Pokemon TCG: Team Rocket Set

Team Rocket Set ロケット団 Trading Card Game Set E5 / J4
General information
Cards	English: 83 Japanese: 65
Series	Original Series
Region Focus	Kanto
Previous Expansion	Base Set 2
Following Expansion	Gym Heroes
Associated Decks	Devastation Trouble
Released	English: April 24th, 2000 Japanese: November 21st, 1997
STD Legal Deck?	Yes

Quick menu: Overview / Print Versions / Set List / For Collectors / Most Powerful / Trivia / Images & Videos

Team Rocket was released in English on 24 April 2000, the fifth main expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the first built entirely around the villains. Where Base Set, Jungle and Fossil had all been organised around habitats and fossils — the world of Pokémon as a place to explore — Team Rocket reframed the game around the people trying to exploit it. It was the first Pokémon TCG expansion given over wholly to a criminal organisation — an idea the game liked enough to come back to, first with EX Team Rocket Returns in 2004 and again a quarter of a century later with Destined Rivals in the Scarlet & Violet era.

The set’s central idea is the Dark Pokémon: familiar creatures shown corrupted under Team Rocket’s control. Mechanically they traded away safety for aggression, carrying lower HP than their ordinary counterparts in exchange for harder-hitting attacks that frequently damaged their own user. Visually the change was just as deliberate — darker palettes, meaner expressions, and artwork that made the same Pokémon you had been collecting for a year suddenly look dangerous. For players who knew Team Rocket from the anime and the Game Boy games, seeing Charizard and Blastoise turned against you had an impact no new mechanic could have matched.

Structurally it is an oddity worth understanding before you buy into it. The set runs to 83 cards but is numbered to 82, because Dark Raichu sits outside the count as the game’s first Secret Rare. Cards 1–17 are the holographic rares, 18–31 along with 71, 72 and 80 are their non-holo counterparts, 32–70 cover the Dark Pokémon uncommons and the basics they evolve from, and 73–82 are Trainers and Energy — including three Rocket’s Secret Machine Trainers that appear nowhere else in the game.

Team Rocket was adapted from the Japanese Rocket Gang expansion, which had appeared in November 1997 — a gap of nearly two and a half years, one of the longest of the Wizards era. It also delivered three firsts in a single release: the first Secret Rare, the first holographic Trainer card, and the first holographic Energy card. Few sets have left a longer shadow over how Pokémon cards have been designed since.

Print Versions & Collectors Info

Team Rocket exists in two English printings. 1st Edition carries the black “Edition 1” stamp to the left of the artwork box and is the scarcer of the two; Unlimited followed and is what most surviving product contains. Both printings were produced in holo and non-holo, so a card’s rarity and its edition are separate questions.

Beyond the two main printings, certain cards were issued carrying the Wizards of the Coast gold “W” stamp — Dark Arbok (19/82) and Dark Charmeleon (32/82) are the ones collectors look for. Between edition, holo status and stamp variants, Team Rocket rewards checking exactly which version of a card you are holding before you agree a price on it.

Packaging and pack artwork

Team Rocket shipped in two booster wrappers — one featuring Dark Gyarados, the other the Team Rocket “R” emblem itself — alongside a sealed booster box and a gift pack. It was also the first Pokémon set not to be packaged in cardboard-backed blister packs, a small change that makes surviving sealed product from this era look noticeably different to what came before. (The Italian release was the exception.)

