Paldea Evolved set guide — chase cards, current comps, and the parallel that quietly doubled

Paldea Evolved (PAL) dropped June 9, 2023. It's the second main-series set of the Scarlet & Violet era, the first to introduce the Tera Type parallel mechanic at scale, and the set that quietly built a $200+ trainer-card market (Iono ex SIR) that nobody saw coming at launch.

It's also the SV-era set most dealers misread. They overweight the alt-art Pokemon and underweight the trainer parallels. This guide is the working dealer's correction.

The shape of the set

• 193 cards in the main set (numbered 001-193).
• 86 secret rares numbered 194-279 (the "above the official set size" rarities).
• Total: 279 cards.
• Print run: very large. Among the biggest SV-era prints.
• Sealed product: standard booster packs, ETB, Booster Bundle, 3-pack blisters.

The large print run means most singles are abundant. The exception is the upper-rarity tier — Special Illustration Rare (SIR), Hyper Rare, and certain Tera-parallel chase cards — which are pulled at low rates and command sustained premiums.

The chase tier

These are the cards that anchor the set's resale value and that I always have inventory of.

#234 — Iono ex (Special Illustration Rare)

The set's defining card. Trainer card with the alt-art treatment. Iono is the new fan-favorite trainer of the Scarlet & Violet era and this is her debut SIR.

Comp: $180-280 raw NM, $400-650 PSA 9, $1,200-2,200 PSA 10.

Worth grading: yes, always, if you can.

#261 — Iono ex (Hyper Rare)

The gold-foil version. Same character, different (rarer) finish.

Comp: $90-130 raw NM, $250-380 PSA 9, $700-1,100 PSA 10.

#228 — Gardevoir ex (Special Illustration Rare)

The set's second-most chased card. Gardevoir alt-art with the Fairy/Psychic-coded background.

Comp: $80-120 raw NM, $220-340 PSA 9, $600-950 PSA 10.

#229 — Skeledirge ex (Special Illustration Rare)

Starter-evolution chase. Less hyped than Gardevoir but a sustained seller for starter-collectors.

Comp: $55-80 raw NM, $150-240 PSA 9, $450-700 PSA 10.

#230 — Meowscarada ex (Special Illustration Rare)

The grass starter alt-art.

Comp: $50-75 raw NM, $140-220 PSA 9, $400-650 PSA 10.

#231 — Quaquaval ex (Special Illustration Rare)

The water starter alt-art. Sometimes underpriced relative to the other two starters.

Comp: $45-70 raw NM, $130-210 PSA 9, $380-600 PSA 10.

#259 — Charizard ex (Hyper Rare)

The set has a Charizard ex; the Hyper Rare version is the most-pulled. Charizard demand floats this card permanently.

Comp: $40-65 raw NM, $130-200 PSA 9, $400-650 PSA 10.

The Tera Type parallel — the quiet winner

This is the call most dealers get wrong. Paldea Evolved was the first set to ship Tera Type parallels at scale. The Tera Type variant of a card has different background art and rarer pull rate than the standard ex.

The Tera Type versions that have appreciated 2-3x over their launch prices:

• #225 Tera Iono ex (full art): $40-65 raw NM. (Launch: ~$20.)
• #228 Tera Gardevoir ex (full art): $35-55 raw NM. (Launch: ~$18.)
• Various Tera starter ex full arts: $25-45 raw NM each.

The pattern: collectors got the alt-art SIR + Hyper Rare priced in immediately. The Tera Type full art tier got under-priced at launch because it sat between "rare" and "ultra-rare" and dealers didn't know how to anchor it. Eighteen months in, the market has agreed these are real chase cards.

If you have a Paldea Evolved Tera-treatment card in your inventory and you're pricing it like a generic full-art, you're underselling.

Mid-tier inventory (the steady earners)

Reliable $10-40 sellers:

• 191 Mela ex (full art): $12-22
• 192 Tulip ex (full art): $10-18
• 220 Brassius ex (full art): $11-20
• 221 Iono (full art trainer, non-ex): $25-50
• 222 Geeta ex (full art): $10-18
• 226 Charizard ex (full art): $20-35

The trainer full arts (especially Iono #221) over-index for fan-favorite-character demand. Pokemon collectors will pay for trainers in a way they used to only pay for Pokemon.

Sealed product

Paldea Evolved sealed is not a long-hold product. Large print run + plentiful supply = sealed prices don't appreciate. Buy at retail, open or sell-through within 6-12 months.

The exception: hoard Pokemon Center exclusives if Pokemon Center released specific PAL bundles. Those have appreciated.

What I refuse to list raw

For Paldea Evolved at current comps:

• #234 Iono ex SIR — raw $180-280, PSA 10 $1,200-2,200. Always slabbed.
• #228 Gardevoir ex SIR — raw $80-120, PSA 10 $600-950. Always slabbed.
• #229-231 Starter SIRs — borderline. Grade if you can hit PSA 10 reliably; sell raw if not.

The Hyper Rares (gold foil 250-269 tier) are usually a "grade if you can hit 10, sell raw if you can't." The premium for PSA 10 vs raw on Hyper Rares is real but not Crown Zenith-tier.

The watch list

Cards I think are under-priced right now and I'm accumulating:

• Iono full art #221 (non-ex): $25-50 currently. Iono is the SV-era waifu. Demand-floor isn't moving down.
• Tera Type ex full arts as a category. The market still hasn't fully repriced these.
• PAL Pokemon Center 3-pack blisters (sealed): if you find them at retail, hold.

The skip list

• Common Pokemon (non-ex, non-V) at every condition. Bulk-list or skip.
• Common trainer cards. Bulk.
• Energy cards. Bulk.
• The PAL Booster Bundle and 3-pack blisters once 12 months past release. Sell-through, don't hold.

Pull rates from a booster box (sample of 6 boxes I opened)

Per booster box (36 packs):

• ~3-5 Tera Type ex pulls
• ~1.2 average ex full art hits
• ~0.6 average SIR hits (the headline chase)
• ~0.3 average Hyper Rare hits
• 1-2 Iono pulls in 6 boxes (any Iono variant) — Iono demand pricing in

Don't open boxes expecting the SIR. Open boxes expecting the bulk-rare flow with occasional headline hits.

How Paldea Evolved fits in your inventory mix

If you're an SV-era Pokemon dealer, Paldea Evolved is a 12-15% allocation. Not 5%. Not 25%. The set has:

• Steady mid-tier ($10-40 cards that move on Whatnot)
• Reliable headline chase (the SIRs)
• An overlooked parallel tier (Tera Type)
• Bulk that bulks like any SV set

It's not the headline-grabber of the SV era — that's Crown Zenith (technically Sword & Shield) or Twilight Masquerade or Stellar Crown. But Paldea Evolved is the set you can always reliably trade.

— Jamie

Prices are mid-2026 snapshots. Verify with current comps before pricing. The vault's auto-pricing pulls live comps on every Paldea Evolved card you import — across raw, PSA 8/9/10, and CGC 9/9.5/10.