Pokémon Cards Featuring Pichu
This is a living list of Pokémon cards featuring Pichu in their artwork which do not have Pichu in their name. I collect these as part of my Pichu collection, so aim to keep this list as up to date as possible. I'm offering a bounty to anyone who knows of any card I may have missed.
Table of Contents
Bounty Details
If you’re aware of any cards featuring Pichu in their artwork which I’ve missed (in any language), please do not hestiate to get in touch with me on Instagram (@pichucollector) or send an email over to [email protected].
If the card artwork is not already featured in this article and the card was released more than 12 months ago I’ll throw in a $10 reward as a thank you. If that card was released before 2009 I’ll up that to $20.
If the card artwork is on this list already but you’re aware of a language or variation I’m missing I’ll award $2 per language/variation as long as proof can be provided.
Cards Featuring Pichu in their Artwork
Tropical Present
Tropical Present (トロピカルプレゼント) is a Japanese exclusive awarded to members of Japan’s Pokémon Fan Club who earned 100 ‘GET Points’. This card was available between January and June 1999 and predates the first official Pichu card from Japan’s Neo Genesis set by 11 months.
Whilst actually a postcard, Tropical Present is regarded in the TCG community as an unnumbered promo. Being a postcard it’s larger than a regular-sized Pokémon card but smaller than a jumbo card.
Lucky Stadium
Number 41 in the Wizards of the Coast Black Star promo set, Lucky Stadium is an English exclusive which was given to anyone who attended the opening of the New York Pokémon Center store on 16th November 2001.
Featuring Pichu, Pikachu and Charizard soaring through the New York City skyline with the Empire State Building in the background, this is the only card I’m aware of which features both Pichu and Charizard in the same artwork.
Pokémon Fan Club - Aquapolis print
This card was first released in Japan on 8th March 2002 as Pokémon Lovers Club. It was then released in various other languages including English on 15th January 2003. This is the only card which shows Pichu from a different angle - did you know the back of Pichu’s ears were almost entirely black?
Reed Weichler made it to the finals of the ten and under bracket with this card in his Rocky Beach deck at the 2004 World Championships. This deck was one of four chosen to be immortalised in the first set of World Championships decks released publicly for general sale featuring the signature of the player printed in the corner of the artwork of each card.
Appearances
Language | Card - Set (Number) | Variant | Year |
---|---|---|---|
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモン大好きクラブ - 地図にない町 (078/092) | 1st Edition | 2002 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモン大好きクラブ - 地図にない町 (078/092) | 2002 | |
🇬🇧 English 🇫🇷 French 🇩🇪 German 🇮🇹 Italian | Pokémon Fan Club - Aquapolis (130/147) | 2003 | |
🇬🇧 English 🇫🇷 French 🇩🇪 German 🇮🇹 Italian | Pokémon Fan Club - Aquapolis (130/147) | Reverse | 2003 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Fan Club - Aquapolis (130/147) | 2004 World Championships ‘Rocky Beach’ [Reed Weichler] | 2004 |
Pokémon Pal City
Pokémon Pal City (ポケモンパルシティ) is a Japanese exclusive that was released as part of Pokémon Fiesta 2007 - a nationwide tour in Japan which included the Summer Battle Road tournaments.
7 different numberless prints all designed by Masakazu Fukuda were awarded as participation prizes at 7 different venues between July 15th and September 2nd 2007. One of the prints, given out at tournaments held on the 4th and 5th August 2007 at Makuhari Messe (one of Japan’s largest convention centers located in Chiba), features Pikachu playfully chasing Pichu around the Pikachu Dome, one of the main attractions the 7 venues had to offer.
Michina Temple
Michina is a location in Pokémon’s Sinnoh region and was the setting for the twelth Pokémon movie: Arceus and the Jewel of Life. Michina Temple (ミチーナしんでん) is a Japanese exclusive stadium card which forms part of Japan’s DPt-P promo set as 044/DPt-P. It was released in 2009 alongside 043/DPt-P Pikachu M (ピカチュウM) in 3-pack blisters named Movie Release Special Pack (映画公開記念 スペシャルパック2009).
Arceus (2009 Design Contest)
The 2009 Pokémon Card Design Contest was spread across 13 Shogakukan magazines, featuring Pichu and Arceus as the two Pokémon the contest centered around. In total there were 6 Pichu cards and 7 Arceus cards awarded, all with gold stamps featuring the text “Pokémon Card Game Design Contest: Highest Award” (ポケモンカードゲームデザインコンテスト 最優秀賞).
