an “underrated” Pokémon set. Since its debut in September 2023, there’s been a strong argument for naming it the most universally loved Pokémon set in history. But the boom in Pokémon card collecting over the past few months, together with the flow of new 151 products slowing to a trickle, pushed the chase cards from 151 to new heights, both in price and popularity.

Special Illustration Rare Charizard ex is the obvious beneficiary of this attention, but its multi-hundred-dollar Market Price limits the number of sales it sees. Instead, other SIR cards like Zapdos ex have edged it out this month.

#3 Blastoise ex - 200/165
Set: Scarlet & Violet—151
Average Sale Price: $67.70

Like SIR Zapdos ex, SIR Blastoise ex exploded in price after the release of Pokémon TCG Pocket. While that wave of interest has crested, this is still one of the three cards fans most want to grab from 151—ideally before the next “complete Pokédex” sets Black Bolt and White Flare release in July.

#4 Venusaur ex - 198/165
Set: Scarlet & Violet—151
Average Sale Price: $64.92

Venusaur comes in at #4 as another Special Illustration Rare card of a fully evolved Kanto starter Pokémon that players want to secure before they move on to the Unova Pokédex.

#5 Charizard ex - 199/165
Set: SV: Scarlet & Violet 151
Average Sale Price: $200.66

Finally, we have the ultimate chase card of 151 to round out the trio. Charizard ex’s Market Price has dropped from the heights it reached near the end of February, but that dip encouraged more fans to pick up this card during Mayhem while it was on a downswing.

Top Selling Pokémon Cards: $1.00 to $49.99
#1 Night Stretcher
Set: Shrouded Fable
Average Sale Price:​​ $3.46

As usual, most of the bestselling Pokémon cards in the $1 to $50 range this month are Trainer cards that show up across a wide range of competitive decks.

Night Stretcher adds a little helpful recursion to any deck, so it’s been a staple since Shrouded Fable. Shrouded Fable wasn’t terribly exciting for collectors, so it didn’t get opened in huge quantities and players are mostly acquiring Night Stretchers as singles. It also hasn’t been reprinted in a normal Pokémon set at its base rarity, so players who want the most affordable copies they can find have no other options.

#2 Arven - 166/198
Set: Scarlet & Violet Base Set
Average Sale Price: $1.67

Arven is a two-for-one search card that shows up all over the Pokémon TCG’s Standard format. Along with this version, Arven has been printed as an Uncommon in Obsidian Flames, but the Scarlet & Base Set version has more listings on TCGplayer and is consequently cheaper.

#3 Bravery Charm
Set: Paldea Evolved
Average Sale Price: $1.15

Bravery Charm is a newer addition to this list, because it didn’t qualify for consideration until its price broke the $1 barrier in time for the Mayhem promotion.

Decks like Gardevoir, Joltix Box, Raging Bolt, and Dragapult all use Bravery Charm to buff their attackers or keep their opponent’s items locked down with Budew for an extra turn. Because it has only been printed in one set at base rarity, players options are limited, which has caused this Uncommon to slowly become more expensive over time.

#4 Counter Catcher
Set: Paradox Rift
Average Sale Price: $1.81

Counter Catcher only has one base-rarity printing with the modern silver border. It’s a competitive staple in decks like Gardevoir (one of the best decks in the Destined Rivals format) that expect to fall behind in the first half of the game.

#5 Pokegear 3.0
Set: Scarlet & Violet Base Set
Average Sale Price: $1.73

Pokégear 3.0 first debuted in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Series, but has only been printed in one Scarlet & Violet Series set, so this is the preferred version for players who don’t want to mix yellow-border cards (pre-2023) and silver-border cards (post-2023). As a way to find Supporter cards reliably, it has become even more important competitively since Lumineon V rotated out of Standard in April.

Selling cards that have high “velocity” keeps your cash flow healthy so you can take advantage of new opportunities. Check out our reports on the top-selling cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic, and be sure to list these cards on TCGplayer to unlock value you can reinvest in your business.