Raichu · Ascended Heroes, what to know.
About the Raichu card
Raichu sits at #56 in Ascended Heroes, released in April 2026. Ascended Heroes is part of the modern English Pokémon TCG era and uses the standard contemporary card frame and rarity tiers. Illustration by Iori Suzuki. In the games, Raichu evolves from Pikachu, which makes it a late-stage card in the line.
The flavor text on the card reads: "When its electricity builds, its muscles are stimulated, and it becomes more aggressive than usual." Pokédex entries from this era are short and often quirky, written by the original Japanese localization team for a specific stat-block layout that no longer exists in modern cards.
About Raichu in the Pokémon world
The fully evolved Pikachu. Larger, orange-yellow body, with a long tail. Rare in the wild; usually requires a Thunder Stone evolution. Base Set holo Raichu is one of the famous "where is mine" cards. Its print run had inconsistent centering, and a famously rare prerelease variant exists.
Print variants and how to spot them
Ascended Heroes shipped in Holofoil, Reverse Holo, Mega ex, Full Art, and Special Illustration prints. Mega ex cards are the headline rarity tier of the Mega Evolution era and use the new mega-treatment artwork distinct from standard ex cards.
Grading and condition
Modern Uncommons grade cleanly. The secondary market for graded modern Uncommons is mostly set-completionist driven; standalone demand is thin. Useful as a first grading submission to learn the process.
If you are buying this card
Raw copies of this card are inexpensive enough that the grading math rarely justifies submission unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completionists, picking up a clean raw copy and sleeving it is the practical move.
