2025 is going to be a wild ride for Pokemon TCG players with the highly anticipated and teased Team Rocket set officially revealed this week. The set will debut in Japan on April 19, 2025 under the name “The Glory of Team Rocket” and will be getting it’s international release as “Destined Rivals” on May 30, 2025 along with cards from the “Heat Wave Arena” set which has already been released in Japan.

The set follows a similar trend in Journey Together by releasing unique, trainer specific Pokemon. It’s the first time in a very long time that we will be getting a Team Rocket set, with the last full Rocket set being the original one released back in 2000.

Below, let’s look at everything we know about the Team Rocket set coming out this year based on what’s been officially revealed for the two sister sets in Japan.

Team Rocket’s Pokemon cards feature trainers

One of the most interesting things to note about the upcoming Team Rocket set is that the cards actually feature the specific trainer of the Pokemon on them. While that doesn’t affect the Pokemon’s name (it stays Team Rocket’s so-and-so), it does add a nice little dose of flavor Pokemon fans will enjoy, and also offers something of a tie-in with the latest Journey Together Pokemon TCG set released.

Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex card leak looks beastly

One of the most interesting looking cards to get released in this set is Team Rocket’s Mewtwo featuring Giovanni on the card. For those who aren’t familiar with the lore, Mewtwo briefly belonged to Giovanni, Team Rocket’s Boss, who sought to train and wield Mewtwo as a weapon.

Other than looking cool, this card offers a ton of power. A basic Pokemon (meaning it doesn’t need to be evolved), Team Rocket’s Mewtwo can be played directly to the bench or active spot without needing to be evolved. Meanwhile, it has 280 HP making it pretty hard to take out via opposing attacks, and an attack that buffs to 280 as well. That’s insane for a basic Pokemon and definitely could cause this particular Pokemon to launch into the upper echelons of even competitive play.

The only downside of this Pokemon is that it has an ability that makes it so you can’t attack unless you have four or more Team Rocket’s Pokemon in play. While that limits you to playing this deck highly Team Rocket focused, reaching that threshold shouldn’t be a huge issue as Pokemon card search isn’t exactly lacking in this game.

Team Rocket’s Meowth is our first alternate art Team Rocket Pokemon spoiler from the set

It’s a little titillating to imagine what the alt art will look like for epic cards like the above Mewtwo ex, and undoubtedly they will not only be highly collectible but very valuable. However, we do have a look at the first alternate artwork from the Glory of Team Rocket set featuring Meowth.

The Chibi-style artwork here produces a more laid back, fun vibe than you would expect from a Team Rocket set. This may be a set focused on one of Pokemon’s most notorious crime syndicates, but that doesn’t mean artists can’t have a little fun with it, too!

The Pokemon TCG doubles down on tribal mechanics in Team Rocket set

One interesting and also very good thing that’s been happening lately in the Pokemon TCG for players is a greater emphasis on tribal mechanics – or game mechanics that focus on Pokemon with specific classifications.

Added classifications beyond types and evolution lines have played a role in the game for a long time, and certainly in recent years. In Sword and Shield the primary classifications were Rapid Strike, Single Strike, and Fusion Strike, and these mechanics caused a lot of unique game play mechanics to surface, and greater variety in the game.

However, classifications do often go unused, and lately they’ve not been nearly as impactful on the game as they once were.

For example, the only classifications that have impacted the game since Scarlet and Violet have ben the Ancient and Future mechanics. However, unlike the “Strike” mechanics of the Sword and Shield era, these mechanics have not been nearly as powerful, with the “Future” classification seeing only minor use and relegated to one or two decks. The Ancient Mechanic is stronger but apart from creating a reliance on a supporter called Sada’s Vitality, Ancient Pokemon as a deck strategy is again just one deck (called Ancient Box).

However, that looks like it’s all going to change in 2025. Powerful new decks revolve highly on classifications – ones that also feel very organic and not forced due to the fact they are based on a Pokemon’s affinity to a trainer. In Journey Together we have N’s Zoroark as a new deck that’s likely to shake up the meta, and now with the Team Rocket set we have the powerful Team Rocket decks that get boosted from a plethora of Rocket-specific abilities. We see that if you field enough Team Rocket’s Pokemon you can take advantage of Mewtwo’s insane attack/hp combo. Additional cards like the new Team Rocket’s Giovanni unlock a combined Boss’s Order’s and Switch card in one, as long as your active Pokemon is a Team Rocket Pokemon.

