What Does the 25 Pikachu Mean on Pokémon Cards?
As a long-time Pokémon TCG enthusiast and content creator focused on the gaming space, I‘m constantly getting questions about what the deal is with those "25 Pikachu" cards that seemed to take over the hobby in late 2021. Specifically, fans keep asking: what does the 25 Pikachu mean on Pokémon cards?
The 25 Pikachu refers to special anniversary edition cards featuring Pikachu commemorating 25 years of Pokémon. These were released in October 2021 as part of the Pokémon TCG: Celebrations expansions.
Let‘s take a deeper look at the history and context around these popular collectibles.
Celebrating 25 Years of Pokémon
February 27, 2021 marked 25 years since Pokémon first released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Red and Green for the Game Boy. As the best-selling media franchise ever with over 368 million video games sold worldwide, this was a major milestone. [1]
To celebrate the anniversary throughout 2021, The Pokémon Company planned multiple events, releases, partnerships and more. This included the "P25" music program, a McDonald‘s Happy Meal TCG promo, an Oreo cookie collaboration, and special edition Nintendo Switch consoles. [2]
Of course as a TCG collector and fan, my focus was on the special 25th anniversary Pokémon card sets!
Overview of the Special Set Releases
In October 2021, The Pokémon Company International dropped two major TCG expansions fully embracing the 25 years theme:
Pokémon TCG: Celebrations expansions
- Main Set – Greninja Gold Star, Xerneas EX, Tapu Lele GX, and others with anniversary foil stamping
- Classic Collection – Reprints of iconic vintage cards, now with 25th stamping
- Total cards – 50 (25 main, 25 classic collection)
- Release date – October 8, 2021
Additionally in June 2022, they continued the VSTAR mechanic introduced earlier that year with:
Pokémon TCG: Pokémon Go expansion
- Focused on popular Pokémon Go aspects like raids and throws
- Introduced Mewtwo VSTAR featuring 25th anniversary branding
- Continued support for Radiant Pokémon mechanic
- Total cards – 183
- Release date – July 1st, 2022
Both releases prominently incorporated special 25th anniversary iconography as part of the ongoing celebration.
Why the Focus on Pikachu?
As the beloved mascot and international symbol of Pokémon, Pikachu was naturally featured front and center for 25th anniversary celebrations in cards and elsewhere.
Beyond nostalgic fans just loving anything Pikachu, there were strategic reasons for the focus:
- Mass appeal – casual fans may not know specific Pokémon, but everyone knows Pikachu
- Launch alignment – original Red and Green featured Pikachu prominently
- Viral marketing – images of special Pikachu cards spread widely as attention grabbers
And it worked – the set featuring [Pikachu V-UNION]{.mark} cards at the end of 2021 became the [fastest selling Pokémon TCG product ever]{.mark} in terms of early sales numbers. [3]
Examples & Showcase of 25 Pikachu Cards
Let‘s look at some of the most interesting and valuable 25 Pikachu card examples that could be pulled from anniversary set releases:
Pikachu VMAX & V-UNION
The Pikachu VMAX features colorful shapes and a festive party hat, while the V-UNION connects four cards into one giant playable card showing Pikachu celebrating.
|-|-|-|
|Pikachu VMAX|Celebrations (main set)|Ultra Rare|
|Pikachu V-UNION|" (main set)|Secret Rare|
[/table]
Early Release Promos
Early collector promotions for the 25th anniversary also included unique Pikachu cards, like the McDonald‘s Holo and buildable Long Card.
[table] |Card|Promotion|Release Date||-|-|-|
|McDonald‘s 25th Anniversary Holo Pikachu|Happy Meal|Feb 2021|
|Buildable Long Card Pikachu|Special promotion|March 2021|
[/table]
Reprints with Anniversary Stamping
Some of the most valuable cards in the classic collection reprint subset feature iconic older Pikachu cards with the 25th stamp:
[table] |Card|Original Set|Reprint Set||-|-|-|
|Pikachu ex|EX Deoxys|Celebrations (CC)|
|Pikachu☆|Secret Wonders|" (CC)|
[/table]
The exciting range of special 25 Pikachu cards released across 2021 and 2022 provides collecting challenges and opportunities for investors and enthusiasts alike. It will be interesting to see what the next 25 years holds!
I hope this thorough overview clarifies exactly what the 25 Pikachu refers to across recent Pokémon TCG expansions. As always, let me know in the comments if you have any other related questions!
