DALLAS, TX.- A card from a 2000 Japanese tournament that is so scarce many collectors are not even aware of its existence will burst into the spotlight when it is offered in Heritage Auctions' Trading Card Games Signature ® Auction July 7-8.

This one-of-a-kind prize is a Pokémon Toshiyuki Yamaguchi No. 2 Trainer 1/1 World Summer Challenge Secret Super Battle-Best In Japan CGC Trading Card Game NM/Mint 8 (The Pokémon Company, 2000) Holo, so rare that the offered copy is the only one made. Many are unaware that it even exists, in part because no images of it have surfaced until now. The 2000 World Summer Challenge included eight regional tournaments in which Japanese players competed for entry into the Deciding Match. Each regional tournament had a Junior Championship called Tropical Mega Battle and a Senior Championship called Secret Super Battle-Best In Japan; the winners of the Secret Super Battle competed in the World Challenge Secret Super Battle-Best In Japan Deciding Match. A single card was created to celebrate each of the No. 1, 2, and 3 Trainers, complete with pictures of the young trainers. The card offered here is the card that features the No. 2 Trainer, Toshiyuki Yamaguchi, the No. 2 Trainer, giving two thumbs up while surrounded by Chansey, Growlithe, Dudou and franchise mascot Pikachu.

"The word rare is often used for cards with low-print runs, but here we have a genuine 1/1 card," says Jesus Garcia, Trading Card Games Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions. "Before we posted the card's picture on our website, you couldn't even find a picture of the card online! The story of this card has been shrouded in mystery, and we're proud to tell it."

One of the rarest cards in the history of the Pokémon game is the Pokémon Family Event Kangaskhan Trophy Card Promo 115 Parent/Child Mega Battle PSA Trading Card Game GEM MT 10 (The Pokémon Company, 1998), which was awarded during a 1998 tournament to which teams featuring parents playing with their children won a certain number of battles. The design, with Kangaskhan carrying its infant inside its pouch, fits perfectly with the family teams that took part in the tournament. A Pokémon Gyarados Unnumbered Promo 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest CGC Trading Card Game Gem Mint 9.5 (1999) comes from the 1999 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo Contest: contestants competed to take the best photos they could in the N64 classic, Pokémon Snap!, and the top five winning photos were printed on reprint cards from the Japanese Pokémon TCG Expansion Pack. The rarity is underscored by the fact that only 15 cards of each winning photo were made and distributed to the winners; the copy offered in this auction is the only one ever graded by CGC.

A Pokémon Charizard 006 Japanese Base Set CGC Trading Card Game Gem Mint 9.5 (Media Factory, 1996) No Rarity Symbol, Holo is from the first print run of the initial set — verified by the absence of a rarity symbol in the lower right corner — of the world's most popular trading card game after Pokémon partnered with Media Factory in 1996; rarity symbols shortly after the first release. Not only is the card beautiful — the artwork is by famed Pokémon artist Mitsuhiro Arita — but the offered example is one of just 11 to earn a Gem Mint 9.5 grade from CGC (there is only one graded higher).

Magic: The Gathering

Daniel Gelon's Magic: The Gathering Lich Illustration Original Art (1993) is signed by the artist in pencil in the lower margin below the artwork from an Alpha Edition rare card. Gelon is one of the original Magic: The Gathering artists, with more than 50 cards among his credits. Another etherial image that will find a new home in the auction is Dan Frazier Magic: The Gathering Swamp Illustration Original Art (1993), an image shrouded in a gloomy fog that was created for the "Swamp" Alpha Edition card. Frazier is one of the 25 original MTGartists.

A Magic: The Gathering Splendid Genesis RG97 BGS Trading Card Game NEAR MINT+ 7.5 (Wizards of the Coast, 1997) Richard Garfield Promos that will be offered in the auction is one of only 110 produced to commemorate the day his first child was born. Given only to members of his family, close friends and select Wizards of the Coast employees, the image shows a child's hand gripping a finger of an adult hand; in a touching parallel, the card brings a new player into the game, like a parent welcoming a new child. Just four copies of this über-rare card have been certified by BGS: the offered card is the only one to earn a Near Mint+ 7.5 grade, with just two carrying higher grades.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

A Yu-Gi-Oh! The Seal of Orichalcos UDE Duel the Master Event CGC Trading Card Game Ex/NM+ 6.5 (Upper Deck Entertainment, 2005) is among the top draws in the event from the popular game. The UDE Seal of Orichalcos Challenge was a side event hosted by Upper Deck that pitted its R&D department against challengers from among attendees at major conventions that often had unique rules and features that weighed the games heavily in favor of UDE. What made these games incredibly difficult for the challengers was the "Seal of Orichalcos." This card was printed by UDE specifically for these events and was not meant to be used as an official Yu-Gi-Oh! card. As a courtesy to the collector community that kept these cards around long after the Orichalcos challenge events ended, Heritage Auctions is following the tradition of not revealing the back of the card, which can be viewed only by the cards' owners.