Forbidden Light: the Pokémon set explained
Forbidden Light, the Pokémon set from May 2018: all 146 cards block by block, its five Prism Star cards and the Lucario-GX with no main-run card.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published 7 min read
Forbidden Light came out on May 4, 2018, as part of Pokémon’s Sun & Moon series. Pokémon centered it on Ultra Necrozma-GX, a new form of Necrozma, and promised more than 130 cards, among them five new Prism Star cards and eight Pokémon-GX. The set runs to 146 cards, 131 within the printed total of 131 and 15 past it. Lucario-GX, which Pokémon named at launch, has no card in the main run.
When did Forbidden Light come out?
On May 4, 2018. Pokémon announced the set on March 14, 2018, naming May 4 for the launch across the United States. It presented the set as carrying on the story of Ultra Prism.
Ultra Prism came out on February 2, 2018 and Celestial Storm on August 3, 2018, one on each side of Forbidden Light. On Rip.fan’s price pages the set code is FLI, filed under Sun & Moon. Crimson Invasion, the set before Ultra Prism, has its own guide, and our guide to Pokémon card eras sets the series in context.
How many cards are in Forbidden Light?
- Counted block by block:
| Numbers | Cards | What they are |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 101 | 101 | Pokémon, including 8 Pokémon-GX and 3 Prism Star Pokémon |
| 102 to 116 | 15 | Trainer cards: 7 Supporters, 5 Items, 2 Stadiums and 1 Tool |
| 117 to 118 | 2 | Special Energy: Beast Energy, a Prism Star card, and a Unit Energy card |
| 119 to 127 | 9 | Pokémon-GX labeled Rare Ultra on Rip.fan’s page |
| 128 to 131 | 4 | Supporters, also labeled Rare Ultra |
| 132 to 140 | 9 | The same nine Pokémon-GX again, labeled Rare Rainbow |
| 141 to 146 | 6 | Labeled Rare Secret: four Items, a Tool and the Unit Energy card |
Numbers 132 to 146 run past the printed total, which is what makes a card a secret rare.
How many cards of each rarity?
The cards fall into tiers:
| Tier | Cards | Where they sit |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 33 | Within 1 to 100 |
| Uncommon | 36 | Within 7 to 118 |
| Rare | 41 | Within 2 to 117, including all five Prism Star cards; 11 others carry the label Rare Holo on Rip.fan’s price pages |
| Ultra Rare | 21 | The 8 Pokémon-GX at 1 to 101, plus 119 to 131 |
| Secret Rare | 15 | 132 to 146 |
The common, uncommon and rare tiers match the symbol near the card number: a black circle, a black diamond and a black star.
Which special cards does Forbidden Light have?
| Card group | Cards | Where they sit |
|---|---|---|
| Prism Star cards | 5 | From Volcanion at 31 to Beast Energy at 117 |
| Trainer cards | 15 | 102 to 116 |
| Special Energy cards | 2 | 117 and 118 |
| Pokémon-GX | 8 | Cards at 1 to 101, plus a ninth name, Lucario-GX, at 122 and 135 only |
Pokémon named Lucario-GX beside Greninja-GX, Zygarde-GX and Yveltal-GX, yet no Lucario-GX card sits below 122. Count it and the set holds nine Pokémon-GX names, eight of them with a main-run card. Each booster pack holds 10 cards from the expansion, at least one of them rare, plus one basic Energy card.
What are the Prism Star cards?
Prism Star is a card type of its own, and a ◇ follows each such card’s name. Forbidden Light holds five:
- Three Pokémon: Volcanion at 31, Diancie at 74 and Arceus at 96.
- A Supporter: Lysandre at 110.
- A Special Energy: Beast Energy at 117.
Each appears once. None has a Rare Ultra, Rare Rainbow or Rare Secret version, and all five sit inside the printed total, so none is a secret rare. On Rip.fan’s price page they share a label, Rare Prism Star. Our Ultra Prism guide covers the six Prism Star cards in the set before this one.
Where does each Pokémon-GX sit?
