The Pokémon world runs on labor, and the card art has been keeping a record of it this whole time. Once you start noticing it you can’t stop: someone hauling steel, someone on a delivery route, someone clearly at the end of a long shift. Some of these are trainers with an actual listed profession, and some are Pokémon who appear to have picked up a trade entirely on their own.
We’ve rounded up the best working Pokémon cards in the hobby, sorted by what each one does for a living!
We’re a small team of two and our links keep woahpoke running. As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Learn more.
Construction Site Pokémon Cards
There are a shocking number of these, which says something about how much building the Pokémon world gets through. Pokémon and trainers both do the heavy lifting here, and nobody looks like they’re posing for the card. They tend to share a setting too, since a work site is usually part of a bigger city, so there’s a lot of crossover with our roundup of city Pokémon cards.
- Steelix · Paradox Rift #208 on eBay
- Metang · Chaos Rising #094 on eBay
- Timburr · Twilight Masquerade #183 on eBay
- Timburr · Black Bolt #125 on eBay
- Gurdurr · Black Bolt #126 on eBay
- Team Rocket’s Dugtrio · Ascended Heroes #239 on eBay
- Conkeldurr · Black Bolt #127 on eBay
- Klang · Black Bolt #140 on eBay
- Meltan · Temporal Forces #179 on eBay
- Worker · Silver Tempest #195 on eBay
- Excadrill · Temporal Forces #174 on eBay
- Roark · Paradox Rift #242 on eBay
- Metagross · Temporal Forces #178 on eBay
Blue Collar & Manual Labor Pokémon Cards
Same hard work, different job site. These are the ones clocking in away from construction, and the range is wider than you’d expect, from freight and haulage to a few jobs that are harder to put a title on!
- Machamp V · Astral Radiance #172 on eBay
- Machoke · 151 #177 on eBay
- Clemont’s Quick Wit · Surging Sparks #243 on eBay
- Varoom · Obsidian Flames #206 on eBay
- Corviknight V · Silver Tempest #TG18 on eBay
- Golurk V · Evolving Skies #182 on eBay
- Mudsdale · Temporal Forces #175 on eBay
- Lairon · Twilight Masquerade #184 on eBay
- Magnezone · Crown Zenith #GG18 on eBay
- Falinks · Astral Radiance #TG07 on eBay
Service, Retail & Other Pokémon Jobs
This is where the job market really opens up. Retail, admin, pottery, nursing, and one Dragonite who has been running deliveries since 2000.
- Vanillish · Paradox Rift #190 on eBay
- Dipplin · Twilight Masquerade #170 on eBay
- Skeledirge ex · Paldea Evolved #258 on eBay
- Sylveon V · Evolving Skies #184 on eBay
- Chansey · Twilight Masquerade #187 on eBay
- Dolliv · Scarlet & Violet #200 on eBay
- Torkoal · Twilight Masquerade #172 on eBay
- Blissey V · Silver Tempest #TG22 on eBay
- Alakazam ex · 151 #201 on eBay
- Smeargle · Silver Tempest #TG10 on eBay
- Dragonite · Wizards Black Star Promos #5 on eBay
Desk Jobs, Studying & Research Pokémon Cards
Not every job is physical. These are the ones buried in books, whether that’s a professor mid-research, a student cramming for something, or a Pokémon who has somehow ended up with paperwork of its own.
More like these in our round-up of Pokémon cards with books!
- Porygon-Z · Paradox Rift #214 on eBay
- Jacq · Scarlet & Violet #250 on eBay
- Gardevoir · Astral Radiance #TG05 on eBay
- Roxanne · Crown Zenith #GG66 on eBay
- Miriam · Scarlet & Violet #251 on eBay
- Eevee · Brilliant Stars #TG11 on eBay
- Briar · Stellar Crown #171 on eBay
- Professor Sada’s Vitality · Paradox Rift #256 on eBay
- Ciphermaniac’s Codebreaking · Temporal Forces #198 on eBay
- Professor’s Research · Celebrations #024 on eBay
- Castform · Lost Origin #TG11 on eBay
- Chandelure · Lost Origin #TG04 on eBay
Commons & Affordable Working Cards
Timburr and Gurdurr have been on the clock across a lot of sets, and most of those cards are commons, which makes this the easiest section here to collect from. Good place to start if you want a full binder page of working Pokémon without chasing a single alt art!
- Chikorita · Japanese Movie Commemoration #M-1 on eBay
- Granbull · BREAKthrough #99 on eBay
- Purrloin · Crown Zenith #077 on eBay
- Smeargle · BREAKthrough #123 on eBay
- Timburr · Noble Victories #62 on eBay
- Timburr · Dark Explorers #58 on eBay
- Timburr · Battle Styles #073 on eBay
- Timburr · Black Bolt #047 on eBay
- Timburr · Twilight Masquerade #103 on eBay
- Gurdurr · Twilight Masquerade #104 on eBay
- Gurdurr · Battle Styles #074 on eBay
- Gurdurr · Black Bolt #048 on eBay
- Gurdurr · XY #66 on eBay
- Gurdurr · Plasma Storm #80 on eBay
- Gurdurr · Noble Victories #63 on eBay
That’s our round-up of working Pokémon cards! Which job did we miss? Let us know in the comments below!
woahpoke is supported by its audience. When you buy something using the retail links in our posts, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read more about our affiliate disclaimer.