Shining Fates: How to Identify Cards From This Set

• Shiny Pokémon secret cards are pulled out into their own 'Shiny Vault' subset, numbered with an 'SV' prefix (SV001/SV122 up to SV122/SV122) rather than continuing the main set's numbering.
• Like other 'special expansion' products of this era, individual booster packs cannot be bought separately outside specially-marked boxes/tins.
• Regulation marks on this set are mixed: an independent card database lists card No. 1 as Regulation Mark E, while most of the rest of the main set (and the entire Shiny Vault) is Regulation Mark D.

• V Battle Deck early-release cards: A small number of Shining Fates cards were available earlier as inserts in the 'V Battle Deck—Venusaur vs. Blastoise' product before the main expansion released.

• [Paldean Fates](/lookup/pokemon-sets/paldean-fates): All three sets use the '[Adjective] Fates' name and include their own separate Shiny Vault-style secret subset; check the set symbol/abbreviation (SHF vs HIF vs PAF) and release date to tell them apart.

Main-set card numbering runs 001/072-072/072 with one secret rare at 073/072 (Alcremie VMAX, Rare Rainbow), plus the 122-card SV001-SV122 Shiny Vault, for 195 cards total — all figures cross-checked directly against Bulbapedia's card-list numbering.

• Bottom-left or bottom-right corner: the set symbol and the collector number (e.g. 4/102) tell you the set; older cards have no symbol at all, which itself narrows them to Base Set.
• Left of the number: a 1st Edition stamp, if present, sits below the art on WOTC-era cards.
• Regulation mark (a letter in a box near the bottom, D through H so far) dates modern cards to a two-year window.
• Back of the card: the blue Poké Ball back has changed little since 1999; a washed-out, blurry or wrongly colored back is the first sign of a fake.

Lay the card flat on a dark surface in daylight, straight on, with the whole card in frame, then a close-up of the bottom edge where the set symbol, number and any edition stamp sit. Tilt holo cards under the light for a second shot to show the foil pattern. Photograph the back too. The app reads the card and set; the edition and rarity checks above tell you which version you have.