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The Jirachi ex Card: 30th Celebration’s Most Talked-About Pull

Jirachi ex Special Illustration Rare

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Quick answer

Jirachi ex is card 155 in the 30th Celebration Special Illustration Rare tier, illustrated by Akira Egawa. It became the most talked-about card in the set in the last week of September 2026, when a twelve-year-old collector named Avery Garcia — known online as Avery The Poke Kid — pulled it in the final pack he opened before his death from cancer, and the video his parents recorded of that pack opening spread across the hobby. CardSpicy (cardspicy.com) writes about Simplified Chinese cards and the cards behind the stories around them; this page is the story, told plainly, and it is deliberately not a sales page.

The card

Jirachi ex appears in 30th Celebration both as a regular ex card and as a Special Illustration Rare. The Special Illustration Rare printing, numbered 155, is illustrated by Akira Egawa, who has drawn well over 170 Pokémon cards since 2019 and whose illustration cards sit among the more sought-after modern artwork in the hobby.

The card itself is an alternate-art treatment of a Jirachi ex: the wish-granting Legendary from the Hoenn generation, drawn in an illustration style rather than a battle pose. It is a good card by any measure. It is not the rarest card in the set — that is the Futuristic Rare tier — and it was not, on release day, the most valuable. What made it the card the set is remembered by had nothing to do with either.

What happened

Avery Garcia was twelve years old and lived in Everett, Washington. He had been treated for stage four pancreatoblastoma for seven years, and in that time he had built a following of more than 300,000 people across his channels by posting about Pokémon cards between chemotherapy sessions and surgeries.

His collecting philosophy was the opposite of the market’s. “It’s not about having the best cards, or the most expensive ones,” he said in a video earlier in 2026. “It’s about having the cards that you truly love and will cherish for the rest of your life.” His own favourite card was a Gold Star Pikachu, which he kept because the character’s crossed arms reminded him of Ash Ketchum’s Pikachu. “Ash’s Pikachu is brave, it takes challenges, it fights against gods… it has courage… that’s how I see myself,” he said.

He died on 18 September 2026, three days after the 30th Celebration set released. His parents, Christian Garcia and Rebecca Rosa-Valentin, had filmed him opening one last set of packs, and posted the video after his death. On the final pull of that opening he drew the Jirachi ex Special Illustration Rare — the Egawa card, number 155 — and his reaction, a disbelieving “No way,” is the part of the video that travelled furthest.

Why the card landed the way it did

Jirachi is a Steel and Psychic-type Legendary that, in the games’ own lore, sleeps for a thousand years and wakes for only seven days, during which it grants wishes. It is said to be woken only by a voice of purity, and in the Pokédex entries it grants three wishes before returning to sleep.

A card is not a prophecy. But a child who had been ill for seven years, opening one final pack, drawing the wish-granting Pokémon — the symmetry is why the story spread the way it did, and it is why the card is now referred to across the community simply as Avery’s Jirachi. Whatever one makes of that, it is what happened, and it explains why a card that was one of ten Special Illustration Rares has become the one the set is known by.

What the illustrator said

Akira Egawa saw the video. On 23 September she responded publicly: “I’m so deeply moved. I’m so glad I kept drawing. I’ve honestly been in tears ever since I saw this.” In a second post she added: “I want my art to bring happiness to people. That’s one of the reasons I draw. I’m so glad I put that wish into this piece.”

It is worth noting what that response is and what it is not. It is a working illustrator saying, in public, that the reason she draws is that the work might mean something to someone. It is not a comment on the card’s value, and she did not make one.

The part of the story we will not dress up

Within days of the video spreading, the asking price of the Jirachi ex Special Illustration Rare roughly doubled. It was around $81 on 17 September; by 23 September the average asking price was around $118, with individual copies listed and sold between $140 and $198 depending on condition and centring. The Pokémon Company had built 30th Celebration with deliberately more generous pull rates than usual, specifically to reduce scarcity — which makes the movement in this one card a demand story, not a supply one.

