Misty

Misty in the games: the Cerulean Gym

In Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen and the Let's Go games, Misty runs the Cerulean Gym, the second Gym on the player's route after Brock's in Pewter City. She fights with Water-type Pokémon, awards the Cascade Badge and builds her team around Starmie, her signature Pokémon. In Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver, set three years later, she is still Cerulean's Gym Leader.

Misty in the anime

Misty meets Ash in the first episode, when her fishing line snags him and an injured Pikachu. He borrows her bicycle to reach the Pokémon Center, it ends up burnt, and she tags along insisting he pay her back. In The Water Flowers of Cerulean City she battles Ash herself after her three older sisters nearly hand him the Cascade Badge without a fight, partly to prove she is as good a Trainer as they are.

Her dream is to become a Water Pokémon Master. She travels with Ash through Kanto, the Orange Islands and Johto before going home to run the Gym, and her Psyduck, which has a habit of bursting out of its Poké Ball unasked, became one of the show's running jokes.

Misty's Pokémon on cards

The Gym series put Misty's name on a long run of Kanto Water types: Staryu, Starmie, Psyduck, Golduck, Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, Horsea, Seadra, Goldeen, Seaking, Seel, Dewgong, Shellder, Cloyster, Tentacool, Tentacruel, Magikarp and Gyarados. Destined Rivals (2025) added Misty's Lapras alongside new versions of her Staryu, Starmie, Psyduck, Magikarp and Gyarados.

Misty on cards: from Gym Heroes to the 30th Celebration

Misty's English card history opens with Gym Heroes (August 14, 2000) and Gym Challenge (October 16, 2000), built from Japan's Leaders' Stadium (1998) and Challenge from the Darkness (1999). Gym Heroes introduced Owner's Pokémon: cards such as Misty's Seadra carry the Trainer's name, with a small headshot of the Leader over her Gym Badge in the bottom-right corner. Misty appears in both sets, as do Brock, Erika, Lt. Surge, Sabrina and Blaine, and her own Trainer card, Misty, is a Gym Heroes holo (#18).

Those cards predate the Supporter category, which reached English cards with Expedition Base Set in 2002. Her later cards are mostly Supporters: Misty's Determination (BREAKpoint and Evolutions in 2016, reprinted in Hidden Fates in 2019), Misty's Favor (Unified Minds, 2019), Misty's Water Command in Hidden Fates beside the Misty's Cerulean City Gym Stadium, the Misty & Lorelei TAG TEAM Supporter in Cosmic Eclipse (2019) and Misty's Vitality in Pitch Black (2026). Destined Rivals (2025) brought back her Owner's Pokémon, with Illustration Rares of Misty's Psyduck and Misty's Lapras, and the 30th Celebration Classic Collection (September 2026) reprinted her Gym Heroes Trainer card as a holo with Ken Sugimori's original art.

How collectors approach Misty's cards

On the vintage side the key cards are the Gym-era holos: the Misty Trainer card, Misty's Seadra and Misty's Tentacruel from Gym Heroes, and Misty's Golduck and Misty's Gyarados from Gym Challenge, with Gym Heroes printed in both 1st Edition and Unlimited. On the modern side, the highest-rarity versions are the Ultra Rare Supporters (Misty's Determination in Evolutions, Misty's Favor in Unified Minds, Misty's Vitality in Pitch Black) and the two Destined Rivals Illustration Rares.

Cards to know

• Misty (Gym Heroes #18)

  Her own Trainer card, a holo from the first set of Owner's Pokémon cards.

• Misty's Gyarados (Gym Challenge #13)

  One of her two holo Owner's Pokémon in Gym Challenge, alongside Misty's Golduck.

• Misty's Seadra (Gym Heroes #9)

  One of her two Gym Heroes holo Pokémon, alongside Misty's Tentacruel.

• Misty's Favor (Unified Minds #235)

  The full-art Ultra Rare of her 2019 Supporter card.

• Misty's Psyduck (Destined Rivals #193)

  An Illustration Rare from the 2025 return of her Owner's Pokémon cards.

• Misty (30th Celebration Classic Collection)

  A September 2026 holo reprint of her Gym Heroes Trainer card, keeping Ken Sugimori's original art.