Published August 10, 2026 · 10 min read
Rust Syndicate Grunt is a Trainer card — specifically a Supporter — printed twice in the Pokémon TCG set Pitch Black (ME05): once as a plain Uncommon at #081, and once as a full-art Ultra Rare at #112. Both prints show the same character, a rank-and-file member of the Rust Syndicate, the antagonist organization woven through Pitch Black's storyline. The card you are most likely searching for — the one that shows up in trade requests and want lists — is the #112 Ultra Rare: d2a95362-bf35-431b-95b3-ebbabcda2453.
It gets asked for two different reasons at once. Players want it because the Supporter is genuinely playable — a card that does something for a deck, not just a shelf piece — and full-art Supporters that see play tend to hold their value better than decorative ones. Collectors want it because it is a character card, not a Pokémon, and character-focused Ultra Rares fill a specific niche: they are chase pieces for people building a set of *people* rather than a set of *creatures*. This guide covers what the card actually is, how its Ultra Rare treatment differs from an object-based one, where it sits in the 120-card Pitch Black checklist, whether a Japanese counterpart exists, and — since Swaptio is a trade marketplace rather than a store — how to get a copy without paying a premium at the top of the market.
Pitch Black is the international release of the Japanese set Abyss Eye (M5), built around the Mega Dimension DLC of *Pokémon Legends: Z-A*, and its narrative throughline is noticeably darker than recent Scarlet & Violet-era sets. The set's face is Mega Darkrai ex, and the supporting cast of Trainer cards leans into an organized group of antagonists collectors and players have taken to calling the Rust Syndicate — the faction this Grunt belongs to.
We are keeping this section deliberately general: beyond the fact that the Syndicate is presented as the set's villain organization and that Grunt-type members appear as Supporter cards at multiple rarities, Pitch Black's flavor text and marketing material do not (yet) give a fully documented internal hierarchy or backstory for the group. What is confirmed by the cards themselves is the pattern — a named faction, recurring Grunt-tier Supporters, and a tone that sets Pitch Black apart from the brighter mainline sets around it. If you collect by storyline rather than by Pokémon, Rust Syndicate cards are the throughline to follow across this set.
That ambiguity is normal for a set in its first weeks on the market. Story details in the Pokémon TCG are usually filled in gradually, through official art book releases, companion game content and later sets that revisit the same cast. Until then, treat any single Rust Syndicate card as one piece of a larger group rather than a self-contained story.
Not every Ultra Rare in a modern Pokémon set looks the same, and the difference is not just cosmetic — it changes what you are actually collecting. In the Scarlet & Violet and Mega era rarity ladder, an Ultra Rare is a full-art version of a card that also exists at a lower rarity, and the full-art treatment is built differently depending on whether the underlying card is a character (a Trainer or Supporter depicting a person) or an object (an Item, Tool, Stadium or Special Energy).
Character Ultra Rares, like Rust Syndicate Grunt #112, extend the card's normal illustration into a full-bleed portrait: the person becomes the entire visual, typically posed and framed the way a trading card would frame a person rather than a location or an item. Object Ultra Rares, by contrast, usually enlarge and re-render the object itself — a Poké Ball, a Tool, an Energy card — as the centerpiece, often with less narrative content simply because there is no character to depict. The mechanical text and effect on both types of Ultra Rare stay identical to the base print; only the rarity, the artwork treatment and the card stock change.
For collectors, this matters because character URs and object URs tend to attract different buyers. People chasing a specific Pokémon or a specific object card (say, a popular Tool) are shopping by function. People chasing a character card are shopping by *cast* — they want every printed appearance of a given person, across sets, the same way some collectors chase every card featuring a specific Pokémon. Rust Syndicate Grunt #112 sits squarely in that second lane.
Pitch Black runs 120 cards, organized in the now-familiar modern ladder: Commons and Uncommons through the low numbers, Double Rare ex cards mixed into the main set, an Illustration Rare block, an Ultra Rare block from #096 to #113, six Special Illustration Rares at #114–119, and a single Mega Hyper Rare closing the set at #120. Rust Syndicate Grunt's Ultra Rare sits at #112, near the tail end of that Ultra Rare run — two slots before the set moves into its Special Illustration Rare chase tier.
The card also has a plain Uncommon printing at #081, inside the Trainers, Items and Special Energy block that runs from #072 to #084. That plain copy currently lists for as little as $0.05, which is a useful contrast: the artwork, effect and card name are identical between the two prints, and the entire price gap comes from the Ultra Rare's rarity, foil treatment and full-art illustration. If you only need the card for deck-building, the Uncommon does the job for pennies; if you are collecting the character, the Ultra Rare is the one that counts.
For the full 120-card breakdown — chase cards, pull-rate estimates, product lineup and the rest of the Ultra Rare block around this one — see our Pitch Black set guide.
As of today, Rust Syndicate Grunt #112 (Ultra Rare) has a real market snapshot of $2.81. That is a single, current figure pulled from the same catalog Swaptio uses to price every listing — not a presale estimate and not an average across multiple sources.
