Six English sets, one three-prize mechanic, and a chase-card spread that runs from just over one hundred dollars to just under a thousand, read from the ledger's last complete daily bar.
The Mega Evolution era is six English Pokemon TCG sets released between September 26, 2025 and July 17, 2026: Mega Evolution, Phantasmal Flames, Ascended Heroes, Perfect Order, Chaos Rising, and Pitch Black. Every set in the run is built around Mega Evolution Pokemon ex cards, which give up three Prize cards when knocked out, per the Pokemon Company's own expansion overview.
Chase-card value does not move evenly across the six. On the ledger's last fully complete daily read, September 26, 2026, Ascended Heroes' Pikachu ex Special Illustration Rare tops the era at $944.57, while Perfect Order's Mega Zygarde ex Mega Hyper Rare sits at the other end at $107.01, the lowest top price of the six.
This guide dates every set, explains the mechanic that ties them together, and compares each set's top live chase-card price using that same September 26, 2026 read rather than a next-day bar that was still being written when this guide was built.
Cardboard Alpha internal LIVE ledger, NM raw, $944.57 as of September 26, 2026, the highest live chase price in this guide's six-set window.
The six sets, dated
Each set's English release date below is drawn from Cardboard Alpha's own catalog and cross-checked against official Pokemon Company sources where a direct read was available.
Set
English release
Main-set cards
Total cards
Mega Evolution
September 26, 2025
132
188
Phantasmal Flames
November 14, 2025
94
130
Ascended Heroes
January 30, 2026
217
295
Perfect Order
March 27, 2026
88
124
Chaos Rising
May 22, 2026
86
122
Pitch Black
July 17, 2026
84
120
Ascended Heroes stands apart on size alone. Its 217-card main set and 295-card total run roughly 1.6 times the era's next-largest set, Mega Evolution itself (132 main, 188 total), and it also carries by far the largest chase tier: 24 Special Illustration Rare and Mega Hyper Rare cards against the launch set's 12.
The era continues past this guide's scope. The Pokemon Company has confirmed a seventh set, Delta Reign, arriving November 6, 2026, so the six sets covered here are a defined opening chapter rather than the whole story. A Delta Reign chase-card watchlist separates what has been shown of that set from what is still unknown.
What Mega Evolution ex actually changes
Every set in this era centers on Mega Evolution Pokemon ex cards. Per the Pokemon Company's own expansion overview, these cards give up three Prize cards when knocked out.
They also make up most of the chase tier. A Mega Evolution Pokemon ex is the top-priced chase card in five of the six sets covered here, and Mega Evolution ex account for 36 of the 63 Special Illustration Rare and Mega Hyper Rare cards across the window, per Cardboard Alpha's own catalog.
The same overview says these cards follow the normal rules of Evolution, and most do evolve from a pre-Mega form: 28 of the 41 distinct Mega Evolution ex in these six sets are Stage 1 or Stage 2 cards in Cardboard Alpha's catalog. The other 13, including Mega Kangaskhan ex, are Basic Pokemon. That differs from the older Mega Evolution-EX cards printed during the X and Y era, which evolved from a Basic Pokemon-EX and ended a player's turn unless a Spirit Link was attached.
Rarity structure across the six sets
The chase tier in every Mega Evolution era set runs through two rarities: Special Illustration Rare and the set's single or double allotment of Mega Hyper Rare.
Set
Special Illustration Rare
Mega Hyper Rare
Mega Evolution
10
2
Phantasmal Flames
5
1
Ascended Heroes
22
2
Perfect Order
6
1
Chaos Rising
6
1
Pitch Black
6
1
Ascended Heroes' 22 Special Illustration Rares more than double the next-highest count in the era, the launch set's 10. The other four sets settle into the same narrow shape: five or six Special Illustration Rares and exactly one Mega Hyper Rare.
Mega Evolution (me01): the only set besides Ascended Heroes with two Mega Hyper Rares, split between Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex.
Phantasmal Flames: the smallest Special Illustration Rare count in this six-set window, five cards, anchored by Mega Charizard X ex.
Ascended Heroes: the outlier on Special Illustration Rares, with 22, and the largest set in the window by card count.
Perfect Order, Chaos Rising, Pitch Black: three sets in a row holding to the same six-and-one chase-tier shape.
Where the era's value actually sits
Cardboard Alpha's own ledger carries a live, dated near-mint raw price for the top chase card in all six sets, read from September 26, 2026, the most recent daily bar to finish writing in full. The following day's bar was still filling in as this guide was built, and it understated several of these prices, so this guide uses the complete read instead.
Top live chase-card price by set (NM raw)
Mega Evolution242.71USD
Phantasmal Flames679.99USD
Ascended Heroes944.57USD
Perfect Order107.01USD
Chaos Rising155.95USD
Pitch Black175.9USD
Cardboard Alpha internal LIVE ledger, TCGplayer guide feed, NM raw, September 26, 2026 (last complete daily bar).
Set
Top live chase card
Rarity
Price (NM raw)
Mega Evolution
Mega Lucario ex 188/132
Mega Hyper Rare
$242.71
Phantasmal Flames
Mega Charizard X ex 125/94
Special Illustration Rare
$679.99
Ascended Heroes
Pikachu ex 276/217
Special Illustration Rare
$944.57
Perfect Order
Mega Zygarde ex 124/88
Mega Hyper Rare
$107.01
Chaos Rising
Mega Greninja ex 116/86
Special Illustration Rare
$155.95
Pitch Black
Mega Darkrai ex 116/84
Special Illustration Rare
$175.90
Ascended Heroes' Pikachu ex is not a Mega Evolution Pokemon at all, yet it leads the table. The margin is real but not lopsided: its own set-mate Mega Gengar ex, also a Special Illustration Rare, trails by less than ten percent at $866.33, and Phantasmal Flames' Mega Charizard X ex, the highest price in the table outside Ascended Heroes, sits at $679.99, about seventy percent of Pikachu ex's price.
