Two players battle with decks of 60 cards. You attach Energy to your Pokémon, attack to knock out the other player's Pokémon, and take Prize cards each time you do.
What age is Pokémon TCG for?
Box says 6+
We suggest 7+ with an adult helping, 9+ on their own.
Every card has its own text, so a child needs to read well or have a grown-up read for them. The starter set is built for 6 and up, but full decks have many more rules. Nine-year-olds who read confidently can play on their own.
Hard to learn
2 players
30 minutes
About 10 minutes to set up (our estimate)
Competitive
Players can hurt each other's plans directly. Content: Cartoon creatures battle; no gore
Checked against the Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy Rules Reference, the publisher's starter-set rulebook. Page numbers are the printed page numbers in that book. Its own first page says to finish the tutorial game in the box before you use these rules, so play the tutorial game first if you have the Battle Academy set (page 1). The cards in the lesson and practice battle below are invented for this site, but the rules are the real ones.
Pokémon TCG in eight steps
Scroll through the lesson while the mat follows along, and tap any card on the mat to see it up close. Every card on this page is invented for the lesson, so there are no real Pokémon here, just stand-ins with the real rules. Then play a short battle against a simple opponent.
Step 1 of 8: The goal
1
The goal: take your 6 Prize cards
Two Trainers battle with their Pokémon. Each time you Knock Out one of your opponent's Pokémon, you take one of your Prize cards. Take them all and you win.
Take all your PrizesEach Knock Out lets you take some. A real game uses 6 Prize cards. The practice battle below uses 3.
Leave them emptyKnock Out their last Pokémon in play, so they have nothing to put in the Active Spot.
Outlast themIf your opponent can't draw a card at the start of their turn, you win.
2
The mat and your cards
Everything has a place. Tap a zone to find it on the mat, then meet the three kinds of cards.
Tap a zone to find it on the mat.
PokémonBasic Pokémon can start in play. Evolution cards (Stage 1, Stage 2) go on top of the Pokémon they evolve from.
EnergyAttach them to your Pokémon to pay for attacks. Each Energy has a type.
TrainerItems can be played as often as you like. You can play only 1 Supporter per turn.
A real deck is exactly 60 cards.
3
Setup
Flip a coin: the winner decides who goes first. Each player shuffles and draws 7 cards. No Basic Pokémon in your hand? That's a mulligan: show your hand, shuffle it back and draw 7 again.
Shuffle and draw 7 cards.
Put 1 Basic Pokémon face down as your Active Pokémon, and up to 5 more on your Bench.
Set your top 6 cards aside, face down, as Prize cards.
Flip your Pokémon face up and start.
4
Read a Pokémon card
Tap any part of this card. The mat shows the same Pokémon in your Active Spot.
Tap a part of the card.
5
Your turn
Every turn has three parts:
Draw a card.
Do any of these, in any order: bench Basic Pokémon, evolve, attach 1 Energy, play Trainer cards, retreat once, use Abilities.
Attack. That ends your turn.
Two limits for the opening turns: the player who goes first can't attack or play a Supporter on their first turn, and nobody can evolve a Pokémon on their own first turn. You also can't evolve a Pokémon the turn it came into play. Try breaking each rule below.
Your hand
Playing with younger kids? The rulebook's own tutorial game keeps hands face up and uses 4 Prize cards instead of 6, so you can do the same. Playing for 3 Prize cards and leaving out Special Conditions are house rules, not in the rulebook, but they can make a first battle gentler.
6
Attack and damage
Your Active Pokémon needs the attack's Energy attached. A type symbol needs that type. A Colorless symbol accepts any Energy.
Start with the attack's damage.
If the defender is Weak to your attacker's type, double it.
If it Resists your attacker's type, it takes less damage, as printed on the card.
Put 1 damage counter for every 10 damage.
The rules check Weakness and Resistance against your opponent's Active Pokémon. Try some matchups.
7
Knock Outs, Prizes and retreating
A Pokémon whose damage reaches its HP is Knocked Out. The attacker takes Prize cards, and the Knocked Out player moves a Pokémon from the Bench to the Active Spot.
Knock Out a regular Pokémon
1 Prize
Knock Out a Pokémon ex
2 Prizes
Retreating: discard Energy from your Active Pokémon equal to its Retreat Cost, then swap it with a Benched Pokémon. You can do it once per turn, and you can still attack with the new Active Pokémon.
8
Special Conditions and Checkup
Some attacks leave a Special Condition on the Defending Pokémon. Tap one to see it on the mat.
Between every turn comes Pokémon Checkup. Conditions resolve in this order, then any Pokémon whose damage has reached its HP is Knocked Out:
Poisoned
Burned
Asleep
Paralyzed
Moving to the Bench or evolving clears every Special Condition. Only Asleep and Paralyzed stop a Pokémon from attacking and retreating.
