VAULT JOURNAL · HOW TO / GUIDES · MARCH 2026

Every Exclusive Card in the Gem Pack Series

14 China-exclusive art rares across four volumes - the complete guide.

INTRODUCTION

Cards That Don't Exist Anywhere Else

Every Gem Pack volume includes something you cannot find in the Japanese, English, Korean, or Traditional Chinese print runs - China-exclusive art rare cards with original artwork commissioned specifically for the Simplified Chinese market. These are not reprints, not alternate holofoil treatments, not stamped variants of existing illustrations. They are entirely new pieces of card art, created by named illustrators, available only in these sets.

Across the four volumes released so far, that adds up to 14 exclusive cards. Some have become the most sought-after pieces in the entire Simplified Chinese Pokemon TCG catalogue. This is a complete guide to every one of them - what they depict, who illustrated them, and why they matter for collectors.

VOL. 1 — JANUARY 2025

The Horizons Four

The series debut set the tone immediately. Vol. 1 introduced four exclusive full art cards themed around the Pokemon Horizons anime, each depicting a trainer alongside their partner Pokemon. The artwork was illustrated by Yasuda Shuhei, and each card carries a Pokemon Horizons stamp on the card face - a detail that makes them instantly recognisable.

The Sprigatito and Liko card is the standout - Liko's character was the emotional centre of the Horizons anime, and this is one of very few TCG cards that captures that bond in full art form. Captain Pikachu with Friede rounds out the set as the card with the broadest collector appeal, carried by Pikachu's universal recognition and Friede's popularity as a character.

Vol. 1 is now the hardest Gem Pack to source. Boxes have appreciated significantly since release, and these four exclusives are the primary reason why.

VOL. 2 — MAY 2025

The Eeveelution Quartet

Vol. 2's four exclusive art rares did something none of the other volumes have attempted - all four cards were illustrated by the same artist, HYOGONOSUKE, and designed around a shared forest scene. The artwork depicts Eevee, Leafeon, Sylveon, and Umbreon in a lush woodland setting, each card capturing a different moment in the same world. The shared palette and composition give the set a storybook quality that is difficult to replicate in a standard card set.

HYOGONOSUKE is well known in the TCG community for connected artwork - his nine-card panorama in the Japanese sets proved the concept at scale. The Gem Pack version is more intimate. Four cards, one artist, one world, and a soft painterly style that suits the Eeveelution family perfectly.

If you can track down all four, frame them together. The shared aesthetic is the point.

VOL. 3 — SEPTEMBER 2025

The Nocturnal Five

Vol. 3 leaned into a nocturnal theme and increased the exclusive count to five - the most of any volume. Where Vol. 2 told one story across four cards, Vol. 3 gave each exclusive art rare its own distinct scene, all set at night, all carrying a different mood, and each handled by a different illustrator.

The Gengar is the headline card - a mischievous scene of Gengar levitating a Clefairy Doll's dessert, rendered in deep purple mist tones that give it a genuinely eerie atmosphere. It has become the single most valuable card in the Vol. 3 set and one of the most traded Gem Pack exclusives on the secondary market.

The Cubone is the emotional counterpoint - two Cubones sitting on a stone bridge over a stream, surrounded by autumn leaves and village houses. It is Cubone's first-ever art rare in any language, and the warmth of the scene is a deliberate contrast to the character's famously melancholic backstory. The Meowth follows a similar cultural thread, perched on the edge of a rooftop under a full moon with spring lanterns glowing below.

Ceruledge and Chandelure round out the five with darker, more atmospheric compositions - spectral light cutting through city shadows. Both suit the nocturnal theme perfectly and offer the set a cinematic quality that Vol. 2's softer palette deliberately avoided.

VOL. 4 — FEBRUARY 2026

The Fire Horse

Vol. 4 stripped the exclusive count back to one. But when that one card is a Ponyta Art Rare by MINAMINAMI Take, timed to coincide with the Chinese zodiac Year of the Fire Horse - a cycle that only comes around once every 60 years - the restraint makes sense. Quality over quantity.

MINAMINAMI Take is known for character-focused Pokemon artwork that balances clean detail with playful warmth - think the Charmander and Detective Pikachu cards. The Ponyta illustration follows that same sensibility, and the zodiac alignment gives it a cultural weight that most promo cards never carry.

2026 is not just the Year of the Horse. It is a Fire Horse year - the Horse is already a fire sign in the zodiac, and 2026's Heavenly Stems also point to fire. Ponyta, a fire horse Pokemon, is a precise match. The last Fire Horse year was 1966. The next one will be 2086. This card was made for this moment.

For a deeper breakdown of Vol. 4 - including the Deerling and Sawsbuck diptych, the full pull rate structure, and what changed from Vol. 3 - read the full deep dive.

THE FULL PICTURE

Why These Cards Matter

Exclusive regional artwork is not new to the Pokemon TCG - the Japanese market has had it for years. What makes the Gem Pack exclusives different is their consistency. Every volume since the series launched in January 2025 has included original commissioned art that exists in no other language or print run. And every volume has approached that commission differently.

Vol. 1 tied its exclusives to the anime. Vol. 2 gave a single artist room to build a connected scene. Vol. 3 assembled five illustrators around a shared theme. Vol. 4 put all its weight behind one card at the right cultural moment. That range of approach, packed into just four sets released over a single year, is what makes the Gem Pack series worth following as a collector - not just for the cards themselves, but for what they signal about the direction of the Simplified Chinese Pokemon TCG market.

These cards are printed in Japan to Japanese quality standards, in limited production runs, with no confirmed plans for reprints or international release. If you want them, the sealed product is the way in - and the window narrows with every volume that goes out of print.