Pokémon Pitch Black Quick Facts

What Is Pokémon Pitch Black?

Pitch Black is a main expansion in the Pokémon TCG's Mega Evolution Series. Its identity is built around Mega Darkrai and a darker Lumiose City aesthetic, with Mega Zeraora providing a bright electrical contrast.

Mega Chandelure fits naturally into the set's supernatural tone, while Mega Excadrill ex adds another featured Mega Evolution card with potential relevance for players as well as collectors.

The English expansion is closely connected to the Japanese Abyss Eye release, but the two shouldn't be treated as perfectly identical checklists. Pitch Black has its own English numbering and a main set of 84 cards followed by 36 higher-numbered cards.

That distinction matters most if you're building a master set. Using the finished English checklist is more reliable than assuming every Japanese card number carries over directly.

Pokémon Pitch Black Release Date

Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution—Pitch Black released on July 17, 2026.

Prerelease activity began before the full retail launch, allowing some collectors and competitive players to open Build & Battle products early.

Because the set is already available, searches that previously centered on Pitch Black preorders are now more likely to involve booster boxes, individual packs, Elite Trainer Boxes and singles.

Pokémon Pitch Black Card List and Rarities

The complete English set contains 120 cards. The regular checklist runs from 001/084 through 084/084, followed by 36 higher-numbered collector cards ending at 120/084.

Illustration Rares

Pitch Black contains 11 Illustration Rares:

• Fomantis 085/084
• Armarouge 086/084
• Goldeen 087/084
• Primarina 088/084
• Manectric 089/084
• Slowbro 090/084
• Dhelmise 091/084
• Thievul 092/084
• Bastiodon 093/084
• Toucannon 094/084
• Silvally 095/084

Illustration Rares are an important part of the opening experience because they provide artwork-focused hits without requiring the same level of luck as the top rarity tiers.

Ultra Rares

There are 18 Ultra Rares, numbered from 096/084 through 113/084. These include premium treatments of Pokémon ex and Trainer cards.

Special Illustration Rares

The set contains six Special Illustration Rares:

• Mega Zeraora ex 114/084
• Mega Chandelure ex 115/084
• Mega Darkrai ex 116/084
• Morpeko ex 117/084
• Gladion's Final Battle 118/084
• Gwynn 119/084

Mega Darkrai ex 120/084

Mega Darkrai ex 120/084 is the final card in the checklist and the only Mega Hyper Rare in the expansion.

That makes it particularly relevant for rarity collectors and anyone trying to finish a complete master set.

Pokémon Pitch Black Chase Cards

A card doesn't become a major chase simply because it has a rare symbol. Collector interest usually comes from a mix of rarity, artwork, Pokémon popularity, character demand and sometimes competitive usefulness.

Pitch Black has a relatively concentrated group of high-end cards, with Mega Darkrai ex clearly leading the set.

Mega Darkrai ex 116/084 Special Illustration Rare

Mega Darkrai ex 116/084 is one of the strongest candidates for the set's signature collector card.

Darkrai already has broad collector appeal, and this Special Illustration Rare gives the Pokémon a dramatic full-card treatment that fits the expansion's darker visual direction.

For collectors who prioritize artwork rather than simply chasing the highest rarity symbol, this may be the most desirable card in Pitch Black.

Mega Darkrai ex 120/084 Mega Hyper Rare

The second major Darkrai chase is Mega Darkrai ex 120/084, the expansion's only Mega Hyper Rare.

Its position at the top of the rarity structure makes it an obvious target for master-set builders. That doesn't automatically make it every collector's favorite, however. Many may still prefer the artwork of the 116/084 SIR.

Mega Zeraora ex 114/084

Mega Zeraora ex is one of the set's headline Mega Evolution cards and one of its six SIRs.

Zeraora's popularity and the contrast between its electrical design and the expansion's dark theme give this card natural collector appeal beyond rarity alone.

Mega Chandelure ex 115/084

Chandelure's supernatural design is a strong visual match for Pitch Black. Its Special Illustration Rare is therefore one of the more thematic premium cards in the set.

Morpeko ex 117/084

Morpeko ex takes a different route from the large Mega Evolution chases. Character-driven SIRs can develop strong collector demand when the artwork gives the card personality beyond its competitive role.

