Hi there. In this Pokemon TCG post I cover the card reveals of Misty's Staryu, Misty's Starmie and Shaymin from Heat Wave Arena (or Hot Wind Arena according to Bulbapedia). This Japanese set is to be released in mid March 2025 while the English and international cards go with the Team Rocket set as a part of the Destined Rivals set in May 2025. (Japan gets the cards first and early)
Misty's Staryu
Misty's Staryu is a 70 HP Basic Pokemon with one retreat cost and Lightning weakness. It has one attack only. The Bubblebeam attack requires one Water Energy to do 20 damage plus a coin flip chance of paralysis. If heads the opponent's Active Pokemon is paralyzed. Not bad for a one Energy attack on a Basic Pokemon.
Misty's Starmie
Misty's Starmie is the Stage 1 evolved form of Misty's Staryu. This has 100 HP, one retreat cost and Lightning weakness. This has one attack as well that costs one Water Energy.
The Sudden Flash attack has 60 base damage. If the Misty's Starmie just evolved from Misty's Staryu then this attack does 80 more damage. This would be a total damage of 140. Dealing 60 damage for one Energy is not bad but 140 damage for one Energy is quite good.
Dealing 140 damage would not knock out most Pokemon ex except for Fire types like Ceruledge ex, Flareon ex and Gouging Fire ex. Misty's Starmie would deal 280 damage from Sudden Flash on the turn it evolves from Misty's Staryu.
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Shaymin
With the absence of Manaphy to protect Benched Pokemon from snipe attacks a replacement is sought after. Rabsca is a Stage 1 evolution Pokemon and is not used much. This Shaymin is a partial replacement to Manaphy.
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Shaymin's Smash Kick attack is not great and won't be used often. What makes Shaymin good is its Flower Curtain ability. You prevent damage done to your non-Rule box Benched Pokemon from attacks from your opponent's Pokemon. Manaphy protects all Pokemon on the Bench while this Shaymin protects non-rule Box Pokemon (not Pokemon ex, not Pokemon V, etc.). Pokemon ex don't need that much protection and some have the Tera attribute where they are protected from attacks to the Bench. The main use case for this Shaymin is to protect Basic non-rule box Pokemon before they evolve to stronger Pokemon with more HP.
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As Shaymin is 80 HP you cannot search for it as easily with Buddy Buddy Poffin. The item card Nest Ball or the stadium card Artazon would be used to search from Shaymin from the deck and put it into your Bench.
There is something that is worth repeating as newer players get it mixed up. Attacks that place damage counters is a part of the effect of the card. Placing damage counters to Benched Pokemon is not the same as dealing damage to Benched Pokemon. This means that attacks like Dragapult's Phantom Dive and Mimikyu's Ghost Eye does bypass Shaymin's bench barrier ability.
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This Shaymin is nerfed compared to Manaphy but it is balanced. Manaphy's bench protection was a bit too strong perhaps. Shaymin releases in Japan in March 2025 while the English and international players get this Shaymin in part of the Destined Rivals set in May 2025. From April to May 2025 players will have to deal with not much Bench barrier abilities and adapt to Bench hitting attacks.