Dark Slowbro

Numbered 29 of 83 in Team Rocket, released in April 2000, Dark Slowbro is a Rare, a Stage 1 Psychic-type carrying 60 HP.

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

Team Rocket darkened Slowbro 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.

Dark Slowbro carries this Pokédex flavor text: "It loves nothing better than to be left alone, and so sometimes ends up being manipulated by unscrupulous people."

The fully evolved Slowpoke when a Shellder bites its tail. One of the most unusual evolution methods in the original Pokédex. Fossil Rare with niche demand.

Dark Slowbro is a non-holo Rare. In Team Rocket, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Dark Slowbro 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 Slowbro 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 Slowbro 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 Slowbro is worth more than collectors assume.

For Dark Slowbro, 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 Slowbro can make sense.