Ascended Heroes Chase Cards: Prices & Japanese Sources
The Japanese version of the set’s top card: ピカチュウex SAR 764/742.
Released on January 30, 2026, Ascended Heroes is a special set in the Mega Evolution series. At 295 cards (217 main-set plus 78 secret rares), it is the largest English Pokémon TCG set ever, overtaking the record held by 2021’s Fusion Strike (284 cards). Pikachu ex and Mega Gengar ex share top billing, and the set mixes Mega Evolutions of Gen 1 and Gen 2 favorites with trainer-branded Pokémon like Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex and N’s Zoroark ex — a distinctly collector-oriented lineup.
And this set has one defining quirk: no set called “Ascended Heroes” exists in Japan.
That’s why Japanese collectors draw a blank when asked “which pack is Ascended Heroes?”. Its cards reached the world through several separate Japanese products — mainly the high-class pack “MEGA Dream ex” and “Start Deck 100 Battle Collection”. Which means that if you want the Japanese versions of the chase cards, you have to identify, card by card, which Japanese product each one came from.
This article first ranks the Ascended Heroes chase cards with current prices, then delivers the heart of the piece: the Japanese Source Map — a card-by-card map of each chase card’s Japanese origin. If you collect the English set, it shows what the Japanese version of your card sells for; if you collect Japanese, it shows exactly which product and card name to search for.
US prices are a snapshot as of September 27, 2026 (The Hobby Bin price guide); Japanese prices as of September 28, 2026. Markets move — check current prices before buying.
Top Chase Cards at a Glance
| Rank | Card | Number | Rarity | US price (USD) | Japanese version price (JPY) |
| 1 | Pikachu ex | #276/217 | SIR | $944.57 | ¥118,000 (764/742) |
| 2 | Mega Gengar ex | #284/217 | SIR | $866.33 | ¥47,800 (240/193) |
| 3 | Mega Dragonite ex | #290/217 | SIR | $542.16 | ¥23,800 (246/193) |
| 4 | Mega Charizard Y ex | #294/217 | MHR | $330.51 | ¥648,000 (766/742) |
| 5 | Pikachu ex | #277/217 | SIR | $307.18 | ¥32,800 (234/193) |
| 6 | Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex | #281/217 | SIR | $261.64 | ¥14,800 (237/193) |
| 7 | Mega Dragonite ex | #295/217 | MHR | $214.72 | ¥32,800 (250/193) |
| 8 | N’s Zoroark ex | #286/217 | SIR | $144.24 | ¥5,980 (242/193)※ |
| 9 | Lillie’s Clefairy ex | #280/217 | SIR | $140.08 | ¥47,800 (765/742) |
| 10 | Mega Feraligatr ex | #274/217 | SIR | $108.22 | ¥14,800 (763/742) |
※ Prices as of September 27–28, 2026. US prices from The Hobby Bin’s price guide; Japanese prices are selling prices at Japanese shops. USD and JPY can’t be compared directly — convert at the exchange rate at your time of purchase.
Top Chase Cards Ranked
1. Pikachu ex SIR (#276) — The Top of the Set Is a Pikachu in the Woods
Pikachu ex SAR 764/742, sourced from Start Deck 100 Battle Collection.
This is currently the most expensive card in the set. A gentle, soft-lit scene of Pikachu tilting its head in a forest — an outlier in tone even within this set (illustration: booota). The Japanese version comes from Start Deck 100.
2. Mega Gengar ex SIR (#284) — Mega Gengar’s First Card in Over a Decade
メガゲンガーex SAR 240/193, sourced from MEGA Dream ex.
Gengar’s Mega Evolution hadn’t been printed since “Phantom Forces” in the 2014 XY era — more than ten years. The illustration balances an eerie, dissolving-into-darkness mood with fine detail, and it drew attention as a face of the set well before release.
3. Mega Dragonite ex SIR (#290) — Dragonite Is Loved Everywhere
メガカイリューex SAR 246/193, sourced from MEGA Dream ex.
A soft-touch, full-scene SIR — alongside Gengar, one of the twin faces of the set’s Mega Evolution lineup.
