Celebi

Celebi in the anime: star of Celebi: Voice of the Forest

Celebi debuted as the lead of the fourth Pokémon movie, released internationally as Pokémon 4Ever. Forty years before the main story, it flees a poacher and jumps through time, carrying a boy named Sam with it into the present. The Iron-Masked Marauder then captures Celebi in a Dark Ball, which turns it into an obedient, destructive weapon, and Ash and Sam have to free it. In a 2008 interview, anime director Masamitsu Hidaka explained that the GS Ball Ash carried in the early Johto episodes was meant to hold a Celebi, a plan dropped once Celebi became the movie's star.

Celebi on cards: Neo Revelation to a Gold Star and a rainbow VMAX

Celebi debuted in Neo Revelation (2001), where its holo #3 was illustrated by Hironobu Yoshida, and a Wizards Black Star Promo (#50) by Hajime Kusajima followed. Neo Destiny (2002) printed Shining Celebi at #106, above the set's 105 cards: like every Shining card, it shows the Pokémon in its shiny coloring. Skyridge (2003) hid a secret rare Celebi by Mitsuhiro Arita at #145, and Unseen Forces (2005) did the same with Celebi ex at #117.

Crystal Guardians (2006) printed Celebi ☆, the EX era's Gold Star treatment, as its final card (#100). Later eras added a Rare PRIME in Triumphant (2010), Celebi-EX in Boundaries Crossed (2012), a Prism Star card in Lost Thunder (2018), the tag team Celebi & Venusaur-GX in Team Up (2019) with a rainbow secret rare at #182, and Celebi VMAX in Chilling Reign (2021), topped by a rainbow secret rare at #199.

Why collectors care about Celebi

Celebi's card run touches nearly every special treatment the game has used: Shining, secret rare, Gold Star, PRIME, Prism Star, tag team GX and rainbow VMAX. Paired with a starring movie role, that makes it a rewarding species for Generation II collectors who want variety rather than volume.

Cards to know

• Shining Celebi (Neo Destiny #106)

  Neo Destiny's Shining Celebi, numbered above the set's 105 cards and shown in its shiny coloring, illustrated by Hironobu Yoshida.

• Celebi ☆ (Crystal Guardians #100)

  Celebi's Gold Star card from 2006, the final card in Crystal Guardians, illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda.

• Celebi (Skyridge #145)

  A secret rare numbered above Skyridge's 144 cards, illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita.

• Celebi (Triumphant #92)

  A Rare PRIME from 2010, illustrated by Hideaki Hakozaki.

• Celebi & Venusaur GX (Team Up #182)

  The rainbow secret rare of the tag team card pairing Celebi with Venusaur, from 2019.

• Celebi VMAX (Chilling Reign #199)

  The rainbow secret rare Celebi VMAX from 2021, illustrated by PLANETA Tsuji.