Set List with Pictures

Card Image	No.	Card name	Rarity	Card type
	1/82	Dark Alakazam
	Card text You may switch Dark Alakazam with 1 of your Benched Pokémon. (Do the damage before switching the Pokémon.)
	2/82	Dark Arbok
	Card text Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. This attack does 10 damage to that Pokémon. Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying Weakness and Resistance still happen.) If that Pokémon has a Pokémon Power, that power stops working until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
	3/82	Dark Blastoise
	Card text Does 30 damage plus 20 more damage for each Water Energy attached to Dark Blastoise but not used to pay for this attack. You can’t add more than 40 damage in this way.
	4/82	Dark Charizard
	Card text Flip a number of coins equal to the number of Fire Energy cards attached to Dark Charizard. This attack does 50 damage times the number of heads. Discard a number of Fire Energy cards attached to Dark Charizard equal to the number of heads
	5/82	Dark Dragonite
	Card text When you play Dark Dragonite from your hand, search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon and put them onto your Bench. Shuffle your deck afterward.
	6/82	Dark Dugtrio
	Card text Whenever your opponent’s Active Pokémon retreats, your opponent flips a coin. If tails, this power does 20 damage to that Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance.) This power stops working while Dark Dugtrio is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	7/82	Dark Golbat
	Card text When you play Dark Golbat from your hand, you may choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. If you do, Dark Golbat does 10 damage to that Pokémon.Apply Weakness and Resistance.
	8/82	Dark Gyarados
	Card text When Dark Gyarados is Knocked Out by an attack, flip a coin. If heads, this power does 20 damage for each Water Energy attached to Dark Gyarados to the Pokémon that Knocked Out Dark Gyarados. Apply Weakness and Resistance. This power doesn’t work if Dark Gyarados is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	9/82	Dark Hypno
	Card text Your opponent flips a number of coins equal to the number of Pokémon on his or her Bench. This attack does 20 damage times the number of tails. Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying Weakness and Resistance still happen.)
	10/82	Dark Machamp
	Card text Your opponent shuffles his or her Active Pokémon and all cards attached to it into his or her deck. This attack can’t be used if your opponent has no Benched Pokémon.
	11/82	Dark Magneton
	Card text Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying Weakness and Resistance still happen.)
	12/82	Dark Slowbro
	Card text When you play Dark Slowbro from your hand, choose up to 3 Basic Pokémon and/or Evolution cards from your discard pile and put them into your hand.
	13/82	Dark Vileplume
	Card text No Trainer cards can be played. This power stops working while Dark Vileplume is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	14/82	Dark Weezing
	Card text Does 20 damage times the total number of Koffings, Weezings, and Dark Weezings in play (Apply Weakness and Resistance.). Then, this attack does 20 damage to each Koffing, Weezing, and Dark Weezing (even your own). Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance.
	15/82	Here Comes Team Rocket!		T
	Card text Each player plays with his or her Prize cards face up for the rest of the game.
	16/82	Rocket’s Sneak Attack		T
	Card text Look at your opponent’s hand. If he or she has any Trainer cards, choose 1 of them. Your opponent shuffles that card into his or her deck.
	17/102	Rainbow Energy		E
	Card text Attach Rainbow Energy to 1 of your Pokémon. While in play, Rainbow Energy counts as every type of basic Energy but only provides 1 Energy at a time. (Doesn’t count as a basic Energy card when not in play.) When you attach this card from your hand to 1 of your Pokémon, it does 10 damage to that Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance.)
	18/82	Dark Alakazam
	Card text You may switch Dark Alakazam with 1 of your Benched Pokémon. (Do the damage before switching the Pokémon.)
	19/82	Dark Arbok
	Card text Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. This attack does 10 damage to that Pokémon. Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying Weakness and Resistance still happen.) If that Pokémon has a Pokémon Power, that power stops working until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
	20/82	Dark Blastoise
	Card text Does 30 damage plus 20 more damage for each Water Energy attached to Dark Blastoise but not used to pay for this attack. You can’t add more than 40 damage in this way.
	21/82	Dark Charizard
	Card text Flip a number of coins equal to the number of Fire Energy cards attached to Dark Charizard. This attack does 50 damage times the number of heads. Discard a number of Fire Energy cards attached to Dark Charizard equal to the number of heads.
	22/82	Dark Dragonite
	Card text When you play Dark Dragonite from your hand, search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon and put them onto your Bench. Shuffle your deck afterward.
	23/82	Dark Dugtrio
	Card text Whenever your opponent’s Active Pokémon retreats, your opponent flips a coin. If tails, this power does 20 damage to that Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance.) This power stops working while Dark Dugtrio is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	24/82	Dark Golbat