The nine names sit in three blocks:
| Pokémon-GX | 1 to 101 | Rare Ultra, 119 to 127 | Rare Rainbow, 132 to 140 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palkia-GX | 20 | 119 | 132 |
| Greninja-GX | 24 | 120 | 133 |
| Naganadel-GX | 56 | 121 | 134 |
| Lucario-GX | None | 122 | 135 |
| Zygarde-GX | 73 | 123 | 136 |
| Yveltal-GX | 79 | 124 | 137 |
| Dialga-GX | 82 | 125 | 138 |
| Xerneas-GX | 90 | 126 | 139 |
| Ultra Necrozma-GX | 95 | 127 | 140 |
- Lucario-GX starts above the main run. Its two cards, at 122 and 135, both sit above the first block, so none of the 101 Pokémon cards at 1 to 101 is a Lucario-GX.
- One GX has its own illustrators. Every Pokémon-GX card is credited to 5ban Graphics except Ultra Necrozma-GX’s three: PLANETA Otani at 95 and PLANETA Igarashi at 127 and 140.
- Two names also appear in Ultra Prism. Ultra Prism has a Dialga-GX at 100 and a Palkia-GX at 101, so a Dialga-GX or Palkia-GX listing needs its full number.
In card number order. Images from Scrydex.
Which other cards repeat?
- Six Basic pairs. Scatterbug, Fennekin, Froakie, Honedge, Flabébé and Goomy each have two cards side by side, such as Fennekin at 14 and 15. One card of each pair is credited to Ken Sugimori.
- Zygarde. Three cards in a row: plain Zygarde at 71 and 72, then Zygarde-GX at 73.
- Supporters. Four of the seven in the Trainer run come back at 128 to 131: Bonnie, Crasher Wake, Diantha and Ultra Recon Squad. Judge, Lady and Lysandre do not.
- The cards above 131. Of these 15, 14 repeat the name of a card from lower down in the set, as secret rares usually do. The exception is Energy Recycler at 143, an Item with no lower-numbered copy in the set; Guardians Rising has one at 123.
By national Pokédex number, 65 of the 101 Pokémon cards at 1 to 101 show Pokémon numbered 653 (Fennekin) to 721 (Volcanion), so most of the first block comes from that one range.
How do you check Forbidden Light card prices?
The set’s page in Rip.fan’s Pokémon price pages shows each priced card with its number, rarity label and NM market price. Five filters map onto the blocks above: Rare Prism Star (5 cards), Rare Holo GX (the 8 Pokémon-GX at 1 to 101), Rare Ultra (13, at 119 to 131), Rare Rainbow (9, at 132 to 140) and Rare Secret (6, at 141 to 146). Sort by card number to see Lucario-GX’s two cards, 122 and 135, in turn.
For one card at a time, use the card price lookup: search a name, a set or a number and it shows which printing the price is for. The price changes page lists the larger moves between Rip.fan’s weekly checks. Both report prices already recorded for raw cards; they are not predictions.
What should you check before buying a Forbidden Light card?
- The set name with the total. Prismatic Evolutions also has a printed total of 131, so a number out of 131 needs the set name beside it.
- Dialga-GX and Palkia-GX. Both are in Ultra Prism too. The number after the slash, 131 or 156, tells the two sets apart.
- The Zygarde run and the Basic pairs. Two Fennekin, two Froakie and two plain Zygarde cards share names, and Zygarde-GX sits right after them, so match the card number as well as the name.
- The ◇. It follows a Prism Star card’s name, as in Volcanion ◇ at 31, so look for it in a listing’s title.
- The card itself. For foil types see our guide to Pokémon card finishes; for fakes, our guide to spotting fake Pokémon cards.
Later sets in the series include Celestial Storm and Unbroken Bonds, and the Pokémon hub gathers the rest.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most expensive Forbidden Light card?
It was Lucario-GX (135/131), at a Near Mint market price of $130.82 on October 21, 2026. Greninja-GX (133/131) was second, at $124.49.
Which regular-numbered Forbidden Light card costs the most?
Of the cards numbered 1 to 131, Greninja-GX (120/131), a Rare Ultra, cost the most on October 21, 2026, with a Near Mint market price of $62.19.
Which Rare Prism Star in Forbidden Light has the highest price?
Arceus ◇ (96/131) had the highest Near Mint market price among the Forbidden Light cards marked Rare Prism Star on October 21, 2026, at $58.73.
What do the Lucario-GX cards in Forbidden Light cost?
Forbidden Light has 2 Lucario-GX cards, and on October 21, 2026, their Near Mint market prices were $35.96 for 122/131 (Rare Ultra) and $130.82 for 135/131 (Rare Rainbow).