Blaine's Charmeleon

Numbered 31 of 132 in Gym Challenge, released in October 2000, Blaine's Charmeleon is an Uncommon, a Stage 1 Fire-type carrying 70 HP.

It evolves from Blaine's Charmander, so Blaine's Charmeleon is a later-stage card that set-builders usually slot into a full evolution run rather than buy alone.

Blaine is the Fire-type Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island, the quiz-loving scientist behind the island's lab. Blaine's Charmeleon 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.

The middle Charmander stage. Bigger, more aggressive, and notoriously hard to befriend in the games. The forgotten middle of the most famous evolution line. Charmeleon usually trades in the shadow of its evolved form. Collectors completing a Charmander to Charizard 1st Edition run pay up; standalone demand is thin.

Blaine's Charmeleon is an Uncommon, so raw copies are inexpensive and easy to find. The value is in condition: a genuine PSA 10, especially 1st Edition, can still reach a surprising figure for an otherwise common card. The live price above breaks it down by grade.

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

Blaine's Charmeleon grades forgivingly, but the same centering and edge standards apply. Pack-fresh raw copies are easy to find, which makes a clean PSA 10 submission a low-cost way to learn how the cardstock behaves under grading.

Raw copies of Blaine's Charmeleon are inexpensive enough that grading rarely pays unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completion, a clean sleeved Blaine's Charmeleon is the practical move.