Cardboard Alpha internal LIVE ledger, NM raw, $242.71 as of September 26, 2026, the highest live chase price on the era's launch set.
The launch set's chase cards, then and now
Mega Evolution's own launch chase cards, Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex, show how far a hot chase card can fall in less than a year. Both dropped through their first two months on the market, and Cardboard Alpha's own ledger shows the decline has continued since.
Wargamer's November 9, 2025 read, citing TCGplayer data, had Mega Lucario ex's Mega Hyper Rare down to $501 from an October peak of $721, and Mega Gardevoir ex's Mega Hyper Rare down to $413 from a $500 peak. Three weeks later, Bleeding Cool's November 29, 2025 market-value snapshot put the same two Mega Hyper Rares at $470.26 and $362.82, with the Mega Lucario ex Special Illustration Rare at $206.56.
Cardboard Alpha internal LIVE ledger, NM raw, $178.21 as of September 26, 2026. Bleeding Cool priced the same Special Illustration Rare printing at $206.56 in late November 2025.
On Cardboard Alpha's own ledger for September 26, 2026, the decline has continued. Mega Lucario ex's Mega Hyper Rare sits at $242.71, down from Bleeding Cool's $470.26 read ten months earlier, and its Special Illustration Rare sits at $178.21, down from $206.56 over the same span. Mega Gardevoir ex's Mega Hyper Rare sits at $194.00, down from $362.82. None of the historical figures above describe the current market; they are shown only to size the decline.
Pitch Black, the newest set in this window, is not an outlier on price. Its own top chase card, Mega Darkrai ex's Special Illustration Rare at $175.90, lands in the middle of the era's six sets, above Perfect Order and Chaos Rising, below Mega Evolution, Phantasmal Flames, and Ascended Heroes.
What this guide does not price
Sealed product pricing is outside this guide's scope. Cardboard Alpha's ledger does carry live prices for sealed product across all six sets, from Elite Trainer Boxes to booster boxes where a set has one, but comparing sealed-product economics across an entire era is its own guide, not a card-by-card one.
Graded copies are also outside this guide's scope. Every figure here is a raw, near-mint TCGplayer-guide price, and applying it to a slabbed copy in either direction would misstate the card.
What is the Mega Evolution era in the Pokemon TCG?
It is the English Pokemon TCG era the Pokemon Company calls the Mega Evolution Series, built around Mega Evolution Pokemon ex cards. This guide covers its first six sets, Mega Evolution through Pitch Black, released between September 26, 2025 and July 17, 2026.
How is a Mega Evolution Pokemon ex different from a regular Pokemon ex?
A Mega Evolution Pokemon ex gives up three Prize cards when knocked out, per the Pokemon Company's own expansion overview, and follows the normal rules of Evolution. Most evolve from their pre-Mega form; some, such as Mega Kangaskhan ex, are Basic Pokemon instead. That differs from the older Mega Evolution-EX cards of the X and Y era, which evolved from a Basic Pokemon-EX.
What is the most valuable card in the Mega Evolution era so far?
On Cardboard Alpha's own near-mint raw ledger for September 26, 2026, Ascended Heroes' Pikachu ex Special Illustration Rare (276/217) is the highest live chase price in the six-set window at $944.57. It leads by a real but modest margin: its own set-mate Mega Gengar ex, also a Special Illustration Rare, trails at $866.33.
How much have Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex fallen since Mega Evolution launched?
Both have fallen every time this guide's sources have checked. Wargamer had Mega Lucario ex's Mega Hyper Rare at $501 and Mega Gardevoir ex's at $413 by November 9, 2025, both already down from October 2025 peaks. Bleeding Cool's November 29, 2025 read had them at $470.26 and $362.82. On Cardboard Alpha's own near-mint raw ledger for September 26, 2026, they sit at $242.71 and $194.00.
Is Pitch Black worth less than the rest of the era?
No. On the top chase card alone, Pitch Black sits in the middle of the six sets. Its Mega Darkrai ex Special Illustration Rare is $175.90 near-mint raw on Cardboard Alpha's September 26, 2026 ledger, ahead of Chaos Rising's $155.95 and Perfect Order's $107.01, but below Mega Evolution, Phantasmal Flames, and Ascended Heroes.
Does the Mega Evolution era end with Pitch Black?
No. The Pokemon Company has confirmed a seventh set, Delta Reign, arriving November 6, 2026. This guide's scope is the first six sets only, from Mega Evolution through Pitch Black.
Jackie Chung covers the Pokémon TCG secondary market for Cardboard Alpha, with a focus on grading economics and set value guides. She spends most of her research time in population reports and grade-spread data, tracing how submission volume, print runs, and grading-company standards shape the premium between a raw card and its graded counterparts across different eras. Her set guides are built the same way: grounded in published pricing and pop data first, with market narrative kept separate from the numbers behind it.
Jackie Chung's articles describe market history and mechanics using published population and pricing data. They are informational and are not personalized investment advice.
