Perfect Order (ME03): The 6 Cards Everybody Wants

Perfect Order (ME03): The 6 Cards Everybody Wants

Perfect Order is five months old now, and the hype has settled into something more useful: real prices, real PSA 10 populations, and a clear answer on which of its four brand new Mega Evolution ex cards actually hold a grade. Here are the six Perfect Order (ME03) chase cards collectors and graders are still chasing, ranked by desire and price, with a verdict on which ones are worth a submission and which ones you sell raw.

The Set Perfect Order Built

Perfect Order (ME03) released March 27, 2026, the third main expansion in the Mega Evolution era and a direct thematic bridge to Pokemon Legends Z-A. The set trades the previous expansions' looser settings for Lumiose City's structured geometry, a theme that shows up everywhere from the card frames to the "restoring order against chaotic energy" flavor text running through the set.

The set totals 124 cards: 88 in the base checklist plus 36 secret rares numbered 089 through 124. Four Mega Evolution Pokemon ex make their TCG debut here, Mega Zygarde ex, Mega Starmie ex, Mega Clefable ex, and Mega Skarmory ex, and three of the four got the full Special Illustration Rare treatment. Only Mega Skarmory ex was left off the SIR list, which turns out to matter a lot for where it lands on this countdown.

For the grading angle that runs through everything below: our Mega Evolution era guide covers the sub-brand's mechanics and set timeline if you want the bigger picture before diving into Perfect Order specifically, and our Phantasmal Flames chase cards countdown is the closest sibling set if you are comparing which Mega Evolution era chases hold a grade best.

Sealed Product and the Pull Rate Math

A Perfect Order booster box runs about $171.59 for 36 packs, roughly $4.77 a pack, with Elite Trainer Boxes at a $59.99 MSRP for 9 packs (market price has settled around $70 to $95 since release). A standard box averages 7 to 8 ex cards and 4 Illustration Rares across its 36 packs.

The chase tier is a different story. Perfect Order carries 6 Special Illustration Rares total, and across all 6 the pull rate lands around 1 in 72 packs, roughly 1 in 432 packs for any single specific SIR. That is two full booster boxes on average before you see one particular chase in your own pulls, which is why most of this countdown gets bought on the secondary market rather than cracked from a pack.

The Countdown: 6 Down to 1

6. Mega Skarmory ex (Ultra Rare Full Art, 106/088)

Why everybody wants it. Skarmory is the odd one out among Perfect Order's four Mega debuts, the only one that never got a Special Illustration Rare printing. Its Ultra Rare full art at 106/088 is the highest tier the card reaches, which makes it the accessible entry point into a full set of the four new Mega ex.

The grade that matters. Full art foil border cards show whitening at the corners before anything else, and the extended art panel means edge wear is visible the moment you look at the card, not hidden inside a frame. Centering matters less here than on the SIRs since there is no silver or gold ring to measure against, just the printed border.

Price check. Raw copies trade around $5 to $6, which is exactly why grading this one is a math problem before it is a grading problem. A $5 raw card needs a genuinely gem PSA 10 to clear a grading fee, so scan it first and only submit copies you would bet on for a 10.

5. Mega Clefable ex (Special Illustration Rare, 119/088)

Why everybody wants it. Clefable's SIR puts the Mega form against a soft pastel sky, one of the gentler palettes in the set, and it is the cheapest of the three Mega SIRs, which makes it the most collected of the trio despite being the least hyped on release.

The grade that matters. The pastel background is forgiving on surface, light colors hide print lines that a black or navy background would expose immediately. The tradeoff is a tight card-number crop at the bottom edge, so any edge wear along that border reads as a defect faster than it would on a card with more margin.

Price check. Rosa 119/088 has held near $150 raw since shortly after release, one of the steadier prices in this whole set. Steady raw pricing with a stable PSA population is usually the safest kind of grading bet, since the outcome does not depend on catching a price spike.

4. Mega Starmie ex (Special Illustration Rare, 118/088)

Why everybody wants it. Starmie's Mega form leans into its most recognizable trait, the crystalline core, splashed across a swirling blue and white illustration. It has held its value in a tighter band than most SIRs in the set, trading between about $70 and $90 since March.

The grade that matters. The high contrast between the dark core and the light background is a corner and edge test more than a surface one. Whitening shows immediately at the corners against that dark core, so this is a card where the scan-before-you-submit habit pays off, a whitened corner is obvious under a phone camera long before it costs you a grading fee.

Price check. Call it $80 to $90 raw as of this writing, the most stable of the three Mega SIRs. Stability plus a $9 to $18 corner-and-edge risk band is a reasonable grading trade if your scan comes back clean on both axes.

3. Rosa's Encouragement (Special Illustration Rare, 123/088)

Why everybody wants it. The lone Trainer card on this list, and proof Perfect Order's chase tier is not only Mega Pokemon. The illustration, by Iori Suzuki, shows Rosa mid bite of a Pikachu shaped ice cream sundae under a sky full of balloons, one of the more purely joyful pieces of art in the set, and Supporter SIRs tend to have thinner competition for collector attention than ex SIRs, which helps this one punch above its rarity tier.

The grade that matters. That bright balloon filled sky is a large flat color field, exactly the kind of background that shows print lines and surface texture the instant a scan looks at it. Corners and edges tend to grade clean on this one; surface is where a 10 is won or lost.

