Pokemon Trading Card Game (GBC) Pokemon Trading Card Game FAQ Version: 1.0 Date: July 24th, 2010 By Nicholas Grimes Email/Donations: [email protected] Table Of Contents 1. Introduction & Updates 2. Overview 3. Basic Pokemon TCG Mechanics 4. Menu and Controls 5. Game Start 6. Deck Building Strategies 7. Club Battles 8. The Grand Masters 9. The Challenge Cup 10. The Challenge Machine 11. Trading & Promo Cards 12. Advanced TCG Strategy Bank 13. Multiplayer Guide 14. Card Info Appendix 15. References 16. Thanks & Copyright Info 17. Donations \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 1. Introduction & Updates \\\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// - Version 1.0 Date: 07/24/2010 Hello everyone! This is the first FAQ I've ever contributed to GameFAQs, but my second FAQ overall. I originally purchased this game much nearer to its release date in 2000, lost it, and then recently repurchased it. After playing through the game in its entirety and perusing various FAQs along the way, I realized that there were still some portions of the game that were not completely elaborated upon and that required further instruction, which I hope to provide! If you happen to find any errors in this guide or have any suggestions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to email me at [email protected]. NOTE: If you're looking for something in particular, don't forget to CTRL+F, or if you're using a Mac, Command+F. A note regarding notation: In this FAQ you may see me refer to cards using a letter followed by a number followed by a Pokemon name. For example, P04 Pikachu. This letter/number combo is the one noted in the Card Album which can be viewed by checking the PC in any of the Club Lobbies. (You can also find this list in the Card Info Appendix of this guide.) I do this because there are some Pokemon cards in this game with the same name and level, and which are only distinguished by their background art. So, to avoid confusion, I use the numbers given to them in the Card Album. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\/\//////\/\\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\\\ 2. Overview \\\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\\///\\/\/// /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\//////\/\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// Pokemon TCG (GBC) is a card game simulator in the same vein as those for the Yu-Gi-Oh! series of trading cards. It emulates other titles in the Pokemon series of games in that it involves the battle between two pokemon, except in this case, they are in the form of cards that are limited to the attacks printed on them. These cards mimic the real life cards of the Pokemon Trading Card Game, and for the most part, the mechanics of play carry over as well. There was a sequel to this game called Pokemon Card GB2: Team Great Rocket is Here! that was released only in Japan and contains every Japanese card released up to the Team Rocket set. It is a Game Boy Color exclusive title, meaning it is not compatible with Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, or Game Boy Light. An unofficial English translation of the game is being done by danke and is 70% complete at the time of writing. You can visit the official website where you can download the most current version of the translation patch here: http:// tcg2.110mb.com/index.html In this guide I hope to provide a more in-depth walkthrough and strategy for the main game as well as elaborate upon the various 'side-quests' (aka promo card trades) that become available throughout the game. In addition to this basic information you'll also find some sample decks and advanced playing strategies that will help you defeat any opponent you come across. So, without further ado, let's learn how to play Pokemon TCG! \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\/\//////\/\\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\\\ 3. Basic Pokemon TCG Mechanics \\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\// /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\//////\/\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// This section will be broken down into two subsections, each of which is targeted to a different type of player. For those who are already familiar with the card game I have prepared a 'refresher course' to help remind you of some of the particulars that you may have forgotten as well as to draw attention to the differences between the modern TCG game as played today and the GBC game. For those of you who are used to the old style of play, I will also include differences from the style of play when the TCG game was first released to that of the GBC game. The Pokemon TCG Refresher can be found after the detailed mechanics guide, which will follow shortly. The more detailed guide will cover all the aspects of the TCG as it pertains to the GBC game. There is a practice dual that begins shortly after game start, so if you feel that you learn more easily by doing, then by all means move onto that first, however this guide will be much more detailed and should serve as a nice reference when you have a question about game mechanics. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pokemon TCG Beginners Guide (assumes no knowledge of the TCG) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The cards: There are three main types of cards in the Pokemon TCG. These are the Pokemon Cards themselves that you will use to battle with, Energy cards that are used to 'power up' your Pokemon Cards so that they are able to attack, and Trainer Cards, each which vary in function but generally serve to either support your pokemon or to hamper those of your opponent. Pokemon Cards: There are two subtypes of Pokemon Cards. The first type is the Basic Pokemon Card. A basic pokemon is one in its most juvenile stage. Some pokemon evolve into more powerful pokemon, while others don't evolve at all. The second subtype of Pokemon Card is the Evolution Card. These are the evolved forms of the Basic Pokemon Cards. A Basic Pokemon Card is indicated by a green boxed symbol with a white diamond inside, inside of which is a green circle. If I were to represent it using ASCII characters it would look something like this: [<o>] only more square, and with the diamond fully connected. You'll find this symbol in the upper left hand corner of the card to left of the Pokemon's name. An Evolution Card is the evolved form of the Basic Pokemon Card. An Evolution Card can only be played to evolve one specific kind of Pokemon. An Evolution Card is indicated by a square symbol inside of which is a blue or red arrow, pointing up, and inside of that is the number one or two. These would look something like this: [/1\] (blue arrow) or [/2\] (red arrow) only more square and with the arrows more pronounced and well, shaped correctly. A Stage One Evolution Card is one that evolves directly from a Basic Pokemon. This symbol is also located in the upper left hand corner of the card, to the left of the Pokemon's name. You will also notice that below the Stage One symbol is the name of the Basic Pokemon that the pokemon card in question evolves from. So, for example, Ivysaur is the Stage One Evolution Card for the Basic Pokemon Bulbasaur. A Stage Two Evolution Card is the second evolution of the Basic Pokemon and can only be played if a Stage One Evolution Card is already in play. You can see the name of the Stage One Evolution Card that is required for the Stage Two Evolution Card to be played by looking directly below the Stage Two Evolution Card symbol. So, to continue our last example, the Stage One Evolution Card Ivysaur would then evolve into the Stage Two Evolution Card Venusaur. General Pokemon Card Setup: I will now take a bit of time to explain the different types of symbols and text you will find on each Pokemon Card and will explain their meaning. Here's an example of the Basic Pokemon Card Bulbasaur: ------------------------------------ [o] BULBASAUR G Lv 13 HP 40 __________________ | | | | | | | card picture | | | | | |__________________| [ ] O GG LEECH SEED 20 RETREAT COST * WEAKNESS F RESISTANCE No. 1 ------------------------------------ NOTE: In order to preserve the relative position of everything, I simplified the Basic Pokemon symbol to "[o]" rather than the "[<o>]" symbol used above. Both refer to the same thing. As mentioned previously, the Basic Pokemon symbol is found in the upper left hand corner of the card, followed by the pokemon's name, and then in the upper right hand corner, the Pokemon's Type. In this diagram the type is the "G". In the game this letter will be replaced by the Grass Symbol, which is a leaf. Each Pokemon Card will have a specific type associated with it (more on that later). On the next line, you will find the pokemon's level, which has no effect on gameplay whatsoever, but is just a detail carried over from the video game where pokemon increase in level. Next to the level, however, is something that is very important, and that is the pokemon's hitpoints, or HP. HP is equivalent to 'life points', meaning that when you run out of HP, your pokemon is knocked out and sent to the discard pile (scroll down or CTRL+F for more info). Below this is the Pokemon's picture. To the right of the picture you will see either one or two symbols. The first symbol will be found between the two brackets included in the diagram. This symbol indicates the series of cards that this card belongs to in the real life Pokemon TCG. Bulbasaur belongs to the Basic Set, which is characterized by no symbol at all, so on his card there will be a blank space in place of the brackets. Here is a breakdown of the symbols according to series: Basic Series: No symbol. Jungle Series: Flower symbol. Fossil Series: Claw symbol. GBC Only Cards: GB symbol. Promo Cards: No symbol, no rarity. To the right of the series symbol is the rarity symbol. There are three types of rarity symbols. The first is a filled in circle which represents common cards. The second is a filled in diamond which represents uncommon cards, and the last is a filled in star which represents rare cards. These rarities let you know how common or uncommon it is to find a given card inside a booster pack. A booster pack is given as a reward (usually for beating opponents) and contains 10 cards. One rare card, three uncommon cards, five common cards, and an energy card. NOTE: Below a Pokemon's picture and before a Pokemon's attack you may find a Pokemon Power. This is different from an attack in that it (usually) does not require any energy cards in order to be used, and can be used anytime before you attack. The exact nature of the Pokemon Power varies from card to card. Now on the next line below the rarity, to the left, will be one to four symbols indicating the amount of energy cards required to use a Pokemon's attack. In this case, each of the "G"'s represents one Grass Energy. Once these energies have been attached, Bulbasaur will be able to use its Leech Seed attack, which will do 20 damage to the opponent's pokemon, as indicated by the number "20" to the right of the attack name. In some cases, you will see a "+", "x" or the less common "-" symbol next to an attack. In the case of a "+" this means that the attack has a base damage equivalent to the value listed but has the potential to do additional damage if certain conditions are met. An "x" symbol is similar to a "+", however there is no base damage, so if certain conditions are not met then there will be no damage done at all. A "-" symbol next to the base damage number indicates that certain factors can cause the base damage of the attack to be lowered. The exact factors influencing the amount of damage done vary from attack to attack. For an explanation of a given attack, you just need to press right on the control pad and the second page of a card's description will appear and will provide additional details. Below the attack(s) you'll find the retreat cost. Only one Pokemon can be used to battle at any given time, and if you decide you want to retreat that Pokemon to a holding area known as the Bench, you will have to discard energy cards from that Pokemon in order to do so. Each * symbol in the diagram corresponds to one energy card that must be removed from that Pokemon in order to pay for its retreat. Any type of energy card can be used to retreat (see Energy Card section below for more info). Below the Retreat Cost is the Pokemon's weakness. Not all Pokemon have a weakness, but if they do, it will be indicated here. A Pokemon that is weak to the opponent Pokemon's type will take double the damage from any attacks made by that Pokemon. In this diagram "F" stands for the Fire Type, which would be indicated by a flame icon in-game. The last line of information indicates the Pokemon's Resistance. In this example, Bulbasaur has no resistances so there is no icon indicated here. If Bulbasaur were resistant to a particular type, the symbol associated with that type would be shown. A symbol indicates that the Pokemon will take thirty less damage points from attacks used against it by Pokemon of the type associated with that symbol. To the right of a Pokemon's resistance is its number in the Pokedex. There were 151 different Pokemon in the Pokemon world when this game was released, and this number directly refers to their ordering in the Pokemon universe of games. If you press right on the directional pad you will scroll through various other screens. After the initial screen referenced above, you will scroll through screens explaining each attack, and Pokemon Power (if any) in detail. After this you will reach a screen that gives a description of the Pokemon, its length, and weight. This last page is purely informational and does not play a role in the TCG process. Energy Cards: There are seven different types of Pokemon and seven corresponding types of energy cards to go with them. Each energy card is a different color and is associated with a particular symbol: Grass Energy: Leaf Symbol (Green) Fire Energy: Flame Symbol (Red) Water Energy: Water Droplet Symbol (Blue) Electric Energy: Lightning Symbol (Yellow) Fighting Energy: Fist Symbol (Brown) Psychic Energy: Eye Symbol (Purple) Colorless Energy: Star Symbol (White) You will see these symbols next to a Pokemon's attacks. For every symbol you see, you will need one energy card of that type in order to use that attack. One very important thing to note however, is that a white star symbol does NOT require a specific type of energy. A white star symbol means that ANY type of energy may be used. The Colorless Energy Card is special in that it is not a "Basic Energy Card", and actually provides TWO colorless energies. In the game it is called a "Double Colorless Energy" because it is a colorless energy, and because it provides TWO white energies. So, for example, if we want to use Pidgey's Whirlwind attack that requires two Colorless (white) Energies, we could attach the Double