Starting a Game:
1. Shuffle your deck and draw 7 cards. (You must have a basic Pokemon, or you will have to reshuffle and redraw, your opponents gets to draw 2 extra cards)
2. You and your opponent choose 1 Pokemon each as your "active" Pokemon and place it in play face down. You and your opponent may then choose up to 5 Pokemon to put in the "bench", which is like a reserve Pokemon area, also faced down.
3. Take the next top 6 cards and face them face down, this pile will be known as your "prize".
4. Decide on who goes first (flipping a coin, rock paper scissors).
5. Flip all your Pokemon in play and on the bench over.
Now that the game is set up, you and your opponent take turns. The turn goes like this:
2. Do any of these in any order any number if times.
- put a basic Pokemon on the bench
- evolve a Pokemon in play
- attach an energy card to a Pokemon (once per turn)
- play a trainer card
- retreat your active Pokemon
- use a Pokemon power
3. Attack with your Pokemon
4. Your turn is over
Energy: cards that allow Pokemon to use their abilities (must be attached to the Pokemon). Only one energy card can be placed during your turn.
Attacking: to use an attack, you must have the available energy attached on the Pokemon. It tells you how much you need beside the attack and how much damage it does. Some abilities require sacrificing energy.
Weaknesses: some Pokemon have weakness, which are indicated on the card. If it is attacked by the type it is weak against, the damage is doubled.
Damage Counters: All damage in Pokemon are in multiples of 10. When a Pokemon takes damage, add the appropiate amount of counters (each counter is worth 10). When the counters add up to the Pokemon's toughness, it gets knocked out. For example, when an Abra (toughness 30) gets 3 counters, it dies.
Knock Out: When a Pokemon takes damage that adds up to over its toughness, it is knocked out. All cards on the Pokemon and the Pokemon itself are placed into the discard pile.
Retreating: All Pokemon have a retreat cost. You may pay this cost by sacrificing the equivalent energy cards (on it) during your turn to move this Pokemon to the bench and bring in another Pokemon.
Special Status Conditions:
Sleep: at the end of each turn, flip a coin. If it is heads, the Pokemon wakes up, if its tails, it remains asleep. While asleep, Pokemon cannot attack or retreat. The Pokemon is turned sideways to indicate it is asleep.
Paralyze: when paralyzed, the Pokemon cannot attack or retreat. It is turned sideways to indicate it is paralyzed. Paralyze lasts one turn, so the Pokemon would be back to normal the next turn.
Confused: when a Pokemon is confused, it may attack. However, when you declare an attack, you must flip a coin. If it is heads, it attacks as normal, if it is tails, then it does 20 damage to itself. To return a Pokemon, you must also flip a coin. If it is heads, it can be returned (you must still pay the cost), if it is tails, it stays in play. To indicate confusion, the Pokemon is turned so the top is facing towards you (upside down).
Poison: when a Pokemon is poisoned, place a poison marker on it. As long as it stays poisoned, the Pokemon takes 10 damage at the end of each turn.
How to Win:
1. Draw all of your Prizes (six cards are set aside at the beginning of the game from your deck, each time you knock out an opponent's Pokemon, you get to draw one).
2. Knock out six of your opponent's Pokemon.
3. Your opponent runs out of cards to draw.
If you suceed at doing any of the thing mentioned above before your opponent, you win!
If both players win at the same time, you have a problem. The only way to solve it is by playing a Sudden Death match. The only thing to do is, play a new game of Pokemon TCG, but have each player use only 1 Prize instead of the usual 6. Except for the number of prizes, treat the Sudden Death game like a whole new game. If the Sudden Death match ends up being a tie, then keep playing Sudden Death matches until you have a winner.