In January 2018, the Team Rainbow Rocket’s Ambition campaign was held in Japan following the then-recent launch of the Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon video games, the sequels to main-series seventh-generation games Pokémon Sun and Moon; Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon included Episode RR which was named after Team Rainbow Rocket. Seven promotional Pokémon TCG were released as part of the campaign; each one was a Pikachu dressed as a villainous team leader.

About Pretend Boss Pikachu (SM-P Promotional Cards 191/SM-P)

Like all the other Pretend Boss Pikachu cards, the card that featured Pikachu in Team Rocket leader Giovanni’s suit was released from 20 January 2018 and was available for as long as stocks lasted. During the campaign, customers at participating Pokémon Centers (including the online store) or Pokémon Store in Japan who purchased five Pokémon TCG booster packs in one transaction would receive one of seven Pretend Boss Pikachu cards chosen at random; this was one of them.

This Pretend Boss Pikachu card’s high value is mainly driven by its status as a promotional card which was only available for a limited period under specific circumstances. In addition, since Pikachu is the face of the Pokémon franchise, this card would be likely be further elevated in value for that reason.

There’s also a nostalgia factor in play as Team Rocket was the original villainous team of the Pokémon franchise; thus, those who have been into Pokémon since the beginning or close to it would likely be drawn to this card. The gimmick of Pikachu being dressed as Giovanni supplies the card with additional appeal, while its attack name of Domination? refers to both Team Rocket’s desire to rule the world by exploiting the powers of Pokémon; the question mark shows that it isn’t actually Giovanni.

Release Details

This card was never released in English.

A copy of a Pretend Boss Pikachu (SM-P Promotional Cards 191/SM-P) card has a price of 40,000 JPY (~US$266).

In other TCG-related news, check out the Knock Out Collection “Alakazam” / “Chien-Pao”. 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.

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