Colorless Energy and attack right away, while if we were to use colored energies (Grass, Fire etc.), we could only attach one at a time but could use any combination of energies. Trainer Cards: There are dozens of different Trainer cards you can use in your deck, each with a particular effect either on your Pokemon, your deck, your discard pile, or that/those of your opponent. Trainer cards have specific instructions that must be followed, and once followed, the Trainer card is discarded. (For more information refer to following sections.) The Play Area: In the real life TCG the play area consisted of an official mat indicating the locations of different cards and their significance. The GBC game follows the same sort of idea and setup in that when certain cards are in certain locations they are subject to certain rules regarding their ability to be looked at or played. The following is a representation of the setup seen in-game: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] <- Opponent's bench. HANDx 7 ________________ | | [ ]x 0 | opponent's | [ ] [ ] | active Pokemon | }- Opponents prizes. / /x 48 |________________| [ ] [ ] ________________ [ ] [ ] | | / /x 48 <- Number of cards left in your deck. | your | [ ] [ ] | active Pokemon | [ ]x 0 <- Number of cards in your discard pile. |________________| HANDx 7 <- Number of cards in your hand. [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] <- Your bench. You can access this view at any time by choosing "Check" from the option box while battling someone, and then choosing "In Play Area" from the second option box that appears. There are options to view your own play area or your opponent's play area individually, however I find myself exclusively using this option as it allows me access to check everything on the field. If you want more information on a given card or cards, simply use the D-Pad to select them and you will be brought to a screen supplying you with more information about that card. The "Check" command also offers you a Glossary of terms if you ever need to reference something while in battle. To that end, I will provide my own descriptions of each of the areas found on the diagram above. The Deck: A deck is composed of 60 cards, no more, and no less. You will draw from this deck throughout the duel, so it is important that your deck has a good balance of the three types of cards: Pokemon Cards, Energy Cards and Trainer Cards. While Trainer cards are not absolutely essential to battling, they do provide you with distinctive advantages that can really turn the tide of battle. The Hand: Your hand is the group of cards that you are allowed to see and play from during your turn. When a game first starts, both players will draw seven cards that constitute the hand, and on every turn after that they will draw one card from the deck and place it into the hand. You can view your hand by choosing "Hand" from the option box at the bottom of the screen while battling. This new screen will show you all the cards in your hand, which, if chosen by pressing the "A" button will allow you the option to "Check" the card or to "Play" the card. If you just want to view the card itself, choose "check", but if you would like to play the card, choose "play". The game will automatically place the card in the appropriate location in order to play it. Note that once a card has been played that action cannot be reversed. In the case of an evolution card, it will be placed on top of the Basic Pokemon Card and cannot be removed except by a certain Trainer Card or by certain attacks. The same goes with energies; once attached to a Pokemon they cannot be returned to the hand. Trainers, once used, are sent to the discard pile (unless stated otherwise on the card) and can only be reused via the effects of other trainer cards. So, it is very important that you know the effects of a card exactly so that you take appropriate action as far as when and where to play it. The Discard Pile: The discard pile is the location of all cards which are no longer in play. This includes Pokemon Cards that have been knocked out, energy cards that have been discarded as part of a retreat cost, a requirement for an attack, or via trainer card, and trainer cards themselves, which are usually discarded immediately after use unless otherwise stated on the card. The only way to retrieve cards from the discard pile is to use special Trainer Cards. The Bench: The bench is composed of five open slots where non-active Pokemon are placed. Once all of these slots have been taken the game will not allow you to place anymore Pokemon down. In general, Pokemon on the Bench are 'safer' than an active Pokemon because there are few attacks that allow for benched Pokemon to take damage. For example, almost every Pokemon has at least one attack that deals damage to the opponent's active Pokemon, but may not have any that can attack benched Pokemon. Therefore, a good way to build up Basic Pokemon Cards, which tend to have lower hit points and are more prone to being knocked out, is to do so while they are sitting on the Bench, relatively safe from enemy attacks. When an active Pokemon is knocked out, benched Pokemon are moved in to take their place. The Active Pokemon: In the center of the setup you'll find the two active Pokemon (yours and your opponent's) facing each other. Only one Pokemon may be active at any given time. Your active Pokemon will be the one taking direct damage from the opponent's attacks. The ultimate goal is for your active Pokemon to cause the opponent's to faint by lowering its hit points to zero. You and your opponent take turns attacking and once one of the active Pokemon has been knocked out, the person who knocked out that Pokemon will draw one of his Prize Cards. Drawing all of one's prize cards is but one way to win a Pokemon Duel. The Prize Cards: At the beginning of a duel, a number of prize cards are set aside in each player's play area. The number of prize cards ranges from 2-6. Usually, the more difficult the opponent the greater the number of prizes and therefore the longer the match. The most common way to win a Pokemon Card Duel is to be the first to draw all one's prize cards. If for some reason both players draw all their remaining prize cards as the result of the same attack, then a Sudden Death match is started with one prize, and the first person to draw that prize is the winner of the match. Now that the general layout of the cards and the play area has been established I'm going to move onto how the actual game is played. Basically, the individual elements have been explained, and now we are going to see how they all interact during a given turn. The Objective of the Game: The main goal is to win, of course, and this is accomplished in one of three ways: 1) Drawing all of your prize cards before your opponent. 2) Your opponent has no Basic Pokemon Cards on his bench to replace with his knocked out active Pokemon. 3) Your opponent has no more cards in his deck to draw from at the beginning of his turn. I organized these in terms of how common it is to win via each condition with the first being the most common and the third being the least. Of course, which one you win by most often will in some way be determined by your play style. Game Start: A duel is initiated by walking up to a NPC in-game and requesting a battle. Once this is done, the name of your opponent will show up along with his or her picture and the name of his or her deck. If you pay attention to the name of the deck, you can sometimes get an idea of the sort of strategy your opponent will be using. This can help when you are trying to predict what your opponent will do next. After this screen passes each player will be drawn seven cards. If either player does not draw any Basic Pokemon Cards, you will get to see that player's hand and then this sequence of events will repeat until that player draws at least one Basic Pokemon. You will then be taken to a screen showing the cards in your hand and you will be asked to choose an active Pokemon. This is the Pokemon you will be using to attack and is the one that will receive damage from your opponent's attacks, so be sure to choose wisely, keeping in mind the amount of HP the Pokemon has, the amount of energy required for it to attack, and its retreat cost in case you meet an unfavorable opponent and need to retreat to the bench. One strategy that allows you to get a feel for the opponent and his playing style is to play a basic Pokemon with no retreat cost, if possible. This way, you don't have to worry about starting out at a disadvantage because you can always switch your active Pokemon out without the penalty of removing energy cards. Once you have chosen an active Pokemon, the game will allow you to place any other basic pokemon in your hand onto the bench. This is not necessary, and in some cases, it is preferable to keep basic pokemon in your hand, for example, if your opponent is using attacks that hurt your bench. But you should also keep in mind that if there is no Pokemon on the bench to replace your active Pokemon when it faints, then you will lose the game, so it's usually a good idea to keep at least one Pokemon on the bench at all times. After benched Pokemon have been placed each player will place their prize cards and then a coin will be flipped in order to determine which player will go first. As far as I know, there is no way to influence the outcome of the coin flip (although it certainly seems to benefit the opponent more than it does the player). Simply press the "A" or "B" button to begin the coin flip animation. If heads, you will go first and if tails, your opponent will. The Turn: The basic 'unit' of a duel is the turn. You and your opponent will alternate back and forth, each of you taking specific actions during your turn that will hopefully result in your victory. Here is a breakdown of what usually happens during a given turn: 1) A card is drawn from the deck and placed into the hand. 2) The situation is examined and the cards in the hand are played accordingly depending on the requirements of the situation. The following actions can be taken at this stage (in any order, if at all), before a Pokemon attacks: - One energy card may be attached to one and only one Pokemon, either active or on the bench, unless otherwise noted by a particular Pokemon Power. - A Pokemon Power may be utilized. Some Pokemon Powers are always active, while some require them to be used prior to attacking. To use these types of Pokemon Powers, select "Pkmn Power" from the option box at the bottom of the duel screen, select the Pokemon whose Pokemon Power you wish to use, and then follow the instructions given for that particular Pokemon Power. - The active Pokemon may retreat if it pays the retreat cost noted. The active Pokemon may be retreated as often as one likes before attacking so long as the retreat cost is paid. - As many Trainer cards can be played as you wish, so long as you do everything required to play that card (as noted in its description). The ability to play trainer cards is subject to the effects of attacks. For example, Psyduck's attack "Headache" will not allow you to play any trainer cards during your next turn if used against your active Pokemon. 3) A pokemon attacks, or the turn is ended. When you attack you must fulfill any requirement in order to use that attack, and once you have chosen a given attack, you cannot go back and choose a different one, so choose wisely. If you don't have the proper amount of energies in order to use the attack the game will prevent you from selecting said attack. In some cases it may be beneficial to simply end your turn rather than attacking. An example of this might be when your Pokemon is confused, and may hurt itself in confusion if it attempts to attack. You will also choose to end your turn if you do not have enough energy cards placed on your active pokemon in order to attack. After a turn has been completed a "between turns" period will sometimes take place in which certain actions are performed by you or your opponent. The only time action is taken during this period is if your Pokemon is afflicted by a status condition. Status conditions are like a disease or affliction that have certain negative effects. Status is given as part of the effects of certain attacks. Poison: A Pokemon that is poisoned receives 10 damage in between turns. This condition can be healed using a Full Heal trainer card, by moving the active Pokemon to the bench, or by evolving the Pokemon. Double Poison: A Pokemon that is doubly poisoned receives 20 damage in between turns. (Poisoning a Pokemon twice does not cause double poison. Double poison can only be caused by Nidoking's "Toxic" attack.) It is healed by using a Full Heal trainer card, by moving the active Pokemon to the bench, or by evolving the Pokemon. Confusion: A trainer must flip a coin before that Pokemon attacks or retreats. When attacking, if the coin lands on tails, that pokemon does not attack and instead does 20 damage to itself (weakness is applied, so if your active pokemon is a psychic type that is also weak to psychic then it will take 40 damage instead of 20). If you get a tails when attempting to retreat, then that Pokemon cannot retreat this turn. Energies are removed before flipping, so this makes confusion a particularly deadly status ailment. Confusion is healed via a Full Heal trainer card, by successfully retreating to the bench, by acquiring another status such as sleep or paralysis, or by evolving the Pokemon. Paralysis: Paralysis is always removed during the second in between turns period after it was afflicted. While a Pokemon is paralyzed it may not attack or retreat. Paralysis is cured through the use of a Full Heal Trainer Card, through the use of a Switch Trainer Card that forces the switch even while Paralyzed, or by evolving the Pokemon. Sleep: A player must flip a coin in between turns to see if their Pokemon is still asleep. If tails, their Pokemon remains asleep until the next in-between turns period. If heads, the Pokemon awakens and everything proceeds as normal. A Pokemon that is asleep cannot attack or retreat. Sleep is healed by a Full Heal trainer card, by a Switch trainer card, which can retreat the active Pokemon to the bench even while asleep, by acquiring another status, such as confusion or paralysis, or by evolving the Pokemon. This pattern of turn taking and in-between turn periods will continue back and forth between the player and his/her opponent until one of the winning conditions are met. At this point the duel will conclude, and a result screen will appear announcing the winner and displaying the condition of the play area at the conclusion of the match. Note that there are no "Draws" in a Pokemon duel. If such a sequence of events occurs where both parties satisfy a winning condition as a result of the same attack (for example, if your opponent's Magnemite uses Self-Destruct, knocking itself out and your active pokemon when both of you only have one prize card left), then a Sudden Death match will begin. This is basically an entirely new duel, but is played with only one prize rather than the previously agreed upon amount. The first person to satisfy the winning conditions of this game will be declared the winner. Usually, if you win the match you will receive one of four different kinds of booster packs: Colosseum, Evolution, Mystery, and Laboratory. Each type of booster pack may contain specific cards not found in any of the other types. This concludes the section on Basic TCG Mechanics. This is really the tip of the iceberg as far as strategy goes. I have eluded to certain strategies in my description, and if you would like some more ideas, as well as information on how to build your own deck, you can find that information in section 6: Deck Building Strategies. The Pokemon TCG Refresher will now follow. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pokemon TCG Refresher Course - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In this section I will provide concise, essential information for those of you who are already familiar with the TCG either as played today, or as played during the time this game was released (2000), and will explain how the GBC game differs from the real life version. Differences between GBC game and old style of play: - The only real difference to note is the absence of the "Mulligan Rule". In the real life TCG this rule stated that if your opponent was not able to draw a Basic Pokemon Card as part of his initial hand of seven cards, then you were allowed to draw an additional two cards. This essentially punished those who focused on decks involving evolution cards, or who did not include enough basic Pokemon in their deck. It also gave the opponent the advantage of starting out with a larger variety of cards in their hand at game start. However, it could also become beneficial for the other player, because one of the conditions for winning a match is to have your opponent run out of cards in his deck, so in a sense there was some balance of favor when it came to the Mulligan rule. Differences between GBC game and current style of play: (Current up to the Platinum: Supreme Victors Expansion) - There are no supporter cards or stadium cards. PlusPower and Defender cards are basically the precursors of supporter cards, however they can only be activated the turn they are played and are subsequently discarded regardless of whether or not they actually had any effect. (For example, if you attach a defender card to a pokemon and that Pokemon receives no damage during your opponent's next turn, then the Defender card is still discarded at the end of your opponent's turn.) - There are no Poke-bodies, only Pokemon Powers. - The Mulligan Rule (where the opponent can draw an extra card if you do not draw a basic Pokemon card from your initial hand of seven cards) is non- existent in the GBC game. - Your active Pokemon may be retreated as many times as you wish so long as you discard any energy cards required to retreat that Pokemon. - Trainer cards MAY be played on the first turn, and as many can be played as you like so long as you fulfill the requirements noted on the card in order to do so. - There is no burn condition. - There are no Steel or Dark energies, nor are there any Steel or Dark Pokemon. - Resistances only come in one increment of 30. Weakness is always normal damage times two. - Confusion damage to self is 20 rather than 30. A pokemon cannot retreat regularly if it is confused, you must flip a coin after discarding energies, and if tails, that Pokemon may not retreat this turn. - Smokescreen attack success check occurs before any flipping required by the attack (as does the confusion damage check), rather than after. - The effects of prior attacks are calculated AFTER weakness. So, if an opponent uses an attack that reduces incoming damage by 10 during the next turn then a super effective attack with a base damage of 10 does 10 damage rather than no damage. (In today's trading card game, the 10 base damage would be nullified, and therefore no damage would result. This is not true in the GBC game.) - There are no Pokemon LV.X or Pokemon SP cards. Quick Facts: The game is won by meeting one of these three conditions before your opponent: 1) Drawing all of your prize cards before your opponent. 2) Your opponent has no Basic Pokemon Cards on his bench to replace with his knocked out active Pokemon. 3) Your opponent has no more cards in his deck to draw from at the beginning of his turn. If both you and your opponent fulfill one of these requirements at the same time a Sudden Death match is played for one prize. Status Conditions, their effects and their remedies: Poison: A Pokemon that is poisoned receives 10 damage in between turns. This condition can be healed using a Full Heal trainer card, by moving the active Pokemon to the bench, or by evolving the Pokemon. Double Poison: A Pokemon that is doubly poisoned receives 20 damage in between turns. (Poisoning a Pokemon twice does not cause double poison. Double poison can only be caused by Nidoking's "Toxic" attack.) It is healed by using a Full Heal trainer card, by moving the active Pokemon to the bench, or by evolving the Pokemon. Confusion: A trainer must flip a coin before that Pokemon attacks or retreats. When attacking, if the coin lands on tails, that pokemon does not attack and instead does 20 damage to itself (weakness is applied, so if your active pokemon is a psychic type that is also weak to psychic then it will take 40 damage instead of 20). If you get a tails when attempting to retreat, then that Pokemon cannot retreat this turn. Energies are removed before flipping, so this makes confusion a particularly deadly status ailment. Confusion is healed via a Full Heal trainer card, by successfully retreating to the bench, by acquiring another status such as sleep or paralysis, or by evolving the Pokemon. Paralysis: Paralysis is always removed during the second in between turns period after it was afflicted. While a Pokemon is paralyzed it may not attack or retreat. Paralysis is cured through the use of a Full Heal Trainer Card, through the use of a Switch Trainer Card that forces the switch even while Paralyzed, or by evolving the Pokemon. Sleep: A player must flip a coin in between turns to see if their Pokemon is still asleep. If tails, their Pokemon remains asleep until the next in between turns period. If heads, the Pokemon awakens and everything proceeds as normal. A Pokemon that is asleep cannot attack or retreat. Sleep is healed by a Full Heal trainer card, by a Switch trainer card, which can retreat the active Pokemon to the bench even while asleep, by acquiring another status, such as confusion or paralysis, or by evolving the Pokemon. NOTE: Sleep, Paralysis and Confusion may replace each other, however Poison is additive, so it can occur along with Sleep, Paralysis, or Confusion. Specific Mechanics: - Pokemon Powers limiting damage above a certain amount (like Mr. Mime's Invisible Wall) include the prevention of attacks whose base damage is less than 20 but whose damage including weakness is greater than 20. For example, a Psychic attack with a base damage of 20 used against Mr. Mime would do no damage (due to the 40 damage it would have received from weakness). - PlusPower increases the amount of recoil damage done to your own pokemon by 10 in addition to damage done to the defending Pokemon. For example, Electabuzz's Thunderpunch attack, which does +10 damage to the defending if a heads is flipped, and 10 damage to itself if tails would do 50 damage if heads and would do 40 damage plus 20 damage to itself if tails, assuming PlusPower were attached. Also, attacks that do no damage will not receive a +10 damage bonus when PlusPower is attached. So, for example, if Jynx uses Doubleslap, and two tails are flipped, no damage will be dealt, even with PlusPower attached. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 4. Menu and Controls \\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\///\\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// Now that I've established the particulars of how the TCG itself is played, I'll focus on the controls of the GBC game and how they affect the play of the TCG as well as the RPG portion of the game in the overworld as you move from area to area. Controls in the overworld: Moving around on the main map is done using the D-Pad to hover the pointer over different areas and then using the "A" button to select a destination. Once selected, your character will move to and enter that locale. Controls inside buildings: While inside buildings you may walk around using the D-Pad. To run, hold the "B" button down while walking. To interact with objects or people, press the "A" button in front of them. Press the Start button to open up the Menu. Menu options: There are six main menu options selectable with the "A" button, they are: Status: Shows your character's picture, name, album count (number of different pokemon cards you have out of the total), play time, and also shows icons of the different Master Medals you have obtained. To exit the the Status Screen press the "A", "B" or start button. Diary: The Diary is the equivalent of the Save option. If you do not write in your diary, anything you do in a given play session will not be recorded. The exception to this is when you power off during a duel. The game will autosave during duels, however, this save data can be overridden if you choose to start from the diary even when there is existing duel data that may be loaded. If there is duel data to be loaded, this will show up on the menu screen prior to game start, and the game will draw this to your attention if you try to start the game from the diary when saved data from within a duel exists. So, to save the game, answer yes to the question "Would you like to keep a diary?" After choosing either "Yes" or "No" you will be taken back to the main menu. The in-battle save feature can also be abused in your favor during duels. For example, you can view a prize card, turn the game off, and then choose a different prize card. In this way you can effectively see all your prizes and can choose the prize that is most beneficial in your particular situation. Another way to abuse this feature is during coin flips. Once a coin is flipped, turning off the game and trying again will never affect its outcome, regardless of the conditions under which the coin is flipped. For example, if I use a Thundershock attack and I flip a heads, indicating paralysis, I can turn off the game, and instead of attacking right away I can decide to use a Pokeball Trainer card instead. Because the result of the next coin flip is already 'set in stone' so to speak, I know that the Trainer card success check will land on heads. So in this way, knowledge of what the next coin flip will be can inform decisions such as whether or not to use a trainer card. You should also note that data is saved only during your turn, and only when you play a card from your hand. So if you accidentally place an energy card on the wrong Pokemon, even turing the game off will not help, as the game will have already saved this action. Deck: The Deck option allows you to view your current decks and also allows you to create other decks. When you select "Deck" from the menu, it will take you to a screen that shows the four decks you currently have available to battle with. The deck name that has a hand next to it is the "Selected Deck". This is the deck that will be used when you choose to battle someone. To set a different default deck, move the arrow over the deck you would like to select using the D-Pad, press the "A" button, then choose "Select Deck" from the menu at the bottom. Hovering the arrow over a deck and then pressing the Start button will bring up a page showing you all the cards in that deck and their amounts. You will not be able to edit the deck from this page, but may view the details of each card. You can change a deck's name by hovering the arrow over a deck, pressing the "A" button, choosing "Change Name" from the option box at the bottom, and then changing the name accordingly. If you leave the name blank, the game will give the deck a default name like "Deck 001 Deck". The final option in the Deck submenu is "Modify Deck". Selecting this option will take you to a screen showing you a horizontal bar with the seven different types of pokemon indicated by their respective symbol, a "T" icon representing Trainer Cards, and an "E" icon representing Energy Cards. Hovering over these symbols will show you all of the cards of that type that you own, how many you possess, and how many are in the deck that you are editing. For example, the fraction "0/12" next to the name of a card indicates that you have 12 copies of that card, and at the moment there are no copies of that card in the deck you are currently editing. To increase that number, move the pointer over to the name of the card, and press Right on the D-Pad. To reduce the number, press Left. While editing the deck it is possible to reduce the deck to more or less than 60 cards. However, if you attempt to save the deck, you will be told that a deck must contain 60 cards and that you cannot save the deck as currently configured. Once you are finished deciding which cards will be included in the deck and in what amount, press the "B" button to bring up the Deck Modification submenu at the top of the screen. If this menu does not appear,press the "B" button once more. From this menu choose "Save" to save this deck's current configuration. If you were modifying an already existing deck, this new configuration will overwrite the old. The Deck Modification submenu also has five other potential options to choose from. They are admittedly confusing, but I will attempt to explain them clearly here. The "Confirm" option will bring up a list of all the cards in the deck and their amounts (this is the exact same screen that pressing the Start button brings up when viewing the Deck Selection Screen). So really, this option does not "Confirm" anything, it's more of a "Review" in that it shows you what cards you have currently selected for inclusion in the deck. The "Modify" option will just close the menu screen and let you continue to modify the deck. Alternatively, you can simply press the "B" button while the menu is open to continue to modify the deck. The "Name" option allows you to edit the deck's name, and is exactly the same as the "Name" option on the original Deck Selection Screen mentioned earlier. The "Dismantle" option will remove all cards from the deck and rename it to "New Deck" (basically, it deletes the deck). The "Cancel" option will bring you back to the Deck Selection screen and take you out of the Modify Deck screen. Any changes made to the deck will not be saved. NOTE: For tips and suggestions on specific strategies involved in