Prices on individual cards from a set this recent move quickly in the weeks after release, in both directions, as pull-rate data settles and playability gets tested at real tournaments. $2.81 is where this specific print stands right now; treat it as a snapshot rather than a permanent number, and expect it to keep moving as Pitch Black matures. If you are trading rather than buying, that volatility is exactly the reason a swap can beat a cash purchase — you are not locking in today's number, you are exchanging value for value.
This specific print — #112, Ultra Rare, English — comes from Pitch Black, which is the international release of the Japanese set Abyss Eye (M5). As a general rule, cards that appear in an English set built from a Japanese original also appear in that Japanese set, usually under Japan's own rarity codes (AR, SR, SAR, UR) rather than the English star-symbol system.
We have not independently confirmed a specific Japanese print or price for this exact card inside Swaptio's catalog, so we are not going to invent a Japanese card number or a yen price here. What we can say with confidence, and what our Japanese vs English Pokémon cards guide covers in detail, is the general pattern: Japanese and English printings of the same character are separate collectible objects, they release on different schedules, and they frequently carry different market prices because supply and regional demand differ. If a Japanese Rust Syndicate Grunt is on your want list, treat it as a distinct target from this English #112 — not an interchangeable substitute — and confirm the print details before agreeing to any trade.
Practically, this means the safest way to build out a JP/EN pair of this character is to source each print separately through listings that specify language explicitly, rather than assuming a seller's "Rust Syndicate Grunt" listing matches the exact print you are picturing.
Most Pokémon TCG collecting content is organized around Pokémon: type, evolution line, specific creature. Rust Syndicate Grunt is a reminder that there is a whole parallel hobby lane built around people — Trainers, Supporters, Team members, rivals and gym leaders — and it behaves a little differently.
Character cards tend to have smaller, more concentrated fan bases than headline Pokémon like a Mega or an ex-line starter, but those fan bases are often more committed: they are collecting a specific person's every appearance rather than a broad category. That means character URs can be comparatively easy to trade for even at real rarity, because the pool of people specifically hunting them is narrower than the pool hunting a marquee Mega — supply and demand are both smaller, which keeps prices from spiking as hard even when the print itself is scarce.
If this is your first time collecting outside the Pokémon-focused mainstream, Rust Syndicate Grunt is a reasonable entry point: it is affordable relative to the set's headline chases, it has a clear story hook (a named faction), and it exists at two rarities so you can decide how deep you want to go — a $0.05 Uncommon for the set-completion column, or the $2.81 Ultra Rare for the character binder.
Swaptio is a peer-to-peer exchange, not a storefront, and a card like this one is a good example of why that matters. A single-print Ultra Rare from a set released weeks ago is exactly the kind of card where cash listings carry a premium — sellers price for the buyer who wants it *today* — while a trade partner who already owns a copy and wants something else entirely will often move it at a fairer exchange.
If you are hunting this specific print, add it to what you're looking for so it surfaces to traders who have a spare copy. If you already have one sitting in a binder and want something else from Pitch Black or another set, list it on your offers — character URs like this one are steady, predictable trade bait precisely because their audience is smaller and more specific than a headline chase card's.
The card at the center of this guide, straight from Swaptio's live catalog with its current market snapshot.
Ultra Rare · Market price: $2.81
The Ultra Rare full-art printing of Rust Syndicate Grunt, #112 of 120 in Pitch Black, snapshotting at $2.81 today. Same character and same Supporter effect as the #081 Uncommon; the price gap between the two prints is rarity and artwork, not gameplay.
Whether you need Rust Syndicate Grunt #112 for a Rust Syndicate mini-collection, for the Pitch Black checklist, or simply because the art caught your eye, the fastest path that does not involve paying a launch-window premium is a straight swap. Search for it on the wishlist side so other traders can see you are looking, or check current offers to see who already has a spare copy in Pitch Black.
For more on how this card fits into the wider set — and the rest of Pitch Black's chase tier — read the full Pitch Black set guide. New to collecting character cards or trading in general? Start with how to start collecting Pokémon cards and Pokémon rarity symbols explained.
Pitch Black (set code ME05), the English international release of the Japanese set Abyss Eye (M5). #112 is the Ultra Rare full-art printing; the same character also has a plain Uncommon printing at #081.
Its current real market snapshot is $2.81 as of today. That figure comes directly from Swaptio's catalog and can move as Pitch Black settles into its post-launch pricing.
It's a Trainer card — specifically a Supporter — depicting a member of the Rust Syndicate faction, not a Pokémon. That makes it a character card rather than a creature card, which is part of why it appeals to a different slice of collectors.
For deck-building, the #081 Uncommon does the exact same job for a few cents. The #112 Ultra Rare is the one collectors chase — same card text, full-art illustration, and the price that reflects rarity rather than playability.
Pitch Black is built from the Japanese set Abyss Eye (M5), so a Japanese counterpart of this character likely exists under Japan's own rarity codes, but we have not confirmed a specific Japanese print or price for it in Swaptio's catalog. Treat any Japanese copy as a separate print from this English #112 until confirmed.
