It feels good to be bad!

That's the only reasonable conclusion to draw from all the excitement around The Glory of Team Rocket, the Japanese Pokémon set that released on April 18, 2025. Why else would fans be so pumped to collect cards featuring Pokémon's original villainous gang, the team bold enough to have no motivations beyond money and control?

There may be some nostalgia at play here, and not just for Jessie, James, and Meowth (who unfortunately do not make an appearance in The Glory of Team Rocket). Team Rocket (2000) was one of the earliest sets of the Pokémon TCG, and introduced the fun of being bad to the Pokémon franchise in the form of Dark Pokémon.

Cards like Dark Charizard were among the earliest acknowledgments from The Pokémon Company that maybe, not everybody who played Pokémon wanted to be a hero. For some kids, part of the fun of having a moody dragon for a pet was that for the first time in your life, nobody could tell you what to do!

In any case, Rocket's Pokémon are officially back, and badder than ever. Cards like Team Rocket's Wobbuffet, Team Rocket Energy, and Team Rocket's Receiver reward you for repping wearing the big, red "R" by offering more power and consistency than you'd get from building a deck around one of those Trainers that isn't part of an interregional cartel. And it's not just players who're partying now that the gang's back together. Collectors have plenty to look forward to in this set, from Art Rares showing Rocket members doing what they do best (mayhem), to Special Art Rares of some of the most iconic Pokémon in the franchise working alongside Giovanni and the four Executives.

We'll be getting English versions of these cards in the International set Destined Rivals, which drops on May 30. In the meantime, let's see which Japanese cards are blasting off! These are the most expensive Pokémon cards in The Glory of Team Rocket.

The 10 Most Valuable Pokémon Cards in The Glory of Team Rocket

#10 Team Rocket's Crobat ex 131 (UR)

The Team Rocket Grunts don't have cards of their own in The Glory of Team Rocket, but they do show up throughout the art in the set, causing mischief in the background. Team Rocket's Crobat ex 131 is probably the most Grunt-centric card you can open, a fact that (together with its high rarity) makes it a special pull for collectors.

Players have reason to collect this card too. Bite Around deals pretty remarkable damage in a flexible way, especially considering it triggers just from evolving into Team Rocket's Crobat ex. It might not be enough to compete with the 13 damage you can deal with Dusknoir's Cursed Blast Ability, but Crobat might still see play in Team Rocket's Pokémon decks that want access to a similar effect.

#9 Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex 144 (SR)

Rocket's Mewtwo and Rocket's Mewtwo ex were both among the most expensive cards in their respective sets, so it's no surprise to see Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex carrying on the tradition in The Glory of Team Rocket.

And Mewtwo's not just a scary face. With 280 HP, it can survive hits from the biggest Pokémon in the format. And as long as you can prove your loyalty to Team Rocket (by having three other Team Rocket's Pokémon in play) Erasure Ball can deal enough to KO other Basic Pokémon ex like Tarapagos ex in a single hit. Three Energy may look like a big investment, but remember: it only takes two attachments if you're using Team Rocket Energy.

#8 Team Rocket's Ariana 128 (SAR)

All four of the Team Rocket Executives from Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver have their own cards in The Glory of Team Rocket, but Ariana is the only one who got a Special Art Rare version. Artist Yoshioka has given her a portrait that would look perfect at the head of a board room, or possibly in the command center of a volcano lair.

Mechanically, Ariana works like Cynthia's Ambition, except the condition to draw more cards is easier to meet. Cynthia's Ambition has never seen very wide play, but then, it's never been searchable with a card like Team Rocket's Receiver. Maybe Ariana will be the first to realize that particular Ambition.

#7 Jamming Tower 132 (UR)

Uh-oh. Looks like Team Rocket has taken over the Goldenrod Radio Tower again!

Jamming Tower first debuted at its base rarity in Transformation Mask (JP)/Twilight Masquerade (EN), and it currently shows up in a wide variety of decks as a way to shut down cards like Technical Machine: Evolution and Bravery Charm. Collectors might appreciate Ultra Rare Jamming Tower as a deep cut of Team Rocket lore, but I expect its main audience will be players, who will be happy to have a fancy version of this card that they can rub in their opponents' faces.

#6 Team Rocket's Giovanni 129 (SAR)

Pokémon illustrator Krgc loves composing art in the shape of a whirlpool, where the elements on the edges of the frame curve and redirect the viewer toward a central point. If that triggers your vertigo a bit, it's kinda appropriate for a card featuring Giovanni, the mastermind at the center of the chaos that is Team Rocket.

Mechanically, Team Rocket's Giovanni recalls other villain-themed cards like Boss's Orders and Guzma. Boss's Orders is in danger of rotating out of Standard next April, but players who pledge themselves to Team Rocket won't have to say goodbye to Giovanni for another three years at least.

#5 Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex 130 (UR)

Super Rare Mewtwo out-priced every other Super Rare, so why would Ultra Rare Mewtwo fare any worse against the cards at its rarity? As the gold-colored version of the #1 card in the set for both players and collectors, Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex is the most expensive UR card in The Glory of Team Rocket by a wide margin.

#4 Team Rocket's Nidoking ex 126 (SAR)

With their comic-book art style, Uninori always keeps the action in their illustrations clean and easy to read—even when that action is Nidoking unleashing a massive Earthquake. Players will remember facing down that Earthquake during the Viridian Gym battle, where it separated the Trainers who were ready to take on the Elite 4 from the Trainers who weren't.

Nidoking's Dirty Horn attack requires a ton of setup, but the results might be worth it. On the turn you attack, your opponent's Active Pokémon will take 180 damage (100 from the attack, plus a painful 80 from the special Poisoned condition). Then your opponent has to cure the condition or take another 160 damage over the next turn cycle, which is enough to KO even the biggest Pokémon ever printed.

#3 Team Rocket's Crobat ex 127 (SAR)

Special Art Rare Team Rocket's Crobat ex condenses the entire experience of fighting through Mt. Moon into a single image. Even as the swarm of wings and teeth fills the viewer with the urgent need to use an Escape Rope, Crobat still ends up seeming kind of… cute? Look at that perfect circle of light around its head as it exits the cave! Who could be scared of something so round?

This card strikes the exact balance between cartoony and dangerous that you'd hope to see from a Team Rocket-inspired card. This is the first full-art card by illustrator cochi8i, but don't expect it to be the last.

#2 Team Rocket's Moltres ex 124 (SAR)

Artist AKIRA EGAWA must hate the expression "less is more." All of their work is richly detailed, full of contrast, incredibly expressive, and visually loud, threatening to spill out of the frame with all the action on display. EGAWA has poured all of their trademark intensity into this Moltres card and given us a Legendary Bird that looks as intimidating as that title implies. It's superb.

Moltres burns bright in game terms too. Flame Screen deals only middling damage, but by preventing 50 damage it raises Moltres's effective HP to 270. Evil Burn lets you discard your opponent's Active Pokémon outright, which doesn't earn you any Prize cards, but does punish opponents who pour too many resources into one attacker.

#1 Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex 125 (SAR)

It wouldn't be a Team Rocket set if the top card wasn't the most powerful Pokémon ever affiliated with the gang!

The Special Art Rare version of Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex is the most expensive card in The Glory of Team Rocket. Giovanni's plans have a mixed track record, but bossing around Mewtwo (at least temporarily) will always rank among his most infamous deeds—and this card commemorates that short-lived team-up. If the Team Rocket's Pokémon deck makes a mark competitively, you can bet that Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex will be its ringer.