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Pokmon Trading Card Game Pokmon Trading Card Game was first introduced to North America in 1999, and in Japan at an earlier date (exact date unknown). It is a collectible card game based off the famous Pokmon video game. At the time, it was published by Wizards of the Coast, the company most famous for . However, with the release of Pokmon Ruby and Sapphire Game Boy video games, Nintendo took back the card game from Wizards of the Coast and started publishing the cards themselves. The latest incarnations of the card games is known as Pokmon-e Trading Card Game, the cards of which (for the large part) are compatible with the Nintendo e-Reader. Video game releases On December 18, 1998, Nintendo released a Game Boy Color game called Pokmon Trading Card. It was a game based on the original Pokmon games, but with trading cards instead of actual "monsters". This title was released in North America on March 31, 2000 and in Europe on December 8, 2000. It included the cards from the base set as well as its first two expansions, along with cards that are exclusive to the game. A second Game Boy game, called Pokmon Card GB2, was released in Japan on March 28, 2001. It introduced a trading card parallel to Team Rocket, called Great Team Rocket, and also added cards from the Team Rocket expansion. Game concepts The game is centered around the concept of the Pokmon battle, similar to that of the video games. The objective of the game is to knock out six opposing Pokmon. To do this, you are given three types of cards: Pokmon cards, which represent the actual Pokmon; Trainer cards, which allow for immediate-like activity; and Energy cards, which function as the game's "currency unit". Pokmon cards were the actual Pokmon from the video game. You could have only six Pokmon at a time out, with only one being active and the other five being "benched" Pokmon. If a Pokmon was removed from the bench, you could place another from your hand into play, but only if there was less than five Pokmon on the bench. The rules of the Pokmon TCG can be easily extended as to allow multiple battles such as the two-on-two battling found in Pokmon Ruby and Sapphire. A simplified type system was used for the trading card game: instead of 17 types of Pokmon, only nine exist (with Darkness and Metal introduced with the Team Rocket and Neo expansions): - Colorless (Gray) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Normal, Flying, and Dragon types
- Darkness (Black) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Dark type
- Fighting (Brown) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Rock, Ground, or Fighting types
- Fire (Red) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Fire type
- Grass (Green) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Grass, Bug, and Poison types
- Lightning (Yellow) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Electric type
- Metal (Silver) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Steel type
- Psychic (Purple) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Psychic and Ghost types
- Water (Blue) - consisting mainly of Pokmon of Water and Ice types
Many Pokmon have one and only one type (some are now beginning to have two), and unlike its video game counterpart, the type of the Pokmon and not the type of the attack that a Pokmon uses is used to determine weakness and resistance. Later expansion sets featured Dark Pokmon, Pokmon that were darker than their normal versions. These Pokmon were often used, story-wise, by evil trainers or evil organisations such as Team Rocket. There were also gym leader versions of Pokmon that had stronger attacks and higher HP, but also required more energy. Light Pokmon, representing Pokmon that were exceptionally good, as well as Shining Pokmon, which parallels the shiny Pokmon introduced in the Pokmon Gold and Silver video games and often requires energy cards of three different types to be effective. There are also Pokmon EX cards that are more powerful than their normal counterparts, but incur greater consequences should they be knocked out. Pokmon featured attacks that would reduce the HP of the opposing active Pokmon. These attacks required Energy and they came in the form of Energy cards. The attacks would require certain color energy depending on the type of attack and the Pokmon using it. There were initially seven types of energy cards, including Fighting, Fire, Grass, Lightning, Psychic, Water, and Double Colorless energy. Trainer cards were support cards that allowed you to do something to enhance the game. Cards like Potion and Super Potion removed damage from your Pokmon to keep it from being knocked out as easily. Others allowed for searching your deck for Pokmon, removing energy from the opposing Pokmon, and reviving Pokmon that has been knocked out. There are many other types of Trainer cards. Sets Pokmon trading cards are loosely grouped into sets. Most sets is roughly grouped into the following order, with cards in the same group following alphabetical order: - Rare holographic (holofoil) cards, Pokmon cards before Trainer and Energy cards
- Pokmon cards, in descending order of rarity
- Trainer cards, in descending order of rarity (subdivisions of Trainer cards, such as Stadium cards not being considered)
- Energy cards, in descending order of rarity.
