Vivid Voltage came out on November 13, 2020, in the middle of an unusual year for the Pokémon card game. People were home, adults who had collected as kids were buying cards again, and a YouTuber's box opening had just sent prices climbing. New sets were hard to find on shelves, and even a lower-profile release like Vivid Voltage could be hard to come by. Here is what was in the set, what the Amazing Rares were, and what the 2020 and 2021 card boom looked like from the inside.
What is Pokémon Vivid Voltage?
Vivid Voltage is the fourth main expansion of the Sword & Shield series. It has 185 cards in the main set plus 18 secret rares numbered above 185, for 203 in total. It combines two Japanese sets: Amazing Volt Tackle, released in September 2020, and Legendary Heartbeat, an enhanced expansion from that July.
The set's chase card is its rainbow rare Pikachu VMAX, 188/185, a Gigantamax Pikachu so round that collectors nicknamed it "Chonkachu." Bleeding Cool called it "the card everyone wants" a few weeks after release. As of September 2026, PriceCharting tracked it at about $125 ungraded and about $314 in PSA 10.
The rainbow rare Pikachu VMAX 188/185, the card collectors nicknamed Chonkachu.
What is an Amazing Rare?
Amazing Rares are Legendary and Mythical Pokémon printed on a multicolored background that the Pokémon breaks out of, spilling over the card's frame. Each has an Amazing attack that costs two or three different types of Energy, and unlike Pokémon V or VMAX cards, they carry no extra rules. They debuted in Japan in Legendary Heartbeat and reached English with Vivid Voltage, marked by a rainbow A in place of the usual rarity symbol.
Vivid Voltage has six Amazing Rares: Celebi 009, Raikou 050, Zacian 082, Zamazenta 102, Jirachi 119, and Rayquaza 138. Shining Fates added more in early 2021, including Reshiram, Kyogre, and Yveltal.
Three of the set's other Amazing Rares: Celebi 009/185, Raikou 050/185, and Jirachi 119/185.
Rayquaza 138/185
The Rayquaza Amazing Rare was illustrated by 5ban Graphics. It is a Colorless Pokémon with 120 HP, and its Amazing Burst attack costs Grass, Lightning, and Fighting Energy and does 80 damage for each type of basic Energy you discard. In Japan it was card 056/076 in Legendary Heartbeat.
It is also the most graded card in the set. PSA's population report lists 19,587 graded copies of Rayquaza, 11,820 of them PSA 10, which is about 60 percent. As of September 2026, PriceCharting tracked the card at about $23 ungraded and about $178 in PSA 10.
PSA 10 · Vivid Voltage, 2020
Rayquaza 138/185, Amazing Rare
5ban Graphics' Rayquaza breaking out of the frame, from the set that brought Amazing Rares to English. PSA 10 Gem Mint. Cert 57571609.
$250.00 View card
What came in a Vivid Voltage booster box
Vivid Voltage booster packs held 10 cards, and booster boxes held 36 packs. The pack art featured Pikachu VMAX, Zarude, Celebi, and Orbeetle VMAX. The Elite Trainer Box, which Best Buy listed at $39.99, held eight packs, 65 card sleeves printed with Gigantamax Pikachu, 45 Energy cards, dice and condition markers, a player's guide, and a code for Pokémon TCG Online.
As of September 2026, PriceCharting tracked that same Elite Trainer Box at about $144 sealed, and a sealed booster box at about $315.
The 2020 and 2021 Pokémon card boom
Several things happened at once, and Bloomberg traced the boom to nostalgia, new ways of selling cards online, and free time during the pandemic. On October 9, 2020, Logan Paul livestreamed himself opening a 1st Edition Base Set booster box bought for about $200,000, with more than 300,000 people watching, and StockX reported that Pokémon trades on its platform rose 300 percent in the weeks after. eBay later reported that Pokémon card sales on its site grew 574 percent in 2020.
Supply couldn't keep up, and in February 2021 Forbes wrote that "even lower-profile releases like Vivid Voltage and Rebel Clash have sometimes been hard to come by." That same month, McDonald's released a 25th anniversary promotion with four-card packs in Happy Meals, and adults bought the meals in bulk. On March 31, 2021, PSA suspended its Value, Regular, and Express grading tiers, which accounted for 97.9 percent of submissions, to work through its backlog. In May, Target stopped selling trading cards in its stores after a fight outside a Wisconsin location.
The Pokémon Company responded by printing far more cards. Between March 2021 and March 2022 it produced about 9 billion, up from 3.7 billion the year before, according to Fortune. The 25th anniversary set, Celebrations, followed in October 2021.
The world in late 2020
Animal Crossing: New Horizons had come out in March 2020 and sold more than 13 million copies in its first six weeks. Pokémon GO added Remote Raid Passes in April so players could raid from home, and it went on to pass $1 billion in player spending that year. Pokémon Journeys premiered on Netflix in the United States in June, and The Crown Tundra, the second expansion for Sword and Shield, came out on October 22, three weeks before Vivid Voltage. Sports cards boomed alongside Pokémon, and StockX said its trading card sales rose 4,000 percent in 2020.
Collecting Vivid Voltage today
Collectors tend to build the set around its chase cards: the six Amazing Rares, the rainbow rare Pikachu VMAX, and the full art cards. Graded Amazing Rares make a small set of their own, and the Shining Fates additions extend it. For a sense of how far back the hobby goes, our guides to the Jungle and Fossil sets cover the first boom in 1999, and our guide to holo and reverse holo cards explains the foils that came before the Amazing Rares.
Keep reading
- Vintage Pokémon cards, era by era: a collector's guide
- Why there's no Hidden Fates booster box: Pokémon's special sets
- Holo vs reverse holo Pokémon cards
- Pokémon Jungle (1999): packs, Pikachu, and the No Symbol holos
Browse the graded and ungraded Pokémon cards we carry in Artifacts.
Frequently asked questions
When did Vivid Voltage come out? Vivid Voltage was released in English on November 13, 2020, as the fourth main expansion of the Sword & Shield series.
How many Amazing Rares are in Vivid Voltage? Six: Celebi 009, Raikou 050, Zacian 082, Zamazenta 102, Jirachi 119, and Rayquaza 138. Look for the rainbow A rarity symbol and a Pokémon breaking out of the card frame.
What is the most valuable card in Vivid Voltage? The rainbow rare Pikachu VMAX, 188/185. As of September 2026, PriceCharting tracked it at about $125 ungraded and about $314 in PSA 10.
How many packs are in a Vivid Voltage booster box? Thirty-six packs of 10 cards each. The Elite Trainer Box holds eight packs.
Why were Pokémon cards hard to find in 2020 and 2021? Demand jumped during the pandemic, driven by returning collectors, online selling, and high-profile openings like Logan Paul's in October 2020. Stores sold out, grading services were backlogged, and The Pokémon Company responded by printing about 9 billion cards between March 2021 and March 2022.
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