Wartortle 92/165 Pokémon E-Series Expedition Raw

Pokémon: Wartortle 

Series: E-Card Series

Set: Expedition Base

Card Number: 92

Rarity: Rare

Condition: N/A

Grade: Raw

Year: 2002

Illustrator: Atsuko Nishida

Type: Water

The Wartortle 92/165 is an Uncommon Water-type Stage 1 Pokémon card from the Expedition Base Set (E-Card Series), released on September 15, 2002 by Wizards of the Coast and illustrated by Atsuko Nishida, the beloved Japanese artist whose soft, rounded linework and warm pastel palettes made her illustrations some of the most recognizable and collectible in the entire Pokémon TCG catalog.

As an 80 HP Pokémon that evolves from Squirtle, it carries a Weakness to Lightning-type attacks (×2), no Resistance, and a Retreat Cost of one Colorless Energy. The Expedition Base Set was the first main expansion of the E-Card Series, featuring a 165-card checklist with a distinctive Dot Code strip along the bottom edge designed for scanning with the Pokémon-e Reader device, and this card also appeared in Japan as part of the Half Deck Pokémon-e Starter Deck (019/029), giving it a dual-market production history that adds depth to its collectible provenance. In terms of decks and strategy, Wartortle's two attacks make it one of the most tactically efficient Uncommon Water Pokémon in the E-Card era. Doubleslap costs a single Colorless Energy and involves flipping two coins, dealing 10 damage times the number of heads—a variable-damage attack with a theoretical maximum of 20 damage that maintained a reliable 10-damage floor on a single heads, making it a cheap, fast pressure tool for early turns. Giant Wave costs two Water Energy, deals a flat 40 damage, but prevents Wartortle from attacking during the player's next turn—a "nuke and reset" mechanic that rewarded disciplined energy management and turn planning. In E-Card tournament play, Wartortle found utility in Water-type and hybrid decks as a durable mid-board presence that could either apply consistent chip damage through Doubleslap or deliver a reliable 40-damage strike at the cost of a lost turn, and its single Colorless Retreat Cost made it a highly mobile bench presence that could rotate in and out freely. The E-Card format's digital layer—where the Dot Code could be scanned for bonus Pokédex information and animated card views—added a collectible dimension beyond the physical card itself, and this card's Pokédex entry was sourced from Pokémon Crystal, tying it to the third-generation game ecosystem.

Collectors love the Expedition Wartortle for its unique position as one of the most charming Uncommon Water Pokémon in the entire E-Card era, a card whose "nuke and reset" Giant Wave attack created a fascinating internal tension that rewarded strategic turn planning over raw aggression. Atsuko Nishida's illustration—depicting Wartortle in a playful, mid-swim pose with its shell pattern rendered in her signature soft, rounded style and its large, expressive eyes gazing forward with determined focus—captures the raw, aquatic energy of the species in a way that stands out among the more aggressive and dramatic artwork of the set's Holo Rares like Rayquaza and Groudon. The E-Card format's distinctive Dot Code strip and the discontinued Pokémon-e Reader technology give the card a genuinely unique physical structure that no other Pokémon TCG printing shares, and the digital layer it was designed for has since been lost to time, making these cards the sole surviving artifacts of a short-lived but innovative digital platform. As a Stage 1 that evolves from Squirtle and can further evolve into Blastoise in later sets, Wartortle occupies a pivotal middle position in one of the franchise's most beloved Water evolution lines, and its permanently fixed supply—combined with over 24 years of natural wear from the population of Expedition cards that were opened, played, and traded in the early 2000s—ensures that quality raw copies remain a steady target for both E-Card set completionists and nostalgic players who remember scanning cards into the Reader for bonus digital content.

Product Details

Card Number / Rarity:092/165 / Uncommon

Card Type / HP / Stage:Water / 80 / Stage 1

Attack 1:[1] Doubleslap (10x)
Flip 2 coins. This attack does 10 damage times the number of heads.

Attack 2:[WW] Giant Wave (40)
Wartortle can't attack during your next turn.

Weakness / Resistance / Retreat Cost:L / / 1

Stock Image(s) Shown.

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