Gladion's Final Battle and Gwynn

Gladion's Final Battle 118/084 and Gwynn 119/084 complete the SIR lineup. Trainer collectors often evaluate these cards differently from Pokémon SIRs, with character popularity and artwork playing a larger role.

Illustration Rares Worth Collecting

The 11 Illustration Rares also deserve attention, particularly for collectors building artwork-focused binders.

Slowbro 090/084 is one example of a card that can be appealing without sitting at the top of the rarity ladder. The broader IR lineup gives Pitch Black more depth than a chase list focused only on Mega Darkrai.

Pokémon Pitch Black Products

Because Pitch Black is a regular expansion rather than a special-set release, it comes in several familiar Pokémon TCG product formats.

Booster Packs

Individual booster packs are the simplest option for collectors who want to open the set without buying a larger sealed product.

Booster Box

A standard Pitch Black Booster Display contains 36 booster packs.

This is the main format for larger openings, although no booster box guarantees a particular Special Illustration Rare or Mega Hyper Rare.

Booster Bundle

The Booster Bundle contains six packs, making it a middle ground between buying a few individual packs and opening a full display box.

Elite Trainer Box

The standard Pitch Black Elite Trainer Box contains nine booster packs along with the usual accessories.

Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Box

The Pokémon Center edition contains 11 booster packs and two full-art Zarude promotional cards, including one with a Pokémon Center stamp.

For sealed collectors, that exclusive stamped promo is one of the main reasons to distinguish the Pokémon Center version from the standard ETB.

Build & Battle Box

The Build & Battle Box contains four booster packs and a 40-card ready-to-play deck.

The prerelease promotional card can feature:

• Miraidon
• Slowbro
• Dhelmise
• Bastiodon

Pokémon Pitch Black Pull Rates

There are no official published odds for pulling individual Pitch Black chase cards or specific premium rarity tiers.

Collectors often estimate pull rates by combining results from large numbers of opened packs. Those datasets can help show the general difference between common hits and much scarcer cards, but they don't create guaranteed odds.

A community sample might suggest that Illustration Rares appear much more frequently than Special Illustration Rares, for example. That doesn't mean every booster box will follow the same pattern.

High-rarity pulls have substantial variance. One box can contain several desirable cards, while another may miss the exact rarity or Pokémon you're trying to find.

Claims such as “one SIR every X packs” are best understood as estimates from a particular sample, not official Pokémon TCG odds.

Competitive Relevance

Pitch Black isn't purely a collector expansion. Several cards also give competitive players reasons to examine the full checklist.

Mega Excadrill ex offers a high damage ceiling, while the set also provides additional support for Fossil-based strategies.

Slowbro brings a more unusual approach. Its attack can deal substantial damage when the player's hand is empty, creating a deck-building challenge around deliberately reducing hand size before attacking.

These types of cards give Pitch Black more depth than you'd see by looking only at the SIRs and other premium collector hits.

Is Pokémon Pitch Black Worth Buying?

Pitch Black makes the strongest case for collectors who enjoy focused sets with a recognizable flagship Pokémon.

Mega Darkrai ex gives the expansion a clear identity, while the six-card SIR lineup is compact enough for each premium card to feel distinct.

The 11 Illustration Rares also add an approachable artwork-focused tier for collectors who don't want the entire opening experience to depend on hitting a very rare SIR or Mega Hyper Rare.

There is a tradeoff. If Mega Darkrai ex 116/084 is the only card you want, repeatedly opening booster boxes can be an inefficient way to acquire a single target.

Opening packs makes more sense when you enjoy the broader experience: discovering different artwork, filling binder slots, chasing multiple rarity tiers and trading duplicates.

If you're interested in only one specific high-end card, buying or trading for the single may be the more practical route.

Where to Open Pokémon Pitch Black Packs Online

Collectors who enjoy opening packs online while retaining access to real physical cards can explore eligible Pokémon TCG packs through Pull Arena.

Pull Arena connects the online opening experience with physical card inventory, allowing collectors to manage the cards they pull through the platform.

Pack availability can change with inventory, so check the live selection before opening.

Open Pokémon TCG Packs on Pull Arena →

New to the platform? Learn how Pull Arena works .

You can also read about Pull Arena's fairness system and physical card shipping .

Pokémon Pitch Black FAQ