Pokémon Trading Card Game

Reverse of an English language card

The Pokémon Trading Card Game (or Pokémon TCG) is one of the most popular and steady aspects of the Pokémon franchise (next to the video game and animated television series). The Pokémon TCG revolves around buying, collecting, and trading playing cards with various likenesses of Pokémon on them. To play, a person must build a deck of sixty cards using a combination of various "Pokémon" cards (creatures that do battle), "Trainer" cards (which have special effects on them) and "Energy" cards (a method of cost). To win, a player must "knock out" six of their opponent's Pokémon creatures. A player can also win if their opponent no longer has any Pokémon creatures left to battle with, or if their opponent runs out of cards in their deck.

Unlike classic card games which uses a single deck of 52 cards, a trading card game (TCG) is constantly and continuously growing. New cards with new game abilities are released at a steady interval in order to keep the game fresh and alive. The only cost of TCG's, however, is that it forces a player to constantly keep in touch with the game, as well as having to purchase new cards from newly released sets. Players who don't keep up run the risk of falling behind other players.

As of July 2006, over 14 billion cards have been sold.

Card types

• Summary of Card Types
• Elemental Types
  • Grass
  • Fire
  • Water
  • Lightning
  • Fighting
  • Psychic
  • Colorless
  • Darkness
  • Metal
• Pokémon
  • Basic Pokémon
  • Evolution
  • Dark Pokémon
  • Light Pokémon
  • Shining Pokémon
  • Crystal Pokémon
  • Pokémon ex
  • Pokémon Star
  • δ Delta Species
  • "Named" Pokémon
• Trainer Card
• Energy Card

Wizards of the Coast (English) sets

File:Wizards.jpg

Wizards of the Coast ran the game between 1999 and 2003

• Base Set
• Jungle
• Fossil
• Base Set 2
• Team Rocket
• Gym Heroes
• Gym Challenge
• Neo Genesis
• Neo Discovery
• Neo Revelation
• Neo Destiny
• Legendary Collection
• Expedition Base Set
• Aquapolis
• Skyridge
• Southern Islands
• Wizards Promotional Cards
• Best of Game Cards

Wizards of the Coast (English) unreleased sets

• Crosstrainer
• Unnamed Wizards Set
• Jamboree
• Legendary Collection 2

Nintendo (English) sets

File:Nintendo-small.jpg

Nintendo has since taken over the TCG from Wizards

• EX: Ruby & Sapphire
• EX: Sandstorm
• EX: Dragon
• EX: Team Magma vs Team Aqua
• EX: Hidden Legends
• EX: FireRed & LeafGreen
• EX: Team Rocket Returns
• EX: Deoxys
• EX: Emerald
• EX: Unseen Forces
• EX: Delta Species
• EX: Legend Maker
• EX: Holon Phantoms
• EX: Crystal Guardians
• EX: Trainer Kit
• EX: Dragon Frontiers
• EX: Battle Stadium
• EX: Series Value Pack
• World Championships 2004
• World Championships 2005
• Nintendo Promotional Cards

Media Factory/The Pokémon Company (Japanese) sets

• Vending Machine Cards
• Pokémon VS
• Pokémon Web
• Movie 5 Deck - Alto Mare
• Movie 6 Deck - Jirachi
• Movie 7 Deck - Deoxys
• Movie 8 Deck - Lucario
• Japanese Promotional Cards
• Unreleased cards

History of the Pokémon TCG

The Pokémon TCG was created by Media Factory in Japan. It was first released in Japan in 1997. Wizards of the Coast, seeing a great opportunity to ride the new Pokémon wave, was licensed the game and introduced Pokémon TCG to North America in 1999. In 2003, Nintendo of America took over the game from Wizards of the Coast, and is currently releasing new sets for it.

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External links

• The PokéGym
• Pokébeach

On Bulbagarden forums

• Pokémon Trading Card Game discussion forum