Crobat

Crobat in the anime: Brock's scout

Crobat's best-known anime role belongs to Brock. He caught a Zubat offscreen just before the group entered Mt. Moon, and for years it served as the group's scout, tracking down Pokémon that Team Rocket had stolen. It evolved into Golbat in "Hassle in the Castle" and into Crobat in "Control Freak!", the episode that also marked the species' anime debut and made it the first main-character Pokémon shown evolving by friendship. When Brock left for Hoenn he lent it, with Onix and Geodude, to his younger brother Forrest at the Pewter Gym, and it battled for Brock again in Sun & Moon's "Alola, Kanto!".

Crobat on cards: Neo Revelation to Team Rocket's Crobat ex

Crobat's first card was the Neo Revelation holo (#4) in September 2001, illustrated by Shin-ichi Yoshida. Neo Destiny followed in 2002 with Dark Crobat, one of that set's Dark Pokémon. Skyridge (2003) printed Crobat three ways: a regular rare (#6) and its holo counterpart (#H05), both by Kimiya Masago, plus a secret rare (#147, numbered above the set's 144 cards) drawn by Atsuko Nishida. The EX era then added a second Dark Crobat in Team Rocket Returns, a Delta Species Crobat δ and Crobat ex in Deoxys, both of those illustrated by Ryo Ueda.

Later eras kept finding new mechanics for it: Crobat G in Platinum, a Pokémon Prime card in HS Unleashed (2010), Crobat BREAK as an XY promo, and in Sword & Shield a Crobat V and Crobat VMAX, most of them drawn by PLANETA Mochizuki and PLANETA Tsuji. In Scarlet & Violet, Destined Rivals (2025) made it one of the Team Rocket's Pokémon, with Team Rocket's Crobat ex appearing as a special illustration rare by cochi8i and a hyper rare by 5ban Graphics. Chaos Rising (2026), a Mega Evolution era set, added an illustration rare by Kazuhisa Uragami. 5ban Graphics and PLANETA Mochizuki are the illustrators who appear most often across its printings.

Cards to know

• Crobat (Neo Revelation #4)

  Crobat's first card, released in 2001 and illustrated by Shin-ichi Yoshida.

• Dark Crobat (Neo Destiny #2)

  One of Neo Destiny's Dark Pokémon, a darker take on the species.

• Crobat (Skyridge #147)

  A secret rare numbered above Skyridge's 144 cards, illustrated by Atsuko Nishida.

• Crobat (Unleashed #84)

  Crobat's Pokémon Prime card from the HeartGold & SoulSilver era.

• Team Rocket's Crobat ex (Destined Rivals #234)

  A special illustration rare by cochi8i.

• Team Rocket's Crobat ex (Destined Rivals #242)

  The hyper rare version of the same card, illustrated by 5ban Graphics.