Magikarp

Magikarp in the anime: the con job that started a legend

Magikarp's best-known anime moment comes from "Battle Aboard the St. Anne," where a salesman convinces Team Rocket's James to buy a Magikarp, promising it will breed and make him rich. Jessie and Meowth quickly point out that he has been conned, and that he spent advances on both his and Jessie's salaries to do it. In the next episode, "Pokémon Shipwreck," a starving and furious James kicks it off their raft, and it immediately evolves into a Gyarados that turns on the trio. The Magikarp salesman became a recurring con man, still trying to sell Magikarp at the Kanto Fair as late as Black & White.

Pokémon Journeys gave the species a newer moment when Goh caught a giant Magikarp in "A Little Rocket R & R!" and later entered it in the Magikarp High Jump Competition, which it lost.

Magikarp on cards: Base Set to a giant-and-tiny GX pairing

Magikarp's first card is an Uncommon in Base Set, released in January 1999 and illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita, who holds the most Magikarp credits in our catalog (9). Neo Revelation followed in 2001 with Shining Magikarp, one of that set's secret Shining Pokémon, a Neo-era treatment distinct from the Gold Star cards of the EX era. Celebrations' Classic Collection reprinted it in 2021.

Team Up (2019) paired Magikarp with the enormous Wailord on the Tag Team card Magikarp & Wailord GX, printed as a full art, an alternate art full art by OOYAMA and a Secret Rare rainbow version. Paldea Evolved (2023) gave Magikarp an Illustration rare by Shinji Kanda, and Destined Rivals (2025) printed Misty's Magikarp.

The Sun & Moon era carries the most Magikarp printings in our catalog (10), just ahead of the original WOTC era (9), with the rest spread across seven other eras from EX through Scarlet & Violet.

Why collectors care about Magikarp

Magikarp's card history plays off the same joke the games do: a Pokémon known for being useless still gets a Shining card, a Tag Team with one of the largest Pokémon of all, and an Illustration rare. Most of its printings are Commons, so those few standout cards carry the collection.

Cards to know

• Magikarp (Base Set #35)

  Magikarp's first card, an Uncommon illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita in 1999.

• Shining Magikarp (Neo Revelation #66)

  One of Neo Revelation's Shining Pokémon, illustrated by Ken Sugimori.

• Magikarp & Wailord GX (Team Up #183)

  The Secret Rare rainbow version of the Tag Team card pairing Magikarp with the much larger Wailord.

• Magikarp (Paldea Evolved #203)

  An Illustration rare from the Scarlet & Violet era, illustrated by Shinji Kanda.

• Misty's Magikarp (Destined Rivals #048)

  A 2025 Destined Rivals Common that ties Magikarp to Misty.