Pokémon is big business. Not only are the video games still selling well, but the tradiꦛng card game is one of the most popular of its kind. According to the , the card game is available in eleven different languages and 74 countries, and the company has shipped over 25 billion cards to date.

The game was first released in Japan back in 1996 and made its way to The West in 1999. These initial cards are now known as the "first generation," and they can go for a lot of money. Of course, as with any hobby or collectible, the price on each card varies depending on rarity and condition. You can have an extremely rare Pokémon card, but if it's ripped at the edges and stained with coffee, it obvio🎃u𒁃sly won't be as valuable.

Different Pokémon have different values, usually depending on their rarity. Common cards obviously don't go for much money, whereas rare cards can sell for thousands, or perhaps even hundreds of thousands of dollars. All this is to say that prices greatly vary, even within the first ge🌠nerat😼ion.

In this article, we'll be looking at 25 first generation Pokémon and ranking them based on value.  If you have any old Pokémon cards laying around in the basement, you may want to take a look at w💃hat you've got. You may be surprised to find just how expensive and valuable some of these cards are. Granted, they have to be in near-mint condition, but hey, you never know. If you've taken particularly good care of your cards, you could be sitting on a goldmine.

25 ꦦ 𓄧 Pikachu ($169.95)

Unfortunately, poor Pikachu isn't going for much money. Well, relatively speaking, at least. 9.5-rated first edition Pikachu is selling for $169.95 on eBay, and while that's certainly a lot of money for a card, it's close to nothing when compared to other first generation Pokémon cards. And to think, this was rated a 9.5 by Beckett Grading Services (BGS), which denotes "gem mint" condition. A worn and used Pikachu would obviously go for much less. As cute as Pikachu is, they are next to worthless in the Pokémon sphere.

24 Himonchan ($249𒁏♔)

Hitmonchan is slightly more expensive, but certainly not by much. For example, first edition holo Hitmonchan is selling for $249, and that's on the expensive side. It was rated an 8 by the PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator,) which signifies "near mint" condition. You may have thought that Pikachu would be more expensive, but you were wrong! In fact, this Hitmonchan is in worse condition than the Pikachu! Granted, they were rated by different companies, but their criteria is similar. It just goes to show how no one values poor Pikacꦅhu.

23  Jungle Snorlax ($885) 🐷

Turns out this sleeping giant is actually pretty valuable. There are a few first edition Jungle Snorlax's circulating on ♏eBay, many of them professionally-rated by the PSA. gem mint holo Snorlax is priced at a comparatively modest $500, whereas similar card has been priced at a more exorbitant $885. It's clear that a mint condition, holo Snorlax can go for hundreds of dollars, and that's 𝕴definitely not something to sleep on! Granted, things are about to get much more expensive.

22 🐠 ꦏ Blastoise ($2,200)

holo, shadowless first edition Blastoise is currently selling for $2,200 thanks to its 9 rating from the PSA. For those who don't know, "holo" refers to the holofoil effect in the picture, and "shadowless" refers to the lack of shadow between the gold border and the blue background (later cards added a "shadow" to give the card dep👍th.) Both of these properties make the card more valuable, and when combined with the 9 rating, you get the $2,200 price tag.

21 ꦿ  Misprinted Krabby ($3,000) 🎐

Someone messed up, but someone else is making a lot of money. misprinted Krabby card is currently selling for $3,000 on eBay, which is a heck of a lot for boring old Krabby. In most Krabby cards, the "fossil" on the bottom right of the gold border is intact and looks lik🌸e a fossilized footprint. However, this particular card's fossil is incomplete, like the card-printing machine was running out of ink. And that white line breaking up the fossil is worth $3,000.

20 Black T﷽ꦉriangle Error Packs ($3,500)

If Bob Ross taught us anything, it's that mistakes can often be molded into magic. Case in point - the famous black triangle/1st edition packs. These are very rare and misprinted booster packs that are worth a lot of money within the Pokémon community. The error stems from the black triangle in the bottom right corner not completely covering the "1st edition" stamp.  mint condition collection of Venusaur, Charizꦿard, and Blastoise packs is currently selling for $3,500 on eBay.

19 𒁏 Zapdos ($4,000)

You may be shocked to hear the value of a Zapdos. Get it, shocked? Zapdos? Yeah, it was stupid. , holo, shadowless Zapdos is currently selling for $4,000 on eBay. It was given a perfect 10 rating by the PSA, which denotes perfectly sharp corners, a sharp focus, aꦗnd the full original gloss (not to mention free of stains, but that kind of goes without saying.) The Legendary Pokémon were always very rare, and it's clear that they are also very, very valuable.

18 🌠 Mewtwo ($5,000)

Mewtwo was always one of the most popular first gen💧eration Pokémon. Everyone loves a good villain! It also helps that it is incredibly valuable, as a mint condition Mewtwo will sell between $4,000 and $5,000.  Mewtwo is going for $4,000, whereas one is going for $5,000. Both cards are holo and shadowless, and both w🎶ere rated a perfect 10 by the PSA, denoting gem mint condition. In other words, it doesn't get much better than these cards, and their values reflect that.

17 ♏ Nidoking ($5,000)

Weirdly enough, Nidoking is priced exactly the same as Mewtwo. For example,  Nidoking is currently se༺lling for $4,000, and one is going for $5,000. And it's not like these cards are better than the Mewtwo cards. Both cards are holofoil and shadowless (just like Mewtwo,) and both were rated a perfect 10 by the PSA. If you had $5,000 laying around, would you rather go for Nidoking or Mewtwo? We would rather ꦯa nice, shiny Mewtwo, but that's just us.

16 Clefairy ($5,00💙0)

You may not think it, but Clefairy is one of the most valuable first generation Pokémon. Well, certain Clefairy car꧂ds, anyway. Over 🥀at , a holo rare, shadowless Clefairy is going for just $37.99, which is a very affordable price all things considered. However, things get very different over on eBay when professional ratings come into play. For example, Beckett-rated Clefairy is selling for $3,000, and card in mint condition is going for $5,000. Things get expensive once they're validated!