The CoroCoro Comic winning Arceus design, illustrated by Hikaru Okawa, features Arceus, Pichu, Pikachu and Piplup eating noodles, or more specifically, Pokémon Buckwheat Noodles (ポケモン ゃきそば) as the sign above them reads.
I have a dedicated blog post about the 2009 Pokémon Design Contest which goes into a lot more detail about the entire set: 2009 Pokémon Card Design Contest (Part 1).
Pokémon Collector
For most countries, the 2009-2010 HeartGold & SoulSilver was the last set to feature a named Pichu card. Yes, it’s been over a decade now since the last Pichu card was included in a set in most languages (and to put that into some perspective, there were over 400 Pikachu cards in the Sun & Moon series alone!). Along with Pichu was a new Supporter card featuring Pichu in its artwork: Pokémon Collector.
Originally released in Japan’s SoulSilver set, the cards later released as part of two uniquely-numbered theme decks: Steelix Constructed Standard Deck and Tyranitar Constructed Standard Deck.
The English, French and Italian HeartGold & SoulSilver sets also had an accompanying HS Trainer Kit, a 2-player starter set whose Raichu Half Deck featured two uniquely-numbered Pokémon Collector cards.
The card proved to be hugely successful at both the 2010 and 2011 World Championships, with 7 of the 8 decks TPCi immortalised for public sale: Mychael Bryan’s ‘Happy Luck’, Yuta Komatsuda’s ‘LuxChomp of the Spirit’ and Yuka Furusawa’s ‘Power Cottonweed’ decks from the 2010 championships, and Gustavo Wada’s ‘Megazone’, Christopher Kan’s ‘Reshiphlosion’, Ross Cawthon’s ‘The Truth’ and David Cohen’s ‘Twinboar’ from the 2011 championships. Ross Cawthon even managed to include 3 of HeartGold & SoulSilver’s Pichu cards in his winning deck.
The card finally made an appearance at Pokémon League tournaments in 2011 as a crosshatch holofoil with a PLAY! Pokémon stamp.
Appearances
Language | Card - Set (Number) | Variant | Year |
---|---|---|---|
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンコレクター - ソウルシルバーコレクション (068/070) | 1st Edition | 2009 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンコレクター - ソウルシルバーコレクション (068/070) | 1st Edition, reverse holofoil | 2009 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 | |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇫🇷 French | Collectionneur de Pokémon - HeartGold SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 | |
🇫🇷 French | Collectionneur de Pokémon - HeartGold SoulSilver (97/123) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇩🇪 German | Pokémon-Sammler - HeartGold SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 | |
🇩🇪 German | Pokémon-Sammler - HeartGold SoulSilver (97/123) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Collezionista di Pokémon - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 | |
🇮🇹 Italian | Collezionista di Pokémon - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇵🇹 Portuguese | Colecionador de Pokémon - HeartGold SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 | |
🇪🇸 Spanish | Coleccionista de Pokémon - HeartGold SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 | |
🇪🇸 Spanish | Coleccionista de Pokémon - HeartGold SoulSilver (97/123) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンコレクター - ハガネール鋼 (017/019) | 1st Edition | 2010 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンコレクター - ハガネール鋼 (017/019) | 2010 | |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンコレクター - バンギラス悪 (016/019) | 1st Edition | 2010 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンコレクター - バンギラス悪 (016/019) | 2010 | |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HS Trainer Kit (22/30) | Raichu deck stamp | 2010 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HS Trainer Kit (27/30) | Raichu deck stamp | 2010 |
🇫🇷 French | Collectionneur de Pokémon - HS Trainer Kit (22/30) | Raichu deck stamp | 2010 |
🇫🇷 French | Collectionneur de Pokémon - HS Trainer Kit (27/30) | Raichu deck stamp | 2010 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Collezionista di Pokémon - HS Trainer Kit (22/30) | Raichu deck stamp | 2010 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Collezionista di Pokémon - HS Trainer Kit (27/30) | Raichu deck stamp | 2010 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 World Championships ‘Happy Luck’ [Mychael Bryan] | 2010 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 World Championships ‘LuxChomp of the Spirit’ [Yuta Komatsuda] | 2010 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2010 World Championships ‘Power Cottonweed’ [Yuka Furusawa] | 2010 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2011 World Championships ‘Megazone’ [Gustavo Wada] | 2011 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2011 World Championships ‘Reshiphlosion’ [Christopher Kan] | 2011 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2011 World Championships ‘The Truth’ [Ross Cawthon] | 2011 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | 2011 World Championships ‘Twinboar’ [David Cohen] | 2011 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Collector - HeartGold & SoulSilver (97/123) | PLAY! Pokémon stamp, crosshatch holofoil | 2011 |
Team Rocket’s Trickery
Many thanks to muk over on the Elite Fourum for finding this card just a few hours after I’d submitted this blog post.