deck making be sure to check section 6. Deck Building Strategies. Card: Choosing this option from the Main Menu will take you to a screen similar to the deck editing screen. However, no changes can be made to the numbers on this screen. Here you will find which pokemon cards you possess and in what amount, organized by type of card. Press "A" or Start to select a card and see more information about it and "B" once or twice to return back to the Main Menu. (This page also shows you how many cards you have in total. I have 9095!) Config: This option allows you to change the rate of the Message Speed in both battles and conversation. You may also change how often battle animations are displayed. Note however, that even if you turn the battle animations off, the basic animation indicating that a Pokemon has received damage (three flashes) will still appear. The only animation turned off is the animation particular to that attack, such as the water spout in Water Gun. You can exit this Menu by choosing "Exit Settings" with the "A" button or simply by pressing the "B" or "Start" button. Changes to this screen are always saved regardless of how you exit it. Exit: Closes the Main Menu. The "B" button may also be used. Battle Controls: While in battle, the "A" button is used to make selections, and the "B" button is used to skip things such as card drawing animations, or the placing of any more Pokemon on the bench at the beginning of the game. The Start button will often allow you to view your active Pokemon and the information written on the card, or if you are in the Attack submenu, it will let you view the text corresponding to the selected attack, if any. When choosing a benched Pokemon to replace the active Pokemon, the start button can be used to view the benched Pokemon card in question. The Select button can be used when viewing the hand and will organize your cards, placing energies at the top of the screen, followed by Pokemon cards organized by Pokedex number (1-151), and then trainer cards. Once organized with Select this action can not be undone, and is the only way card order in the hand can be changed. Also while viewing the hand, left or right may be pressed on the D-Pad to move the cursor to the first or last card in the hand, respectively. Select also works when pressed while selecting benched Pokemon and will bring up a submenu in which you can view your hand, examine the play area (yours or your opponent's), or check the Glossary. Other Controls: If playing on a Game Boy Advance, pressing the "L" Button will stretch the picture to 'widescreen' mode, and the "R" button will revert the picture to its normal dimension. On the GBA a "soft reset" may be performed by pressing the "L", "R", "A", "B", Select, and Start buttons at the same time. On the Game Boy Color this is achieved by pressing the "A", "B", Select and Start buttons simultaneously. Game data will not be saved (unless you are in a duel, where the game will have set up an alternate auto-save file) and you will be taken to the main menu screen before game start up. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 5. Game Start \\\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\\\//\\\\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// Now that I've covered just about everything you need to know in order to play the Pokemon TCG and the GBC iteration, it's time to get to the actual story of the video game. In this section I will cover the beginning of the game, the story-line, and the goal of the game. Following this section will be a section devoted to deck preparation because I feel that completing the story-line is more easily done when you have a good idea of how to strategize and build decks that will allow you to more easily defeat your opponents. After this section on deck building I will move onto the Walkthrough portion of this guide. (Sections 7 & 8) A new game begins by selecting "New Game" from the menu before the game is loaded. Only one game save may exist at a time, so you will need to delete any prior data to begin a new game. After "New Game" is selected a Name Selection Screen will appear. This is the name you will be addressed as by other NPCs, and it may be no longer than six characters in length. The story of the game centers around your character and his attempt to acquire the Legendary Pokemon Cards, which are "Extremely rare and powerful cards held by the Pokemon Trading Card Game's Greatest Players." These "Grand Masters" are searching for someone to inherit the cards, and that person is you. So in order to succeed in your quest, you visit the laboratory of Dr. Mason who will show you how to play the game, and afterward, will provide you with your very first Pokemon Card Deck. The practice deck and the practice battle you are forced to go through will explain the very basics of the TCG. Before you start the practice battle, Dr. Mason will ask you whether you have any questions about any specific parts of the TCG. If you would like to know more about any of the topics, simply select them with the "A" button and an explanation will follow. I would suggest that you simply begin the practice battle, as you will be told specifically what to do regardless, and in that way will get an idea of how the game is to be played. To start the practice battle choose "Nothing to Ask" from the menu. I'm not going to go into detail regarding the practice battle because directions for it are provided in-game and I can't imagine I could provide any more instruction. After you are finished dueling Sam, Dr. Mason will ask you which kind of deck you would like as your starter deck, giving you three options to choose from: Charmander & Friends Deck, Squirtle & Friends Deck, or Bulbasaur & Friends Deck. I have provided the contents of each of these decks below, as well as a short description of each to aid you in your decision. Charmander & Friends Squirtle & Friends Bulbasaur & Friends -------------------- ------------------ ------------------- Energy: Energy: Energy: Grass Energy x8 Fire Energy x8 Grass Energy x9 Fire Energy x10 Water Energy x11 Lightning Energy x8 Water Energy x6 Lightning Energy x6 Psychic Energy x6 Total: x24 Total: x25 Total: x23 Pokemon: Pokemon: Pokemon: LV13 Caterpie x2 LV10 Charmander x2 LV13 Bulbasaur x2 LV21 Metapod x1 LV32 Charmeleon x1 LV20 Ivysaur x1 LV13 NidoranF x2 LV18 Growlithe x1 LV67 Venusaur x1 LV20 NidoranM x1 LV45 Arcanine x1 LV13 NidoranF x2 LV24 Pinsir x1 LV24 Magmar x1 LV20 NidoranM x2 LV10 Charmander x2 LV8 Squirtle x2 LV25 Nidorino x1 LV32 Charmeleon x1 LV22 Wartortle x1 LV12 Tangela x1 LV76 Charizard x1 LV52 Blastoise x1 LV12 Pikachu x2 LV18 Growlithe x2 LV12 Seel x2 LV40 Raichu x1 LV45 Arcanine x1 LV42 Dewgong x1 LV13 Magnemite x1 LV10 Ponyta x2 LV12 Goldeen x1 LV35 Electabuzz x1 LV24 Magmar x1 LV28 Seaking x1 LV10 Abra x2 LV12 Seel x2 LV15 Staryu x1 LV38 Kadabra x1 LV42 Dewgong x1 LV28 Starmie x1 LV8 Gastly x2 LV12 Goldeen x2 LV31 Lapras x1 LV22 Haunter x1 LV28 Seaking x1 LV12 Pikachu x2 LV23 Jynx x1 LV9 Rattata x2 LV13 Magnemite x1 LV14 Jigglypuff x1 LV41 Raticate x1 LV28 Magneton x1 LV14 Meowth x1 LV14 Meowth x1 LV35 Electabuzz x1 LV40 Kangaskhan x1 Total: x27 LV9 Rattata x2 Total: x25 LV41 Raticate x1 Trainers: LV14 Meowth x1 Trainers: Professor Oak x1 Total: x27 Professor Oak x1 Bill x2 Bill x1 Switch x1 Trainers: Switch x1 Computer Search x1 Professor Oak x1 Poke Ball x1 PlusPower x1 Bill x1 PlusPower x2 Potion x2 Switch x1 Defender x1 Full Heal x1 Poke Ball x1 Gust of Wind x1 Total: x9 Scoop Up x1 Potion x2 Item Finder x1 Full Heal x2 Potion x1 Total x12 Full Heal x1 Total: x8 As you can see from the card totals of each section, the overall breakdown of each deck is fairly similar with some minute differences in the number of specific types of cards. The Bulbasaur & Friends Deck is the general outlier in that it has less Pokemon Cards, less Energy Cards, and more Trainers than the two other decks. This is actually the deck I usually start with, although that's really only because Bulbasaur is my favorite starter Pokemon. I'm going to break each deck down further below. (Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of cards that satisfy the given condition) Charmander & Friends: Types Included: Fire (x10), Grass (x7), Water (x6), Colorless (x4) Strong Against: All Grass, some Water, some Fighting, most fire type Pokemon. Weak Against: Water (x10), Electric (x6), Fire (x4), Fighting(x4), Psychic (x3) Resistances: Psychic (x4) Comments: This deck is weak to a greater amount of types than the other decks, but is strong against just as many types as the other two decks. In my opinion, decks with more than two types (not including colorless) are more difficult to work with, simply because it makes it much more difficult to get the specific type of energy card necessary for whichever Pokemon you decide to use. Some highlights of this deck include access to Charizard, Pinsir, and Computer Search early in the game, as these are three good cards. If you were to choose this deck, I would recommend fighting the Grass Club first. The Fighting Club, the Psychic Club, and the Science Club are also good options. Squirtle & Friends: Types Included: Water (x12), Fire (x6), Electric (x5), Colorless (x4) Strong Against: Most fire, all grass, some water, some colorless type Pokemon. Weak Against: Electric (x12), Fighting (x9), Water (x6) Resistances: Psychic (x4) Comments: This deck has more Pokemon that are weak to one specific type than any other, but looking at it differently, you could say that it is more true to type. As I mentioned regarding the previous deck, decks that have more than two major types are difficult to work with, and it's a shame that the three basic decks start as 3-type decks. This does allow for more variety, of which this deck has the least. Some highlights of this deck include Blastoise, Electabuzz, Lapras, Scoop Up and Item Finder. Both Electabuzz and Lapras are great Pokemon; I would argue that they may be the best Basic Pokemon of their respective types available in this game (with the exception of the legendary bird cards). If you were to choose this deck, the Fire Club is a good first destination. The Grass Club, Psychic Club, and Science Club are other possibilities. Bulbasaur & Friends: Types Included: Grass (x10), Electric (x5), Psychic (x7), Colorless (x3). Strong Against: Most water, some Fighting, some colorless, some grass Pokemon. Weak Against: Psychic (x9), Fighting (x8), Fire (x5) Resistances: Fighting (x3), Psychic (x3) Comments: This deck has the least amount of pokemon with weaknesses, the most different types of resistances as well as the most pokemon with resistances. In this sense, this deck is more defensive than the others. It also has less Pokemon and energies, but makes up for this with quite a few more trainers. Unfortunately, none of these trainers are rare, although they are very helpful and will probably get more use than the rare trainers offered in other decks. Some highlights of this deck include Venusaur, Electabuzz, and Kangaskhan. Both Kangaskhan and Electabuzz are very good Basic Pokemon, arguably the best of their type. If you were to choose this deck, the Fighting Club is a good first destination. The Water Club, Grass Club, and Electric Club are other good possibilities. Now that you have chosen your deck you are free to explore the map and the different clubs that are found about it. If you ever have any questions about the workings of the Pokemon TCG, or would like to revisit the practice battle, Sam will always be in the lab waiting. I would suggest that you get a few practice battles in before trying to challenge a club leader. It's a good idea to do some practice battles with either Sam or Aaron (in the deck machine room, to the right of Sam) as they will give you booster packs filled with energy cards. These will allow you to create your own decks as well as modify your original deck to make it a dual-type deck rather than a tri-type. The following section will provide you even more direction on the various aspects of deck building, as it is essential to your success when battling other players and especially the Grand Masters. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 6. Deck Building Strategies \\\\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/// /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// To start off this section I'm going to go through each type of Pokemon Card (Fire, Water... etc.) and give you some generalizations that characterize Pokemon cards of that type. This way you can get an idea of what type or types of cards you would like to include in your deck. Grass: Grass types are known for inflicting status (particularly poison) as well as being able to heal themselves through use of attacks like Leech Seed and Mega Drain. Energy costs are relatively high for the amount of base damage done. Grass cards also tend to have low to moderate HP levels, and a moderate number of Pokemon Powers. Fire: Fire types are notorious for having high powered attacks with moderate to high energy costs that require energy removal in order to be executed. They generally have little ability to inflict status conditions and most require at least two energies in order to attack. Basic Fire pokemon have moderate HP, with their evolutions (if any) tending to have high HP. Few fire Pokemon have Pokemon Powers. Water: Water types are known for their versatility as far as their attacks and their effects are concerned. In particular, they are known for attacks like Water Gun, which increases in power depending on the amount of energy cards attached to the attacking Pokemon. Basic water Pokemon tend to have low HP, and their evolutions have low to moderate HP. Water type Pokemon have access to paralysis, damage prevention, confusion, retreat prevention, and poison inducing attacks. A moderate amount of water Pokemon have Pokemon Powers. Electric: Electric Pokemon are known for their ability to attack the bench and the fact that many of their attacks cause recoil damage to the attacker. Energy costs are relatively high for some Pokemon, while low for others (so moderate on average). Electric Pokemon have access to many paralyzing attacks as well as attacks that can bypass resistance, and also have access to multiple versions of basic and evolution cards. HP levels for Electric Pokemon range from low to high. Basic Pokemon capable of evolution tend to have the lowest HP. Fighting: Fighting Pokemon are known for being able to inflict high levels of damage with minimal energy cost. Unfortunately they tend to lack access to status inducing attacks. Basic Pokemon that evolve and their evolutions tend to have low to moderate HP, while non-evolving basic Pokemon have moderate HP. Fighting types are also known for their ability to attack the bench using attacks like Earthquake, Selfdestruct or Stretch Kick, and also have access to attacks that prevent damage such as Harden, Snivel, and Sand Attack. A moderate number