Mega Evolution: Pitch Black Preview (Mega Darkrai ex and More)
Mega Darkrai ex runs this set, and the early Japanese numbers say it is not close.
By Misprint Editorial | Published Jun 10, 2026 | 6 min read
Every Mega Evolution set so far has crowned one obvious chase card within days. Pitch Black already has its king, and it has a crescent moon on its forehead.
Mega Evolution: Pitch Black (ME05) releases in English on July 17, 2026, as the fifth main expansion of the Mega Evolution era. Prerelease events run at participating local game stores in the days before launch. It is the English adaptation of the Japanese set Abyss Eye, which has already been out long enough to give us a real read on which cards matter and roughly what they are worth.
This is our preview based on what is confirmed and what the Japanese market has shown us so far. Prices on an unreleased English set are necessarily a forecast, not a guarantee, and the Mega era has been volatile, so treat everything here as a snapshot and check live numbers once the set is out. If you are new to the era, start with our explainer on what Mega Evolution ex cards are, then come back.
What Is in the Set
Pitch Black is built around a dark, low-light theme, and it shows in both the Pokemon lineup and the art direction. The set features six new Mega Evolution Pokemon ex:
- Mega Darkrai ex (the headliner)
- Mega Zeraora ex
- Mega Chandelure ex
- Mega Excadrill ex
- Mega Delphox ex
- Mega Slowbro ex
The full set runs to about 118 to 120 cards, including the standard run of commons, uncommons, and rares plus a deep secret-rare section. That secret-rare tier includes Illustration Rares, Special Illustration Rares, and a gold Mega Hyper Rare at the very top.
Notably, only three of the six Megas received a Special Illustration Rare (Darkrai, Zeraora, and Chandelure), and the rest of the SIR tier goes to non-Mega cards and Trainers. That is worth keeping in mind: the value is concentrated rather than spread evenly across every Mega in the set.
The Chase Cards
Here is how the top of the set looked in the Japanese Abyss Eye market at its launch (May 22, prices from Japanese retail), which is the best preview we have of the English chase order. Card numbers reference the Japanese secret-rare ordering, which the English set is expected to mirror.
| Card | Rarity | JP launch price |
|---|---|---|
| Mega Darkrai ex (#118) | Mega Hyper Rare (gold) | ¥158,000 (~$1,000) |
| Mega Darkrai ex (#114) | Special Illustration Rare | ¥89,800 (~$570) |
| Gwynn (#117) | Special Illustration Rare | ¥23,800 (~$150) |
| Mega Zeraora ex (#112) | Special Illustration Rare | ¥12,800 (~$80) |
| Mega Chandelure ex (#113) | Special Illustration Rare | ¥9,500 (~$60) |
| Morpeko ex (#115) | Special Illustration Rare | ¥8,500 (~$55) |
Mega Darkrai ex
This is the card, or rather the two cards. Darkrai is one of the most consistently popular dark-type Pokemon in the franchise, and the Mega treatment landed at exactly the right time. Collectors are chasing the Special Illustration Rare at #114, illustrated by Akira Egawa, and the gold Mega Hyper Rare at #118, which opened in Japan around the ¥158,000 mark (roughly $1,000) on launch day.
Two heavy caveats before you anchor on those numbers. First, they are launch-day prices, and Japanese launch prices for chase cards routinely cool in the following weeks; Abyss Eye has been no exception. Second, English prices rarely mirror Japanese ones, because the English release expands global supply dramatically. Treat the Japanese figures as a ceiling reference and a ranking guide, not a prediction of English launch prices.
Gwynn
The set's genuine surprise: a Trainer SIR that opened as the third most expensive card in Abyss Eye, ahead of every Mega chase except Darkrai itself. Trainer Special Illustration Rares have been strong performers across the Mega era because there are fewer of them and they often have standout art, and Gwynn's launch numbers suggest this one has real chase status. If you are hunting value beyond the obvious Darkrai cards, this is the name to know.
