Pokemon TCG Journey Together: The 10 Chase Cards, Ranked

Pokemon TCG Journey Together: The 10 Chase Cards, Ranked

Scarlet & Violet's Journey Together built its whole chase list around a single idea: pair a Trainer with their signature partner Pokemon and give the pairing a full Special Illustration Rare treatment. Lillie's Clefairy ex leads the set at close to $190 raw, nearly double the next card down, and the set's four Trainer pairs, Lillie and Clefairy, N and Zoroark, Hop and Zacian, and Iono and Bellibolt, drive almost every dollar of secondary market demand more than a year after release.

Why Journey Together Still Moves

Journey Together (SV9) released March 28, 2025, the ninth main expansion of the Scarlet & Violet era, running 190 cards in the main set plus 159 reverse holo variants for a 349-card master set. It landed with six Special Illustration Rares, an unusually thin premium tier for a modern set, and pull rates near 1 in 86 packs for the SIR slot. That scarcity, plus the story-driven Trainer-and-partner concept, is why the set held its value long after the initial box-break rush faded.

Two grading patterns repeat across this list regardless of which specific card you pull. Every Special Illustration Rare here uses the same wide illustration frame, and its border runs tighter than it looks in hand, which makes centering the default gem killer across the SIR tier. The gold Hyper Rare printings grade harder still: gold foil laid across the entire card front is one of the least forgiving surfaces in the hobby, showing every print line and roller mark, and centering on the Hyper Rare template is tight enough that a 60/40 cut is common. Hyper Rare comps also stay thinner than the SIR tier's, since fewer collectors bother submitting a card that already reads as a rarity flex rather than an art upgrade.

See how to grade Pokemon cards for what corners, edges, surface, and centering look like under a loupe, PSA vs BGS vs CGC for which company fits a modern full art submission, and which Pokemon cards are worth grading for the general rules this list applies.

How We Ranked These

This list orders the ten cards collectors actually chase from Journey Together, weighing raw price against real PSA 10 attainability. Prices below reflect current secondary market listings as this guide goes to print and move week to week, so treat any single figure as a snapshot, not a floor. Where population data is thin, we say so instead of guessing.

The Journey Together Countdown: 10 Cards Worth Grading

10. Noibat, Illustration Rare (169/159)

Noibat's cave scene is one of the more atmospheric Illustration Rares in the checklist, and it is cheap enough that new collectors pick it up just to have a piece of the set. The dark cave background hides some print texture but not corner whitening, which is the main gem killer here, and centering on the wide IR frame is the second risk since the border runs tighter than it looks in hand. Raw copies run $4 to $6. A PSA 9 has sold near $35, a real multiple for a card this cheap, but PSA 10 comps stay thin since few collectors bother submitting a sub-$10 card.

9. Articuno, Illustration Rare (161/159)

The legendary bird trio always pulls collector demand regardless of the set around it, and Articuno's icy full art treatment is one of the cleaner alternate arts in Journey Together. Light, high-contrast art makes surface scratches and print lines more visible than on a darker card, so surface is the axis most likely to cap a 10 here, not whitening. Raw copies trade near $25 to $30. PSA 10 pricing sits in the $60 to $90 range on current listings, a real premium for a card outside the set's main Trainer chase.

8. Iono's Bellibolt ex, Hyper Rare (188/159)

The gold-foil Hyper Rare printing of Iono's Bellibolt ex is a separate chase from its Special Illustration Rare, and master set collectors need both. It reads as a pure rarity flex more than an art upgrade, but it still pulls real money. Raw copies run in the $25 to $35 band, and early listings put a PSA 10 gem near $80 to $100.

7. N's Zoroark ex, Hyper Rare (189/159)

The gold Hyper Rare version of the set's second-biggest chase, and the card master set collectors specifically call out as worth chasing in a full playset. A complete run of N's Zoroark ex across all its printings tops $120 on its own. Zoroark's dark color palette makes any whitening at the corners stand out even more starkly against the gold border. Raw copies trade near $30 to $40.

6. Volcanion ex, Special Illustration Rare

The lone non-Trainer-pair SIR in the set, and a strong pull on its own merits: dramatic full art with none of the frame competing for attention, appealing to collectors who want the SIR aesthetic without paying the Trainer-pair premium. The steam and rock texture in the background hides some print variance. Raw copies run $40 to $50 on current listings, and PSA 10 pricing sits around $90 to $120, the most accessible SIR-tier grading play in the whole set.

5. Hop's Zacian ex, Special Illustration Rare

The fourth of the set's Trainer pairs, and the one that leans hardest into competitive nostalgia given Zacian's Sword and Shield era dominance. Hop's redesigned art puts the sword motif front and center, which collectors of the Galar region specifically chase. The sword's metallic foil treatment scratches easily, and it sits close enough to the card's visual center that a scratch there reads worse than the same flaw in a corner. Raw copies run $60 to $70 on current market listings, and PSA 10 pricing lands in the $150 to $200 range, a real step up from Volcanion and the point where the set's Trainer-pair premium starts to show.

