Poliwrath

Poliwrath is card 25 of 113 in XY Evolutions, released in November 2016, a Rare Holo. It is a Stage 2 Water-type with 140 HP.

As a Stage 2, it evolves from Poliwhirl, which places Poliwrath deeper in its line and means most collectors hold it alongside the cards it evolves from.

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.

The Pokédex entry printed on Poliwrath reads: "An adept swimmer, it knows the front crawl, butterfly, and more. It is faster than the best human swimmers."

The Water-Fighting final form of the Poliwag line via Water Stone. Heavy muscled silhouette. Base Set holo Poliwrath is one of the original 16 holos. Quietly traded, with PSA 10 1st Edition appreciating slowly.

Poliwrath is a holo rare, one of the cards that holds XY Evolutions's value. The rarity tier decides most of it, since the same card prints at several tiers with very different prices. In top-grade 1st Edition, XY Evolutions holos range from the mid hundreds for the lesser cards up to the set's marquee chase; raw and Unlimited copies trade for a fraction of that. The live market price above shows the current figure by grade.

Confirm the print and finish on Poliwrath before pricing it, since variant and rarity set the market more than the card name alone.

Grading Poliwrath comes down to the holo surface and the borders. The era's foil scratches easily, so even a pack-fresh Poliwrath can drop from a 10 to a 9 on a single hairline. Inspect the window at an angle and the corners against the frame.

If you are buying Poliwrath, work in order: confirm the print variant first, then the grade, then price against recent sales for that exact variant and grade. Price the Poliwrath against the population report, since modern holo supply is large.