	Card text When you play Dark Golbat from your hand, you may choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. If you do, Dark Golbat does 10 damage to that Pokémon.Apply Weakness and Resistance.
	25/82	Dark Gyarados
	Card text When Dark Gyarados is Knocked Out by an attack, flip a coin. If heads, this power does 20 damage for each Water Energy attached to Dark Gyarados to the Pokémon that Knocked Out Dark Gyarados. Apply Weakness and Resistance. This power doesn’t work if Dark Gyarados is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	26/82	Dark Hypno
	Card text Your opponent flips a number of coins equal to the number of Pokémon on his or her Bench. This attack does 20 damage times the number of tails. Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying Weakness and Resistance still happen.)
	27/82	Dark Machamp
	Card text Your opponent shuffles his or her Active Pokémon and all cards attached to it into his or her deck. This attack can’t be used if your opponent has no Benched Pokémon.
	28/82	Dark Magneton
	Card text Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying Weakness and Resistance still happen.)
	29/82	Dark Slowbro
	Card text When you play Dark Slowbro from your hand, choose up to 3 Basic Pokémon and/or Evolution cards from your discard pile and put them into your hand.
	30/82	Dark Vileplume
	Card text No Trainer cards can be played. This power stops working while Dark Vileplume is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	31/82	Dark Weezing
	Card text Does 20 damage times the total number of Koffings, Weezings, and Dark Weezings in play (Apply Weakness and Resistance.). Then, this attack does 20 damage to each Koffing, Weezing, and Dark Weezing (even your own). Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance.
	32/82	Dark Charmeleon
	Card text Use this attack only if there are any Fire Energy cards attached to Dark Charmeleon. Flip a coin. If heads, discard 1 of those Energy cards. If tails, this attack does nothing (not even damage).
	33/82	Dark Dragonair
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may search your deck for an Evolution card. Show it to your opponent and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward. This power can’t be used if Dark Dragonair is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	34/82	Dark Electrode
	Card text Take all Energy cards attached to Dark Electrode and attach them to your Benched Pokémon (in any way you choose). If you have no Benched Pokémon, discard all Energy cards attached to Dark Electrode.
	35/82	Dark Flareon
	Card text Does 10 damage plus 10 more damage for each damage counter on Dark Flareon.
	36/82	Dark Gloom
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Confused; if tails, your Active Pokémon is now Confused. This power can’t be used if Dark Gloom is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	37/82	Dark Golduck
	Card text Discard 1 Energy card attached to Dark Golduck in order to draw up to 3 cards.
	38/82	Dark Jolteon
	Card text If the Defending Pokémon tries to attack during your opponent’s next turn, your opponent flips a coin. If tails, that attack does nothing.
	39/82	Dark Kadabra
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may discard a card from your hand in order to draw a card. This power can’t be used if Dark Kadabra is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	40/82	Dark Machoke
	Card text Before doing damage, choose 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon and switch it with the Defending Pokémon. Do the damage to the new Defending Pokémon. This attack can’t be used if your opponent has no Benched Pokémon.
	41/82	Dark Muk
	Card text As long as Dark Muk is your Active Pokémon, your opponent pays more to retreat his or her Active Pokémon. This power stops working while Dark Muk is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	42/82	Dark Persian
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, choose 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon and switch it with the Defending Pokémon. This attack can’t be used if your opponent has no Benched Pokémon.
	43/82	Dark Primeape
	Card text If Dark Primeape does any damage while it’s Confused (even to itself), it does 30 more damage.
	44/82	Dark Rapidash
	Card text You may discard 1 Fire Energy card attached to Dark Rapidash when you use this attack. If you do and if your opponent has any Benched Pokémon, choose 1 of them and this attack does 10 damage to it. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
	45/82	Dark Vaporeon
	Card text If the Defending Pokémon has any Energy cards attached to it, choose 1 of them and discard it.
	46/82	Dark Wartortle
	Card text Flip 2 coins. This attack does 10 damage times the number of heads.
	47/82	Magikarp
	Card text Search your deck for an Evolution card named Gyarados or Dark Gyarados and put it on Magikarp. (This counts as evolving Magikarp.) Shuffle your deck afterward.
	48/82	Porygon
	Card text If the Defending Pokémon has a Weakness, you may change it to a type of your choice other than Colorless.
	49/82	Abra
	Card text Shuffle Abra into your deck. (Discard all cards attached to Abra.)
	50/82	Charmander
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may take 1 Fire Energy card attached to 1 of your other Pokémon and attach it to Charmander. This power can’t be used if Charmander is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	51/82	Dark Raticate
	Card text Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing.