of fighting type Pokemon have Pokemon Powers. Psychic: Psychic Pokemon are known for their ability to move damage counters around and often have attacks that are dependent on the number of damage counters or energies on the defending Pokemon. A high number of Psychic Pokemon have Pokemon Powers. They are also known for their ability to inflict confusion, sleep, and paralysis, as well as their ability to attack the bench. Basic Pokemon that evolve and their evolutions have low to moderate HP, while non-evolving basic Pokemon have moderate HP. Colorless: Colorless Pokemon are known for their all-around versatility as they can be added to any deck. They are also known for their resistances (every colorless Pokemon has one). Colorless pokemon have generally high energy costs for the amount of damage done, and this damage often has the potential to be increased by flipping coins. Colorless pokemon can inflict sleep, confusion, paralysis, can cause switches from the bench, and can even copy the defending pokemon's attacks! Basic pokemon that evolve have low to high HP, and their evolutions have moderate to high HP. Non evolving basic Pokemon also tend to have moderate to high HP. If I had to pick one card from each of these types that represented the qualities of that type best they would be: Grass: Lv 8 Tangela Fire: Lv 45 Arcanine Water: Lv 48 Poliwrath Electric: Lv 35 Magneton/Lv 35 Electabuzz (Couldn't pick just one!) Fighting: Lv 30 Hitmonlee Psychic: Lv 42 Alakazam Colorless: Lv 36 Pidgeotto Now that you have an idea as to what characterizes the different Pokemon types, you can make a decision as to which Pokemon to place in your deck. These generalizations also help you predict the decks of your opponents! That said, I'm going to move onto the specifics of deck building starting with what ratios of pokemon, energies and trainers you should have and then moving on to various deck strategies, and then ending with specific examples of decks that I have created. Quick Facts: - A deck contains exactly 60 cards. - A max of 4 of any given card (except basic energy cards) is allowed in a deck. - Double Colorless Energy cards do not count as a Basic Energy Card. (So, only four of them are allowed per deck.) - Trainer cards are not essential; you can create decks without them, but they are usually quite helpful as far as enhancing strategies are concerned. Trainer cards usually occupy about 10-30% of a deck. (Although some decks can contain percentages as high as 50%!) One of the most important facets of deck building is the ratio of cards used. There are various ratios you can use, each depending on the specific set up of your deck and the strategy you are planning to use. For the attacking Pokemon Cards themselves you will want to focus on one or two types of evolving series of cards, and then a few non evolving basics to support them. The main point however, is to have a specific strategy involved when choosing your Pokemon. Let's use Psychic Club leader Murray's deck as an example. Here's a list of the Pokemon in Murray's Deck: LV10 Abra x4 LV38 Kadabra x3 LV42 Alakazam x2 LV28 Mr. Mime x2 LV55 Chansey x3 LV40 Kangaskhan x3 LV20 Snorlax x2 As you can see, Murray focuses on one evolving line of Pokemon: Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam in a 4:3:2 ratio. The logic behind this is that you absolutely need the basic Pokemon in order to start the chain, so there should be more of this card than any other, and then, because the rest of the Pokemon in this deck are basic Pokemon, they can be used to stall and you will have time to get the rarer evolutions. Many players however, (myself included) would probably suggest a 4:3:3 ratio, or even a 4:4:4 ratio. The reason is that this deck completely revolves around the idea of damage counter manipulation and relies heavily on Alakazam's Pokemon Power "Damage Swap". If you only have 2 Alakazam cards in your deck, the chances of you drawing that card are only about 7%, assuming it isn't in your prizes. Having three puts you at 11%, and having four puts you at 15%. But Alakazam isn't the only important part of this deck. You'll also notice that it's composed of quite a few colorless Pokemon. These pokemon have high HP and serve as damage holders for an Alakazam to store damage counters on. In addition, they sport psychic resistances for opponents who try to counter this deck with other psychic types. Mr. Mime's is also a good psychic type counter because its Pokemon Power "Invisible Wall" negates all damage coming in amounts of 30 or above, meaning that opposing psychic types will have to deal only 10 damage before resistance or will be unable to do any damage at all and will face double damage from Mr. Mime's own psychic attack, Meditate. Kangaskhan is also important for his Fetch attack, allowing Murray to draw an extra card and helping him find Abra and its evolutions. Now let's examine the rest of the deck: Energy: Psychic Energy x22 Trainers: Professor Oak x2 Energy Removal x3 Switch x4 Pokemon Center x2 Scoop Up x4 Gust of Wind x3 Gambler x1 Because Murray has chosen colorless Pokemon to go along with his psychic types, he has the advantage of needing only one type of energy in his deck; he doesn't have to worry about having the right type of energy needed to attack. Professor Oak will allow him to move through his deck quickly so that he can evolve Abra as quickly as possible. The Pokemon Center and Scoop Up cards go along with his damage manipulation strategy in that they allow him to remove all the damage counters from his basic Pokemon so that Alakazam can keep moving more back onto them as he takes damage. In this deck Alakazam is meant to be the major attacking Pokemon and the other pokemon are the supporters. The remaining Trainers are just helpful cards that either support Murray's Pokemon or put the opponent at a disadvantage. Keeping the main ideas gleamed from Murray's deck organization in mind, begin constructing your deck by choosing a specific strategy that centers around a particular attack being used or a certain evolutionary series, and then choose ratios of Pokemon based off that. If you focus on one evolutionary series, then go with a 4:3:3 or 4:4:4 ratio. If you use two, you might consider using a 3:2:2 or 3:3:3. If a pokemon only has one evolution, you should always go with a 4:4 or 4:3 ratio if it is a main attacker. Always remember to include non- evolving basic Pokemon as well, as you can lose a battle if you have no basic Pokemon to attack with. I would say that at least half of all the Pokemon you choose should be basic. As for energy cards, you should have around 20, but the exact number really depends on the requirements of your deck. If you use basic Pokemon that don't require a lot of energy cards, then you may need less than that, or if you are using Pokemon that require you to discard energies to attack, you may need more than that. Be sure to keep in mind Trainer cards like Energy Search and Energy Retrieval when deck building, as they can help to offset high energy costs. As far as decks composed of two types are concerned, you will have to pay careful attention to how many Pokemon of each type your deck will have, and add energy according to that ratio. When making these dual-type decks, be sure to choose Pokemon that allow for some colorless energies to be used in addition to attacks requiring a specific energy type. For example, Ponyta's Smash Kick attack allows any type of energy to be used, so Ponyta is able to function effectively in decks where fire is not the only energy type. Be sure to look for this type of setup in a Pokemon's evolved form(s) as well as its basic one. Unlike Pokemon cards and energy cards, Trainer cards are optional but strongly recommended. To help you choose which Trainers can help you with certain strategies, I have organized them according to the function(s) they help to perform. (some cards are listed in more than one section) Drawing more cards from the deck: Professor Oak Bill Gambler Maintenance Drawing specific cards from the deck: Computer Search Poke Ball Energy Search Pokemon Trader Pokedex (allows you to organize top 5 cards in deck) Removing damage counters or status: Potion (damage) Super Potion (damage) Pokemon Center (damage) Scoop Up (both, basic card put into hand) Full Heal (status) Switch (status) Mr. Fuji (both, all cards associated with that pokemon shuffled into deck) Retrieving cards from the discard pile: Energy Retrieval Super Energy Retrieval Item Finder Revive Recycle Evolving Pokemon more quickly: Pokemon Breeder Computer Search Pokemon Trader Poke Ball Hampering the opponent: Energy Removal Super Energy Removal Lass Imposter Professor Oak Gust of Wind Removing Evolution Cards: Devolution Spray Scoop Up Augmenting damage done by attacks: PlusPower Defender Manipulate number of Pokemon on bench: Clefairy Doll (your bench) Mysterious Fossil (your bench) Pokemon Flute (your opponent's bench) Self-defeating card: Imakuni? (confuses your active pokemon) As for my favorite trainer cards, they are (in no order): Energy Removal, Switch, Gust of Wind, Potion, and Bill. Switch not only helps to cure status, but helps to preserve energy cards. Gust of Wind can help to keep away a powerful opponent you are simply not ready to handle yet, or can serve to bring in a weaker or previously damaged Pokemon that you can kill off to draw another prize card. Energy Removals are great to give your Pokemon the advantage and keeping your opponent from attacking (always remove double colorless energies if you can!). The others are fairly self-explanatory. The best way to learn to make decks is to do your own experimentation with your favorite cards, and by observing the way other trainers use decks. Try looking at the pre-constructed decks in the deck room in Professor Mason's Laboratory. (You can also find all the deck lists in this guide, also on GameFAQ's: http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbcolor/file/250612/39509) Below are two of my favorite decks and the strategies surrounding them: Lightnin' Deck ---------------- Electric Energy x24 Pikachu Lv14 x4 Raichu Lv45 x3 Magnemite Lv13 x4 Magneton Lv28 x1 Magneton Lv35 x2 Electabuzz Lv35 x4 Zapdos Lv40 x2 Zapdos Lv68 x2 Bill x2 Energy Removal x4 Switch x2 Gust of Wind x2 Potion x4 Strategy: This deck focuses on attacking the bench. Both cards in the Pikachu series have the ability to do this, and it really seems to disrupt the strategy of the opponent, since he or she will no longer be able to safely power up Pokemon on the bench. In addition, moving a Pokemon to the bench will no longer keep if from getting knocked out. This deck also has the potential to do high damage quickly via Electabuzz's Thunderpunch or Magnemite's Selfdestruct. The Zapdos cards provide helpful fighting resistance to this otherwise all Fighting weak deck. A particularly deadly strategy is employing the Lv68 Zapdos as the sole active Pokemon, meaning that 70 random damage is done to one of your opponent's pokemon each time the attack is used. This ends the game very quickly. The amount of energy cards used supports the high energy costs of Raichu & Zapdos' attacks as well as the costly Selfdestructs of either Magneton. The trainers help to keep both the opponent's attacking Pokemon and bench unprepared for my attacks by removing their energies, and the Gust of Winds help me to easily knock out benched Pokemon that have already taken damage (which is quite likely given the ability of my Pokemon to attack the bench). Fire Deck ---------------- Fire Energy x25 Vulpix Lv11 x4 Ninetales Lv32 x2 Ninetales Lv35 x2 Growlithe Lv18 x3 Arcanine Lv34 x1 Arcanine Lv45 x2 Ponyta Lv10 x3 Rapidash Lv33 x3 Magmar Lv24 x2 Magmar Lv31 x2 Moltres Lv37 x2 Energy Retrieval x2 Switch x2 Gust of Wind x1 Potion x4 Strategy: This deck revolves around the idea of doing high damage via attacks that require energy removal. To make sure I have a good supply of energies, I included a fairly large base amount and then added two Energy Retrieval cards. The Lv37 Moltres also helps me obtain energies with its "Firegiver" Pokemon Power. Moltres also serves as a counter to water Pokemon, or powerful fighting types. Rapidash can also help take out stubborn pokemon with its Agility attack which can prevent a turn worth of damage. Lv31 Magmar can help stall with Smokescreen and also has the ability to poison, which comes in quite handy against other stallers. The main attackers of this team are the Ninetales or the Arcanine, both of which have the potential to do massive damage and are almost unstoppable when they begin their fiery assault. One of the plus sides to this deck is that the Pokemon only need to evolve once and the evolutions tend to have higher HP than the average evolution. Before I conclude this section I would like to provide you with a helpful listing of Pokemon based on certain characteristics. This list might help you pick cards to combat certain weaknesses or improve how your deck functions against a certain type of Pokemon or strategy. Pokemon with no weakness: Lv35 Moltres, Lv37 Moltres, Lv35 Articuno, Lv37 Articuno, Lv12 Flying Pikachu, Lv40 Zapdos, Lv64 Zapdos, Lv68 Zapdos, Lv8 Gastly, Lv17 Gastly, Lv17 Haunter, Lv22 Haunter, Lv38 Gengar, Lv10 Dratini, Lv33 Dragonair, Lv41 Dragonite, Lv45 Dragonite. Pokemon with resistances: FIGHTING: Lv28 Butterfree, Lv32 Beedrill, Lv10 Zubat, Lv29 Golbat, Lv28 Venomoth, Lv25 Scyther, Lv76 Charizard, Lv35 Moltres, Lv37 Moltres, Lv41 Gyarados, Lv35 Articuno, Lv37 Articuno, Lv12 Flying Pikachu, Lv40 Zapdos, Lv64 Zapdos, Lv68 Zapdos, Lv28 Aerodactyl, Lv8 Gastly, Lv17 Gastly, Lv17 Haunter, Lv22 Haunter, Lv38 Gengar, Lv8 Pidgey, Lv36 Pidgeotto, Lv38 Pidgeot, Lv40 Pidgeot, Lv13 Spearow, Lv27 Fearow, Lv20 Farfetch'd, Lv10 Doduo, Lv28 Dodrio, Lv41 Dragonite, and Lv45 Dragonite. ELECTRIC: Lv12 Sandshrew, Lv33 Sandslash, Lv8 Diglett, Lv36 Dugtrio, Lv13 Cubone, Lv26 Marowak, Lv32 Marowak, Lv18 Rhyhorn, and Lv48 Rhydon. PSYCHIC: Lv9 Rattata, Lv41 Raticate, Lv14 Clefairy, Lv34 Clefable, Lv12 Jigglypuff, Lv13 Jigglypuff, Lv14 Jigglypuff, Lv36 Wigglytuff, Lv14 Meowth, Lv15 Meowth, Lv25 Persian, Lv26 Lickitung, Lv55 Chansey, Lv40 Kangaskhan, Lv32 Tauros, Lv19 Ditto, Lv12 Eevee, Lv12 Porygon, Lv20 Snorlax, Lv10 Dratini, and Lv33 Dragonair. Pokemon with no retreat cost: Lv28 Butterfree, Lv32 Beedrill, Lv10 Zubat, Lv29 Golbat, Lv28 Venomoth, Lv25 Scyther, Lv33 Rapidash, Lv10 Tentacool, Lv21 Tentacruel, Lv19 Horsea, Lv12 Goldeen, Lv8 Diglett, Lv7 Mankey, Lv10 Abra, Lv8 Gastly, Lv17 Gastly, Lv17 Haunter, Lv40 Pidgeot, Lv9 Rattata, Lv13 Spearow, Lv27 Fearow, Lv25 Persian, Lv10 Doduo, and Lv28 Dodrio. Pokemon with a Pokemon Power: Lv64 Venusaur "Solar Power", Lv67 Venusaur "Energy Trans", Lv35 Vileplume "Heal", Lv28 Venomoth "Shift", Lv34 Muk "Toxic Gas", Lv76 Charizard "Energy Burn", Lv37 Moltres "Firegiver", Lv52 Blastoise "Rain Dance", Lv10 Tentacool "Cowardice", Lv19 Omanyte "Clairvoyance", Lv37 Articuno "Quickfreeze", Lv68 Zapdos "Peal Of Thunder", Lv 7 Mankey "Peek", Lv67 Machamp "Strikes Back", Lv9 Kabuto "Kabuto Armor", Lv28 Aerodactyl "Prehistoric Power", Lv42 Alakazam "Damage Swap", Lv26 Slowbro "Strange Behavior", Lv17 Haunter "Transparency", Lv38 Gengar "Curse", Lv28 Mr. Mime "Invisible Wall", Lv8 Mew "Neutralizing Shield", Lv28 Dodrio "Retreat Aid", Lv20 Snorlax "Thick Skinned", Lv41 Dragonite "Healing Wind", and Lv45 Dragonite "Step In". As for physically creating a deck in-game, refer to the "Deck" section under section 4. Menu and Controls for a detailed description as to how this is done. One important thing to note, however, is the ability to save up to 60 decks in the Deck Save Machine in Dr. Mason's Laboratory. Enter the lab, go to the room on the right, and the Deck Save Machine is the one right below you when you walk in. Once a deck has been saved here, you will be able to have it recreated at any time so long as you have the appropriate cards. Being able to construct decks quickly and efficiently is an important skill to learn since beating the club leaders and the Grand Masters becomes much easier if you can design a deck in order to counter theirs. That in mind, it is also possible to make small adjustments to your deck to help you gain the upper-hand. In the following section, which will take you through each of the club leader battles and give you in-depth strategies to defeat them, you will have to use all that you have learned to constantly update your deck to meet the situation at hand. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 7. Club Battles \\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\\\//\\\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// The majority of the game focuses on defeating the leaders of eight different TCG clubs found on the map. All clubs are accessible at game start, and no indication is given as to the the order in which the battles should be fought. It's really up to you which club leader you would like to challenge first, although some Club Leaders require that you meet some special conditions before you are able to challenge them. These will be listed in the description of each Club that is to follow and a complete list will precede the Rock Club's description. I would recommend that you look around the clubs and engage in a few battles with the members there so that you can get a feel for how your deck performs, as well as how the Pokemon TCG works if you are new to the game. Based on your experience with these easier opponents, you can modify your deck to improve its performance. Also, don't be afraid to make an entirely new deck if you feel that your current deck is not working as you would like. That said, I'm going to move on to an individual description of each club, its members, and its leader, providing you with information and strategies to beat each opponent. In addition to this text guide, I also recommend this IGN guide: http://guidesarchive.ign.com/guides/11879/basics.html Although it's not the best guide out there, it does include a lot of game screen rips, which are great if you are looking for some visuals. General Club Layout: All eight clubs consist of three rooms. The first, which I will call the Medal Room, is the room that you will enter first after selecting a club from the main map. This room has a large emblem of the club's medal set into the floor. Above this room is the main Club Floor where the club leader is found and where you will do most of your battling. This room is themed and varies from club to club. To the left of the Medal Room room is what I call the Club Lobby. You'll generally find a few NPC's here that vary from club to club, as well as several features that will remain the same. Every club will have a PC on the left wall where you can check your card album, check your mail, check the glossary, or use the Game Boy printer. The card album lists all the cards available in the game organized by the booster pack they are found in. You can use this feature to see which cards you are missing and which booster packs those missing cards are found in. This is also useful when you are trying collect duplicates of a card and need to know what booster pack it's found in. The mail you receive will come from Professor Mason after fulfilling certain conditions. Most mail is received after talking to the leader of a club. Unread mail will blink when you pull up the mail screen, and often come with a booster pack attached. A little trick is to save the game before opening a booster pack, and then turning the game off and on and then opening it again in order to get a specific card. If you're interested in reading the contents of the mail, refer to Secretdesroyer's FAQ here: http:// www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbcolor/file/250612/7483. There are 15 pieces of mail total. The Glossary is similar to the one you'll find in the "Check" submenu while dueling, and contains definitions of various TCG-related things. The Print option allows you to print things using the Game Boy Printer. I admittedly do not know what all can be printed, but if you have any information please send me an email at [email protected]. Behind the PC is a counter behind which two clerks are found. The clerk on the left operates the Battle Center, which allows you to duel a friend via link cable. The clerk on the right operates the Gift Center which allows you to send and receive cards with a friend as well as send and receive deck configurations, all via link cable. Clerks can be found in all clubs as well as the Challenge Hall. In the upper right hand corner of each Club Lobby (and the Challenge Hall Lobby) you'll find three bookshelves containing information about the type of cards found in that gym, as well as general strategies. (Colorless Pokemon are discussed in the bookshelves in the Challenge Hall.) Imakuni?: After talking to the Lass in the Lobby of the Water Club, you'll sometimes find the "Strange Life-Form" Imakuni? hanging out in the club lobby of one of the clubs. Once per game load he can be found facing the wall to the left of the bookcases. After defeating him, he'll give you a different prize depending on how many times you've battled him: 1-2 times: One of each booster pack. 3rd time: Imakuni? promo card. 4-5 times: One of each booster pack. 6th time: Imakuni? promo card. 7+ times: One of each booster pack. Imakuni? is hands-down the strangest character in the game, particularly because his signature Imakuni? card actually hampers his progress by confusing his active pokemon, not to mention the general weirdness factor of his physical appearance. In general Imakuni? is easy to beat, as he uses an Imakuni? card at the first opportunity. However, you should try and take out his basic Pokemon quickly as they actually do pose a bit of a threat after evolution. Golduck has Hyper Beam, which will remove one of the energy cards attached to your active Pokemon in addition to the 20 base damage. Slowbro's Strange Behavior Pokemon Power will allow it to move damage counters onto it from other Pokemon, making it difficult to take down the active Pokemon. Electric types and Gastly and its evolutions would be helpful here if you feel you have trouble with Imakuni, but in general these battles tend to be a piece of cake. They are also a good way to build up a good card library seeing as Imakuni? provides one of each type of booster as a prize. From this point I will begin the in-depth guide regarding each club. While I will try to list them in order of difficulty, the true difficulty of a particular club really depends on a player's deck and playing style. Since the game does not force you to battle club leaders in any particular order, I would suggest battling first those leaders against whose decks you have a type advantage, as this will make them easier to defeat. (Some Club Leaders require you to fulfill specific conditions before you can battle them, you'll find a list of these below.) While it is possible to defeat opponents with the basic deck Dr. Mason has given you (I've beaten every leader but Mitchell with one) the duels become much easier if you make changes to your deck according to my recommendations, or if you make an entirely new deck for a particular duel that you are having trouble with. That said, let's begin! Prerequisites for battling Club Leaders: Rock (Gene): Club Leader can be battled immediately. Grass (Nikki): All Grass club members must be defeated, then talk to Nikki in Ishihara's house. Electric (Isaac): All Electric Club Members must be defeated. Science (Rick): Science Club Member Joseph must be defeated. Water (Amy): All Water Club members must be defeated. Fire (Ken): Collect at least 300 cards. Psychic (Murray): Collect 4 medals. Fighting (Mitch): Talk to Mitch, then all Fighting Club Members must be defeated. ............................................................................... ..THE ROCK CLUB................................................................ Members: Matthew, Andrew, Ryan, and Club Leader Gene. Pokemon types: Fighting, Water, Fire, Psychic, Colorless Weaknesses: Grass, Psychic, Electric, Water, Fighting Notes: Ryan, Andrew and Gene are found on the Club Floor while Matthew is found in the Club Lobby. Talking to the woman near the potted plant in the lower right hand corner of the Club Lobby will initiate trade sequences with Ishihara. Refer to section 10 (Trading and Promo Cards) for a detailed explanation of when the trades can be initiated and what cards are required for them. There is a lass near the bookcases in the Club Lobby that states she will be moving soon to a faraway place; after defeating the Grand Masters she will no longer appear at the Rock Club. After talking with Mitch, Chris will appear for battle in the Club Lobby near the Lass. Gene is the only club leader you can battle without having to fulfill any prior conditions. Name: Matthew Deck: Hard Pokemon Deck 25x Fighting Energy 4x Geodude 3x Graveler 2x Golem 3x Cubone 2x Marowak Lv26 2x Rhyhorn 1x Rhydon 3x Onix 1x Snorlax 3x Bill 2x Potion 2x Poke Ball 3x Gust of Wind 4x Defender Prizes: 4 Booster: Mystery Pokemon Types: Fighting, Colorless Recommended Counters: Scyther and other grass types, pokemon that can induce status, Pokemon with fighting resistances, Gust of Winds Watch for: Stalling using Graveler, Cubone, Rhyhorn, and Onix while the bench is built and evolved. Matthew's deck is somewhat similar to the Club Leader Gene's deck in that it uses Onix, Rhydon, and Graveler to stall, however where Gene includes a much more offensive Diglett and Dugtrio, Matthew opts for Cubone and Marowak, as well as the odd inclusion of Snorlax. Using Cubone's Snivel, Onix and Graveler's Harden, and Rhyhorn's Leer, Matthew will stall as he powers up his bench and evolves his main attacking Pokemon, Geodude. In order to combat this strategy the best thing you can do is to use grass Pokemon to deal double damage or Pokemon with a fighting resistance. Combining this with status effects (poison specifically) will really break through Matthew's attempts to stall. You can also use Gust of Wind cards in order to bypass the effects of Snivel or Harden and you can retreat your Pokemon in order to nullify the effects of Leer. Matthew's stalling attempts are enhanced through his usage of Defenders, which can get quite annoying as he will use them to keep his Pokemon from fainting turn after turn in some cases. Remember that Defenders do not block poison damage in between turns or the effects of attacks, so a Pokemon with a Defender attached can still be inflicted with a status condition. Note that Snorlax's Pokemon Power does not allow him to be inflicted with a status condition. Name: Ryan Deck: Excavation Deck 15x Fighting Energy 8x Water Energy 3x Shellder 1x Cloyster 3x Omanyte 2x Omastar 4x Sandshrew 2x Sandslash 3x Cubone 1x Marowak Lv32 3x Hitmonchan 2x Kabuto 1x Kabutops 2x Aerodactyl 2x Professor Oak 2x Bill 2x Pokemon Breeder 4x Mysterious Fossil Prizes: 3 Booster: Evolution Pokemon Types: Fighting, Water Recommended Counters: Grass types, anything with Fighting resistance (Scyther is perfect for this), Electric, Psychic types, Gust of Winds, and status inducing moves. Watch For: Sand Attack on Sandshrew, Sandslash's Fury Swipes attack, stalling with Shellder & Cubone, Cloyster's Clamp attack, and Hitmonchan Ryan is a rather balanced player in that he alternates between defensive and offensive Pokemon, as well as playing a sort of middle ground with attacks like Sandshrew's Sand Attack. In general, the biggest threat from this deck will come from Hitmonchan and Sandslash, but the other evolutions can be dangerous as well. Gust of Wind cards are invaluable here as they will allow you to get around Shellder's attempt to stall using Hide in Shell, as well as Cubone's Snivel. Choosing Pokemon with low retreat costs helps as well, as switching (or evolving) a Pokemon is the only way to get rid of the effects of Sand Attack. This makes Scyther even more invaluable when facing this deck, as it sports resistances to most of Ryan's pokemon, is super effective against most of them, and has no retreat cost. Fossil Gastly and Haunter also work well as they have fighting resistances, no retreat cost, can both induce status to slow Ryan down, do double damage to Hitmonchan, and Haunter's ability can negate damage as well as the effects of Sand Attack. Using pokemon that can attack the Bench are also helpful here since you can continue to do damage even while Ryan attempts to stall. Unfortunately, the obvious choices such as Jungle Pikachu and Fossil Raichu won't hold up against fighting types. Fossil Zapdos would work well here, as could Gengar if you are using Gastly and Haunter. Hypno is also an option, although be wary about focusing too much on evolutions as Aerodactyl's Pokemon Power could prevent you from using them. Yet another option is to induce Ryan's stalling pokemon with status; poison would be particularly useful. Name: Andrew DeckDeck:: Blistering Pokemon Deck 7x Fighting Energy 4x Fire Energy 5x Psychic Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 3x Ponyta 2x Rapidash 4x Cubone 2x Marowak Lv26 4x Rhyhorn 2x Rhydon 4x Onix 3x Jynx 2x Professor Oak 3x Bill 2x Gust of Wind 3x Defender 3x Switch 2x Pokemon Trader 2x Mr. Fuji 1x Energy Retrieval Prizes: 4 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Fighting, Fire, Psychic Recommended Counters: Gastly and its evolutions, Articuno, Switches, Gust of Winds Watch For: Stalling with Cubone & Rhyhorn, bench building, Rapidash's Agility Andrew's deck focuses on stalling with Cubone or Rhyhorn while he builds his Bench. He uses Pokemon like Onix and Jynx in order to chisel away at your health before he uses a Switch or Mr. Fuji to prevent you from knocking them out. Gust of Winds can help with this as they will let you bring out already weakened Pokemon. Switch cards can also be helpful as they allow you to nullify the effects of Snivel and Leer. Due to the three