In general, more evolved Pokmon tended to be rarer than their less evolved counterparts. Here is a list of all the sets: | Set Name !! Set Size (Japan) !! Set Size (North America) !! Release Date | | Base Set | 102 | 102 | January 19, 1999 in North America | | Jungle | 48 | 64 | June 16, 1999 in North America | | Fossil | 48 | 62 | October 10, 1999 in North America | | Base Set 2 | N/A | 130 | February 28, 2000 in North America | | Southern Islands | 18 | 18 | February 28, 2000 in North America | | Team Rocket | 66 | 83 | April 24, 2000 in North America | | Gym Heroes / Gym 1 | ??? | 132 | August 14, 2000 in North America | | Gym Challenge / Gym 2 - Challenge From the Dark | ??? | 132 | August 14, 2000 in North America | | Neo Genesis / Neo 1 | 96 | 111 | December 16, 2000 in North America | | Neo Discovery / Neo 2 | 56 | 75 | July 7, 2000 in Japan / June 1, 2001 in North America | | Pokmon *VS | 141 | N/A | July 19, 2001 in Japan | | Neo Revelation / Neo 3 | 57 | 64 | November 23, 2000 in Japan, September 21, 2001 in North America | | Pokmon *Web | 48 | N/A | October 20, 2001 in Japan | | Neo Destiny / Neo 4 - Darkness to Light | 112 | 113 | March 9, 2001 in Japan / February 28, 2002 in North America | | Legendary Collection | N/A | 110 | May 24, 2002 in North America | | Expedition / Card-E 1 | 128 | 165 | December 1, 2001 in Japan, September 15, 2002 in North America | | Aquapolis / Card-E 2 - The Town on No Map and Card-E 3 - Wind From the Sea | ??? | 182 | March 8, 2002 (Card-E 2) and May 24, 2002 (Card-E 3) in Japan / January 15, 2003 in North America | | Skyridge / Card-E 4 - Split Ground and Card-E 5 - The Mysterious Mountain | ??? | 182 | August 24, 2002 (Card-E 4) and October 4, 2002 (Card-E 5) in Japan, May 12, 2003 in North America | | EX & Ruby and Sapphire / ADV1 | 100 | 109 | January 31, 2003 in Japan / June 18, 2003 in North America | | EX Sandstorm / ADV2 - Miracle of the Desert | 53 | 100 | April 18, 2003 in Japan / September 15, 2003 in North America | | EX Dragon / ADV3 - Champion of the Sky | 84 | 97 | June 25, 2003 in Japan / November 24, 2003 in North America | | EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua / ADV EX1 | 132 | 95 | October 24, 2003 / March 31, 2004 in North America | | EX Hidden Legends / ADV EX2 | ??? | 101 | ???/ June 18, 2004 in North America | | EX FireRed & LeafGreen / ADV EX3 - Flight of the Legends | | EX Team Rocket Returns / ADV EX4 | | EX Deoxys / ADV EX5 | | Wizards of the Coast Promos | N/A | 53 | | | Wizards of the Cost - Best of Game Promos | N/A | 9 | | The differences in set sizes were usually attributed to the North American version having holographic and non-holographic versions of the same cards, as well as the reinclusion of Energy cards and the inclusion of cards from other sets. Cards were available either as prebuilt theme decks, the favored method of distribution in Japan, or booster packs, the favored method of distribution in North America. Base Set 2 and Legendary Collection were both North American re-release expansions, expansions that only included cards that have been previously released in other expansions (or the Base Set). Pokmon *Web is similarly a Japanese re-release expansion. The Expediation, Aquapolis, Skyridge, and many EX are compatible with the e-Reader. External links - Team Compendium is an unofficial body that archives, reconciles, and publicizes rulings for the Trading Card Game dating to its WotC days.
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