Team Rocket’s Trickery (ロケット団の手口) appeared in February 2010 when Japan’s second LEGEND set, HS—Undaunted was released. Unlike in the SoulSilver collection, L2 featured both 1st Edition and unlimited releases.
On the same day as the release of HS—Undaunted, the Tyranitar Constructed Standard Deck was released, featuring a uniquely numbered 018/019 version.
Language | Card - Set (Number) | Variant | Year |
---|---|---|---|
🇯🇵 Japanese | ロケット団の手口 - よみがえる伝説 (076/080) | 1st Edition | 2010 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ロケット団の手口 - よみがえる伝説 (076/080) | 1st Edition, reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ロケット団の手口 - よみがえる伝説 (076/080) | 2010 | |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ロケット団の手口 - よみがえる伝説 (076/080) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ロケット団の手口 - バンギラス悪 (018/019) | 1st Edition | 2010 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ロケット団の手口 - バンギラス悪 (018/019) | 2010 | |
🇬🇧 English | Team Rocket’s Trickery - HS—Undaunted (78/90) | 2010 | |
🇬🇧 English | Team Rocket’s Trickery - HS—Undaunted (78/90) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇫🇷 French | Fourberie de la Team Rocket - HS-Indomptable (78/90) | 2010 | |
🇫🇷 French | Fourberie de la Team Rocket - HS-Indomptable (78/90) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇩🇪 German | Team Rockets Trickserei - HS-Unerschrocken (78/90) | 2010 | |
🇩🇪 German | Team Rockets Trickserei - HS-Unerschrocken (78/90) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Tranello dei Team Rocket - HS - Senza Paura (78/90) | 2010 | |
🇮🇹 Italian | Tranello dei Team Rocket - HS - Senza Paura (78/90) | Reverse holofoil | 2010 |
Illusion’s Zorua (2010 Design Contest)
Featuring the same Pokémon Card Game Design Contest: Highest Award (ポケモンカードゲームデザインコンテスト 最優秀賞) gold stamp as cards from the 2009 Design Contest, Izumi Sakaga won the Pokémon Fan magazine contest with their Illusion’s Zorua artwork featuring Pichu alongside several other Pokémon:
Pichu made an appearance in 9 of the runner-up designs which made it through to the final judging panel of 5 of the 10 Shogakukan 2010 Pokémon Card Design Contest-hosting magazines.
…although it could be argued that one of those is just a badly-drawn Pikachu.
Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra Prism print
Despite Pichu’s popularity at the end of the previous decade, Pichu had completely disappeared from the Pokémon TCG. Towards the end of 2017, the last worldwide release featuring a Pichu was in June 2012 when TPCi released a Polish version of the then 5 years old Mysterious Treasures set. No new artwork had appeared featuring Pichu however since the Illusion’s Zorua from the 2010 Design Contest. No cards featuring Pichu had appeared in Japan for 7 and a half years.
That all changed when Japan’s Ultra Sun (ウルトラサン) set was released featuring a brand new Pokémon Fan Club card with artwork featuring a Bonsly doll, Pikachu’s face printed on a t-shirt and a baby wearing a Pichu onesie. Not only that, but it also had a full art variant.
The regular version of the card went on to be released in languages which had never seen a Pichu at all in the TCG before: Chinese, Thai and Indonesian. It made two appearances in Japan’s SM-P promo set as 273/SM-P released as part of Japan’s annual School Festival (学園祭) in 2018 and again as a thank you to organisers of TCG events as part of Trainer Pack 2019 (トレーナーズパック 2019).
It also went on to make an appearance in another set, Double Blaze (ダブルブレイズ) which was released in Japan and Korea, but was ommitted from the English set when it crossed over as Unbroken Bonds.
