Team Rocket

Sold in Japan as "Rocket Gang," this was Media Factory's fourth expansion and the debut of Dark Pokémon — corrupted forms wearing that unmistakable brown-and-black art window. Released November 21, 1997, more than two years before English collectors saw a Team Rocket pack, it ran on the old Japanese system: no 1st Edition stamps and National Pokédex-style card numbers, so Dark Charizard sits at No. 006, not 4/82. The checklist gave us the Dark holos collectors still chase — Dark Charizard, Dark Blastoise, Dark Gyarados, Dark Dragonite — plus the "Here Comes Team Rocket!" trainer and Rainbow Energy. Smaller and quieter than its later English cousin, the Japanese run is the true first appearance of every Dark card here, and that origin status is what makes clean copies worth handling carefully.

• 1
  Cards use National Pokédex-style numbers (No. 006 = Dark Charizard, No. 149 = Dark Dragonite), not the sequential 4/82-style numbering of the English release.
• 2
  Dark Pokémon have a distinctive brown-and-black art window, Evolution box, and Pokédex box.
• 3
  No 1st Edition stamps — Japanese sets of this era shipped Unlimited only; the 1st Edition stamp was a Wizards/English-era addition.
• 4
  Dark Pokémon trade higher attack damage for lower HP than normal Pokémon, reflecting Team Rocket's aggressive theme.

Holos are the classic flat 'cosmos' foil and chip at the edges easily; corners show wear fast against the dark borders. Centering runs loose like all Media Factory cards of this period. The dark brown ink frames bruise visibly, so even light handling reads as edge whitening under a loupe.

Every card in the set, across all 1 edition. Pick an edition to narrow the listed copies; listed cards are clickable.

2 conditions

Pokemonhp·dmg

Dark Dragonite

Team Rocket · 1997 · No. 149

$14.95–$56.952 IN STOCK · 2 CONDITIONS