Pokémon Sleeves - Pikachu & Berries (64 pcs, Japanese, matte)

64 official Japanese Pokémon sleeves featuring Pikachu among the berries, in a matte finish from Pokémon Center in Japan.

Specifications

• Count: 64 sleeves
• Artwork: Pikachu with berries
• Material: polypropylene, matte finish
• Origin: Pokémon Center Japan
• Officially licensed Japanese product

What makes matte sleeves different

A matte sleeve doesn’t reflect light, so your cards look better under harsh venue lighting or in photos than they do behind glossy sleeves. More importantly, matte sleeves stick together less, which makes shuffling a lot smoother. Anyone who actually plays a deck instead of just storing it almost always chooses matte.

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 the berries

Berries aren’t just decoration in the Pokémon games: you pick them from trees and feed them to your Pokémon to neutralize poison, cure paralysis or restore a bit of health. Every berry type does something different, and there are dozens of them by now. On these sleeves they surround Pikachu in a pattern that fills the entire back.

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.

Another matte Japanese line is the Deck Shield PRO with Greninja. For Western sleeves, there’s Stellar Tera Pikachu.