	52/82	Diglett
	Card text Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. This attack does 10 damage to that Pokémon. Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying Weakness and Resistance still happen.)
	53/82	Dratini
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
	54/82	Drowzee
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Asleep; if tails, your Active Pokémon is now Asleep. The power can’t be used if Drowzee is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	55/82	Eevee
	Card text If the Defending Pokémon tries to attack during your opponent’s next turn, your opponent flips a coin. If tails, that attack does nothing.
	56/82	Ekans
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
	57/82	Grimer
	Card text The Defending Pokémon is now Asleep.
	58/82	Koffing
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
	59/82	Machop
	Card text It’s said that not even pro wrestlers can take down a Machop.
	60/82	Magnemite
	Card text Does 10 damage plus 10 more damage for each Magnemite, Magneton, and Dark Magneton on your Bench.
	61/82	Mankey
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 20 damage plus 20 more damage; if tails, this attack does 20 damage.
	62/82	Meowth
	Card text Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon and flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 20 damage to that Pokémon. Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying Weakness and Resistance still happen.)
	63/82	Oddish
	Card text The Defending Pokémon is now Asleep.
	64/82	Ponyta
	Card text Discard 1 Fire Energy card attached to Ponyta in order to use this attack
	65/82	Psyduck
	Card text Does 20 damage plus 10 more damage for each Water Energy attached to Psyduck but not used to pay for this attack. You can’t add more than 20 damage in this way.
	66/82	Rattata
	Card text Once during your turn (before your attack), you may switch 1 of your Prizes with the top card of your deck. This power can’t be used if Rattata is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
	67/82	Slowpoke
	Card text Search your deck for a Psychic Energy card and attach it to Slowpoke. Shuffle your deck afterward.
	68/82	Squirtle
	Card text Cute Pokémon that charms people with its innocent eyes. Loves swimming all day long.
	69/82	Voltorb
	Card text Usually seen only in power plants, it is sometimes seen in towns, apparently using the power lines to travel.
	70/82	Zubat
	Card text Lives in dark caves. Can occasionally be seen at night, when it flies in search of food.
	71/82	Here Comes Team Rocket!		T
	Card text Each player plays with his or her Prize cards face up for the rest of the game.
	72/82	Rocket’s Sneak Attack		T
	Card text Look at your opponent’s hand. If he or she has any Trainer cards, choose 1 of them. Your opponent shuffles that card into his or her deck.
	73/82	The Boss’s Way		T
	Card text Search your deck for an Evolution card with Dark in its name. Show it to your opponent and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.
	74/82	Challenge!		T
	Card text Ask your opponent if he or she accepts your challenge. If your opponent declines (or if both Benches are full), draw 2 cards. If your opponent accepts, each of you searches your decks for any number of Basic Pokémon cards and puts them face down onto your Benches. (A player can’t do this if his or her Bench is full.) When you both have finished, shuffle your decks and turn those cards face up.
	75/82	Digger		T [R]
	Card text Flip a coin. If tails, do 10 damage to your Active Pokémon. If heads, your opponent flips a coin. If tails, your opponent does 10 damage to his or her Active Pokémon. If heads, you flip a coin. Keep doing this until a player gets tails.
	76/82	Imposter Oak’s Revenge		T
	Card text Discard a card from your hand in order to play this card. Your opponent shuffles his or her hand into his or her deck, then draws 4 cards.
	77/82	Nightly Garbage Run		T [R]
	Card text Choose up to 3 Basic Pokémon cards, Evolution cards, and/or basic Energy cards from your discard pile. Show them to your opponent and shuffle them into your deck
	78/82	Goop Gas Attack		T
	Card text All Pokémon Powers stop working until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
	79/82	Sleep!		T [R]
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Asleep.
	80/82	Rainbow Energy		E
	Card text Attach Rainbow Energy to 1 of your Pokémon. While in play, Rainbow Energy counts as every type of basic Energy but only provides 1 Energy at a time. (Doesn’t count as a basic Energy card when not in play.) When you attach this card from your hand to 1 of your Pokémon, it does 10 damage to that Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance.)
	81/82	Full Heal Energy		E
	Card text If you play this card from your hand, the Pokémon you attach it to is no longer Asleep, Confused, Paralyzed or Poisoned. Full Heal Energy provides Colorless Energy. (Doesn’t count as a basic Energy card.)
	82/82	Potion Energy		E
	Card text If you play this card from your hand, remove 1 damage counter from the Pokémon you attached it to, if it has any. Potion Energy provides Colorless Energy. (Doesn’t count as a basic Energy card.)
	83/82	Dark Raichu
	Card text Flip a coin. If heads, flip another coin. If the second coin is heads, this attack does 20 damage to each of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. If the second coin is tails, this attack does 10 damage to each of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)