4. Mega Charizard Y ex MHR (#294) — One of Only Two MHRs
メガリザードンYex MUR 766/742 — the special version from Start Deck 100’s Deck No. 001.
One of just two Mega Hyper Rares in the entire set, in all-gold finish. The corresponding Japanese MUR comes from the special version of Deck No. 001 in Start Deck 100 — and it is the most expensive Japanese card listed in this article (see “Start Deck 100 cards are sealed into the product in different ways” below).
5. Pikachu ex SIR (#277) — The Other Pikachu
Pikachu ex SAR 234/193 from MEGA Dream ex — a different illustration from #276.
The same Pikachu ex, but a different SIR illustration from #276 (illustration: James Turner). The two Pikachu come from different Japanese products, so watch for mix-ups when hunting the Japanese versions.
6. Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex SIR (#281) — The Top Character Card
ロケット団のミュウツーex SAR 237/193, sourced from MEGA Dream ex.
Team Rocket and Mewtwo — a pairing aimed squarely at Gen 1 fans. Ascended Heroes runs deep on trainer-branded Pokémon, and this card sits at the top of that lineup.
7. Mega Dragonite ex MHR (#295) — The Other MHR
メガカイリューex MUR 250/193, sourced from MEGA Dream ex.
The Dragonite half of the set’s two MHRs.
8. N’s Zoroark ex SIR (#286)
Nのゾロアークex SAR 242/193, sourced from MEGA Dream ex.
N and Zoroark — a staple of the character-card lineup.
9. Lillie’s Clefairy ex SIR (#280)
Lillie’s Clefairy ex SAR 765/742 (the Start Deck 100 print).
A Lillie card, ranking just behind Mewtwo and Zoroark among the trainer-branded Pokémon. The Japanese version comes from Start Deck 100 (more on its pull structure below).
10. Mega Feraligatr ex SIR (#274)
メガオーダイルex SAR 763/742, sourced from Start Deck 100.
The top card among the Gen 2 starter Mega Evolutions.
The Near-Chase Tier: $50–$100
The set stays deep below the Top 10. The Mega Evolutions of Meganium and Froslass are followed by trainer-branded cards like Steven’s Metagross, Marnie’s Grimmsnarl, and Iono’s Bellibolt.
Among the illustration rares (IR), Psyduck sits in the upper price band of this set’s IRs — a card whose deadpan presence carries it.
Also worth introducing: the set’s newly created rarity, Mega Attack Rare (MA) — a special slot depicting Mega Evolution Pokémon in a comic-style touch. The leader here, once again, is Mega Gengar ex (#269). Its Japanese version is 230/193 from MEGA Dream ex, and the “MA” label is shared between the Japanese and English sets.
Why There Is No “Ascended Heroes” in Japan
Ascended Heroes is not a translation of any single Japanese set. That’s down to how English “special sets” are built.
Japanese Pokémon cards have a product genre called “high-class packs” — sets packed with popular reprints and new special-art slots. The English program doesn’t import these as-is; instead it picks cards from multiple Japanese products and reassembles them into its own special set. For Ascended Heroes, the main source material was these two products:
- MEGA Dream ex (released November 28, 2025): the Mega Evolution series’ high-class pack. Mega Gengar ex, Mega Dragonite ex, Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex — many of this set’s expensive cards come from here
- Start Deck 100 Battle Collection (released December 19, 2025): a start-deck product that randomly seals one of 100 deck variants in each box. Special cards sealed into certain decks — Pikachu ex, Lillie’s Clefairy ex, Mega Charizard Y ex, and others — were folded into the English set’s secret slots
Japanese promo cards were picked up too. Team Rocket’s Kangaskhan ex, for example, is 「ロケット団のガルーラex」 (265/SV-P) in Japanese — from “Promo Card Pack Vol. 10”, distributed at Pokémon Card Gym events starting April 18, 2025. The record-setting 295-card volume is the product of this “assembled from everywhere” structure.
The set is also sold differently. As a special set, Ascended Heroes has no standalone booster packs the way regular expansions do. Cards circulate through Elite Trainer Boxes, collection boxes, mini tins, Booster Bundles and other products, rolled out in waves from the first products on January 30, 2026 through the Booster Bundle on April 24. There is also a low-probability “god pack” in which every card is a special version (3 Mega Attack Rares + 7 SIRs).
