Koga's Pidgeotto

Koga's Pidgeotto is card 27 of 132 in Gym Challenge, released in October 2000, a Rare. It is a Stage 1 Colorless-type with 60 HP.

As a Stage 1, it evolves from Koga's Pidgey, which places Koga's Pidgeotto deeper in its line and means most collectors hold it alongside the cards it evolves from.

Koga is the Poison-type Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, a ninja who later rises to the Elite Four. Koga's Pidgeotto 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 Pidgey stage. Sharper silhouette, longer wings, more aggressive coloration. Standard middle-stage card. Bought as part of a Pidgey to Pidgeot run.

Koga's Pidgeotto is a non-holo Rare. In Gym Challenge, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Koga's Pidgeotto 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.

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

On Koga's Pidgeotto, 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 Koga's Pidgeotto in a true PSA 10 is harder to find than the print run suggests.

For Koga's Pidgeotto, 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 Koga's Pidgeotto can make sense.