Dark Golbat

Numbered 24 of 83 in Team Rocket, released in April 2000, Dark Golbat is a Rare, a Stage 1 Grass-type carrying 50 HP.

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

Team Rocket darkened Golbat 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 Golbat Pokédex entry reads: "Sneaks up silently on its prey and attacks it from behind, sometimes killing it with one bite."

The fully evolved Zubat. Larger wings, prominent fangs. Standard Rare with moderate raw demand.

Dark Golbat is a non-holo Rare. In Team Rocket, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Dark Golbat 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 Golbat 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.

On Dark Golbat, look at the corners and the framed border first. Non-holo Rares took more handling than the chase holos, so a sharp, centered copy of Dark Golbat in a true PSA 10 is harder to find than the print run suggests.

For Dark Golbat, 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 Golbat can make sense.