Collector notes · 2026-10-24

EX-era secret rares: 19 cards beyond the set size

Eleven English EX sets from 2003 to 2007 have 19 secret rares between them, cards numbered beyond the set size such as 100/97. Ten of them came as box toppers on top of the booster box, the other nine were, as far as is known, found in booster packs.

A secret rare is a card whose number is higher than the set size. Charizard from EX Dragon, for example, is numbered 100/97, even though the set officially has only 97 cards. The first such card was Dark Raichu 83/82 from Team Rocket in 2000. In the EX era, from EX Ruby & Sapphire (2003) to EX Power Keepers (2007), there are 19 secret rares across eleven sets. All of them are holo cards.

The complete list: EX Dragon 98 to 100 (Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard). EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua 96 Absol and 97 Jirachi. EX Hidden Legends 102 Groudon. EX FireRed & LeafGreen 113 Charmander plus 114 to 116 Articuno ex, Moltres ex and Zapdos ex. EX Team Rocket Returns 110 Charmeleon and 111 Here Comes Team Rocket!. EX Deoxys 108 Rocket's Raikou ex. EX Emerald 107 Farfetch'd. EX Unseen Forces 116 Rocket's Persian ex and 117 Celebi ex. EX Delta Species 114 Azumarill. EX Legend Maker 93 Pikachu δ. EX Holon Phantoms 111 Mew. EX Ruby & Sapphire, EX Sandstorm, EX Crystal Guardians, EX Dragon Frontiers and EX Power Keepers have no secret rare.

There were two ways to get these cards. A box topper is a card that sat loose on top of the packs in a sealed booster box, as a reward for buying the whole box. From EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua to EX Holon Phantoms, each set had one secret rare as a box topper: Absol, Groudon, Charmander 113, Charmeleon 110, Rocket's Raikou ex, Farfetch'd, Rocket's Persian ex, Azumarill, Pikachu δ and Mew. The other nine came from booster packs: Charmander, Charmeleon and Charizard from EX Dragon, Jirachi, the three legendary birds, Here Comes Team Rocket! and Celebi ex. Wikis used to list the EX Dragon trio as box toppers too. Data from opened booster boxes points to packs, however.

There are no official pull rates. Collectors who have analysed many opened booster boxes usually found exactly one of the three birds per box in EX FireRed & LeafGreen. In EX Dragon it was about one of the three secret rares per box on average. For Jirachi, Here Comes Team Rocket! and Celebi ex the estimates vary widely, and reliable numbers are missing. Because the box toppers sat on the packs without a sleeve, collectors often report damage to edges and corners.

Almost none of these cards was a secret rare in Japan. 15 of the 19 come from Japanese promotions or deck products. Absol, Jirachi and Groudon were given out in 2003 with a drinks promotion at 7-Eleven stores. Charizard 100/97 was a prize at the Battle Road tournament series in spring 2004 in Japan, Rocket's Raikou ex one in autumn 2004. Charmander 113, Charmeleon 110, Mew and Pikachu δ came with Meiji chocolate in Japan. Azumarill was included with the Japanese VHS and DVD of a Pikachu short film. Celebi ex was a reward in the Japanese Pokémon Players Club. In Japan the three birds are regular cards from the set Flight of Legends. The only exception is Here Comes Team Rocket!. That card was a secret rare in the Japanese set Rocket Gang Strikes Back as well (085/084).

Only three of the 19 cards have an unusual type. Rocket's Raikou ex and Rocket's Persian ex are Darkness Pokémon, like all Rocket's Pokémon-ex. Pikachu δ is a Metal Pokémon. The δ stands for Delta Species, Pokémon with a different type than usual, and Pikachu δ is the only such card in EX Legend Maker. Charizard 100/97, by contrast, is an ordinary Fire type. Here Comes Team Rocket! is the only Trainer card among the EX secret rares. Charmander 113 and Charmeleon 110 have the same card text as Charmander 98 and Charmeleon 99 from EX Dragon, but new artwork by Ken Sugimori. Mew 111 is a reprint of the Mew from Expedition, also with artwork by Ken Sugimori. Most of the artwork is by Mitsuhiro Arita (seven cards) and Ryo Ueda (six cards).

Two groups of cards are often confused with secret rares. Gold Stars (★) are very rare, but they sit inside the numbering. In EX Power Keepers, for example, Flareon ★, Jolteon ★ and Vaporeon ★ are numbers 100, 101 and 102 of 108. Gold Stars are therefore not secret rares. The 28 Unown from EX Unseen Forces have their own numbering from A/28 to ?/28 and do not count either. Reverse holo versions of the secret rares are not listed in any of the card lists we used.

There are few special variants. According to collector checklists and the PSA population, the EX Dragon trio also exists with the stamp of the 2003/04 Championships. Mew 111 also exists as a non-holo from early DVD releases of the film “Lucario and the Mystery of Mew”. In our spot checks, PSA labels carry no “Secret” note. They show the set, the number without the set size (for example #100) and the suffix “Holo”.

Compared with earlier sets, the EX secret rares were not a new kind of card. In the Neo sets they were Shining Pokémon, in Aquapolis and Skyridge Crystal Pokémon of the Colorless type. In the EX era, by contrast, they were mostly Japanese promos added to English sets. After EX Holon Phantoms there were no more box toppers, and the last three EX sets had no secret rare. Secret rares came back with Diamond & Pearl. Box toppers only returned in 2025 with Journey Together.

EX-era secret rares: 19 cards beyond the set size

Cards affected

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