A Rainbow Rare Pokemon card refers to a full-art Pokemon card that has a rainbow texture over it. They were initially introduced in the Sun & Moon era of Pokemon cards and were some of the hardest cards and most expensive cards to pull at the time. Although they have slightly lost their novelty, even now, in the back end of the Sword and Shield era of Pokemon, they remain some of the most valuable cards in specific sets.

Rainbow cards can only be pulled from the Sun & Moon base set onwards. Any set prior to this did not feature any Rainbow Rares. They will always occupy the rare slot of the pack (which you can identify by a star at the very bottom of the card) and varying pull rates depending on the set you’re opening. Each individual rainbow rare in the set will also have its own pull rates. Typically a card’s value is decided by two things: its rarity and how desirable the Pokemon actually is. Nobody really cares about Rainbow Rare Tauros because in essence nobody really cares about Tauros. Get yourself a Rainbow Rare Charizard however and it’s a different story, suddenly you got a pretty valuable card on your hands. 

Now let’s jump into this list (all price data gathered from TCGPlayer’s market prices).

We open the list with a tag team card from the Sun & Moon era of Pokemon. More specifically, the set Team Up. This set introduced the “tag team” mechanic in the trading card game and would then become a staple part of the Sun & Moon sets to come. This mechanic meant that the card could feature two separate Pokemon in one and in this case, the card features a cute little Pikachu with its arms crossed standing on the hand of a slightly more menacing Zekrom. Ungraded, this card clocks in at around $80 but in a PSA 10 can be as expensive as $200.

This card is relatively low on the list for a Rainbow Rare Charizard and this is likely because it’s one of the newer entries. The Rainbow Rare Charizard VStar burst onto the scene in February of this year in the set Brilliant Stars and also introduced the VStar game mechanic for the first time. The card features a Charizard roaring and flying through the air in all of its multi-colored glory and will cost you around $86 ungraded. In a PSA 10 however, you can expect to be paying around $300 and this is likely going to increase in the coming years as Brilliant Stars stops its print run.

You thought it was just going to stop and Pikachu and Zekrom? Don’t worry there are plenty more tag team cards to come but for now, let’s take a look at the Mewtwo & Mew GX. This card sees the return of the legendary Kanto region in the set Unified Minds duo which is probably what makes it so expensive. The card features a Mew floating in front of a Mewtwo sticking its weird three-pronged hand at the viewer of the card and costing about $100 ungraded, these two don’t mess about. In a PSA 10, they aren’t quite as expensive as the Charizard raking in about $200 but they are nonetheless more valuable ungraded.

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Told you it wouldn’t be the last of the team-up cards. This card from likely the most memorable Sun & Moon set: Cosmic Eclipse, features both a blast from the past and a spotlight being shone on the newer generation of Pokemon as we see the nostalgic first-generation, fire-type starter Pokemon Charizard carrying the seventh-generation fire-type starter Braixen on its back. Ungraded this card finds itself just a bit more expensive than the Mewtwo and Mew at around $102. Now if you manage to get hold of this card in a PSA 10 then you have yourself a roughly $300 – $350 card on your hands.

This is actually the first standard GX entry on the list and it is already hard to come by as it is. It comes from the Sun & Moon set Celestial Storm and seems to be a pretty rare card nowadays. It’s simply just a Rayquaza semi-coiled up roaring about something but has a market price of around $116 when ungraded. It’s hard to gauge an accurate price for this in a PSA 10 because not many have sold, but there are several being listed in the region of $650 for this card.

This entry comes from the Sun & Moon set Lost Thunder as it brings back the OG second generation (Silver) legendary: Lugia. Like a lot of the other dragon-looking Pokemon, the card just features the Pokemon screeching, roaring, or shouting, whatever you want to call it, it’s making some loud noise and the card is rainbow colored, what we are interested in is the pricing. To pick one of these up ungraded you’re looking at a $140 commitment and if you’re a real baller then you can buy it in a PSA 10 for roughly $800.

If you’re even a little bit into Pokemon cards then chances are you knew this one was coming. Also known as “The Rainbow Chonkachu” this beast of a Pikachu is in the upper echelon of Rainbow Rare pulls. Making its debut in the Sword & Shield set Vivid Voltage, the Rainbow Rare Pikachu VMax features the cutest, chunkiest Pikachu you’ve ever seen as lightning strikes behind him (or maybe it’s its tail, I’m not entirely sure). This is not only one of the rarest Rainbow Rare Pokemon cards but probably also one of the rarest cards in Sword & Shield. Even ungraded the card is worth around $150 but if you manage to get this in a PSA 10, you will have yourself a card close to $850 and this is from a modern set.

This will be the final tag team entry for the list and will probably remain that way unless The Pokemon Company both brings back tag team cards and then makes one more epic than this. This Unbroken Bonds Rainbow Rare pull brings together the Pokemon Black & White, fire/dragon-type legendary Reshiram with the fire/dragon-type starter Charizard to make one of the most awesome team-ups in Pokemon history. This card is worth around $150 ungraded and skyrockets to about $900 when in a PSA 10.

You’re probably noticing a pattern here with Charizard and the truth is, people just love anything with a Charizard on it and The Pokemon Company knows it. This Charizard comes from the Sword & Shield holiday set Champion’s Path, and re-uses the art of the Charizard VMax from the Sword & Shield set Darkness Ablaze but instead puts a rainbow flare on it. When I said Pikachu was likely one of the rarest Sword & Shield pulls is because this is probably the rarest Sword & Shield pull there is. Ungraded this card is worth nearly $200 and in a PSA 10, this card almost breaks the $1000 mark. In a few years, this may be one of the most sought-after Charizards.

This probably comes as no surprise to anyone. It ticks all of the boxes to make it the most valuable Rainbow Rare, it’s a Charizard, it’s a Rainbow Rare, and it’s the oldest Rainbow Rare Charizard, not to mention it is extremely hard to pull. YouTuber maxmoefoePokemon opened nearly 500 Burning Shadows Packs only to pull one of these bad boys. Because of this, ungraded, the card is already worth around $400, then if you get that in a PSA 10, say hello to your very own $3000 card.

While this list may make it sound like Rainbow Rares are the only secret rares worth pulling, this simply isn’t true. Almost any type of secret rare whether it be a Golden Rare, or an Alternate Art, they all have their own amazing pulls. Not too long ago, The Pokemon Company released a Golden Rare Mewtwo, and even earlier than that they released a Golden Rare Arceus both some of the rarest cards in their respective sets. If you own a card that just looks valuable, it’s always best to check online how much the card sells for before you jump to conclusions assuming it’s not worth anything.

While the list may suggest that Pokemon are the only things that can be Rainbow Rares there are plenty of trainer cards that are also Rainbow Rares. In fact, there are some Rainbow Rare trainer cards that are worth a good amount of money in their own respect. For example, the Rainbow Rare Bea from Vivid Voltage is worth about $50 in a PSA 10 and similarly, the Rainbow Rare Beauty from the same set is worth around the same. Of course, it can’t compete with the absolute best cards listed above but they are by no means worthless.

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