Team Rocket has 82 numbered cards. Dark Raichu is card 83 of 82. New collectors see that and assume they have found a printing error worth thousands. The truth is better than a misprint.
The first secret rare ever made
Dark Raichu was the first secret rare card in the Pokemon TCG, in either English or Japanese. Team Rocket was the fifth main English expansion, and Wizards of the Coast slipped in a card that officially did not exist on the set list. It was an English exclusive and it was inserted into booster packs on a limited basis, so pulling one was genuinely rare rather than just uncommon.
The number is deliberate. Printing it as 83/82 was the joke and the signal at once. The set says there are 82 cards. Here is the eighty third.
What that means for your checklist
Every printed Team Rocket set list stops at 82, so almost every checklist you find online quietly leaves Dark Raichu off. If you are working towards a complete Team Rocket set, you need 83 slots, not 82, and the 83rd is the hardest one to fill.
It also means your binder maths changes. Team Rocket at 83 cards does not divide neatly into nine pocket pages, which is why a lot of Team Rocket binders end with an awkward half empty sheet unless you plan the layout before you start sliding cards in.
Which version to chase
Dark Raichu exists in both 1st Edition and Unlimited, and it is a holo in both. The 1st Edition is the significantly harder and more expensive of the two. If you are building your first vintage set, the Unlimited copy is the sensible target, and nobody will think less of your binder for it.
83 cards, planned properly
Our Team Rocket kit is built around 83 cards, not 82, with 90 printable placeholders and a binder layout that puts Dark Raichu where it belongs rather than stranded on its own page.
Free download
The WOTC Variant Cheat Sheet
One printable page covering all six English sets of 1999 and 2000: the four Base Set print runs, holo counts, release dates, the checklist columns you actually need and the errors worth knowing. Keep it in the front of your binder. No email required.
Download A4 (PDF)Download US Letter (PDF)
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Related guides
- Dark Dragonite 5/82 with no holo is a real card
- Base Set print runs: 1st Edition, Shadowless and Unlimited
Sources and further reading
- PSA Set Registry: collecting the 2000 Pokemon Team Rocket 1st Edition set
- Card Buyers: Pokemon Team Rocket set guide
- T206 Cards: Dark Raichu 83/82
Made by Pokemom is an independent fan project. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Nintendo, Creatures Inc., GAME FREAK, The Pokemon Company or Wizards of the Coast. Card names and set names are used only to describe which cards a checklist covers.