Misty's Tentacool

Numbered 32 of 132 in Gym Heroes, released in August 2000, Misty's Tentacool is a Rare, a Basic Water-type carrying 40 HP.

As a Basic Pokémon, Tentacool needs no prior evolution to put into play, which made it a practical card in the era's decks.

Misty is the Water-type Gym Leader of Cerulean City and one of Ash's earliest traveling companions. Misty's Tentacool is part of that themed lineup.

Illustrated by Ken Sugimori. Sugimori is the lead character designer of Pokémon itself, so his card art carries the tight, on-model look that defined how the creatures appear in the games.

A water-poison jellyfish Pokémon. Fossil Common. Cheap and abundant.

Misty's Tentacool is a non-holo Rare. In Gym Heroes, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Misty's Tentacool trades modestly, though a clean, well-centered 1st Edition copy in PSA 10 is scarcer than the print run suggests and carries a real premium. Check the live price above for the figure by grade.

Gym Heroes shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The trainer-prefix naming runs across the set, and the 1st Edition Misty's Tentacool carries the Edition 1 stamp and a premium over Unlimited in matching grade.

Non-holo Rares like Misty's Tentacool are easier on surface but no kinder on centering. Wizards-era cards were less protected than the holos, so high-grade Misty's Tentacool survivors can be scarcer than expected, with edge whitening the usual cap.

For Misty's Tentacool, 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 Misty's Tentacool can make sense.