Appearances
Language | Card - Set (Number) | Variant | Year |
---|---|---|---|
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンだいすきクラブ - ウルトラサン (061/066) | 2017 | |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンだいすきクラブ - ウルトラサン (071/066) | Full art | 2017 |
🇰🇷 Korean | 포켓몬애호가클럽 - 울트라썬 (063/066) | 2018 | |
🇰🇷 Korean | 포켓몬애호가클럽 - 울트라썬 (072/066) | Full art | 2018 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra Prism (133/156) | 2018 | |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra Prism (133/156) | Reverse holofoil | 2018 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra Prism (155/156) | Full art | 2018 |
🇫🇷 French | Fan Club Pokémon - Ultra-Prisme (133/156) | 2018 | |
🇫🇷 French | Fan Club Pokémon - Ultra-Prisme (133/156) | Reverse holofoil | 2018 |
🇫🇷 French | Fan Club Pokémon - Ultra-Prisme (155/156) | Full art | 2018 |
🇩🇪 German | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra-Prisma (133/156) | 2018 | |
🇩🇪 German | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra-Prisma (133/156) | Reverse holofoil | 2018 |
🇩🇪 German | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra-Prisma (155/156) | Full art | 2018 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultraprisma (133/156) | 2018 | |
🇮🇹 Italian | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultraprisma (133/156) | Reverse holofoil | 2018 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultraprisma (155/156) | Full art | 2018 |
🇵🇹 Portuguese | Fã Clube Pokémon - Ultraprisma (133/156) | 2018 | |
🇵🇹 Portuguese | Fã Clube Pokémon - Ultraprisma (133/156) | Reverse holofoil | 2018 |
🇵🇹 Portuguese | Fã Clube Pokémon - Ultraprisma (155/156) | Full art | 2018 |
🇪🇸 Spanish | Club de Fans de Pokémon - Ultraprisma (133/156) | 2018 | |
🇪🇸 Spanish | Club de Fans de Pokémon - Ultraprisma (133/156) | Reverse holofoil | 2018 |
🇪🇸 Spanish | Club de Fans de Pokémon - Ultraprisma (155/156) | Full art | 2018 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンだいすきクラブ (273/SM-P) | School Festival 2018 stamp | 2018 |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンだいすきクラブ - ダブルブレイズ (086/095) | 2019 | |
🇯🇵 Japanese | ポケモンだいすきクラブ (336/SM-P) | Event Organizer stamp | 2019 |
🇰🇷 Korean | 포켓몬애호가클럽 - 더블블레이즈 (088/095) | 2019 | |
🇹🇭 Thai | ชมรมคนรักโปเกมอน - เทพเวหา (171/178) | 2019 | |
🇹🇭 Thai | ชมรมคนรักโปเกมอน - เทพเวหา (196/178) | Full art | 2019 |
🇨🇳 Chinese | 寶可夢發燒友俱樂部 - 美夢成真組合篇 (184/200) | 2019 | |
🇮🇩 Indonesian | Klub Fan Pokémon - Penguasa Langit (171/178) | 2020 | |
🇮🇩 Indonesian | Klub Fan Pokémon - Penguasa Langit (196/178) | Full art | 2020 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra Prism (133/156) | Battle Academy #28 | 2020 |
🇬🇧 English | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra Prism (133/156) | Battle Academy #45 | 2020 |
🇫🇷 French | Fan Club Pokémon - Ultra-Prisme (133/156) | Académie de Combat #28 | 2020 |
🇫🇷 French | Fan Club Pokémon - Ultra-Prisme (133/156) | Académie de Combat #45 | 2020 |
🇩🇪 German | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra-Prisma (133/156) | Kampfakademie #28 | 2020 |
🇩🇪 German | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultra-Prisma (133/156) | Kampfakademie #45 | 2020 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultraprisma (133/156) | Accademia Lotta #28 | 2020 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Pokémon Fan Club - Ultraprisma (133/156) | Accademia Lotta #45 | 2020 |
Professor Elm’s Lecture
Professor Elm’s Lecture was originally released as a holofoil as part of Japan’s Alter Genesis (オルタージェネシス) set as 095/095 before being released in Korean shortly after. When the set crossed over to English as Cosmic Eclipse, however, Professor Elm’s Lecture was one of several cards which had been cut.
Fortunately the card did make an appearance as Pokémon League Challenge promos shortly after the Korean release. Reverse holofoil cards with 1st through 4th Place and Pokémon League stamps were now available in English along with other languages which had received the same Cosmic Eclipse set: French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. These cards were attributed as alternate artworks the Professor Elm’s Lecture card which appeared in the Lost Thunder set from a year beforehand as 188a/214.
