Some of the Pokémon TCG cards which have recently been the spotlight following a recent significant price hike are the cards from the Crown Zenith set, as well as their Japanese counterparts from VSTAR Universe [S12a], depicting each member of the Legendary Beast trio in their Pokémon V forms. While Suicune V has understandably taken most of the spotlight owing to its position as the de facto “face” of the trio, Raikou V should not be overlooked—there’s been much demand for this card as well.

The Full Art illustration of this Special Art Rare (SAR) card shows Raikou V running at a tremendous pace, lightning bolts surrounding it all the while. The background of the illustration is no more than out-of-focus lines in various colors, emphasizing Raikou V’s blistering speed. This is also likely an allusion to this card Ability of Fleet-Footed as well as Raikou’s status as a roaming Legendary in many of the Pokémon video games—including, most memorably, its debut in Pokémon Gold and Silver.

Raikou V itself has been largely drawn via the use of colored pencils. This is something not commonly seen in Pokémon TCG illustrations. Thus, the novelty of the art style is likely to further boost the card’s value.

Finally, there might also be the nostalgia factor in play. Since Raikou V has been drawn to call to mind the fact that it’s often been a roaming Legendary, this card might thus be evocative of memories from those early Pokémon video games.

In English, this card is GG41/GG70 from the Crown Zenith set.

One copy of a Raikou V (VSTAR Universe [S12a] 218/172) card sells for 2,750 JPY (~US$18).

In other TCG-related news, check out the Zapdos ex card from Pokémon Card 151 [SV2a]. Alternatively, you can also head over to the SNKRDUNK App via the banner below and find the top trending and latest single cards and boxes.