Pokemon Trading Card Game: How to Play

Starting the Game:
The first part of almost any card game is deciding who gets to go first. This is no different in the Pokemon Trading Card game or TCG for short. In order to decide who gets to start the TCG game off you will need either a coin or a six sided die. One person flips the coin or rolls the die and while this is done the other player must call out either heads or tails. For the die the even numbers (2, 4, and 6) represent heads and the odd numbers (1, 3, and 5) represent tails. If the player who called heads or tails guesses correctly he/she gets to pick whether or not if they want to go first. If this player did not guess correctly then it is the person who flipped the coin or rolled the die's decision on who gets to go first. *The person who goes first does not get to attack on their first turn.

The above picture is the layout for the Pokemon trading card game Board (Better known as the field) and will be referenced later in this blog.

The Setup:
After determining who goes first each player must shuffle their 60 card decks and place them in the upper right hand corner of their respective sides of the playing field (This is the brown area on the picture above). Then both players are to draw the top seven cards from their deck and place them into their hand. Both players must place one basic Pokemon from their hand onto the center of the field (This is the yellow area on the above picture). If a player has more then one basic Pokemon then they are allowed to place the others onto their bench area (This is the orange part of the field in the above picture). No more then 5 Pokemon can occupy the bench at one time. Pokemon who have evolved still only count as one Pokemon while on the bench. If a player does not draw a basic Pokemon in their first seven cards then they are to reshuffle their hands into the deck and draw another seven cards. If a reshuffle is necessary then the opponent is allowed to take one extra card from the top of their deck as compensation. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary until both players are able to play at least one basic type Pokemon. Next, each player takes the next 6 cards from the top of their deck and place them to the left hand side of the field. These 6 cards are their prize cards (This is the green area on the above picture). To begin the game both players flip their active and bench Pokemon.

A Typical Turn:

1. First, draw a card from the top of your deck;
2. Attach one Energy card to one of your Pokémon in play (either Active or Bench Pokémon);
3. Play Basic Pokémon to your Bench,
4. Evolve any of your Pokémon in play;
5. Retreat your Active Pokémon if the Active Pokémon can satisfy the Energy card retreat cost;
6. Play any Trainer cards in your Hand pertaining to the rules on each Trainer card and then typically placing that Trainer card face up in the player’s "Discard Pile", which is locked on the right side of the player's field just below that player's deck (This is the purple area on the above image)
7. Use any Abilities or Pokémon Powers that appear on your Active or Bench Pokémon, and
8. Finally, "Attack" if you have the appropriate Energy card(s) attached on your Active Pokémon. Attacking always ends your turn. *The first player to have a turn is not allowed to attack, but all other actions are allowed as described above.

How to Defeat the Defending Pokemon:

Most Pokemon attacks cause damage or apply a special condition to one of the two Pokemon involved. Any type of damage to any Pokemon is tracked via damage counters are dice. When the damage on a Pokemon equals or exceeds that Pokemon's HP then that Pokemon is knocked out, and the Pokemon is placed into the discard pile as well as any cards that were attached to the Pokemon. The player whose Pokemon was knocked out must replace this Pokemon with one from their benched Pokemon. At the same time the player who knocked out the Pokemon gets to take one prize card, and place that prize card into their hand.

How to Win:

1. Take their six prize cards by knocking out their opponent's Pokémon by using Attacks to reduce the opponent's HP to zero.
2. Players may also win when their opponent runs out of Pokémon on the field of play, which includes their Active Pokémon and Bench Pokémon, or
3. If their opponent cannot draw a card from their Deck at the beginning of their turn.

Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions, and remember to check out my other blog entries and follow me on Facebook for more information on all things Pokemon!