Hi there. In this post I cover the most valuable Pokemon cards from Japan's Heat Wave Arena set. This set's release date was on March 15, 2025. For the international crowd people don't have Journey Together yet as that releases on March 28, 2025. The english cards from Heat Wave Arena will join with the Team Rocket as a part of Destined Rivals sometime in May 2025.
Top 10 Cards
According to Pokebeach, here are the top 10 card prices from Japan's Heat Wave Arena. The gathered prices are average prices from auction websites. This is an initial sample of prices and interest in certain Pokemon cards.
Rank 10 - Levencia (Gold)
>Regular" Levincia: Image Source
This Levincia being at rank 10 means that players are looking to bling out their decks that have Levincia. Levencia the stadium card would be used in Iono's Bellibolt ex decks or in some Gholdengo ex decks that need to retrieve Lightning Energy from the discard pile.
Rank 9 - Ethan's Typhlosion Illustration Rare
I think this card should be ranked higher. This art version of Ethan's Typhlosion goes hard. You could joke about their open mouths but this scene here looks fierce. It looks a picture of an anime episode. This is not just a card. This is art.
I think the demand and price could go even higher.
8 - Arven's Mabostiff ex Special Illustration Rare
This one is nice. It shows Arven and his pet Pokemon Mabostiff relaxing at night.
7 - Yanmega ex Special Illustration Rare
The theme of this card is quite simple. It is just a mutant mega dragonfly flying over water. This card looks well done.
I think the rank 7 is based on how nice the art is plus its playability in the Pokemon TCG game.
6 - Misty's Psyduck Illustration Rare
There are older Pokemon fans that like Misty. Maybe their first Waifu or something (sorry for bad joke).
This illustration rare card shows Misty and her Psyduck in water. Misty is underwater while Psyduck floats (Misty's Psyduck is afraid of swimming I think). I can see this card go up even higher in price over the next 2 years.
5 - Ethan's Ho-Oh ex Gold Rare
Ethan's Ho-Oh ex Gold Rare is at number five. This is one of the better gold rare cards. It shows Ethan and Ho-Oh with a gold background and gold borders.
Players are probably driving the price up high as Ethan's Ho-Oh ex is very playable. Fire decks are popular while Water decks lose a lot since Irida is not in the format.
4 - Cynthia's Garchomp ex Gold
At number 4 it is the gold version of Cynthia's Garchomp ex. Cynthia's Garchomp ex is a highly playable card for players. There are a good number of players that like to bling out their decks. If there is a highly playable card that has a gold version then it will be popular.
3 - Ethan's Adventure Special Illustration Rare
The Special Illustration Rare version of Ethan's Adventure is at number 3. The art on this card is very good and it is a highly playable card. This version of Ethan's Adventure will appeal to both collectors and players who want to bling out their decks.
Rank 2: Ethan's Ho-Oh ex Special Illustration Rare
At number 2 it is the special illustration rare version of Ethan's Ho-Oh ex. This card is quite colourful with Ho-Oh in the air along with Ethan looking in amazement and respect.
Ethan's Ho-Oh ex is a highly playable card too. Both collectors and some players will go after this card.
Rank 1 - Cynthia's Garchomp ex Special Illustration Rare
Coming it at number 1 is Cynthia's Garchomp ex. I am not too surprised by this and this spot is well deserved. Cynthia is a popular Champion character from the anime and video game. Garchomp is a psuedo-legendary powerful Dragon Pokemon. This card is particular is very well done. It is colourful, it shows Cynthia battling with her Garchomp. A nice bonus is the detail where Cynthia is shown on the big screen too in the stadium. This card looks like a picture from an actual anime episode.
My Honorable Mentions
I have some picks that did not make the top 10.
Shaymin
Hydrapple
Cynthia's Roserade
Misty's Lapras
Closing Notes
I write this in mid March 2025. This is a couple days after the release of Heat Wave Arena. I think this set will be more in demand due to its nice art cards and highly playable cards.
When these cards release in English along with the Team Rocket cards in Destined Rivals in May 2025, demand will go crazy. Nostalgia from Team Rocket plus really nice art cards will appeal to many. I do hope the Pokemon Company try to print more to try to meet increasing demand.
Which cards do you like from here? What is your chase card?