Top 5 Chinese-exclusive Pokémon Cards You Might Not Know About

The Simplified Chinese Pokémon TCG launched in 2022, and it has been making up for lost time ever since. 

What started as a regional catch-up to the Japanese and English releases has quietly evolved into one of the most exciting frontiers in the entire hobby – producing exclusive artworks, picture-perfect promos, and connected panoramic sets that don’t exist anywhere else in the world.

Whether you collect Japanese cards, English cards, or both, these are five Chinese exclusive Pokémon you need to know about.

5. 5th Anniversary Pikachu Promo (153/SV-P) – Traditional Chinese

Not all Chinese exclusives come from Mainland China. Released in November 2024 to mark five years of the Traditional Chinese TCG – covering Taiwan and Hong Kong – this commemorative Pikachu promo is a genuine milestone card. 

The artwork spans all three modern eras in a single illustration, bringing together Zoroark-GX (representing Sun & Moon), Mew VMAX (Sword & Shield), and Tera Charizard ex (Scarlet & Violet). 

It’s a timeline that tells the story of an entire era of the TCG in one frame, showing fan-favourite chases side-by-side in a swirl of sparks, shadow and flame. 

That ambition alone earns it acclaim and an easy spot on this select list. 

 

4. Tera Arcanine ex 155/130 SAR – Simplified Chinese Main Set Exclusive

This Tera Arcanine ex SAR stands out as a collector’s pick from this group. 

Arcanine is a perennial fan favourite, and the Tera treatment gives the artwork a crystalline, otherworldly quality that feels genuinely distinct from its Japanese and English counterparts. 

While it's not a promo, standard Simplified Chinese sets have also been producing their own exclusive Special Art Rares, with recent releases also including SAR versions of Tera Maushold ex, Rika, Larry, Iron Hands ex, and Ciphermaniac’s Codebreaking – all with artwork unique to China.

The fact that you can actually pull Arcanine ex from a standard booster box makes it one of the more accessible entries on this list – which, given what’s coming, you’ll appreciate.

 

3. Eeveelution Connected Art Set – Simplified Chinese Gem Pack Vol. 2 

The Gem Pack product line is exclusively Chinese, and Volume 2, released in May 2025, is an Eeveelution collector’s dream. 

This isn’t one card. Granted. But that’s because the four connected full-art Illustration Rares featuring Eevee, Umbreon, Leafeon, and Sylveon by HYOGONOSUKE form a complete panoramic forest scene when placed side by side.

HYOGONOSUKE is known for a soft, painterly style and storybook-like layouts, and has previously created cards that connect into a single image across as many as nine separate cards. There’s a few famous examples, for sure. 

The Eeveelution connected art is a more contained version of that ambition, but no less impressive for it. Each card works beautifully in isolation. Then, together, they form something closer to a piece of framed art than a Pokémon card set.

For display collectors especially, this is one of the most visually rewarding products the Chinese TCG has produced.

2. Pikachu AR 172/151 – Collect 151: Journey (Simplified Chinese)

Oswaldo KATO’s four exclusive Pikachu Art Rares across the Collect 151 series are among the most talked-about illustrations in the Simplified Chinese TCG and are all incredible (check them out!). But the Pikachu AR 172/151 might be the best of the bunch  

The artwork feels like Kanto at its most wild, with Pikachu standing attentively in a moonlit forest. Though it’s not alone. 

Gengar looms directly behind it – arms spread wide, pink eyes gleaming, grin stretched to full width – filling almost the entire frame in a wash of deep purple shadow. 

Then there’s an Ekans curling through the grass at the bottom of the card and Parasect tucked against the undergrowth at the back of the artwork, adding to the sense of a forest that’s very much alive after dark.

The combination of two icons of the Pokémon TCG in Gengar and Pikachu means there’s an instant clamour for this wonderful chase. And Oswaldo KATO brings it all together in a signature soft, painterly style. 

1. Mew ex Lottery Promo (003/SV-P) – Simplified Chinese

This is the one. To receive the Mew ex lottery promo, Chinese players needed to complete 15 activities – such as gym battles – across three different tournament venues during the 2024 circuit. 

Even then, qualifying didn’t guarantee a card. Those who met the requirements were entered into a lottery, with only 151 cards awarded each month. The total print run stands at just 1,510 copies worldwide.

Illustrated by Satoma, the artwork shows Mew drifting through a field of sunlit wildflowers, capturing the Mythical Pokémon’s childlike wonder and unassuming beauty. It’s a deliberately gentle image for the rarest card on this list, and that contrast is part of what makes it so arresting. 

You won’t find this one in any booster box, in any other language, anywhere in the world. And that’s exactly the point.

Order Chinese Pokémon cards at Kabuto Cards here! 

 

Written By Nick Witts