How to play

Setting up

1. Flip a coin — the winner decides who goes first.
2. Shuffle your deck and draw a hand of 7 cards. No Basic Pokémon in it? Show your hand, shuffle it back and draw a new one — your opponent may draw an extra card for each redo.
3. Put one Basic Pokémon face down as your Active Pokémon, and up to 5 more face down on your Bench.
4. Set the top 6 cards of your deck aside face down. These are your Prize cards — you'll pick one up for every Knock Out.
5. Both players flip everything face up, and the first player begins.

Your turn, in order

Draw a card. Then do any of these, in any order you like:

1. Bench — play any number of Basic Pokémon onto empty Bench spots.
2. Evolve — play an Evolution card on top of a matching Pokémon. Not on a Pokémon that was played or evolved this turn.
3. Attach Energy — attach exactly one Energy card from your hand to one of your Pokémon. Once per turn — it's the game's whole economy.
4. Play Trainers — any number of Items, but only one Supporter and one Stadium per turn.
5. Use Abilities — as many as their text allows.
6. Retreat — once per turn, pay the Active Pokémon's Retreat Cost by discarding attached Energy and swap it with a Benched Pokémon.
7. Attack — if the Active Pokémon has the Energy its attack costs, deal the damage. Attacking ends your turn.

turn oneThe player going first can't attack and can't play a Supporter on their very first turn.

Damage, Weakness and Knock Outs

Attacks deal their printed damage to the opposing Active Pokémon. If the defender has a Weakness to the attacker's type, the damage is doubled; Resistance subtracts 30. When a Pokémon has damage equal to or more than its HP, it's Knocked Out — it goes to the discard pile with everything attached, and the attacker's player takes a Prize card. Pokémon with a rule box (ex and friends) give up two or even three Prizes.

Special Conditions

tipConditions only affect the Active Spot — evolving or moving to the Bench cures everything except the damage.

Three ways to win