Is Team Rocket coming back to the Pokemon TCG? What we know

The Pokemon Company has appeared to tease something Team Rocket-related for the Pokemon Trading Card Game.

This teaser came during the closing ceremony for the 2024 Pokemon World Championships, among a few other announcements regarding the future of the franchise. As far as the trading card game is concerned, The Pokemon Company shared an October release date for the mobile title Pokemon TCG Pocket, and confirmed a new Trainer’s Pokemon mechanic for the physical card game in 2025.

The animated trailer for the latter ended with a quick flash of the Team Rocket logo, but it’s been left unclear exactly what this means for the TCG.

What is Team Rocket in the Pokemon TCG?

The Pokemon TCG will likely see the return of Team Rocket-themed expansions.

In the Pokemon TCG, there have been various Team Rocket-themed cards. These included dark variations of Pokemon, simply called Dark Pokemon, as well as cards that depicted members of Team Rocket, such as Jessie and James from the anime and team leader Giovanni.

There have been two Team Rocket-themed expansions. The first, Team Rocket, originally launched in 1997 in Japan, then 2000 in western markets. It was followed by EX Team Rocket Returns in 2004.

Given how old these cards are nowadays, they’re not exactly easy to acquire for newer players. While there are no official details, it’s reasonable to assume the aforementioned Team Rocket teaser is at least hinting at new cards. Perhaps even a new expansion altogether.

In fact, a couple of months ago, a Pokemon TCG trademark for something called The Glory of Team Rocket was spotted, which is expected to be a new set launching in 2025.

This could mark the return of Dark Pokemon, which tended to boast much higher attack but lower HP. There haven’t been any Dark Pokemon since the 2004 Team Rocket expansion, with the exception of a special Dark Sylveon that came out in 2021. Since this teaser came alongside the announcement of new Trainer’s Pokemon cards, perhaps there will also be unique variants of Pokemon that have ties to Team Rocket members, like Jessie’s Arbok, James’ Weezing, or Giovanni’s Mewtwo. Fans will have to wait and see.