Practice battle
Pick a deck and battle a simple opponent. Decks are 30 cards and each side takes 3 Prize cards, so a battle is short, about 6 turns each in our test games. You'll land in a good or bad type matchup, because Fire, Grass and Water beat each other in a loop: Fire hits Grass for double, Grass hits Water, Water hits Fire. Tap a card in your hand, then a glowing Pokémon on the mat. Special Conditions, Abilities and Stadiums are left out.
How do you teach the Pokémon TCG to kids?
Set up two decks, then teach the first turn by playing it. The publisher's product page suggests ages 6 and up for the Battle Academy set, so a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old are both in range.
Say this
We each have a team of Pokémon and we take turns. Knock Out the other player's Pokémon to take Prize cards. Take all 6 and you win.
Every turn goes the same way: draw a card, do any of your actions in any order, then attack. Attacking ends your turn.
Energy cards pay for attacks. You can attach 1 Energy card from your hand each turn, to any of your Pokémon.
When you attack, put damage counters on the other Pokémon. Each counter is 10 damage. The damage stays on the Pokémon unless a card heals it.
A Pokémon is Knocked Out when its damage equals or passes its HP. Then the attacker takes a Prize card and the other player moves a Benched Pokémon up to the Active Spot.
The player who goes first can't attack or play a Supporter card on the first turn.
First-game simplifications
Official variant Play the Battle Academy tutorial game first. This book says the tutorial plays with cards face up, uses 4 Prize cards for a shorter game and skips benching Pokémon at setup (page 2).
House rule Leave out Special Conditions (Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed and Poisoned) in the first battles, then add them once kids are comfortable.
House rule Let a grown-up count damage counters and check Weakness for the first few battles, then hand that job to the kids.
Watch-outs for ages 9 to 11
Weakness doubles the damage from the matching type. Check Weakness first, then Resistance (page 21).
Some things happen only once per turn: attaching an Energy card, playing a Supporter, playing a Stadium and retreating (pages 7, 15 and 16).
You lose if you can't draw a card at the start of your turn, so keep an eye on the deck (pages 15 and 25).
Special Conditions use the card itself: turn the card to the left for Asleep and to the right for Paralyzed. Use markers for Poisoned and Burned (pages 23 and 24).
Kids can feel sad when a favorite Pokémon is Knocked Out. Remind them that the damage and the Prize card are part of the game for both players.
Back for another game?
Your turn: draw a card (if you can't, you lose). Then do any of these in any order: bench Basic Pokémon, evolve, attach 1 Energy, play Trainer cards (only 1 Supporter and 1 Stadium), retreat once, use Abilities. Then attack, and your turn ends (pages 15 and 16).
First turns: the first player can't attack or play a Supporter. Nobody can evolve a Pokémon on their first turn, and you can't evolve a Pokémon the turn it came into play (pages 2 and 9).
Attacking: your Active Pokémon needs the right Energy attached. Apply Weakness, then Resistance, then put damage counters on the Defending Pokémon. Each counter is 10 damage (pages 4, 8 and 21).
Weakness doubles the damage from the matching type. Resistance means less damage from the matching type, as the card shows (page 21).
Knock Outs: a Pokémon is Knocked Out when its damage equals or passes its HP. The attacker takes 1 Prize card, or more for special Pokémon: 2 for a Pokémon ex, V or VSTAR and 3 for a VMAX or V-UNION. The Knocked Out player moves a Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot (pages 4 and 11 to 14, and 22).
Retreating: discard 1 Energy for each symbol in the Retreat Cost, then swap with a Benched Pokémon. Once per turn. You can still attack afterward. Damage stays on each Pokémon (pages 16 and 22).
Pokémon Checkup between turns: Poisoned puts 1 damage counter on the Pokémon. Burned puts 2, then flip a coin and heads cures it. Asleep: flip a coin and heads wakes it. Paralyzed recovers after your next turn (page 20).
Winning: take all your Prize cards, Knock Out all of your opponent's Pokémon in play, or have your opponent unable to draw at the start of their turn. If both players win at once, play Sudden Death: the first to take 1 Prize card wins (page 25).
Draw, build up, attack
Every turn, every game.
DrawTake 1 card. Can't draw? You lose.
Build upIn any order: bench Basics, evolve, attach 1 Energy, play Items and 1 Supporter, retreat once.
AttackPay the Energy cost, apply Weakness and Resistance, place damage. A Knock Out earns Prizes, and they promote from the Bench. Attacking ends your turn.
CheckupBetween turns, Poison, Burn, Sleep and Paralysis resolve, then check for any Pokémon whose damage has reached its HP.
How do you score a Pokémon TCG battle?
There are no points in this game. You win by taking Prize cards, so the tracker counts Prize cards left for each player and the damage counters on each Pokémon. Each counter is 10 damage (page 8). Type in a Pokémon's HP and the tracker tells you when its damage reaches that HP and it is Knocked Out. Use Swap with Active when a Pokémon retreats or is promoted, so each Pokémon keeps its own damage.
Your pocket card
For the table. The front is your turn, the back is the numbers.