Japanese Pokemon sets and their English equivalents (2023 to 2026)

Every Japanese Pokemon set since Scarlet ex and Violet ex (スカーレットex / バイオレットex, sv1S and sv1V, 20 January 2023) has an English equivalent, and as of October 2026 the English version has followed by 53 days on average. The gap runs from one week (Ancient Roar and Future Flash into Paradox Rift) to 14 weeks (Pokemon Card 151, and Storm Emeralda into Delta Reign). 30th Celebration released in Japan and in English on the same day, 16 September 2026. The table maps all 28 Japanese sets, newest first.

Which English set does each Japanese set become?

Japanese dates and names come from The Pokemon Company’s product list on pokemon-card.com; English dates and the set-to-set mapping come from pokemon.com and Bulbapedia (checked 25 and 26 October 2026). “Gap” is the English release date minus the Japanese one.

Announced but not yet released: Aura Seeker (ハドウシーカー) is due in Japan on 27 November 2026 (Bulbapedia). Bulbapedia lists its English set only under a placeholder code and pokemon.com has not named it, so that cell stays blank for now. Pokemon.com also lists a “30th Classic Collection” under the Mega Evolution series with no date, and we have not found a Japanese set to map it to.

The English names for Japanese sets are translations, not official titles: Limitless, for example, calls sv9a “Heat Wave Arena” and sv10 “Glory of Team Rocket”. Search Japanese shops with the katakana name in the table, which is what the pack says.

Why do two or three Japanese sets become one English set?

Japan runs three pack formats, and the official product list labels them in the title. A 拡張パック (expansion pack) is a main set: 5 cards, ¥180 (about $1.20 at ¥150 to the dollar, October 2026) from Scarlet ex through Ninja Spinner, and ¥200 from Abyss Eye onward; Black Bolt and White Flare were the exception at 7 cards for ¥290. A 強化拡張パック (enhanced expansion pack) is a smaller subset between main sets, 5 cards at the same price, code ending in “a”, again with one exception: Pokemon Card 151 at 7 cards for ¥290. A ハイクラスパック (high class pack) is the year-end 10-card subset at ¥550: Shiny Treasure ex, Terastal Fest ex and MEGA Dream ex.

Japan has shipped a main set every two to four months in this era; English sets arrive every six to twelve weeks and fold the subset into the nearest main set, usually with the starter decks released around it. Bulbapedia’s set pages spell out each merger:

• Paldea Evolved brings together Triplet Beat, Snow Hazard and Clay Burst, plus cards from the ex Starter Set Pikachu ex & Pawmot and the Premium Trainer Box ex.
• Paradox Rift combines Ancient Roar, Future Flash, the Raging Surf subset and the Terastal Starter Sets.
• Twilight Masquerade merges Transformation Mask and Crimson Haze.
• Surging Sparks merges Super Electric Breaker and Paradise Dragona, plus the Stellar Tera Type Starter Sets and certain SV-P promotional cards.
• Destined Rivals merges Glory of the Rocket Gang, the Hot Wind Arena subset and the two ex Starter Sets (Marnie’s Morpeko & Grimmsnarl ex, Steven’s Beldum & Metagross ex).
• Mega Evolution takes most of its cards from Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia, with a few Trainer reprints from the Premium Trainer Box MEGA.
• Phantasmal Flames is Inferno X plus the MEGA Starter Sets for Mega Gengar ex and Mega Diancie ex.
• Ascended Heroes is MEGA Dream ex plus the Start Deck 100 Battle Collection.
• Delta Reign is Storm Emeralda plus the 2026 ex Starter Sets.

This is why the gap in the table swings. Ancient Roar and Future Flash released one week before Paradox Rift because they were the last piece of a set that had already absorbed Raging Surf from six weeks earlier. In every paired case so far, the subset waits longer than the main set it is bundled with.

Which Japanese cards did not cross over?

Whole sets always cross over in this era. What stays Japanese is usually a variant, a pack structure or a chunk of a very large subset.