Price check. Secondary market comps have this one as a comfortable three figure card raw, in the mid tier of the set's six SIRs behind the Mega ex chases but ahead of the rest of the rare slot. Our own community scans on ZeroPop's Rosa's Encouragement page have logged pricing on the low end of that range so far, a reminder that a thin scan sample on a newer card can sit below the broader market until more copies get logged. Check the live number before you price a submission around it.

2. Meowth ex (Special Illustration Rare, 121/088)

Why everybody wants it. Meowth ex was Perfect Order's breakout SIR, the highest priced sub 200 dollar chase in the set and proof that a well drawn Team Rocket mascot can outsell cards with objectively rarer pull rates. We tracked it as July's biggest single week faller in our August price movers roundup, down about 11 percent as its release spike cooled, and it has held steady since, which reads as a card that finished correcting rather than one still sliding.

The grade that matters. Like Starmie, this is a dark background SIR, and the dark surround exposes centering drift before anything else. Submit only copies with centering at 55/45 or better on both axes, and check the gold charm detail on Meowth's collar stays crisp; that small foil accent is the first thing to show print imperfection under a loupe.

Price check. Around $198 as of mid August, stabilized after last month's dip. A stabilized price sitting on top of a real, matured PSA population is a more informed grading bet than trying to grade into a card whose price is still finding a bottom, which is exactly where Meowth ex sits five months post release.

1. Mega Zygarde ex (Special Illustration Rare and Gold Mega Hyper Rare, 124/088)

Why everybody wants it. Mega Zygarde ex is Perfect Order's cover star and its only Mega Hyper Rare, a gold etched treatment reserved for one card in the set. It headlined its own Premium Collection box and is the card most collectors mean when they say they pulled from Perfect Order. Both its SIR and its Mega Hyper Rare printing sit well above everything else on this list.

The grade that matters. Gold etched foil is unforgiving under a loupe. The texture catches light differently than standard holo, so surface scratches and print snow show up more readily, and the dense foil pattern makes corner whitening easy to spot but also easy to mistake for a printing artifact. Scan both front and back at an angle before committing to a submission.

Price check. The Special Illustration Rare peaked near $425 in the weeks after release. The Mega Hyper Rare at 124/088 is the true chase, raw copies commonly trade in the $250 to $300 range, with pristine, early pulled copies having sold well above that during the initial hype window. PSA 10 population on the gold printing is still thin, so graded comps will keep moving as more copies get slabbed.

The ZeroPop Verdict

Of these six, the safest grades are Mega Starmie ex and Mega Clefable ex, both stable prices sitting on a corner and edge risk that a decent scan will catch before you pay a grading fee. Meowth ex is the smart grade if your copy centers well, the price has finished correcting and a clean 10 comfortably clears the cost. Rosa's Encouragement is worth grading on the same logic once you confirm current market pricing rather than leaning on a thin early sample. Mega Zygarde ex, in either printing, is worth grading on collector demand alone, the card justifies a submission even before the math, but scan the gold etched copy carefully since that treatment punishes anything less than a clean pull. Mega Skarmory ex is the one to sell raw unless you pulled a genuinely gem copy; at a $5 to $6 raw price, the grading fee is the whole trade. If you are still deciding whether any of these clear that bar, our break even guide on when a card is worth grading walks through the math in more detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Perfect Order (ME03) still worth grading in August 2026?

Yes, for the right cards. The set's four Mega Evolution ex debuts and its two Trainer and Pokemon SIRs (Meowth ex and Rosa's Encouragement) all still carry three figure or better raw prices five months after release, and PSA populations have matured enough to give a real read on what a 10 is worth. The lower tier Ultra Rares like Mega Skarmory ex are a harder case; grade only genuinely mint pulls there.

Which Perfect Order card is the biggest chase?

Mega Zygarde ex, in its Mega Hyper Rare gold etched printing at 124/088. It is the set's only card at that rarity tier, it headlined its own Premium Collection release, and it commands the highest raw price of anything in the set.

Why doesn't Mega Skarmory ex have a Special Illustration Rare?

Pokemon's set designers do not publish a reason for which Mega debuts get SIR treatment and which stop at Ultra Rare, but the pattern across the Mega Evolution era has been that not every new Mega form gets the full illustration treatment in its debut set. Skarmory topped out at an Ultra Rare full art at 106/088, with a Double Rare version at 055/088.

How many Special Illustration Rares are in Perfect Order?

Six. Three belong to the new Mega Evolution ex debuts (Zygarde, Starmie, Clefable), one to Meowth ex, one to Rosa's Encouragement, and the last is spread across the set's remaining secret rare slots. Combined, the six SIRs pull at roughly 1 in 72 packs, or about 1 in 432 packs for any single specific card.

What is the difference between the Special Illustration Rare and Mega Hyper Rare Mega Zygarde ex?

The Special Illustration Rare uses the same full illustration frame as the set's other SIRs. The Mega Hyper Rare, numbered 124/088, is a gold etched treatment applied to only one card in the entire set, making it Perfect Order's single rarest pull and the reason its raw price runs well above every other card on this list.

Should I grade a card with a raw price under $10?

Only if you scanned it first and the corners, edges, surface, and centering all read clean. A grading fee on a $5 to $6 card like Mega Skarmory ex's Ultra Rare only pays off on a genuine PSA 10, since anything lower leaves you with a graded card worth less than the raw price plus the fee you paid to get there.