Absol (MA 96)

Released in EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua in 2004, Absol 96/95 is a Secret Rare illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. The card was released as a box topper included with booster boxes of the expansion, rather than being pulled from regular booster packs.

The artwork predates the English release and was originally used for Japanese ADV-P promotional cards in 2003. It was later brought to the English TCG for EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua, where it received the collector number 96/95. Its numbering places it outside the expansion's standard 95-card set and identifies it as one of the set's Secret Rares.

Absol 96/95 is notable as one of Absol's earliest English TCG releases, appearing during the EX Series only a short time after the Pokémon's introduction in Generation III. It is also one of several early Absol cards illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita, whose artwork appeared prominently throughout Absol's first years in the TCG.