---
title: "A 12-year-old’s last Pokémon card became a $20,000 listing, and his family is aghast"
description: "The death of Avery the Poke Kid drew out scalpers the family says it never approved and wants taken down"
author: "Walter Pine"
published: 2026-09-26T16:05:05Z
modified: 2026-09-27T02:05:23Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/a-12-year-old-s-last-pokemon-card-became-a-20-000-listing-an-0debdd
language: en
tags: ["pokemon", "gaming", "cancer", "reselling", "ethics", "culture"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# A 12-year-old’s last Pokémon card became a $20,000 listing, and his family is aghast

*The death of Avery the Poke Kid drew out scalpers the family says it never approved and wants taken down*

By Walter Pine · September 26, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/a-12-year-old-s-last-pokemon-card-became-a-20-000-listing-an-0debdd

## In brief

- Avery Garcia, 12, known online as Avery the Poke Kid, died of pancreatic cancer on September 18
- His family says it approved none of the sales invoking his name and has asked sellers to take the listings down
- His final video featured a rare illustrated Jirachi, whose artist Akira Egawa responded publicly
- An eBay seller sought $20,000 for that card, pledging charity proceeds; the seller has since removed charity listings
- Comparable Jirachi prices have kept rising as scalpers exploit the anniversary set’s pull rates and misprints

Avery Garcia was twelve years old. Online he was Avery the Poke Kid, whose videos of opening Pokémon trading-card packs had buoyed first him and then a large corner of the card game’s community. On September 18 he died of pancreatic cancer. Within a week, listings on resale sites were invoking his death to move cards, one at a $20,000 premium, and his family has asked that they come down.

> “We are not involved in or benefiting from any cards being sold in Avery’s name or likeness,” writes parents Christian Garcia and Rebecca Rosa-Valentin in an official statement. “We have not approved these sales. We have asked sellers to take their listings down. Please do so immediately. This does not honor Avery’s generous heart. We are mourning our son and caring for our children. Please let us do that in peace.”

In his final video, Garcia had opened the recent 30th anniversary set and found a rare illustrated Jirachi — a small sweetness, as Kotaku’s Zack Kotzer reports, that travelled far enough to reach the card’s illustrator, Akira Egawa. “I want my art to bring happiness to people,” Egawa posted. “That’s one of the reasons I draw. I’m so glad I put that wish into this piece.” After the video circulated, demand for that exact card began to climb.

One eBay seller, operating as Ash’s Secret Vault, sought $20,000 for the specific Jirachi, promising to donate ninety per cent to charity — though collectors noted the listing had initially allocated only ten per cent to the Kids Cancer Foundation, and that the inflated price left plenty for the seller either way. Under scrutiny the vendor answered on social media: “After hearing about Avery’s passing, I had coincidentally just pulled a Jirachi and thought I could use it to raise money,” adding, “I wanted to help \[the family\] by using our highly rated storefront and eBay as a place to hopefully grab the attention of someone that DOES have that kind of money.” The post closed with an insult for the critics on Reddit and a complaint that “you only stopped the family from getting money directly so good work.”

The seller says nothing connected to Avery’s death has actually been sold. All of the shop’s charity listings have since been removed. Prices for comparable Jirachi cards on the site have continued to trend upward.

Some context: the Pokémon Company had deliberately built the 30th anniversary set with more generous pull rates, so that traditionally sought-after cards would be easier to find — a hedge against the scalping frenzies that have made the hobby, for years now, what Kotaku calls a site of bedlam. With spoils arriving less naturally, resellers have leaned on recurring misprints to manufacture value. Using a child who died of cancer as the sales pitch, the outlet writes, is a new low. The asking price was twenty thousand dollars. The card was a Jirachi, the wishing Pokémon.