Pokémon Reveals Official Team Rocket Board Game Featuring 60 Exclusive New Cards

Image by Charlotte Davis

The Pokémon Company has officially revealed a new Team Rocket-themed board game that challenges players to uncover hidden members of the notorious criminal organization through deception, strategy, and Pokémon battles.

“Could You Be Team Rocket?” is a competitive tabletop game where four to six players attempt to seize or defend control of a Pokémon Gym without knowing everyone’s true identity.

Team Rocket first appeared in the original Pokémon Red and Green games in 1996 as a criminal organization led by Giovanni, whose members steal and exploit Pokémon in their pursuit of power and profit.

The group later became a major part of the Pokémon anime through Jessie, James, and Meowth, whose elaborate disguises and repeated attempts to capture Pikachu made them recurring antagonists throughout Ash Ketchum’s adventures.

The board game was first teased in July 2026, when The Pokémon Company shared promotional artwork featuring a mischievous-looking Pikachu and Koffing, alongside confirmation that the project was being developed with YOKA Games.

YOKA Games is an established Chinese tabletop game publisher known for titles such as San Guo Sha, a card game based on the Three Kingdoms period that combines strategic decisions with hidden character roles.

“Could You Be Team Rocket?” takes place inside a Pokémon Gym that Team Rocket has secretly infiltrated on the day its new Gym Leader arrives.

Players are assigned one of four roles: Gym Leader, Gym Trainer, Challenger, or Team Rocket Member, each with different objectives that determine how they can win.

The Gym Leader is the only participant who must reveal their identity at the beginning of the match, leaving everyone else to conceal their allegiance and work out who they can trust.

Each player then draws two random Pokémon cards and selects one to serve as their partner, with the choice influencing their available attacks and overall strategy.

60 exclusive Pokémon cards featuring artwork created specifically for the game are included, though these are not standard Pokémon TCG cards and can’t be used when playing the hugely popular main collectible card game.

Some Pokémon types are better suited to particular roles, although choosing an unexpected partner can also help disguise a player’s intentions.

Once everyone has selected their Pokémon, four Play Cards are dealt to each participant, with the Gym Leader taking the first turn before play continues around the table.

These cards are divided into five categories, covering attacks, dodging, held items, recovery and leveling up, and special events that can interfere with an opponent’s plans.

Players can use their cards to damage opposing Pokémon, avoid attacks, recover health, or manipulate another participant’s hand, with successful decisions depending on both the cards available and their suspicions about everyone else’s identity.

When a Pokémon loses all its HP, another player has an opportunity to use a healing item to save it, potentially revealing who is secretly working together.

The match ends when one of the competing groups fulfills its victory conditions, with the Gym Leader and Gym Trainers winning if they eliminate the Challengers and Team Rocket Members.

Challengers can win by defeating the Gym Leader as long as someone other than Team Rocket survives, whereas Team Rocket must eliminate the Gym Leader and ensure that only its own members remain.

Alongside the Pokémon cards, the set includes 108 Play Cards and six Role Cards, as well as player guides, markers and 30 protective sleeves for the Pokémon cards.

The Pokémon Company has also released a promotional video featuring three actors closely associated with Team Rocket’s original anime appearances: Megumi Hayashibara, Shinichiro Miki and Inuko Inuyama.

Hayashibara voiced Jessie in the Japanese anime, with Miki portraying James and Inuyama providing the voice of Meowth.

Although the commercial does not explicitly identify their characters, all three actors contribute their voices to the promotion and have also shared comments about playing the game.

Hayashibara highlighted the combination of identifying hidden roles and predicting opponents’ cards, whereas Miki emphasized the different ways players can bluff and mislead others during matches.

Team Rocket has also been the focus of several other Pokémon releases during 2026, including Pokémon TCG Pocket’s “Team Rocket’s Ambition” expansion, which introduced cards featuring the organization’s Pokémon, new Trainer artwork, and accessories based on Giovanni.

The board game also joins Pokémon’s growing range of tabletop releases, including Bandai’s revival of the classic “Pokémon Plakoro” dice battle game, which returned in July 2026 as part of the franchise’s 30th anniversary celebrations.

That release brought back the original 1997 game with updated rules, collectible Pokémon dice and starter sets featuring characters including Pikachu, Eevee and Mew.

“Could You Be Team Rocket?” is scheduled for release in Japan on November 12, 2026, priced at ¥2,200 (approximately $14 / £10), with the game recommended for ages 10 and older and individual matches expected to last at least 30 minutes.

The game will be sold through Pokémon Center stores, Pokémon Center Online and participating toy and electronics retailers throughout Japan.

Fans will also have an opportunity to purchase it early at Game Market 2026 Autumn, taking place at Makuhari Messe on October 17 and 18, with a limited number of copies available ahead of the general release.

The Pokémon Company is also planning a special promotional campaign from November 12, offering an exclusive rubber band to customers purchasing selected Pokémon tabletop games at participating retailers, although Pokémon Center stores and the early Game Market sales are excluded.

A separate North American or European release has not yet been announced.

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