On the surface, the Skyla card from fifth-generation Pokémon TCG set Plasma Gale might not necessarily seem to be the most obvious candidate to experience a massive price spike. While it does indeed benefit from many of the usual features that make a Pokémon TCG card highly valuable, it wouldn’t have struck most fans as the one card which would’ve been most likely to go through what it just did.

In recent weeks, this Super Rare (SR) card depicting the Mistralton Gym Leader has more than sextupled in value. While this card is indeed a Full Art card that depicts a female character, that in and of itself isn’t enough to fully explain that type of jump in such a short timespan. After all, the video games set for remakes are Gen 6’s Pokémon X and Y, not Gen 5’s Pokémon Black and White—as such, something like this might have been more expected of a card featuring a female character first introduced in the sixth generation.

That being said, there are certain elements in play which do contribute to the card’s immense value. For example, the background of the card has an image of a whirlwind on it; this is an allusion to the fact that Skyla is a Flying-type specialist. In addition, the illustrator clearly chose to play up the “female character effect”, positioning Skyla at an angle that highlights her physical features as well as her fairly revealing and form-fitting clothing.

It also helps that Skyla is one of the most-frequently “shipped” characters of Pokémon’s fifth generation. A large number of fans like to believe that she’s romantically involved with Elesa, the Electric-type expert who’s the Nimbasa Gym Leader.

This card’s English version is card 149/149 from Boundaries Crossed.

Following its recent massive price surge, a copy of a Skyla (Plasma Gale [BW7] 076/070) card now sells for a massive 170,000 JPY (~US$1,068)!

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