Pokémon Destined Rivals: secret rare cards like Giovanni’s Mewtwo revealed

Team Rocket’s Mewtwo and other secret rare Pokémon cards from the forthcoming Pokémon Destined Rivals set have been revealed on social media.

Images of the cards, which have been pulled by collectors opening packs of Japanese set The Glory of Team Rocket, have been appearing online.

Pokémon: The Glory of Team Rocket will be officially released in Japan on April 18, but now that stores are receiving their shipments of the product, pack openings are appearing across social media and video sharing platforms.

As shared by PokeBeach, the Illustration Rare, Special Illustration Rare and Hyper Rare cards have now all been revealed, most of which feature Team Rocket.

Team Rocket’s Spidops, Team Rocket’s Houndoom, Team Rocket’s Orbeetle, Team Rocket’s Murkrow, Team Rocket’s Weezing and more have received illustration rare cards.

It’s also been confirmed that Giovanni’s Mewtwo EX will receive a Hyper Rare Gold Card, as will Team Rocket’s Crobat EX.

Despite some fan speculation that they may cameo on some of the illustration rare cards, long-time fan favourite Team Rocket characters Jessie and James are missing from the set. This is likely due to the fact that the duo were the primary antagonists of the original Pokémon anime series, facing off against Ash Ketchum.

Now that that series has ended and those characters are no longer appearing in the show, it’s likely that The Pokémon Company wanted to shift the focus to other characters.

These cards will be part of the forthcoming English Pokémon TCG set, Destined Rivals.

Pokémon Destined Rivals will be released on May 30.

The Pokémon Company has also confirmed when the Destined Rivals pre-release will take place. Pokémon TCG players will have the opportunity to use the Destined Rivals cards before launch by attending one of the many Prerelease tournaments held as part of the Play! Pokémon program, taking place beginning May 17, 2025, at participating independent retailers.