This structure translates directly into how hard the cards are to find in Japan. Searching for an “Ascended Heroes Japanese version” turns up no product — you have to identify each card’s origin and search by that product and card name. Which brings us to the next section.
The Japanese Source Map
One of the source products: the MEGA Dream ex high-class pack.
For the major Ascended Heroes chase cards, here are the Japanese origin, card name and number, the search phrase to use, and the Japanese selling price. This table is the heart of this article.
| English card | AH number | Japanese source | Japanese card name & number | Search phrase for Japan | JP price |
| Pikachu ex (SIR) | #276 | Start Deck 100 Battle Collection | ピカチュウex SAR 764/742 | ピカチュウex SAR 764 | ¥118,000 |
| Mega Gengar ex (SIR) | #284 | MEGA Dream ex | メガゲンガーex SAR 240/193 | メガゲンガーex SAR | ¥47,800 |
| Mega Dragonite ex (SIR) | #290 | MEGA Dream ex | メガカイリューex SAR 246/193 | メガカイリューex SAR | ¥23,800 |
| Mega Charizard Y ex (MHR) | #294 | Start Deck 100 Battle Collection | メガリザードンYex MUR 766/742 | メガリザードンYex MUR | ¥648,000 |
| Pikachu ex (SIR) | #277 | MEGA Dream ex | ピカチュウex SAR 234/193 | ピカチュウex SAR MEGAドリーム | ¥32,800 |
| Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex (SIR) | #281 | MEGA Dream ex | ロケット団のミュウツーex SAR 237/193 | ロケット団のミュウツーex SAR | ¥14,800 |
| Mega Dragonite ex (MHR) | #295 | MEGA Dream ex | メガカイリューex MUR 250/193 | メガカイリューex MUR | ¥32,800 |
| N’s Zoroark ex (SIR) | #286 | MEGA Dream ex | Nのゾロアークex SAR 242/193 | Nのゾロアークex SAR | ¥5,980※ |
| Lillie’s Clefairy ex (SIR) | #280 | Start Deck 100 Battle Collection | リーリエのピッピex SAR 765/742 | リーリエのピッピex SAR | ¥47,800 |
| Mega Feraligatr ex (SIR) | #274 | Start Deck 100 Battle Collection | メガオーダイルex SAR 763/742 | メガオーダイルex SAR | ¥14,800 |
| Mega Meganium ex (SIR) | #272 | Start Deck 100 Battle Collection | メガメガニウムex SAR 761/742 | メガメガニウムex SAR | ¥12,800 |
| Mega Emboar ex (SIR) | #273 | Start Deck 100 Battle Collection | メガエンブオーex SAR 762/742 | メガエンブオーex SAR | ¥9,980 |
| Mega Froslass ex (SIR) | #275 | MEGA Dream ex | メガユキメノコex SAR 233/193 | メガユキメノコex SAR | ¥2,500※ |
| Psyduck (IR) | #226 | MEGA Dream ex | コダック AR 199/193 | コダック AR MEGAドリーム | ¥2,180※ |
| Mega Gengar ex (MA) | #269 | MEGA Dream ex | メガゲンガーex MA 230/193 | メガゲンガーex MA | ¥3,580※ |
※ Rarity mapping: English SIR = Japanese SAR, English MHR = Japanese MUR, English IR = Japanese AR; Mega Attack Rare (MA) uses the same label in both markets. Sources and reference dates for Japanese prices are as in the note under the price table. The four ※ rows are regular-condition selling prices at Card Rush (Zoroark, Psyduck, MA Gengar) or Dragon Star (Froslass), so their price basis differs from the other rows.
Three important things about reading this table.
Watch for same-name mix-ups. There are two Pikachu ex SIRs, and they come from different Japanese products (#276 from Start Deck 100, #277 from MEGA Dream ex). You can confirm the pairing through the illustrators, who match across languages (#276 = booota, #277 = James Turner). Always check the card number’s denominator — Start Deck 100 cards are “/742”, MEGA Dream ex cards are “/193”.
Mega Dragonite ex also comes in two versions. The SIR (#290) corresponds to SAR 246/193; the MHR (#295) corresponds to MUR 250/193. Searching with the rarity label included is the safe way.
