Dark Pokémon (TCG)

:For the that represents Pokémon, see Darkness (TCG).
Dark Pokémon (Japanese: わるいポケモン Bad Pokémon) are a variant of found in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. They are considered a corrupted version of their normal species, and the result of having been raised improperly. They are the counterpart of .
Introduced in the expansion, Dark Pokémon are associated with the Team Rocket organization. They are said to have evolved differently due to Team Rocket raising their unevolved forms without proper love and attention. touched on the theme with the introduction of , similar in many respects to Dark Pokémon from the previous expansion. While Dark Pokémon are nearly always evolved Pokémon, Rocket's Pokémon are instead nearly always Basic Pokémon. They tend to have higher attack damage and lower HP values compared to those of normal Pokémon, likely due to the highly offensive nature of their . As the word "Dark" is part of the card's name, one can include up to 4 of each the regular and Dark versions of the same species in the same deck.
Dark Pokémon reappeared in the expansion, which as the title suggests, revolves around the potential path or "destiny" a Pokémon can follow depending on how it is brought up by its Trainer. The expansion showcased the difference between Pokémon with Dark in their names and -type Pokémon, with and released as -type and -type Pokémon, respectively.
Though Dark Pokémon did not appear in the expansion, Pokémon belonging to Team Aqua or Team Magma utilized the new game mechanic of dual-types, in which many Pokémon acquired a Darkness dual type to further emphasize their allegiance to a villainous team. Dark Pokémon would properly return in the and expansions. In line with the precedent set by and , all Dark Pokémon in the EX Series are dual Darkness-type, with the exception of those that are normally . This essentially rejected the difference between Dark Pokémon and Darkness-type Pokémon displayed in Neo Destiny. Unlike their earlier counterparts, HP and damage values on Dark Pokémon in the EX Series are roughly in line with other cards from the era. from EX Hidden Legends is notably the only Dark Pokémon that is an unevolved species; however, this card is instead printed as a Rocket's Pokémon in Japan.
After a long absence of the mechanic, Dark Sylveonwas printed as one of the to celebrate the Pokémon 25th Anniversary.
Aesthetically, the artwork on Dark Pokémon cards feature dark colors and harsh shadows. In the Original and Neo Series, Dark Pokémon have a brown and black artwork window, Evolution box, and Pokédex box, as opposed to the regular gold. Also, most Generation I Pokémon feature Ken Sugimori's artwork of their previous Stage in the Evolution box, instead of the usual artwork. In EX Team Rocket Returns, the dual-type template on Dark Pokémon is modified to emphasize the Darkness type, rather than having an even split of both types as seen on other dual-type cards.
==Pokémon that have appeared as Dark Pokémon==
==See also==
* Shadow Pokémon (GO), another variant of Pokémon corrupted by Team Rocket
Category:Pokémon card classifications
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de:Dunkle Pokémon
es:Carta de Pokémon#Pokémon Oscuro
fr:Pokémon obscur (JCC)
it:Pokémon Dark (GCC)
ja:わるいポケモン
zh:邪恶宝可梦（TCG）