Dark Blastoise · Team Rocket, what to know.
About the Dark Blastoise card
Dark Blastoise is card 20 of 83 in Team Rocket, released in April 2000, a Rare. It is a Stage 2 Water-type with 70 HP.
As a Stage 2, it evolves from Dark Wartortle, which places Dark Blastoise deeper in its line and means most collectors hold it alongside the cards it evolves from.
Team Rocket darkened Blastoise under its control for the set's villain arc, a grittier repaint of the familiar Pokémon with an altered attack profile.
Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. Arita painted the Base Set Charizard and much of the early holo run, and his work has a painterly weight that set the visual tone of the Wizards era.
The Pokédex entry printed on Dark Blastoise reads: "An aggressive Pokémon that tackles anything it sees."
About Blastoise in the Pokémon world
The fully evolved water starter. A heavy turtle with water cannons mounted on its shell. A defensive powerhouse in the games and a frequent tournament pick. The water Charizard equivalent. There is also a famous 1999 Galaxy Star Holo Blastoise presentation prototype which is a separate artifact from the standard print and trades for high six figures.
What is Dark Blastoise worth?
Based on recent eBay sales, raw copies trade from $25 to $57 depending on the print and a PSA 10 trades around $760. The 1st Edition print is the most valuable, with a PSA 10 near $760. The table on this page breaks the price down by print and grade, updated 2026-05-17.
Print variants and how to spot them
Team Rocket shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The 1st Edition Dark Blastoise carries the Edition 1 stamp under the artwork and trades above the Unlimited copy in matching grade. The set is also home to Dark Raichu, the first Secret Rare ever printed.
Grading and condition
On Dark Blastoise, look at the corners and the framed border first. Non-holo Rares took more handling than the chase holos, so a sharp, centered copy of Dark Blastoise in a true PSA 10 is harder to find than the print run suggests.
If you are collecting Dark Blastoise
For Dark Blastoise, check centering by eye, edge whitening on all four sides, and surface under angled light. Non-holo Rares from this era are cheap enough that a PSA 10 submission on a clean Dark Blastoise can make sense.
Three prints, three markets.
Edition 1 stamp under the artwork. Trades above Unlimited in matching grade.
No stamp. The standard, more affordable print.
