The Pokémon card craze is not just a fleeting trend; it’s a seismic shift that’s swept across the global collecting landscape like a Charizard using Flamethrower. In 2025, Pokémon cards have officially claimed the throne in the grading world, leaving traditional sports cards in a cloud of Pikachu’s electric dust.
Fresh intel from GemRate indicates that Pokémon cards occupy a staggering 97 out of the top 100 spots for the most-graded cards at the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). If this were any other game, we might say Pokémon just used “Grasp Overwhelming Dominance,” and it was super effective.
According to their report, these trading card game (TCG) titans—not to mention those from non-sport categories—have taken the lead, making up 59% of grading submissions across the four major authenticators during the first half of this year. That’s not a slim margin; it’s like comparing the subtlety of a Magikarp splash to Gyarados thrashing about.
During this six-month span, 7.2 million TCG and non-sports cards underwent grading—a 70% leap from last year. Compare this bustling evolution to the 5.1 million sports cards submitted, a 9% slip in comparison, and it becomes clear which franchise is wielding the Master Ball.
The champion single card? The Japanese Iono’s Wattrel Battle Partners Promo No. 232 card flew through the ranks with over 45,600 submissions. Despite this impressive surge, Pikachu remains the company’s flirting mascot, yet more like Raichu in stature than ever before. More than 345,000 Pikachu cards were graded this year alone. Topping the bill is the “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat,” born from a whimsical collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, boasting nearly 84,000 submissions—a new PSA record for Pokémon. And whether you’re seated in a Sotheby’s or Salle Pleyel, getting your hands on a PSA 10 of this card means shelling out north of $900.
Flipping through the top submissions, sports cards were about as rare in the pool as a Shiny Pokémon: only three managed to slip into the top 100. These rare sports specimens included the 2024 Panini Prizm Jayden Daniels rookie and Caitlin Clark’s WNBA ROY card from Panini Instant, with a count ranging just above a paltry 8,800 submissions.
June served as month-end proof, neatly wrapping up the narrative with a big fat confirmation stamp. During this 30-day period alone, TCG and non-sports cards accounted for 63% of grading submissions, where PSA graded an unmatched 911,000 domestically championed holographs, overtaking the combined 743,000 sports card total at all four grading heavyweights.
Taking a frontrunner stance in the Pokémon phenomenon is CGC Cards, riding high on the wave with 2.18 million cards graded already this year. Of these, over 1.8 million belong to the TCG or non-sports category, showing that even the industry underdogs are flexing newfound muscles.
Meanwhile, it’s no Pokémon Mystery Dungeon that Beckett’s rankings have experienced a drop. Sliding to fourth in grader rankings, their numbers show just 366,000 cards graded this year. Of those figures, a significant portion, approximately 214,000, was Pokémon or TCG.
A big part of the gravy train can be attributed to PSA’s rosy rapport with GameStop. This partnership, forged with the might of Solgaleo and the cunning of Lunala in October, has been instrumental in adding over 1 million grading submissions—injecting more steam into the locomotive powering this trend.
It’s not just the graders who are swamped amidst this Pokémon Renaissance. Out in the wild—where men and women vie for sealed packs and exclusive promo cards—the shelves are emptier than a Poké Ball after a midnight capture spree. Retail dynamics are warping to meet the craze, with limited-per-customer restrictions and eager lines commemorating each new release. Poké-renown is at an unprecedented zenith, its energy as palpable and unyielding as a Mewtwo on a mission.
Fans of both the trading card games and the older conventional cardboard classics may wish for a return to parity, yet right now, the cards tell their own story. Pokémon not only embraced the digital frontier but have a stranglehold on the material world, one graded submission at a time. And given these latest numbers, that grip looks set to squeeze tighter than an Arbok’s best Constrict.
