Dark Arbok

Numbered 19 of 83 in Team Rocket, released in April 2000, Dark Arbok is a Rare, a Stage 1 Grass-type carrying 60 HP.

It evolves from Ekans, so Dark Arbok is a later-stage card that set-builders usually slot into a full evolution run rather than buy alone.

Team Rocket darkened Arbok under its control for the set's villain arc, a grittier repaint of the familiar Pokémon with an altered attack profile.

Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. Arita painted the Base Set Charizard and much of the early holo run, and his work has a painterly weight that set the visual tone of the Wizards era.

Printed on the card, the Arbok Pokédex entry reads: "Freezes its prey with its stare. If you should encounter one, remember not to look into its eyes."

The fully evolved Ekans. Hood patterns differ by region; the original Pokédex art shows a specific pattern that not all later art has preserved. Fossil Arbok has been quietly appreciating as part of a broader Team Rocket-themed collector trend.

Dark Arbok is a non-holo Rare. In Team Rocket, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Dark Arbok trades modestly, though a clean, well-centered 1st Edition copy in PSA 10 is scarcer than the print run suggests and carries a real premium. Check the live price above for the figure by grade.

Team Rocket shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The 1st Edition Dark Arbok carries the Edition 1 stamp under the artwork and trades above the Unlimited copy in matching grade. The set is also home to Dark Raichu, the first Secret Rare ever printed.

Dark Arbok grades on centering and edges more than surface. The card was played and traded more freely than the holos, so a clean, well-centered Dark Arbok is worth more than collectors assume.

For Dark Arbok, check centering by eye, edge whitening on all four sides, and surface under angled light. Non-holo Rares from this era are cheap enough that a PSA 10 submission on a clean Dark Arbok can make sense.