Pokémon TCG: Top 10 Most Expensive Giovanni-Themed Cards of All Time!

Destined Rivals, the new Pokémon TCG set, is just around the corner! It centers around "Trainer's Partners", that is, signature Pokémon and their masters, as well as Team Rocket.

Many collectors are very excited to revisit some old cards that feature these two themes. One character we are all particularly anxious to see is Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, as he is a very popular core character in the franchise.

So, we decided to bring you the 10 most expensive cards featuring Giovanni himself and some cards that allude to him and Team Rocket, namely the Pokémon that he often uses in the story.

This list includes classic cards from the Wizards of the Coast era and more recent ones from the next set, which is actually the Japanese set Glory of Team Rocket/Glory of the Rocket Gang, released on April 18th, 2025. As we already know how much these cards cost in yen, we can estimate how much they'll cost in dollars a month from now.

Keep in mind that we'll list how much each card costs in American dollars, but, like any market, everything can change in just a few minutes. As such, this is only how much these cards cost, on average, on the day we wrote this article.

10 - Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex (Scarlet/Violet: Glory of the Team Rocket - Gold Full Art/Hyper Rare - 130/98)

Rocket's Mewtwo ex's ability states that it can only attack if you have at least 4 "Rocket" Pokémon in play. Furthermore, to use its main attack, you'll have to discard two energies from your Benched Pokémon, but then you'll deal 160 damage plus 60 damage for each energy you discard this way. This means you can deal up to 280 damage with it.

It is actually not that great damage-wise because it forces you to discard cards and can't attack unless you have 4 "Rocket" Pokémon in play. However, its Gold Full Art and Secret Illustration Rare are valuable to Mewtwo collectors long-term.

As it hasn't actually come out yet, it is still relatively cheap. Keep in mind this is the Japanese version and not the globally accepted American version.

Price: US$ 62.97.

9 - Giovanni's Persian (Wizard of the Coast: Gym Challenge - 1st Edition, Holo Foil - 008/132)

Of course, we had to add Team Rocket's most iconic feline mascot.

This card is from the Gym Challenge set, which focused on gym leaders, their Pokémon, and their respective Pokémon type theme. Giovanni's Persian became more relevant as time went on, and the 1st edition in Holo Foil is the most valuable among all of them.

Its ability, Call the Boss, was incredibly useful with "Team Rocket" cards from the classic Wizards of the Coast era. If you evolved a Giovanni's Meowth with a Giovanni's Persian directly from your hand, you could look in your deck for "Giovanni" Trainer cards, like Giovanni's Last Resort G2 105 and Giovanni G2 104, which were actually really useful at the time.

Price: US$90.

8 - Team Rocket's Nidoking ex (Scarlet/Violet: Glory of the Team Rocket - Secret Illustration Rare - 126/98)

In our 8th spot, we have another of Giovanni's signature Pokémon, Nidoking ex! It will be in the next base set released in the west, Destined Rivals.

It stands out because of its attack, Dirty Horn, which, besides dealing 100 damage, lets you put 8 damage counters on Poisoned Pokémon in-between turns. This means you'll deal 80 damage per turn to the opponent's active Pokémon.

This Secret Illustration Rare was created by Uninori, a very popular artist in Pokémon Contests who officially began working for The Pokémon Company in Scarlet/Violet: Temporal Forces.

Price: US$95.95.

7 - Rocket's Persian ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Unseen Forces - 116/115)

Once again, we have Giovanni's pet, this time "Persian ex", from the Ruby & Sapphire block. It is a secret card from the Unseen Forces set.

It stands out because of its ability, Night Cry, which states that, if Rocket's Persian ex is on your bench, you can look for a Rocket or Dark Pokémon in your deck. So, it is an excellent recursive Pokémon for this archetype.

Price: US$99.99.

6 - Giovanni's Machamp (Wizard of the Coast: Gym Challenge - 1st Edition, Holo Foil - 006/132)

Many will be surprised to see Machamp as a member of Giovanni's Pokémon team, but this was actually shown in the manga "Pokémon Zensho".

Its ability, Fortitude, lets Machamp stay in play with 10 HP even if it is Knocked Out, but only if you hit "heads" on a coin flip. It is quite effective if it isn't Paralyzed, Confused, or Asleep. This is the 1st edition in Holo Foil.

Price: US$100.

5 - Giovanni's Nidoking (Wizard of the Coast: Gym Challenge - 1st Edition, Holo Foil - 007/132)

Nidoking once again shows up, but this time it is actually Giovanni's first signature card from the Wizards of the Coast era.

Its attack, Intimidate, was strong because it prevents Giovanni's Nidoking from being attacked next turn if the enemy Pokémon has 50 HP or less.

Price: US$ 189.99.

4 - Giovanni's Gyarados (Wizard of the Coast: Gym Challenge - 1st Edition, Holo Foil - 005/132)

In our fourth spot, we have this Gyarados from the Gym Challenge set, back from the Wizards of the Coast era as well. To this day, it hasn't shown up alongside Giovanni in another manga, or anime series. It has only shown up in Pokémon TCG, and was referenced by the "Battle Agency" in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.

It stands out because of its attack, Dragon Tornado, which lets you pull a Benched enemy Pokémon into the active spot if you don't Knock Out the current active Pokémon with it.

Price: US$269.99.

3 - Rocket's Mewtwo ex (Scarlet/Violet: Glory of the Team Rocket - Secret Illustration Rare - 125/98)

In our third spot, we have this Mewtwo ex illustrated by Iwamoto05, which is actually their third work for the Pokémon Company. Curiously, their first work was Blissey ex TWM 134.

It is very similar to Team Rocket Mewtwo ex, our tenth card, but it is a Secret Illustration Rare. We have been anxiously waiting for it to come out in the next set, Destined Rivals, and this has actually influenced their current and future price.

Price: US$403.

2 - Rocket's Mewtwo ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Team Rocket Returns - 99/109)

In our second place, we have Team Rocket's Mewtwo "ex", from the Ruby/Sapphire block. It is actually a Dark Pokémon, which encouraged us to use Darkness Energy EX 158 with it at the time.

This card is actually from before the Wizards of the Coast version (Rocket's Mewtwo G2 14) because its "Trainer's Partner" icon actually shows a "Team Rocket Grunt", and not Giovanni, even though the entire community can't think of Mewtwo without thinking of Giovanni too.

Its attack, Darkness Switch, lets you move damage counters from Rocket's Mewtwo ex to the opponent's active Pokémon, and was very useful because it didn't cost a lot of energies.

On TCG Player, a Near Mint copy was priced at US$750 on April 26th, 2025. On eBay, it was sold for US$112 in September 2024.

Price: US$ 750.

1 - Giovanni's Scheme (X/Y: Promo Cards - Secret Illustration Art - 277/XY-P)

Here's our champion! Giovanni's Scheme is the Japan-exclusive promo from the X/Y block, drawn by the iconic Mitsuhiro Arita. It came in a "Team Rocket" briefcase known as the Team Rocket Special Case Japanese 20th Anniversary, alongside "reprints" of Giovanni's Scheme BKT 138 and Here Comes Team Rocket! EVO 113, both Full Art, and very limited editions.

There's no record of an ungraded copy of it ever being sold on TCGPlayer or eBay. The only copy available was graded by PSA as a 10, so it's a perfect copy.

Price: US$22.527,92.

Giovanni's Scheme (X/Y: BREAK Through - Staff Promo Card, Regional Championships/League & Championship Cards - 138/162)

Price: US$58.

What did you think of our list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!