Absol 1/97 EX Dragon Holo Rare

Released in EX Dragon on November 24, 2003, Absol 1/97 is a Holo Rare illustrated by Naoyo Kimura. EX Dragon was the third expansion of the Pokémon TCG’s EX Series and was released during the first year that Generation III Pokémon began appearing in the international TCG. Absol occupies the first numbered position in the 97-card main set.

The card originated from the Japanese Rulers of the Heavens expansion, where the same artwork appeared as Absol 048/054. The English EX Dragon release was available as both a standard Holo Rare and a Reverse Holo, a parallel treatment that was available throughout the expansion.

Absol 1/97 is one of the earliest Absol cards released internationally and one of the first opportunities for English-language collectors to obtain the newly introduced Generation III Pokémon. The card also comes from the e-Reader period of the TCG and carries the characteristic e-Reader design used during the early EX Series.

Its first attack, Bad News, has an additional connection to Absol. The attack is called *Wazawai* (わざわい) in Japanese, the same word used for Absol’s Japanese species classification as the Disaster Pokémon.