Mega Zeraora ex, Mega Chandelure ex, and Morpeko ex
The rest of the SIR tier opened in Japan in the $50 to $80 band: Zeraora with its event-card following, Chandelure fitting the set's ghostly theme perfectly, and Morpeko as the non-Mega wildcard. Affordable chase cards in a set with a $1,000 gold at the top, which is a healthier spread than some Mega sets have managed.
How Pitch Black Fits the Era
Pitch Black continues the pattern we have seen all year: one dominant chase card, a strong second tier, and a long tail of Illustration Rares that hold modest value. We saw the same shape in Chaos Rising, where Mega Greninja ex carried the set, and in Ascended Heroes, where Mega Gengar ex became the most valuable card of the entire era so far.
What makes Pitch Black stand out is the theme. The dark, moody art direction runs across the whole set, not just the Darkrai cards, which has made it one of the more cohesive and visually distinctive expansions of the era. For collectors who buy on aesthetics as much as value, that matters.
On the player side, six new Megas plus a deep Trainer lineup give Pitch Black real standard-format relevance. This is not a pure collector set. Mega Darkrai ex in particular has the kind of attacking profile that tends to see competitive play, which can support secondary-market demand beyond pure collectibility.
Reading the Japanese Abyss Eye Data
Because Pitch Black is the English version of Abyss Eye, we are not flying blind on this set the way we would be with a totally fresh expansion. That is a real advantage, but it comes with a few translation rules worth understanding before you lean on Japanese prices.
First, Japanese chase cards almost always start hotter and then cool when the English version lands. The reason is simple: the English release expands global supply dramatically, and a lot of the speculative demand that drove early Japanese prices gets satisfied once boxes are widely available in every market. We saw versions of this dynamic earlier in the era, and there is no reason to expect Mega Darkrai ex to behave differently.
Second, the art and card numbering carry over, but the grading landscape does not. English cards tend to accumulate larger PSA and CGC populations faster, which can compress the premium between a raw copy and a graded gem-mint one over time. If your plan is to grade, factor that in rather than assuming the early scarcity premium will hold.
Third, pull rates and box configurations can differ between the Japanese and English products even when the card list is the same. Do not assume the odds of hitting a Mega Darkrai ex SIR in an English booster box match whatever figure you saw quoted for Abyss Eye. Wait for English-specific pull-rate reporting once the set is open.
The practical upshot: use Abyss Eye prices to rank the chase cards and understand the shape of the set, not to set a precise dollar target for English singles. The order of value (Darkrai at the top, then Zeraora, then the Trainer and non-Mega SIRs) is far more reliable than the exact numbers.
Should You Buy at Launch?
A few honest considerations:
Sealed product
Booster boxes and Elite Trainer Boxes of a fresh main set usually open at a premium and drift down as supply settles, unless the set proves unusually thin or popular. If you want sealed Pitch Black for the long term, there is rarely a rush to buy in the first week. Our guides on the best booster boxes of 2026 and whether sealed product is a good investment cover the broader logic.
Singles
If you specifically want the Mega Darkrai ex SIR or Hyper Rare, the launch window is historically the most expensive moment for a chase card, not the cheapest. Prices on top-tier Mega chase cards have generally eased in the weeks after release as packs get opened. Patience usually pays unless you simply want the card in hand on day one.
Grading
For a card you plan to grade, condition at the source matters enormously. If you are pulling or buying raw with grading in mind, our piece on what Pokemon cards to grade in 2026 is worth a read first.
The Bottom Line
Pitch Black is shaping up to be a Mega Darkrai ex set, full stop. The SIR and the gold Hyper Rare are the cards that will define its market, and the Japanese Abyss Eye data gives us a useful (if imperfect) preview: a four-figure gold at the top on launch day, with the usual softening already underway. Beyond Darkrai, the Gwynn Trainer SIR is the sleeper to watch, with Zeraora, Chandelure, and Morpeko rounding out an affordable chase tier. The cohesive dark theme makes it one of the better-looking sets of the era, which only helps. As always with a set this fresh, the prices here are an early read, not gospel, so confirm live numbers before you buy or sell once Pitch Black is out on July 17.
