EX Team Rocket Returns: The 2004 Dark-Type Set That's Back in the Spotlight
By Dexhaul Team · September 15, 2026
The Team Rocket villain arc is having a moment in the Pokémon TCG. SV10 Destined Rivals brought Rocket's Mewtwo ex to 2025 collectors at Special Illustration Rare prices. TCG Pocket followed with its own Team Rocket expansion. Most collectors chasing those products have never looked at the set that did the same thing 21 years earlier.
EX Team Rocket Returns came out on November 8, 2004, as part of the EX Series. It is the only set in TCG history between the original WOTC Team Rocket set from 2000 and SV10 Destined Rivals from 2025 to give Team Rocket's Pokémon their own dedicated ex cards at scale. It holds 14 dark-type holo rares, 11 Rocket's ex cards, and two secret rares, all sitting well below the prices their WOTC counterparts command.
Here is how the set is structured, what the notable cards are worth, and where collector confusion tends to appear.
Set Structure: 111 Cards, Two Distinct Layers
According to Bulbapedia, EX Team Rocket Returns (TRR) contains 111 total cards: 109 in the standard numbered set plus two secret rares numbered above the set total. The 14 holo rares occupy cards 1-14/109. Non-holo rares and lower rarities fill cards 15 and upward. The 11 Rocket's ex cards sit at the very end: 96-106/109.
The two secret rares are Charmeleon 110/109 and Here Comes Team Rocket! 111/109.
One thing the structure reveals immediately: any card numbered 15 or higher is not a holo in this set. That matters a lot for pricing comparisons.
The 14 Holo Rares: Dark Pokémon With No Modern Reprints
The holo rare slot in TRR features a mix of Gen 2 Dark Pokémon and non-Dark Gen 1/2 Pokémon with set-thematic connections. The full list: Azumarill 1/109, Dark Ampharos 2/109, Dark Crobat 3/109, Dark Electrode 4/109, Dark Houndoom 5/109, Dark Hypno 6/109, Dark Marowak 7/109, Dark Octillery 8/109, Dark Slowking 9/109, Dark Steelix 10/109, Jumpluff 11/109, Kingdra 12/109, Piloswine 13/109, and Togetic 14/109.
Eight of these are Gen 2 Dark Pokémon. None have appeared in any Sword and Shield or Scarlet and Violet main-series set. Dark Ampharos, Dark Crobat, Dark Steelix: if you want holo cards of these Pokémon in Dark form, TRR is the only source. That is a meaningful gap for collectors building character-specific sets across eras.
Dark Ampharos 2/109 is the set's most-searched holo rare. Raw copies run $65-$109 across independent merchants. PSA 8 (NM-MT) copies sit around $147. That spread is narrow: the WOTC-era first-edition premium that pushes Base Set and Team Rocket 2000 holo rares to multiples of Unlimited price simply does not exist in the EX Series.
Rocket's ex Cards: 11 Cards, Double-Prize Stakes
The original WOTC Team Rocket set from 2000 had no ex cards, because the EX mechanic did not exist yet. TRR introduced the pairing: Team Rocket Pokémon with ex status, meaning your opponent claims two prize cards when they knock one out.
The complete TRR Rocket's ex roster covers 11 cards at positions 96-106/109. Rocket's Articuno ex, Rocket's Entei ex, Rocket's Hitmonchan ex, Rocket's Mewtwo ex, Rocket's Moltres ex, Rocket's Scizor ex, Rocket's Scyther ex, Rocket's Sneasel ex, Rocket's Snorlax ex, Rocket's Suicune ex, and Rocket's Zapdos ex.
Rocket's Mewtwo ex 99/109 is the centerpiece, and the parallel to SV10 Destined Rivals is direct. In SV10, Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex is the headline Special Illustration Rare at $459-$470 raw. The 2004 TRR version sits in a different collector tier entirely, but including both in a Team Rocket Mewtwo collection documents the full 21-year span of how the character has been used in the villain arc.
Dark Dragonite and the Two-Version Confusion
Dark Dragonite 15/109 shows up in TRR at $27-$90 raw. Collectors who know the WOTC Team Rocket set will recognize Dark Dragonite there as well, numbered 5/82 and priced at $145-$169 Unlimited, $411 in first-edition condition.
The price gap is not a market inefficiency. It is a structural difference in the card type.
In the WOTC Team Rocket set (2000), Dark Dragonite 5/82 is a holo rare, one of the most recognizable cards in the set. In TRR (2004), Dark Dragonite 15/109 is a non-holo rare. Card number 15 sits outside the holo rare range (which ends at 14/109), so the holographic treatment that drives WOTC collector demand simply is not present.
There is also a Deck Exclusive foil version of Dark Dragonite 15/109, found only in the TRR theme decks rather than booster packs. That version commands $257+ on the independent market. Listings do not always specify which version is for sale. Check whether the product description includes "Deck Exclusive" or "Theme Deck" before comparing prices, because these are distinct collectibles.
The Two Secret Rares
Here Comes Team Rocket! 111/109 is TRR's above-set-number reprint of the iconic Trainer card from the original WOTC Team Rocket set. The same card title appears in a third set as well: XY Evolutions (2016) at 113/108. Each printing is a distinct collectible.
The WOTC original (71/82, a non-secret Rare) carries the most collector recognition given its age, but TRR's 111/109 is the rarest of the three printings by supply. The XY Evolutions version is the most widely available and least expensive at $3-$8 raw.
Charmeleon 110/109 is TRR's other secret rare: a non-Team Rocket Pokémon included as a collector bonus above set numbering, similar to how other EX Series sets used above-number slots for chase cards.
How TRR Fits Into the Team Rocket Collecting Arc
The timeline is unusually clean. WOTC Team Rocket in 2000 was the first dedicated Team Rocket set, with Dark Pokémon and no ex mechanic. TRR in 2004 was the second, adding the ex mechanic for the first time. SV10 Destined Rivals in 2025 is the third at scale, with Special Illustration Rares that reference the same villain arc with modern art treatments.
TRR's holo rares sit at $65-$109 raw for key cards like Dark Ampharos. That entry point is substantially lower than WOTC Team Rocket 1st Edition holo rares at $250-$650+ for comparable condition cards. The trade-off is collector recognition: WOTC-era Team Rocket cards have broader market awareness, and TRR does not benefit from that premium.
For collectors specifically interested in the ex era, the question is straightforward. TRR is the only pre-SV10 set with Rocket's ex cards. If Rocket's Mewtwo ex, Rocket's Sneasel ex, or any of the other 11 ex cards are part of what you want, this is the only source.
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