Start Deck 100 cards are sealed into the product in different ways, card by card. The product consists of 100 regular deck variants plus a secret “Deck No. 101” and a special version of Deck No. 001. Pikachu ex (764) is in Deck No. 025 and Lillie’s Clefairy ex (765) in Deck No. 032 (both among the 100 regular decks); the three Gen 2 starter Megas (761–763) are in secret Deck No. 101; and Mega Charizard Y ex (766) is the gold version of Deck No. 001. The same “/742” cards were sealed in completely different ways — which matters when reading their prices.
Compare Prices Card by Card
Both markets’ selling prices are laid out in the price table and the Source Map. USD and JPY can’t be compared directly — convert at the exchange rate at your time of purchase.
When comparing, keep the origins in view. Even among Start Deck 100 cards, the sealing method differs card by card (guaranteed slots, secret decks, special versions), so pull structure alone can’t explain the price order. Lillie’s Clefairy ex, for example, comes from a regular deck (No. 032), not a secret slot.
The practical takeaway is simple: pin down the origin and card number first, then compare both markets’ prices card by card. That extra step matters especially for this set.
Collecting the Japanese Versions
メガエンブオーex SAR 762/742 — a single from the secret Deck No. 101.
Singles are the default. MEGA Dream ex is a high-class pack, so opening it has its own appeal — but if a specific SAR is the goal, buying the single is the rational route. Start Deck 100’s structure likewise makes pulling a specific card unrealistic; for targeted cards, singles win.
Search with the Japanese card name + rarity. Use the search phrases in the table as-is. Searching “Ascended Heroes” surfaces almost no Japanese listings. Conversely, when hunting Japanese versions on English-language marketplaces, add “Japanese” and verify by card number (/193, /742).
The denominator tells you the source. /193 means MEGA Dream ex; /742 means Start Deck 100 Battle Collection. If a listing’s photos don’t show the card number, it’s safer to pass.
Check condition and authenticity on the expensive cards. Ascended Heroes runs expensive in both markets. For the very top cards — Mega Charizard Y ex MUR, Pikachu ex (764/742) — graded copies (PSA and similar) or listings from trusted shops are worth the premium. For raw cards, stick to listings whose photos show the card number, rarity label, and surface finish, and treat prices far below market as having a reason. We cover how to spot fake cards and scams in a separate article.
Buy the Japanese listings as-is through Neokyo. Most Japanese marketplaces and card shops don’t ship internationally. Neokyo’s proxy purchasing service buys domestic Japanese listings on your behalf and forwards them overseas — and cards bought from multiple sellers can be combined into one parcel. That makes it a good fit for buying several cards from different Japanese sellers.
FAQ
Q. Which Japanese set is Ascended Heroes?
A. There is no single corresponding set. The cards are spread mainly across two products — MEGA Dream ex and Start Deck 100 Battle Collection — plus some promos. The table above shows the card-by-card mapping.
Q. What’s the most expensive card?
A. In English, Pikachu ex SIR (#276) at $944.57 (as of September 27, 2026). Among the Japanese versions listed here, メガリザードンYex MUR (766/742) at ¥648,000 is the highest.
Q. Can I just buy Ascended Heroes booster packs?
A. There are no standalone booster packs the way regular expansions have them. Cards come through ETBs, collection boxes, mini tins, Booster Bundles and other products.
Q. What’s a god pack?
A. A low-probability pack in which every card is a special version — 3 Mega Attack Rares and 7 SIRs. No official pull rate has been published.
Q. Are the Japanese versions cheaper?
A. It depends on the card. Take both prices from the table and convert at the exchange rate at your time of purchase.
Summary
- Ascended Heroes is the largest English set ever at 295 cards — a special set with no standalone packs, sold only in boxed products such as ETBs, tins and bundles
- No Japanese set of the same name exists; the cards come from multiple products centered on MEGA Dream ex and Start Deck 100 Battle Collection, so finding Japanese versions requires card-level source identification
- Search with the Japanese card name + card number (/193, /742)
Any Japanese listing you find can be bought as-is through Neokyo’s proxy purchasing service.