Some of that demand is people who were moved by the story and wanted the card. Some of it was not. One eBay seller listed a Jirachi card for $20,000 framed as a charity sale, a listing that was withdrawn after it emerged the split it advertised was not the split it initially offered. Avery’s parents issued a public statement asking sellers to stop: “We are not involved in or benefiting from any cards being sold in Avery’s name or likeness. We have not approved these sales. We have asked sellers to take their listings down. Please do so immediately. This does not honor Avery’s generous heart.”

That statement is the clearest guide to how this should be handled, and it is why there is no price commentary, no buying push and no listing link on this page. A card can be worth writing about without being worth selling on the back of.

If you want the card

The practical facts, stated without encouragement. Jirachi ex appears in the Special Illustration Rare tier of 30th Celebration, alongside nine other cards at the same rarity: Fuecoco, Greninja, Pikachu in its Day and Night versions, Mewtwo, Mew, Sylveon, Gengar and Salamence. It is not a Futuristic Rare and it is not in the Classic Collection; it is an ordinary pull from an ordinary pack of this set, at a rarity that appears across ten different cards.

That matters if you are buying. The card is not scarce as a category, and its current asking price reflects attention rather than supply. If the reason you want it is the story, that is a reason to buy the card and keep it, not a reason to buy it quickly.

A note on how we write about it

CardSpicy is a store. On almost every other page we write, there is a product at the end of it, and on this one there is not, on purpose. Avery’s parents asked for the cards not to be sold in his name. We are honouring that request in the only way we can: by telling the story, crediting his own words, and leaving the prices to the pages that are about prices.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Jirachi ex card in 30th Celebration?

Jirachi ex appears in the set as a regular Pokémon ex and as a Special Illustration Rare, numbered 155. The Special Illustration Rare is illustrated by Akira Egawa. It is one of ten Special Illustration Rares in the set, alongside Fuecoco, Greninja, Pikachu in Day and Night versions, Mewtwo, Mew, Sylveon, Gengar and Salamence.

Why did the Jirachi ex card become so well known?

Twelve-year-old collector Avery Garcia, known as Avery The Poke Kid, died on 18 September 2026 after a seven-year illness. His parents filmed him opening one last set of 30th Celebration packs and posted the video afterwards; the final card he pulled was the Jirachi ex Special Illustration Rare. The clip spread widely, and the card is now commonly called Avery’s Jirachi.

What did the illustrator of the card say?

Akira Egawa responded publicly on 23 September 2026, saying she was deeply moved, glad she had kept drawing, and had been in tears since seeing the video. In a second post she said she wants her art to bring happiness to people, and that it is one of the reasons she draws.

Did the price of the card go up?

Its average asking price roughly doubled in the days after the story spread, from about $81 on 17 September to around $118 by 23 September, with some copies listed and sold between $140 and $198. 30th Celebration was designed with unusually generous pull rates, so the movement reflects demand rather than any change in supply. CardSpicy does not forecast prices.

Are sellers allowed to sell the card in Avery’s name?

Avery’s parents, Christian Garcia and Rebecca Rosa-Valentin, issued a public statement saying they are not involved in or benefiting from any cards sold in Avery’s name or likeness, that they have not approved those sales, and that they have asked sellers to take the listings down. One $20,000 charity-framed listing was withdrawn. We take their request as authoritative.

Sources

Sources and further reading
  1. Avery Garcia’s family — the public statement of Christian Garcia and Rebecca Rosa-Valentin on sales made in Avery’s name, and their memorial posts and the final pack-opening video, September 2026.
  2. Akira Egawa — public posts of 23 September 2026 responding to the video, quoted here as published.
  3. Press reporting — Polygon, IGN, Kotaku and other outlets reported the story and the movement in the card’s asking price between 17 and 23 September 2026. Those reports are the source for the figures quoted.
  4. The Pokémon Company — 30th Celebration set details, including the Special Illustration Rare tier, the card numbering and the design intent stated for pull rates.

Avery Garcia is named here as he was known publicly, and his own words are quoted as reported. Figures for the card’s asking price are press-reported readings from 17–23 September 2026, not CardSpicy valuations, and they are included because the movement is part of the story rather than as a price guide. CardSpicy does not sell on the basis of this story and does not forecast prices.

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