Wailord · Crown Zenith, what to know.
About the Wailord card
Wailord sits at #32 in Crown Zenith, released in January 2023. Crown Zenith is part of the modern English Pokémon TCG era and uses the standard contemporary card frame and rarity tiers. Illustration by KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA. In the games, Wailord evolves from Wailmer, which makes it a late-stage card in the line.
The flavor text on the card reads: "It can sometimes knock out opponents with the shock created by breaching and crashing its big body onto the water." Pokédex entries from this era are short and often quirky, written by the original Japanese localization team for a specific stat-block layout that no longer exists in modern cards.
Print variants and how to spot them
Crown Zenith shipped in Holofoil, Reverse Holo, V, VSTAR, and the Galarian Gallery alternate-art subset. The set was sold only in Elite Trainer Box and tin product, never in standard booster packs, which gives sealed Crown Zenith product a different supply-and-demand profile from the rest of the SWSH era.
Grading and condition
For graded buyers, modern Rares grade easily but the secondary market for graded modern non-holo Rares is thin. The math rarely justifies submission unless the card is a tournament staple or the Pokémon has independent collector traction.
If you are buying this card
For raw purchases of this card, verify centering by eye, edge whitening on all four sides, and surface scratches under angled light. Modern Rares are inexpensive in raw and graded condition; submission math rarely works unless the card has independent collector demand.