For Collectors: Most Valuable Cards

Team Rocket is the most thematically distinctive set of the Wizards era and the one that changed how chase cards work. It is the first Pokémon expansion built entirely around a villain, the first to feature Dark Pokémon, and — most importantly for collectors — the first set in the game’s history to contain a Secret Rare. Every numbered chase card printed since owes something to what happened here.

Structurally it runs to 83 cards numbered to 82. Cards 1–17 are the holographic rares, 18–31 (plus 71, 72 and 80) are their non-holo counterparts, 32–70 cover the Dark Pokémon uncommons and the basics they evolve from, and 73–82 are Trainers and Energy. Both 1st Edition and Unlimited printings exist, with 1st Edition carrying the black “Edition 1” stamp to the left of the art box.

Dark Raichu (83/82)

The most historically important card in the set and one of the most important in the game. Dark Raichu was the first Secret Rare ever printed — a card numbered beyond the set’s stated size, so that pulling one felt like finding something that should not exist. It is also a curiosity of authorship: Dark Raichu was created by Wizards of the Coast rather than Nintendo, and is widely believed to be why the English set took so long to arrive.

Dark Charizard (4/82)

The commercial heart of the set. Charizard’s pull was already established by Base Set, and giving him a sinister repaint under Team Rocket’s control was always going to sell. Consistently the most sought-after non-secret card here.

Dark Blastoise (3/82) and Dark Dragonite (5/82)

The other two headline holos. Both benefit from the same effect as Dark Charizard — familiar, beloved Pokémon rendered darker — and both are core targets for anyone assembling a high-grade holo run.

Here Comes Team Rocket! (15/82)

The first holographic Trainer card in Pokémon TCG history. Easy to overlook next to Dark Charizard, but a genuine milestone card and a smart pickup for collectors who value firsts over popularity.

Rainbow Energy (17/82)

The first holographic Energy card ever printed. Like Here Comes Team Rocket!, its significance is structural rather than aesthetic — and it is priced accordingly, which is exactly what makes it interesting.

Vintage prices move constantly. Treat any quoted figure as directional and check live sold comps before buying or selling.

Most Powerful Cards (Competitive Play)

Dark Pokémon were designed as a trade-off: lower HP than their normal counterparts, in exchange for aggressive attacks that often damaged the user. That made most of them interesting rather than dominant. The set’s real competitive legacy sits with a handful of cards that changed what decks were allowed to do at all.

Dark Vileplume (30/82)

The most disruptive card in the set by a wide margin. Its Hay Fever Pokémon Power stopped both players from playing Trainer cards — and in a format where Trainers did most of the heavy lifting, that was closer to a rules change than a card effect. Getting Dark Vileplume into play early could reduce an opponent’s carefully built deck to whatever they happened to be holding. It remains one of the most notorious lock pieces in the game’s history.

Rocket’s Sneak Attack (16/82)

Hand disruption as a Trainer card: look at the opponent’s hand and take a Trainer out of it. Cheap, immediate, and brutal against decks built around a single key Trainer — exactly the kind of card that rewards knowing the metagame.

Rainbow Energy (17/82)

Provided Energy of any type, at the cost of 10 damage to the Pokémon it was attached to. That flexibility made multi-type and splash decks genuinely viable for the first time, and Rainbow Energy went on to become one of the longest-running special Energy concepts in the game.

Here Comes Team Rocket! (15/82)

Turned every Prize card face up for the rest of the game. Purely informational — but perfect information about what your opponent is about to draw is worth a great deal in a format where a single Trainer could swing a game.

Trivia & Pop Culture

• Team Rocket was released in English on 24 April 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, as the fifth main expansion. It was adapted from the Japanese Rocket Gang set, which had appeared back in November 1997.
• The expansion symbol is Team Rocket’s R — the only set symbol taken directly from a villainous organisation.
• It is the only Pokémon TCG set built entirely around a villain team, drawing on Team Rocket as they appear in both the games and the anime.
• Dark Raichu (83/82) was the first Secret Rare in Pokémon TCG history — the origin of a convention that now appears in essentially every modern set.
• Dark Raichu was designed by Wizards of the Coast rather than Nintendo, and is commonly cited as the reason the English release was delayed.
• The set delivered two other firsts on the same day: the first holographic Trainer (Here Comes Team Rocket!) and the first holographic Energy (Rainbow Energy).
• Three Rocket’s Secret Machine Trainers appear here and nowhere else in the game.
• Dark Pokémon were the first mechanic to depict familiar Pokémon as corrupted — lower HP, harsher artwork, and attacks that frequently hurt their own user. The idea resurfaced years later in Pokémon Colosseum and XD as Shadow Pokémon.

Images & Videos

Every card in the Team Rocket set, in official set order — the 82 numbered cards plus the Secret Rare Dark Raichu sitting outside the count at 83. Click any card to open it full size. The gallery works as a visual checklist alongside the set list above: the holographic rares run 1–17, their non-holo counterparts follow, the Dark Pokémon fill the middle of the set, and the Trainers and Energy close it out.