Dark Machoke

Dark Machoke is card 40 of 83 in Team Rocket, released in April 2000, an Uncommon. It is a Stage 1 Fighting-type with 60 HP.

As a Stage 1, it evolves from Machop, which places Dark Machoke deeper in its line and means most collectors hold it alongside the cards it evolves from.

Team Rocket darkened Machoke 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 card's flavor text gives Machoke a line of lore: "While normally peaceful and friendly, the number of incidents involving cruel Machokes is rising."

The middle Machop stage. Larger, with prominent muscle definition. Standard mid-stage card.

Dark Machoke is an Uncommon, so raw copies are inexpensive and easy to find. The value is in condition: a genuine PSA 10, especially 1st Edition, can still reach a surprising figure for an otherwise common card. The live price above breaks it down by grade.

Team Rocket shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The 1st Edition Dark Machoke 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.

Dark Machoke grades forgivingly, but the same centering and edge standards apply. Pack-fresh raw copies are easy to find, which makes a clean PSA 10 submission a low-cost way to learn how the cardstock behaves under grading.

Raw copies of Dark Machoke are inexpensive enough that grading rarely pays unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completion, a clean sleeved Dark Machoke is the practical move.