4. Iono's Bellibolt ex, Special Illustration Rare

Iono is one of the most popular Trainers of the current era, and pairing her with Bellibolt, a fan favorite for its expressive design rather than competitive relevance, made this one of the set's most naturally likeable pulls. The bright yellow and electric-effect background makes surface print lines more visible than on the set's darker SIRs. Raw copies trade near $80 to $90, and PSA 10 copies run $180 to $220 on current listings, tracking closely with Hop's Zacian ex one tier up.

3. N's Zoroark ex, Special Illustration Rare

N is one of the most requested Trainers in the franchise's history, and this is his first Special Illustration Rare pairing with his signature Zoroark. The character demand alone would carry this card even without the chase-tier scarcity behind it. Zoroark's dark fur and the shadowed background make edge and corner whitening the single biggest gem risk on this card, the same trap that catches most dark-toned modern chases. Raw copies run $90 to $100 on current market listings, and PSA 10 pricing sits around $220 to $260, among the strongest holds in the set outside the top two cards.

2. Salamence ex, Special Illustration Rare

The first card in the set to clear $100 raw on its own merits, driven by Salamence's enduring popularity as a Dragon-type and a genuinely dynamic full art pull. It is the card most likely to sit in second place on any Journey Together want list. The wide dragon wingspan gives surface a lot of room to pick up print lines and scuffing, and the card's busy background makes a centering miss harder to spot with the naked eye until it is under a loupe. Raw copies run $105 to $115 on current listings, and PSA 10 pricing lands around $260 to $300, a real premium that has held since the card's early weeks on the market.

1. Lillie's Clefairy ex, Special Illustration Rare

The undisputed chase of Journey Together, trading at nearly double the set's second-place card more than a year after release. Lillie remains one of the most requested Trainers in the entire franchise, and pairing her with Clefairy, a character with its own deep nostalgia going back to the original Base Set, made this the single card the whole set is built around. The soft pastel background is forgiving on surface compared to the set's darker SIRs, which shifts the real risk to centering: the wide illustration frame runs tight enough that even a clean-looking pull can land a 9 instead of a 10 on a slightly off-center cut. Raw copies currently run $180 to $195, representing close to a quarter of the entire set's aggregate value on its own, and PSA 10 pricing runs $350 to $450, the clear highest-value grading decision in the set.

The ZeroPop Verdict: Which Journey Together Cards to Grade First

The math on this set is unusually clean. Lillie's Clefairy ex and Salamence ex both clear the grading fee by a wide margin at current raw prices, and both are worth a careful scan before submission given how much a single centering miss costs against a $180 to $300 raw floor. N's Zoroark ex and Iono's Bellibolt ex sit in the same tier one step down, still comfortably worth grading if the scan comes back clean on all four axes.

The gold Hyper Rares are the trickier call. Raw prices sit lower than the matching SIRs, and graded comps stay thin because fewer collectors bother submitting them, so the upside is real but less proven. Volcanion ex and Hop's Zacian ex are the accessible middle tier, both worth grading at their price point without the same all-or-nothing risk as the top two cards. Noibat and Articuno are the low-stakes plays: cheap enough to submit for fun, but the math only works if you are bulk-submitting anyway. Scan every pull against all four sub grades before it ships anywhere. The full Journey Together checklist shows community grades on every card in the set. Run the numbers with is my card worth grading and see best cards to grade in 2026 for this year's strongest submissions across every set.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most valuable card in Journey Together?

Lillie's Clefairy ex, Special Illustration Rare, is the clear leader, trading around $180 to $195 raw and representing close to a quarter of the entire set's value by itself. PSA 10 copies currently run $350 to $450 on current listings.

When did Journey Together release?

Journey Together (SV9) released in the English TCG on March 28, 2025, the ninth main expansion of the Scarlet & Violet series. It runs 190 cards in the main set, plus 159 reverse holo variants for a 349-card master set.

How many Special Illustration Rares are in Journey Together?

Six: Lillie's Clefairy ex, Salamence ex, N's Zoroark ex, Iono's Bellibolt ex, Hop's Zacian ex, and Volcanion ex. That is an unusually thin SIR tier for a modern set, which is part of why the top cards held their value well past the initial release window.

What is the difference between the Special Illustration Rare and Hyper Rare versions of the same card?

Both N's Zoroark ex and Iono's Bellibolt ex appear as a Special Illustration Rare and as a separate gold-foil Hyper Rare. They are different printings collectors chase independently for a master set, and the gold Hyper Rare's solid foil surface is a harder grade than the SIR's full art background, since it shows print lines and scratches with less forgiveness.

Is Journey Together still worth grading in 2026?

Yes, for the top tier. Lillie's Clefairy ex and Salamence ex both clear the grading math comfortably at current raw prices, and demand for the set's Trainer pairs has proven durable rather than a launch-week spike. Cheaper Illustration Rares like Noibat and Articuno only make sense to grade if you are already bulk-submitting other cards.

Should I submit Journey Together SIRs to PSA or CGC?

PSA carries the deeper secondary market premium for modern Special Illustration Rares, which is why most of the graded comps referenced here are PSA sales. CGC is a reasonable alternative for the set's mid-tier cards, like Volcanion ex or Hop's Zacian ex, where a lower submission fee keeps the math tighter. See PSA vs BGS vs CGC for the full comparison.