Image: Fanatics Collect
A Pokémon card that was never available in stores has just become one of the most valuable pieces in the entire hobby.
A PSA 10 Gem Mint copy of the 2015 Japanese XY Promo Art Academy Fujishima Pikachu — better known among collectors as “Raincoat Pikachu” — sold for an incredible $8.4 million USD, including buyer’s premium, through Fanatics Collect.
The auction closed on September 28 after attracting 64 bids, putting the card behind only one other Pokémon card in the hobby’s all-time sales history.
From Art Contest to $8.4 Million Card
The story behind Raincoat Pikachu is what makes its rarity so unusual.
Artist Y. Fujishima created the artwork for a worldwide competition connected to the Nintendo 3DS game Pokémon Art Academy, eventually winning the Dress-Up Pikachu category.
Instead of a traditional trophy, Fujishima received 100 officially printed copies of the winning artwork as part of the prize.
Those cards were never inserted into booster packs, distributed through retail products, or sold in stores. From the beginning, the entire supply was effectively limited to just 100 copies.
Why Collectors Call It “Raincoat Pikachu”
The nickname comes from Fujishima’s artwork, which shows Pikachu dressed in a bright red raincoat beneath an umbrella.
Compared with the action-heavy artwork commonly associated with the Pokémon TCG, the illustration has a softer, almost storybook quality that gives the card a completely different personality.
This particular copy also carries the highest possible PSA 10 Gem Mint grade, combining an extremely limited original print run with elite condition.
One of the Biggest Price Jumps in Pokémon History
The $8.4 million result becomes even more remarkable when compared with previous sales.
PSA 10 copies of Raincoat Pikachu reportedly sold for $12,600 in July 2024 and $19,200 in June 2025.
In barely over a year, the same card in the same grade jumped from the low five figures into the multimillion-dollar tier — one of the most dramatic increases seen in the modern Pokémon market.
And Raincoat Pikachu is not alone.
High-grade Pikachu cards have continued to post major results across the hobby, showing just how aggressively collectors are competing for the character’s rarest and most important releases.
Second Only to Pikachu Illustrator
Despite the record-setting result, one Pokémon card still sits above Raincoat Pikachu.
The PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator formerly owned by Logan Paul sold for $16.492 million at Goldin earlier this year, establishing a new record not only for Pokémon but for any trading card sold at auction.
Raincoat Pikachu now occupies the next tier beneath it — an extraordinary position for a card that began life as a prize from an art competition.
The Stashed Angle
For Stashed, this sale shows exactly how much the highest end of Pokémon collecting has evolved.
Scarcity alone is no longer enough. The biggest cards combine rarity, artwork, provenance, condition, and a story that cannot easily be replicated.
Raincoat Pikachu has all of them.
What started as 100 copies awarded to one artist in 2015 has now produced an $8.4 million sale barely more than a decade later — turning a fan-created Pikachu illustration into one of the most valuable trading cards ever made.
