In a year where reality seems to have blurred with the colorful world of pocket monsters, Pokémon cards have not only staked a claim on playgrounds and collector’s binders—they’ve taken over third-party grading submissions globally, putting even the most legendary athletes on the bench. If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that nostalgia not only survived, but thrived in the form of cardboard adorned with Pikachu’s cheeky grin.
According to GemRate’s latest report, this love affair with Pokémon and trading card games (TCG) has manifested in the most literal of terms. In the first half of 2025 alone, Pokémon stamped its dominance, with a jaw-dropping 97 out of the top 100 most-graded cards at PSA—a company synonymous with card grading excellence—originating from the franchise that began in the late ‘90s as a humble video game about “catching ’em all.”
The metric that speaks volumes, or perhaps screams from the rooftops, is the staggering 7.2 million TCG and non-sports cards graded from January through June. This marks a 70% leap over 2024’s submissions, throwing sports cards—who’ve had their place on the podium for years—into the shadows with a mere 5.1 million submissions, down by 9%.
Reigning supreme among the cards is the artistic and culturally resonant Japanese Iono’s Wattrel Battle Partners Promo No. 232, with over 45,600 copies submitted in half a year. Yet, even Iono cannot dethrone the franchise darling, Pikachu. It’s a testament to the mouse’s enduring appeal that more than 345,000 Pikachu cards were graded in 2025 alone, showcasing the enormous wave of collectors eager to preserve a chip of their childhood.
Leading the Pikachu parade is the whimsical “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat,” a product of a recent Van Gogh Museum collaboration. With nearly 84,000 graded copies, it has secured its place as PSA’s most-submitted Pokémon card to date. Despite its high frequency, a PSA 10 example is no easy feat; achieving this pinnacle of perfection has collectors willing to splurge, with recent sales reaching over $900. It’s like capturing a Charizard all over again, but perhaps pricier than feeding Charizard raw flames instead of lunches.
While Pokémon is clearly the champion in this grading showdown, sports cards have found themselves sidelined. Only three sports submissions managed to sneak into PSA’s top 100, all of which pay homage to rising stars in their respective sports—Panini Prizm Jayden Daniels rookie and Panini Instant Caitlin Clark WNBA ROY cards among them, each hovering between 8,800 to 10,500 submissions. It seems the ball is no longer in their court, at least regarding card grading supremacy.
The distinction was further cemented in June, highlighting an escalation of TCG and non-sports cards contributing to 63% of PSA submissions. In this realm alone, PSA graded a colossal 911,000 cards, wholly overshadowing the sports card total that capped at 743,000 across all four major graders.
CGC Cards is surfing the Pokémon tidal wave with gusto, grading an impressive 2.18 million cards thus far in 2025, nearly surpassing their entire annual output from the previous year. Out of this impressive tally, over 1.8 million belong to the enchanting world of TCGs, proving that the wave is far from receding.
On the other hand, Beckett finds itself grappling with lower volumes, now ranked as the fourth of the major graders. With 366,000 cards graded in 2025, a shade under two-thirds belong to Pokémon or TCG, marking a notable pivot in collector priorities.
PSA’s ascent is further fueled by its strategic partnership with GameStop, a collaboration that since inception in October, has attracted over a million submissions. It appears the pairing of a cherished retail giant with the grading stalwart has proved potent, akin to pairing Ash with his trusty Pikachu—undoubtedly a crowd-pleaser.
On the other side of the hobby fence, Pokémon’s ubiquity has caused something of a “Pokécommotion” in retail environments. We’ve returned to scenes reminiscent of Black Friday sales, with lines forming as long as a Snorlax, enthusiastic collectors jostling for stock and battling restrictions that limit the number of packs per customer. Shelves that are harder to spot than a shiny, it seems the Pokémon craze hasn’t loosened its grip chasing childhood memories wrapped in cellophane bliss.
With trends showing no sign of ebbing, Pokémon’s omnipresence in the grading world has become more than a nostalgia-driven wave; it’s a robust chapter in the annals of card-collecting lore—a narrative where Pokémon fans old and new continue to scrutinize each minute detail of their cards with unwavering Žubat-like focus.
