The next Pokémon Trading Card Game set has officially been announced, bringing Team Rocket's Pokémon and other powerful Trainer's Pokémon to the game. 2025 has been a strange year for the Pokémon TCG. With a new series of cards set to launch later this year, we've only had one set release so far this year, and it was a special set focused on Eevee. Later this month, Journey Together will provide players with their first glimpse of Trainer's Pokémon. Now we know when the next and possibly final set focused on Trainer's Pokémon will be released.

The Pokémon Company has officially announced Destined Rivals, a new Pokémon TCG set due out for release in the spring. The new set will combine cards from two Japanese sets - Heat Wave Arena and The Glory of Team Rocket - plus cards from two Japanese preconstructed decks. Perhaps most importantly, the set will introduce over 80 cards tied to Team Rocket, providing some powerful potential deck combinations focused on the villainous team. The new set will be released in late May.

Newest Pokémon TCG Set Is Destined Rivals

Set Will Focus On Team Rocket & Other Popular Trainers

While an exact card count is unknown for the new set, we do know some details thanks to the official Pokémon press release on the set. The set will contain Trainer's Pokémon cards related to Ethan (from Pokémon Gold and Silver), Cynthia (from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl), Misty (from Pokémon Red and Blue), Marnie (from Pokémon Sword and Shield), and Steven Stone (from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire). Ethan, Cynthia, and of Team Rocket will appear on the booster pack artwork, while Giovanni and Mewtwo will appear on the Elite Trainer's Box for the set.

Destined Rivals will contain the following cards:

• 83 Team Rocket-related cards
• 17 Pokémon ex, including 10 Trainer's Pokémon ex
• 23 illustration rare Pokémon cards
• 11 special illustration rare Pokémon cards
• Six hyper rare gold-etched cards

When Destined Rivals Releases For Pokémon TCG

May 30, 2025

The new set will be released on May 30, with pre-release events taking place at local game stores two weeks prior. Destined Rivals is a standard set, which means that it will be released in individual booster packs, Elite Trainer Boxes, and various other collections. While we typically know which promo cards are bundled with the Elite Trainer Boxes, that information was not revealed, which is something of a surprise. In fact, no English-language cards have been revealed for this set so far, which may have something to do with The Glory of Team Rocket's official reveal only taking place a week before Destined Rivals'.

Based on the timing of Destined Rivals' release, this could be the last standard set released for the Scarlet & Violet era of the Pokémon TCG. The Pokémon Company confirmed that it would be transitioning to the Mega Evolutions era later this year, which will launch in August over in Japan. While a Unova-themed special set is rumored for release in the summer, Destined Rivals' May 30 release date means that there's only room for maybe one more set in the Scarlet & Violet era before it officially sunsets.

Everything We Know About The New Cards For Destined Rivals

Team Rocket's Mewtwo Ex & Ethan's Ho-Oh Ex Are Highlight Cards

Because Destined Rivals is made up of cards from multiple Japanese Pokémon TCG sets, we already have an idea of some of the big cards that will appear in this set.

One of the set's highlights will be Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex, which has a whopping 280 HP – impressively high for a Basic card. However, Mewtwo's ability prevents it from attacking unless there are at least four Team Rocket's Pokémon (which includes Mewtwo itself) in play. Mewtwo's Deletion Sphere can deal up to 280 damage, making it strong enough to knock out most meta-relevant cards.

Other powerful cards include Ethan's Ho-Oh ex, which has a powerful Fire Energy accelerator ability that can only be used on Ethan's other Pokémon, and Cynthia's Garchomp ex, which allows you to draw up to a hand size of six every turn it uses its Screw Drive attack. We've also seen several Misty's Pokémon cards that make use of a discard effect to deal damage. Finally, Destined Rivals also has a Dondozo ex that deals more damage proportional to the number of damage counters on it: because it has 280 HP, it can potentially deal up to 300 damage with a single attack.

Because of the emphasis on Team Rocket, Destined Rivals is expected to be a highly sought-after set. There's currently disproportionately high demand for the Pokémon TCG in the US, which is being pushed higher due to scalpers. All Pokémon TCG products are being snatched up as soon as they go on shelves, but we expect Destined Rivals to be one of the biggest sets of the year when it officially releases in May.

Source: The Pokémon Company