• Pokemon Card 151 (sv2a) has 210 cards; English 151 has 207. Japanese packs hold 7 cards with two guaranteed holos, and every common, uncommon and rare also exists as a mirror holo with a Poke Ball pattern or, rarely, a Master Ball pattern. English 151 has reverse holos instead, so the Poke Ball and Master Ball versions are Japan-only. Bulbapedia gives the totals but not an itemized list of the three missing cards, so we don’t name them.
• Shiny Treasure ex (sv4a) has 360 cards, Paldean Fates 245. The Japanese set was the largest Japanese set on record until Start Deck 100 Battle Collection in December 2025. In English, Paldean Fates packs were never sold on their own, only inside products.
• Terastal Fest ex (sv8a) has 237 cards; Prismatic Evolutions has 180. Prismatic Evolutions also pulled in Generations Start Deck cards for Generations I, II, IV and VI.
• MEGA Dream ex (M2a) has 250 cards and Ascended Heroes has 295, bigger because it also absorbed the Start Deck 100 Battle Collection. The new Mega attack rare cards swap their artwork text between languages: the English print shows Japanese attack text and the Japanese print shows English (Mega Dragonite ex is Bulbapedia’s example), so the two prints are not identical.
• Black Bolt / White Flare (sv11B / sv11W) have 174 cards each in Japan and 172 and 173 in English (Limitless). Bulbapedia notes the lists were reshuffled so English Black Bolt holds the Pokemon White exclusives and White Flare the Pokemon Black ones. Japan also sold a 拡張パックデラックス of each, a 35-card ¥1,450 pack stocked at Pokemon Center and Pokemon Center Online.
• Rarity tiers are not one-to-one either. Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia introduced SR full-art prints of Item, Tool and Stadium cards, and the MUR tier with its own artwork. English rarities map onto these but use different names; see our rarity symbols guide.

Promo cards are the other gap. Limitless lists 300 cards in the Japanese SV-P promo series and 166 in M-P (25 October 2026), and only some reach English, sometimes inside a main set (Surging Sparks included “certain SV-P promotional cards”, per Bulbapedia). Treat a Japanese promo as Japan-only until you find its English card number.

How do you read a Japanese set code?

The code is the small “sv” or “M” mark near the bottom-left corner of the card face. Scarlet & Violet era codes run sv1 through sv11. The MEGA era, branded ポケモンカードゲーム MEGA on pokemon-card.com, restarted at M1. Paired main sets add a letter per half: sv1Scarlet and sv1Violet, sv2P (Snow Hazard) and sv2D (Clay Burst), sv4K (Ancient Roar) and sv4M (Future Flash), sv11Black and sv11White, M1L (Mega Brave) and M1S (Mega Symphonia). A lowercase “a” marks a subset: sv2a, sv4a, M2a.

The code tells you the era and the slot, not the English set: sv7a is the subset after Stellar Miracle, and it landed in Surging Sparks, not Stellar Crown. English cards carry a different abbreviation entirely (MEW for 151, PAR for Paradox Rift, MEG for Mega Evolution), so the same card has two codes and two collector numbers. Our guide to Japanese vs English Pokemon cards covers what else differs between the two prints.

What changes in late 2026?

Three things stand out in the current schedule. First, the simultaneous release: 30th CELEBRATION (M6a) went on sale in Japan on 16 September 2026 at ¥360 for a 6-card pack, the same day as the English set, and Bulbapedia says the English set also includes the cards from the Japanese 30th Celebration Premium Deck Set Espeon & Umbreon. Second, Delta Reign carries the longest wait of the MEGA era, 14 weeks after Storm Emeralda (31 July to 6 November 2026). Third, Japanese pack MSRP rose from ¥180 to ¥200 with Abyss Eye in May 2026, the first increase since Scarlet ex in January 2023.

Aura Seeker (ハドウシーカー, 27 November 2026) is the next Japanese main set, and as of 26 October 2026 it is not yet on pokemon-card.com’s product list; its English set is unnamed. We track every announced date in our Japanese Pokemon release dates 2026 guide.

More guides: Japanese Pokemon card rarity symbols, are Pokemon cards cheaper in Japan?, where to buy Japanese Pokemon cards, and the Pokemon hub.