Pikachu ex #238 — Surging Sparks Pokémon card

Pikachu ex #238 Value

Name: Pikachu ex #238 — Surging Sparks
Brand: Pokémon

Surging Sparks · Card 238/252 · Special illustration rare · 2024

Pikachu ex #238 is one of those cards that stops you mid-scroll, a special illustration rare from Surging Sparks pulled together by GIDORA's artwork and released back in 2024. It's the kind of pull that reminds you why Pikachu still headlines this whole hobby, decades in. If you're here checking Pikachu ex value, the short answer is that a raw copy sits at $295, which is solid money for a card this new.

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Market value & price

Raw / Ungraded

$295

Grade 9

$309

PSA 10

$990

PSA 10 is 3.4× the raw price

Value by grade

Where it drops

Pulled 132× on PackSpy across Collector Crypt, Courtyard · biggest hit $2.7k.

Found in packs: Grail Pokémon Gacha Pack · Pokémon Diamond Pack · Mythic Pokémon Gacha Pack · Pokémon Ultra (Spicy) · Pokémon Platinum (Spicy) …

Want to pull Pikachu ex?

Rip a live pack on the sites that drop cards like this:

Rip on Collector Crypt →Rip on Courtyard →Rip on Packs.com →Rip on LastPack →

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PriceCharting history ↗eBay sold listings ↗PSA price guide ↗

Card details

Set: Surging Sparks
Card number: 238 of 252
Rarity: Special illustration rare
Type: Lightning
HP: 200
Stage: Basic
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat cost: 1
Illustrator: GIDORA
Released: 2024

Attacks

Topaz Bolt300
Grass · Lightning · Metal
Discard 3 Energy from this Pokémon.

Pikachu ex — collector's take

Is Pikachu ex worth grading?

So is it worth sending Pikachu ex off to get graded? Here's the honest math: raw sits at $295, a Grade 9 comes in at $309, and a PSA 10 jumps to $990, which works out to roughly 3.4 times the raw price. That jump looks tempting on paper, but gem mint is genuinely hard to hit on a special illustration rare like this one, since the full-art edges and inking show every little whitening or scratch under grading lights. Factor in grading fees, turnaround time, and the real chance your card comes back a 9 instead of a 10, and grading starts to feel less like a sure thing and more like its own small bet on top of the one you already made pulling or buying the card.

How rare is it?

Special illustration rares are already a tier built for scarcity, sitting above your standard holo pulls in Surging Sparks, and Pikachu ex earns its spot in that tier through GIDORA's artwork alone. We don't have population figures to point to here, but the pricing tells its own story: a $295 raw card that nearly quadruples to $990 in PSA 10 condition tells you gem mint copies are thin on the ground relative to demand. That gap between raw and graded value is usually the clearest signal collectors get about how tough true top-condition copies are to come by.

Where to pull it

This is where PackSpy's own data earns its keep, because we've tracked Pikachu ex getting pulled 132 times across real pack-opening sites, specifically courtyard and collector-crypt. The biggest recorded pull came in at $2,700, which gives you a sense of how good things can get when the card lands in the right pack. We've seen it show up in the Pokémon Pro Pack, Pokémon Starter Pack, Legendary Pokémon Gacha Pack, Grail Pokémon Gacha Pack, and Elemental Legends: Fire & Electric, so if you're chasing this one live, those are the products where our tracker has actually caught it happening. Worth saying plainly: opening packs is a gamble, and most rips don't come close to covering what you spent, so treat every pull as entertainment first and a possible bonus second.

Questions people ask

How much is Pikachu ex worth?

A raw or ungraded Pikachu ex from Surging Sparks is valued at $295 right now. Graded copies climb from there, with a Grade 9 at $309 and a PSA 10 reaching $990, so condition makes a real difference to what it's worth.

Is Pikachu ex worth grading?

It depends on the copy in your hands. A PSA 10 pulls in $990, about 3.4 times the raw price of $295, but gem mint is genuinely hard to land on a card with this much fine detail, and a Grade 9 only brings $309, so weigh the grading cost against a realistic shot at that top grade.

What set is Pikachu ex from?

Pikachu ex #238 comes from Surging Sparks, released in 2024, and it's a special illustration rare illustrated by GIDORA, which puts it firmly among the set's most sought-after pulls.