The card then went on to make an appearance as 193/196 in China and Thailand’s Legendary Clash sets, then as 201/205 in Indonesia’s Tag Team Collection set.
Appearances
Language | Card - Set (Number) | Variant | Year |
---|---|---|---|
🇯🇵 Japanese | ウツギ博士のレクチャー - オルタージェネシス (095/095) | Holofoil | 2019 |
🇰🇷 Korean | 공박사의 강연 - 얼터제네시스 (095/095) | Holofoil | 2019 |
🇬🇧 English | Professor Elm’s Lecture - Lost Thunder (188a/214) | 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place Pokémon League stamps | 2019 |
🇫🇷 French | Cours du Professeur Orme - Tonnerre Perdu (188a/214) | 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place Pokémon League stamps | 2019 |
🇩🇪 German | Professor Linds Vorlesung - Echo Des Donners (188a/214) | 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place Pokémon League stamps | 2019 |
🇮🇹 Italian | Seminario del Professor Elm - Tuoni Perduti (188a/214) | 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place Pokémon League stamps | 2019 |
🇵🇹 Portuguese | Aula do Professor Elm - Trovões Perdidos (188a/214) | 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place Pokémon League stamps | 2019 |
🇪🇸 Spanish | Lección del Professor Elm - Truenos Perdidos (188a/214) | 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place Pokémon League stamps | 2019 |
🇨🇳 Chinese | 空木博士的指導 - 傳說交鋒 (193/196) | Holofoil | 2020 |
🇹🇭 Thai | เลคเชอร์ของดร.อุสึกิ - ศึกตำนาน (193/196) | Holofoil | 2020 |
🇮🇩 Indonesian | Pelajaran Prof. Elm - Koleksi TAG TEAM (201/205) | Holofoil | 2020 |
Special Mentions
A couple of cards came very close to including Pichu in their artwork. I figure they’re worth a mention here…
PokéPark’s Munchlax
Various cards were released exclusively in Japan’s PCG-P promo set which commemorated attractions people could visit at the ‘Pokémon the Park 2005’ theme park in Japan. PokéPark’s Munchlax (ポケパークのゴンベ), 040/PCG-P, features Munchlax riding aboard one of these attractions: the Pichu Brothers’ Rascal Railway.
A side collection of mine is an obscure Japanese set called ‘Adventure Cards’. I have a separate page documenting those on GitHub. One of those cards, Adventure Card 082, specifically focuses on the Pichu Brothers’ Rascal Railway and features an extended version of the PCG-P artwork showing that Wynaut and the Pichu Brothers are also present.
I’ve made a mockup below to compare what the released card looks like (left) vs. what the card would have looked like if the Pichu Brothers hadn’t been removed (right).
For the PokéPark’s Munchlax artwork they omitted the Pichu Brothers completely. Although I guess to anyone who wasn’t aware of the extended artwork, it makes sense to remove those oddly-positioned Pichu ears. If you’re a Wynaut collector, however, you can still see Wynaut’s hand clinging on (if that even classes as a hand).
2015 Art Academy
One of the runner-up entries to the worldwide 2015 Art Academy competition featured a labcoat-clad Pichu assisting a very scientific-looking Pikachu. To my knowledge this was the only runner-up entry to include Pichu in its artwork.
As a Pichu collector I’m probably rather biased, but in my mind this design by Hoshibi-san blows most of the winning entries out of the water. I wish this had been selected as one of the winning entries.
Pretend Tea Ceremony Pikachu
The Pretend Tea Ceremony Pikachu (お茶会ごっこピカチュウ) was released as a celebration of the reopening of the Kyoto Pokémon Center on 16th March 2019. A wide range of merchandise was available featuring Pikachu having a tea party with lots of other Pokémon.
Alongside all the merchandise was a promo card, 325/SM-P, which featured a cut-down version of the artwork. Instead of just cropping the design, however, the artwork was tweaked to exclude Entei, Pichu, Politoed and Raikou and move Slowking into focus. Had they not made this decision, this would have been the first regular-sized Pikachu card to feature a Pichu in its artwork and the first Pokémon card which wasn’t part of a design contest with an incredibly low distribution to feature on this list.
I’ve made a mockup below to compare what the released card looks like (left) vs. what the card would have looked like had a simple crop of the full artwork been used instead (right).
Are you aware of any cards I may have missed from this list? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch (see the Bounty Details section for contact info).