Pokémon Destined Rivals: New cards revealed including a classic Team Rocket throwback
The new cards will be released in May
The Pokémon Company has begun revealing new cards that will arrive in The Glory of Team Rocket, one half of the upcoming English set, Destined Rivals.
English Pokémon TCG sets are typically made up of two smaller Japanese sets. The forthcoming Destined Rivals set will be comprised of The Glory of Team Rocket and Heat Wave Arena. Heat Wave Arena was released in Japan this month, and The Glory of Team Rocket will follow on April 18th.
The Pokémon Company has begun revealing new cards in the lead-up to the set.
Today, the cards (via PokeBeach) include Mareep, Flaffy, and Ampharos, all of which have the Team Rocket trainer tag. In this case, the card’s feature Ariana, one of the leaders of Team Rocket in the Johto games, Gold, Silver, and Crystal.
It’s unclear if these cards will be known as “Team Rocket’s Mareep,” in English, of if Ariana will get her own trainer tag like Giovanni.
The Team Rocket’s Ampharos card is a direct reference to Dark Ampharos from EX: Team Rocket Returns. That card featured the ability Darkest Impulse, which makes a return on this new cards, however, the ability has changed slightly.
The cards will be part of the Destined Rivals set, which was revealed this week. On Tuesday, The Pokemon Company addressed issues that saw The Pokemon Center online store become unavailable for several hours.
You can check out the new cards below, as well as translations.
Team Rocket’s Mareep – Lightning – HP60
Basic Pokemon
[C] Provision: Search your deck for an Item card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
[L] Petibolt: 10 damage.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Retreat: 1
Team Rocket’s Flaaffy – Lightning – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Team Rocket’s Mareep
[L][C] Thunder Shock: 50 damage. Flip a coin. If heads, your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Team Rocket’s Ampharos – Lightning – HP140
Stage 2 – Evolves from Team Rocket’s Flaaffy
Ability: Darkest Impulse
When your opponent plays a Pokémon from their hand to evolve 1 of their Pokémon during their turn, put 4 damage counters on that Pokémon. The effect of Darkest Impulse doesn’t stack.
[L][C][C] Head Bolt: 140 damage.
Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
