Pokémon Sleeves - Pikachu & Pawmi (64 pcs, Japanese)

64 official Japanese Pokémon sleeves featuring Pikachu and Pawmi, released by Pokémon Center around the Japanese ex Starter Set Pikachu ex & Pawmot from March 2023.

Specifications

• Count: 64 sleeves
• Artwork: Pikachu and Pawmi
• Origin: Pokémon Center Japan (2023)
• Officially licensed Japanese product

Note: this is not the starter set itself

The ex Starter Set Pikachu ex & Pawmot from March 24, 2023 contained a fixed 60-card deck, a gold Pikachu coin, a sheet of 44 damage counters and 2 status counters, a player’s guide and a playmat — no sleeves. This pack is a separate release from Pokémon Center from the same period, in the same design.

Why 64 and not 65

Western sleeve packs contain 65, Japanese ones 64 — a difference that comes down purely to the habits of the two markets. A deck holds 60 cards either way, so you end up with a few spares regardless. Do note that Japanese sleeves are sized for Japanese cards, which are a fraction smaller than Western ones.

About Pawmi

Pawmi is the electric rodent from the Paldea region: a little ball of fur with electric pads on its front paws that it rubs together to make sparks. It grows via Pawmo into Pawmot, one of the few Pokémon that can revive a fallen teammate with chest compressions. Alongside Pikachu, it’s the newest in a long line of electric rodents.

What sleeves are for

Sleeves protect your cards from fingerprints, moisture and damaged edges, and they make a deck shuffle more smoothly. At tournaments they're effectively mandatory: every card back in your deck has to look identical, so no one can tell which card you're holding from the back.

Other Japanese designs featuring Pikachu are Pikachu Forest and Pikachu & Berries.