Creating synergies between cards and decks in this way should massively uplevel the fun in the Pokemon TCG which recently has become something of a free-for-all with many decks having access to the same types of staple mechanics overall.

New accessories really deliver on what fans can enjoy

It’s not every day that accessories take up part of the headline of a brand new and highly anticipated Pokemon TCG set. However, Pokemon has done such a solid job with theming the accessories in this set that they are having something of a viral moment online.

The most exciting and on-theme of these is arguably the Team Rocket’s Brief case you can get via a special lottery on the Pokemon Center. But it also looks like a special Rocket playmat should be available, as well as unique deck boxes.

A history of Team Rocket in the Pokemon TCG

Lastly, we might as well look at some of the past inclusions of Team Rocket’s Pokemon in the Pokemon TCG. While they haven’t appeared in a set in quite a while, in the early days of the Pokemon TCG they had a major impact.

The set that first comes to mind is the iconic Team Rocket set that released in 2000. This set was one of the first I got, and I remember having to clean the entire toy room before my mom would take me to Walmart to pick a box up.

Of course, if I had held onto this box sealed it would be worth an insane amount of money today. Of course, I did not, and opted to tear my packs away and trade many of my best pulls.

Original Team Rocket Pokemon are valuable collectors’ items

However, sealed products aren’t the only thing of value from the original Team Rocket set. Several of the cards from the set are still very, very valuable.

Cards like Dark Charizard, Dark Dragonite, and Dark Blastoise in their holo versions are worth hundreds and hundreds of dollars today. Given what we’ve seen from recent sets, it’s likely highly sought after and rare cards from this set could be even worth more than these iconic chases.

Original Rocket Pokemon were called “Dark”

One major difference between these Pokemon cards and the ones you are going to find in Destined Rivals, however, is that these Pokemon are referred to as “Dark” Pokemon instead of “Team Rocket’s” Pokemon. The Dark classification essentially means these Pokemon were corrupted by Team Rocket in order to increase their fighting power. This increased fighting power, however, came at the cost of a greatly reduced life.

This whole concept brings to mind the popular Game Cube Game Gale of Darkness which saw you purifying Pokemon, and was also an in game mechanic introduced into Pokemon GO.

The Team Rocket’s classification is much more similar in effect to the trainer’s Pokemon mechanic in Journey Together, but originally introduced in Gym Challenge and Gym Heroes.

Indeed, Gym Challenge actually included Rocket’s Pokemon as a kind of owner’s Pokemon.

Gym Challenge wasn’t the final set to include Rocket’s Pokemon, and later sets returned to the Dark classification to include these iconic Pokemon with new ones from the Johto region. Neo Destiny includes the somewhat iconic Dark Typhlosion and Dark Tyranitar Pokemon cards.

Team Rocket Returns was the very last Team Rocket focused set, released way back in 2004.

Non-Team Rocket cards are an integral part of Destined Rivals

While the official announcement made on March 20, 2024 was specifically for the “Glory of Team Rocket” set releasing in Japan, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, Destined Rivals is something of a mashup between two different sets. This is a very common practice in the Pokemon TCG where international sets are often composed of one or more sets from Japan.

While we don’t know for certain which cards will be getting included in the Destined Rivals set, it’s likely we’ll be getting many if not most of the cards in Glory of Team Rocket as well as in the already released Heat Wave Arena set.

Interestingly enough, Heat Wave Arena doesn’t focus specifically on Team Rocket but takes a broader approach on trainer’s Pokemon, bringing back fan favorites like Cynthia’s Garchomp into the mix.

Take a look at some of the secret rares from that set in the gallery below.

There’s an incredible amount of Pokemon TCG history behind this set, and it’s going to be a massive one for fans and collectors looking to recapture the nostalgia of this set. Whether you’re a player excited to try new mechanics, or just looking for those alt arts, there’s something for everybody in this set which is likely going to go down as being the most double trouble filled set of 2025.

An Early Look at the 2025 Team Rocket Pokemon TCG Set “Destined Rivals”