different types that make up this deck, another difficulty when fighting it is attempting to counter it on the basis of type. Scyther, which would work perfectly against Rhyhorn, Onix, and Cubone has to watch out for the likes of Ponyta and Rapidash. Other grass types, like Grimer or Koffing, still have to be wary of Psychic type Jynx. For this reason it may be helpful to avoid grass types altogether and to use Pokemon that resist Fighting, or that are super effective against Psychic and Fire. This makes Gastly and its Evolutions a good choice, as well as Articuno. A deck made up of Pokemon that are neutral to Fighting, Fire, and Psychic types such as an all Water, Fire or Fighting (not weak to psychic) type deck may be helpful. Name: Gene Deck: Rock Crusher Deck 24x Fighting Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 4x Diglett 2x Dugtrio 4x Geodude 3x Graveler 2x Golem 3x Onix 3x Rhyhorn 2x Professor Oak 1x Pokemon Breeder 2x Energy Removal 2x Switch 1x Computer Search 2x Defender 2x Potion 1x Super Potion Prizes: 6 Booster: Mystery Pokemon types: Fighting Recommended Counters: Grass pokemon, pokemon with fighting resists (Scyther is perfect), pokemon that can force switches (Pidgey & its evolutions) or Gust of Wind cards, Energy Removals Watch for: Stalling with Rhyhorn & Onix as bench is built up, Dugtrio and Golem can do massive damage and hit the bench Gene uses Onix and Rhyhorn to stall while building the bench. Rhyhorn will continuously use Leer as energies are attached to benched Pokemon and they are evolved. To get rid of the effects of Leer you can either switch your Pokemon out, or its effects are nullified if Rhyhorn is knocked out in between turns (through poison damage) after using the attack. Status and Smokescreen are good ways to break Rhyhorn's stall (although they usually won't force switches due to high retreat costs), or you can just use a Gust of Wind, or a Whirlwind type of attack to bring in a benched Pokemon. This is a particularly good strategy since Diglett have such low HP and are therefore make easy targets. Also be wary of Onix and Graveler's Harden attack which will negate all damage less than 30 (but will not affect damage higher than thirty, so an attack with a base damage of 40 will NOT be reduced to 10). Onix rarely uses the attack, but Graveler will use it to stall until it gets enough energy to use its Rock Throw attack. Using Energy Removals might also help give your Pokemon the upper-hand as many of Gene's Pokemon have high retreat costs and energy costs required in order to use their attacks. Note that Rhyhorn, Diglett and Dugtrio have electric resistances, and that all of Gene's Pokemon have a grass weakness. This makes Scyther the perfect counter as it resists all of Gene's Pokemon and it deals double damage to them. Not to mention the fact that it can be easily added to any deck. ............................................................................... ..THE GRASS CLUB............................................................... Members: Brittany, Heather, Kristin, and Club Leader Nikki. Pokemon types: Grass, Fire, Colorless, Water, Fighting, Psychic, Electric Weaknesses: Fire, Water, Fighting, Electric, Grass, Psychic Notes: Heather, Kristin, and Nikki are found on the Club Floor while Brittany is found in the Club Lobby at the game table. When you arrive at the Grass Club Nikki will not be there. If you defeat the three other members of the Grass Club the last member you defeat will tell you that Nikki is off at Ishihara's House. If you talk to Nikki there she will return to the Grass Club where you may now battle her. The Gal near the potted plant near Club Lobby entrance who says that only girls are allowed to join the Grass Club will no longer there after defeating the Grand Masters. The Lass in Club Lobby near the bookcases wants to trade cards; refer to section 10 (Trading and Promo Cards) for specifics. Michael will appear in the Medal Room of the Grass Club after talking to Mitch. Name: Brittany Deck: Etcetera Deck 8x Grass Energy 4x Fire Energy 4x Lightning Energy 4x Fighting Energy 4x Psychic Energy 1x Caterpie 1x Weedle 2x Nidoran(F) 2x Oddish 2x Tangela Lv12 2x Charmander 1x Magmar Lv31 2x Pikachu Lv12 1x Magnemite Lv13 2x Machop 1x Diglett 2x Gastly Lv8 1x Jynx 3x Bill 3x Energy Search 3x PlusPower 3x PokeBall 2x Defender 2x Energy Retrieval Prizes: 4 Booster: Mystery Pokemon Types: Grass, Fire, Fighting, Psychic Recommended Counters: Fire types, Gastly & its evolutions, Energy Removals, Gust of Winds, Full Heals Watch For: Status infliction and Magmar's Smokescreen Brittany's deck is a simple deck in that it uses relatively weak basic Pokemon that do not evolve. The difficulty in combatting it lies in the number of types contained within it. The deck contains cards that are super-effective against most types of Pokemon except for Fire types and anything without a weakness such as Gastly and its evolutions, Dratini and its evolutions, or the three mystical birds: Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno. Thankfully, Brittany's use of may different types of Pokemon often means that she will not have the proper energy cards in order to use them effectively. This, coupled with Gust of Winds to switch out troublesome Pokemon and bring in Pokemon weak to yours will help give you the upper-hand when it comes to typing. Using Energy Removals to keep Brittany's Pokemon from attacking will help prevent damage, and including Full Heals in your deck will help combat status. Be sure to keep a watchful eye on Brittany's bench, as she will often switch in a Pokemon that is super effective against yours, especially if you try and bring in a Pokemon with a resistance. Name: Heather Deck: Kaleidoscope Deck 10x Grass Energy 4x Fire Energy 4x Water Energy 4x Lightning Energy 3x Double Colorless Energy 3x Venonat 2x Venomoth 1x Flareon Lv22 1x Flareon Lv28 1x Vaporeon Lv29 1x Vaporeon Lv42 1x Jolteon Lv25 1x Jolteon Lv29 4x Ditto 4x Eevee 4x Porygon 2x Bill 2x Mr. Fuji 2x Energy Search 4x Switch 2x Gust of Wind Prizes: 4 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Colorless, Grass, Water, Fire, Electric Recommended Counters: Fighting, Fire, Gust of Winds, Switches Watch For: Type changes via Venomoth's Pokemon Power and Porygon's Conversion Heather's deck is rather interesting in that it attempts to counter your deck by changing the type of her Pokemon. This is accomplished through the different possibilities for Eevee's evolutions as well as Porygon's Conversion attacks and Venomoth's Pokemon Power. Thankfully, Heather fails to use Porygon very effectively and rarely comes across Venomoth when she needs it. Using fighting type Pokemon will make short work of Eevee, Porygon and Ditto, and then Venonat and Venomoth are easily taken out by fire types. Be wary though, as Venomoth does sport a fighting resistance. The wild card of this deck is of course, Eevee, but it usually doesn't pose much of a problem. Just be sure to take it out as quickly as possible. Gust of Wind will help with this. Including Switch cards in your deck can be helpful as they can help you nullify Porygon's Conversion 1 as well as Eevee's attempt to stall with Tail Wag. Other than that it's smooth sailing. Just be wary of Venonat and Venomoth's ability to inflict status. Name: Kristin Deck: Flower Garden Deck 24x Grass Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 3x Bulbasaur 2x Ivysaur 2x Venusaur Lv67 3x Oddish 2x Gloom 2x Vileplume 2x Bellsprout 1x Weepinbell 1x Victreebel 2x Tangela Lv8 1x Tangela Lv12 2x Lickitung 2x Pokemon Trader 3x Pokemon Breeder 1x Energy Search 2x Switch 2x Potion 1x Full Heal Prizes: 4 Booster: Evolution Pokemon Types: Grass, Colorless Recommended Counters: Fire types, Gust of Winds, Full Heals, Switches, Snorlax Watch For: Status, stalling to build the bench Kristin's deck is almost a pure grass deck, so it's easily countered with Fire type cards. She will often sacrifice an active Pokemon in order to build her bench, so look at what Benched Pokemon she attaches energies to so you can predict her strategy. Her Pokemon are also very prone to inflicting status, so it would be wise to include some Full Heals in order to combat this. Switch cards are also helpful for eliminating status. Gust of Wind cards will help to bring out Kristin's Pokemon that she is attempting to build up so that you can take them out before they become threats. This is especially important, as Heather has quite a few trainer cards in her deck that will aid her in evolving her Pokemon quickly. Thankfully, many of her basic Pokemon have low HP so taking them out shouldn't be a problem. If you're having trouble with status you might also include Snorlax in your deck as it's immune to them. Kristin's deck is also the most similar to Nikki's, although it does not have a specific strategy, so you can battle her deck as a warm up if you're having trouble beating Nikki. Name: Nikki Deck: Flower Power Deck 18x Grass Energy 4x Psychic Energy 4x Bulbasaur 3x Ivysaur 2x Venusaur Lv67 4x Oddish 3x Gloom 2x Vileplume 4x Exeggcute 3x Exeggutor 2x Professor Oak 3x Bill 2x Pokemon Breeder 2x Energy Retrieval 2x Switch 2x Potion Prizes: 6 Booster: Laboratory Pokemon types: Grass Recommended counters: Fire types, Energy Removals, Gust of Wind Watch for: Quick evolutions (Exeggutor, Gloom, Venusaur), Poison/Confusion status Nikki's main focus is evolving her Exeggcute and Bulbasaur into their evolved forms. To that end, she will use Professor Oak and Bill cards in order to get her hands on evolution cards as well as keep her bench stocked with basic pokemon and those pokemon affixed with energies. You can use this to your advantage, however, and stall until she draws her entire deck; I've managed to do this and at the same time keep her from knocking out almost any pokemon but one (which she knocked out with 2 cards left in her deck). If she manages to get both Exeggutor and Venusaur in play, you will need to be quite wary as she will use Venusaur's Pokemon Power "Energy Trans" to move lots of grass energies onto Exeggutor so as to maximize the destructive power of its "Big Eggsplosion" attack. Watch out for Oddish and Gloom as both love to spread status around, particularly Gloom which has the ability to poison and confuse your pokemon. Ivysaur also has the ability to poison your pokemon, so it may be to your advantage to include some Full Heals or Switch Trainer Cards in your deck. Also note that Nikki will occasionally leave an active pokemon out with no energies in favor of bulking up her bench; this is usually done when your pokemon has no energies or is not posing a significant threat. Confusing Nikki's pokemon, or slowing them down via energy removals is helpful, although note that she does have energy retrievals and can get quite 'lucky' when it comes to confusion damage. ............................................................................... ..RIVAL BATTLE #1.............................................................. After you win your second club medal and exit the Club Floor (it doesn't matter which order you collect the medals) Ronald will appear as you enter the Medal Room. The rival battle will initiate as soon as you enter this room, so it is imperative you save beforehand since you will only have one chance at winning. If you do lose, and do not wish to turn off the game, fret not. The promo card you would have received (P15 Jigglypuff Lv12) can still be won in the Challenge Hall by winning the Challenge Cup. (The Challenge Cup prize is random though, so it will be more difficult to obtain this particular card.) Name: Ronald Deck: I'm Ronald! Deck 10x Water Energy 9x Fire Energy 8x Fighting Energy 3x Charmander 2x Charmeleon 3x Growlithe 1x Arcanine Lv45 3x Squirtle 2x Wartortle 2x Seel 1x Dewgong 2x Lapras 3x Cubone 2x Marowak Lv26 1x Professor Oak 2x Energy Search 2x Gust of Wind 1x Switch 1x PlusPower 1x Defender 1x Energy Retrieval Prizes: 6 Reward: P15 Jigglypuff Lv12 Booster: None Pokemon types: Water, Fire, Fighting Recommended Counters: Water types, types neutral to fighting, water or fire, Energy Removals, Gust of Winds, Pokemon that can attack the bench, status Watch for: Evolutions, confusion from Lapras Ronald's deck isn't too difficult to defeat, but it's constructed so that many of its weaknesses are neutralized. For example, the water types are weak against electric types, but the Cubone and Marowak included in the deck are resistant to electric types and will deal double damage to them. The grass types that might have neutralized the fighting threat are themselves weak to fire types. This is what makes water types the only "safe" type that is still super-effective against a good portion of Ronald's pokemon. You can use Ronald's type variety to your advantage however, by including Energy Removals to keep him searching for the appropriate energies. Ronald is also keen on switching his Pokemon out in order to gain a type advantage, to take out your weakened Pokemon (watch out for Charmander's Ember in particular), or to avoid losing his active Pokemon. You can use Gust of Wind to bring out already damaged Pokemon or to switch out Cubone or Marowak if they are resisting your attacks. Including Pokemon that can attack the bench is a good idea, but electric Pokemon aren't perfectly suited here. You could include Fossil Zapdos, however he won't function very well in a mixed deck since he requires so many Lightning energies. Other options include Hitmonlee, Gengar and Hypno although the last two aren't ideal as they are evolution cards. Using status inducing moves would also be a wise idea as Ronald's Pokemon all have a retreat cost and he only includes one Switch card and no Full Heals. Whether these conditions force him to retreat his pokemon or not, they will still hamper his progress and leave you with an advantage. ............................................................................... ..THE ELECTRIC CLUB............................................................ Members: Jennifer, Brandon, Nicholas, and Club Leader Isaac. Pokemon types: Electric, Colorless, Fighting, Grass Weaknesses: Fighting, Grass, Psychic Notes: All club members can be found on the Club Floor. The Chap in the Club Lobby will trade you a Lv20 Electabuzz for a Lv35 Electabuzz. Isaac is "a little busy at the moment" when you first enter the Club Floor, but if you defeat the other club members he will finish what he is doing and allow you to battle him. Name: Jennifer Deck: Pikachu Deck 16x Lightning Energy 6x Water Energy 2x Surfing Pikachu P07 2x Surfing Pikachu P08 1x Pikachu Lv12 1x Pikachu Lv14 1x Pikachu Lv16 P04 1x Pikachu Lv16 P05 2x Raichu Lv40 2x Raichu Lv45 4x Flying Pikachu 4x Bill 4x Potion 4x Full Heal 4x PokeBall 4x Switch 2x Super Potion Prizes: 4 Booster: Laboratory Pokemon Types: Electric Recommended Counters: Fighting types with Electric resistances, Full Heals, Switches Watch For: Flying Pikachu; it has no weakness and a fighting resistance, and it can be nearly invincible if Jennifer gets lucky using its Fly attack. As the deck's name should pretty much give away, Jennifer's deck is focused on Pikachu and its evolution, Raichu. The fact that all but one of Jennifer's pokemon sport a fighting weakness will make her deck particularly easy to take out. If your fighting Pokemon have an electric resistance, this will make things doubly easy. The only thing you need to watch out for is Flying Pikachu, who is not weak to fighting, but instead sports a fighting resistance. You can use pokemon with moves like Smokescreen or Sand-Attack in order to take out Flying Pikachu, as they will make it increasingly difficult for its Fly attack to hit, since it already requires a coin flip in order to work. Fossil Haunter makes it near impossible by inducing sleep and using its Pokemon Power Transparency to give Fly but a 12.5% chance of working. Yet another option is to induce status; poison will take care of Flying Pikachu's measly 40HP in no time. Jennifer will switch in Flying Pikachu to combat your fighting types, so be sure to have a Switch card available to bring out a viable counter, or use fighting Pokemon with low retreat costs (both Mankey and Diglett have none, and Diglett sports an electric resistance). Many of Jennifer's pokemon have stalling moves such as Growl, or moves that induce paralysis, so you should bring a few Full Heals along to combat this, or use Snorlax, whose Pokemon Power negates status effects. While Jennifer has quite a few PokeBalls at her disposal, presumably to search for Raichu, she often uses them to find basic Pokemon, so as long as you can knock out her basic pokemon at a fairly quick pace, you probably won't even see a Raichu on the playing field. Name: Brandon Deck: Power Generator Deck 26x Lightning Energy 2x Pikachu Lv12 1x Pikachu Lv14 1x Raichu Lv40 1x Magnemite Lv13 1x Magnemite Lv15 1x Magneton Lv28 1x Magneton Lv35 3x Voltorb 1x Electrode Lv35 1x Electrode Lv42 1x Electabuzz Lv20 1x Electabuzz Lv35 3x Jolteon Lv29 2x Zapdos Lv64 4x Eevee 2x Bill 2x Switch 2x Pokemon Trader 4x Defender Prizes: 4 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Electric, Normal Recommended Counters: Fighting Types with Electric Resistance, Snorlax, Mr. Mime, Full Heals, Gust of Winds Watch For: Zapdos, Electabuzz, Raichu's Agility, Jolteon's Pin Missile, Tail Wag & Defender Stall Brandon's deck can be rather difficult to battle against as it contains quite a few hard hitting Pokemon. Thankfully though, all of his Pokemon but two are weak to Fighting, so exploiting this weakness should help substantially. I would also strongly suggest using a Pokemon that has an electric resistance. However, you still need to watch out for Zapdos, who will take out all electric resistant Pokemon (except Rhydon) in one hit with his 100 base damage Thunderbolt attack. Zapdos will sometimes be built up on the Bench, and he is often switched in if you are attacking with a Fighting type Pokemon as Zapdos has a fighting resistance rather than a weakness. For this reason you'll want to diversify your team a bit rather than approaching this deck with a pure Fighting type deck. I would recommend Mr. Mime as a counter to Zapdos, as it is completely immune to both of its attacks, although watch out for Eevee since it sports a Psychic resistance. Snorlax is also a good counter to this deck as it will resist paralysis from Electabuzz and Magnemite. Other than Zapdos, you also need to watch out for Electabuzz Lv35, Raichu, and Jolteon. You will want to kill off these Pokemon as fast as possible using Fighting types or attacks that can induce paralysis as this will minimize damage from them. If you can knock out their basic pre-evolutions that would be best. Gust of Winds will help in this endeavor, and will help you get around Zapdos if he is sent out, or to avoid the effects of Agility or Tail Wag. Name: Nicholas Deck: Boom Boom Selfdestruct Deck 14x Lightning energy 8x Grass energy 8x Fighting energy 4x Koffing 3x Weezing 4x Magnemite Lv15 2x Magneton Lv28 2x Magneton Lv35 4x Geodude 3x Graveler 2x Golem 2x Professor Oak 2x Energy Search 2x Defender Prizes: 4 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Electric, Grass, Fighting Recommended Counters: Gastly & its evolutions, Scyther or other grass types, Fighting types with electric resistance, Energy Removals, Full Heals, Switches Watch For: Status infliction from Koffing/Weezing, Selfdestruct from all final form evolutions Nicholas' deck centers on the attack Selfdestruct and the different kinds of Pokemon that are capable of using it. Fortunately enough for you, Nicholas' deck is not very dangerous for two reasons. For one, it requires its basic Pokemon to evolve in order to utilize Selfdestruct and two, the deck includes Pokemon of three different types, and so Nicholas' strategy is often hampered by a lack of appropriate energy cards. You can really incapacitate Nicholas' Pokemon by including energy removals in your deck to keep his Pokemon from attacking, particularly his evolutions, which require specific energies and in large amounts in order to use their Selfdestruct attacks. As far as typing is concerned, Psychic, Grass and Fighting types do well against this deck. Pokemon with electric or fighting resistance are also valuable, for example, Pokemon like Gastly and its evolutions, Scyther, and Fighting types with electric resistances such as Rhyhorn, Sandshrew, or Cubone. Including Full Heals will help with status affliction from Koffing and Weezing. Switches can help with this as well, and are also useful to switch in different Pokemon to counter the variety of types in Nicholas' deck. Name: Isaac Deck: Zapping Selfdestruct Deck 24x Lightning Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 4x Magnemite Lv13 3x Magneton Lv28 4x Voltorb 2x Electrode Lv35 4x Electabuzz 2x Kangaskhan 1x Tauros 1x Professor Oak 2x Bill 2x Switch 4x Defender 1x Gust of Wind 4x Potion Prizes: 6 Booster: Mystery Pokemon Types: Electric and Colorless Recommended Counters: Fighting types with Electric resistances, Full Heals, Gust of Winds Watch out for: Electabuzz, paralysis, Selfdestruct, ability to hit the bench and bypass resistance (Sonicboom) This deck is known for Magnemite and Magneton's use of the attack Selfdestruct and is probably one of the only times you may have to go into a Sudden Death match. Isaac usually keeps his Magnemite and Voltorb on the bench if he can, but will bring them out when you least expect it to deal major damage to your Pokemon. The rule is, if your Pokemon will be knocked out by Selfdestruct but not Thunder Wave, and Magnemite or Magneton have enough energies to use Selfdestruct, it will be used, even if they are at full health. Isaac also has Defenders in order to keep his Pokemon from knocking themselves out, although he often uses them on his other Pokemon. He also uses potions to remove damage from his Pokemon that have taken Selfdestruct damage. His most dangerous Pokemon however, is Electabuzz, which he often uses to stall using its Thundershock attack, but is also particularly powerful in that it has the potential to do 40 damage with just two energies. Electabuzz should be considered a primary threat and should be knocked out as swiftly as possible. Fighting type pokemon with electric resistances such as Sandshrew, Rhyhorn, Diglett, Cubone, and their evolutions are the ideal counters to this deck but you should still watch out for Electrode, whose Sonicboom attack bypasses resistances, not to mention bench damage from Selfdestruct which also ignores resistance. A good counter-strategy would include the use of the aforementioned Pokemon as well as the use of Full Heal trainer cards to combat paralysis, and the use of Gust of Wind trainer cards to bring out the weaker basic pokemon such as Magnemite and Voltorb which should be killed off before they have the chance to evolve. ............................................................................... ..RIVAL BATTLE #2.............................................................. After winning your third medal, the Challenge Cup will begin in the Challenge Hall to the North. The Challenge Cup will last until you obtain the fourth medal, regardless of whether the game is powered off in between or other other battles are engaged in prior to participating. If you enter the Challenge Hall Lobby (to the left of the room that you first enter) you will run into your rival. Talking to Ronald here is not imperative; whether you talk to him or not, he will still appear as the third battler of the Challenge Cup. The Challenge Cup is made up of a series of three battles. If you win all three you will receive a promotional Pokemon Card as a prize. In this case it is the P12 Mewtwo Lv60. Remember to save before beginning the cup; while you can still obtain this card in a later Challenge Cup, it will be a random prize and therefore much more difficult to obtain. For tips and a detailed explanation regarding how the Challenge Cup operates, refer to section 9. Name: Ronald Deck: Invincible Ronald Deck 7x Grass Energy 6x Fire Energy 7x Fighting Energy 4x Double Colorless Energy 3x Grimer 2x Muk 4x Scyther 3x Magmar Lv31 3x Geodude 2x Graveler 2x Kangaskhan 2x Chansey 2x Professor Oak 2x PlusPower 2x Scoop Up 2x Gust of Wind 2x Energy Retrieval 2x Bill 2x Energy Removal 1x Gambler Prizes: 6 Reward: P12 Mewtwo Lv60 Booster: None Pokemon types: Grass, Fighting, Colorless, Fire Recommended Counters: Fire, Water types not weak to grass, Energy Removals, Mr. Mime, Golduck, Dragonair, status inducing attacks, Full Heals, Gust of Wind Watch for: Scyther, PlusPower usage, Gust of Winds & Energy Removals, Muk's Pokemon Power, status from Muk and Magmar Ronald's deck has changed quite a bit since you last fought him. The amount of fire types has significantly decreased, and the water types have been eliminated altogether. This deck focuses on using non-evolving basics in the form of Scyther, Chansey and Kangaskhan, all of which can be dangerous if allowed to. The best counter to this deck is strong fire types like the Charmander or Growlithe line of evolutions. Either of the Magmar work well as a basic non-evolving Pokemon. Water types not weak to grass will help to take out Ronald's Magmar. Mr. Mime is worth a mention as it completely blocks damage from 5/8 of Ronald's Pokemon. Of the three remaining Pokemon, Geodude will do damage 50% of the time, and Grimer is weak against Mr. Mime's attacks. Magmar is the only real threat to Mr. Mime, and while Chansey and Kangaskhan are both resistant to Mr. Mime's attacks, they can be dealt with so long as they have already taken a minimum of 30 damage. If using Mr. Mime however, you must be weary of Muk's Pokemon Power which will nullify Mr. Mime's. In order to keep Ronald's Pokemon at a disadvantage, you will want to use Energy Removal cards. Ronald often relies on double colorless energies to power up his Scyther, and also uses Pokemon that require specific energy cards in order to attack. Using a Pokemon like Dragonair or Golduck that can remove energy cards as a result of their attack (Hyper Beam) can also be effective. Couple this with some Pokemon that can induce status (Vulpix, Fossil Magmar, Golduck, Dewgong, Tentacruel) and some Full Heals of your own and you will be set. Including some Gust of Wind cards may also be helpful. ............................................................................... ..THE SCIENCE CLUB............................................................. Members: Erik, David, Joseph, and Club Leader Rick. Pokemon types: Grass, Colorless, Psychic, Electric Weaknesses: Psychic, Fire, Electric, Fighting Notes: All club members are found on the Club Floor. Talking to the Lad near the potted plant in the lower right hand corner of the Club Lobby will initiate trade sequences with Ishihara. Refer to section 10 (Trading and Promo Cards) for a detailed explanation of when the trades can be initiated and what cards are required for them. Rick can be battled after defeating Joseph on the Club Floor. Name: Erik Deck: Poison Deck 24x Grass Energy 3x Weedle 2x Kakuna 1x Beedrill 4x Ekans 3x Arbok 4x Nidoran(M) 3x Nidorino 2x Nidoking 3x Koffing 2x Weezing 1x Professor Oak 2x Imposter Professor Oak 1x Pokemon Breeder 2x Potion 2x Full Heal 1x Gambler Prizes: 4 Booster: Evolution Pokemon Types: Grass Recommended Counters: Psychic and Fire types, Snorlax, Switches, Full Heals, Energy Removals, Gust of Winds Watch For: Status infliction from almost all Pokemon, Nidorino & Nidoking Erik's deck is incredibly frustrating to deal with in that almost all of his Pokemon have the ability to inflict status. Koffing is particularly dangerous as it can afflict either confusion or poison, but always one or the other. Weedle is also much more dangerous than it seems; it is one of only three basic Pokemon that can inflict a possible 50 damage in the first two turns (the other two being Electabuzz and Magnemite). Use Full Heals to combat status ailments or include Switch cards. Pokemon with no retreat costs are helpful as they will spare you from having to use these trainer cards. Energy Removals help keep Erik's Pokemon from attacking, and Snorlax can be used to absorb status if necessary. One last thing to watch out for is Nidoran(M). It's fairly harmless until it evolves into Nidorino or Nidoking, both of which can be particularly dangerous, so try and take out Nidoran(M) as soon as possible. Gust of Wind cards can help with this. Name: David Deck: Lovely Nidoran Deck 24x Grass Energy 3x Nidoran(M) 2x Nidorino 1x Nidoking 4x Nidoran(F) 2x Nidorina 2x Nidoqueen 2x Grimer 1x Muk 2x Koffing 1x Weezing 1x Pinsir 2x Doduo 2x Meowth Lv15 2x Farfetch'd 1x Professor Oak 2x Bill 2x Pokemon Breeder 2x Poke ball 1x Switch 1x Gambler Prizes: 4 Booster: Mystery Pokemon Types: Grass, Normal Recommended Counters: Psychic and Electric types, Gust of Winds, Full Heals Watch For: Nidoking/Nidoqueen, status infliction David's deck is all about Nidoran (duh). He has both Nidoking and Nidoqueen in his deck and both can be rather dangerous if he manages to evolve his Nidoran to that stage. He manages to get his evolution cards quickly through use of PokeBalls, Professor Oaks, Bills, and use of Meowth's Payday attack to draw more cards from his deck.You can use this to your advantage and simply stall until he draws his deck, however you will need to be prepared for the Nidoking and Nidoqueen cards that will eventually be played. I would say that it would be easier to simply focus on knocking out his Pokemon before they reach this stage. You can use Gust of Wind cards to bring out Nidoran(M) and Nidoran(F) from the bench to attack them directly, or you can use Pokemon that can attack the Bench. Psychic types work well against this deck in general, but watch out for Meowth as it sports a Psychic resistance. For this reason I would recommend a dual-type deck composed of Psychic type Pokemon and another type not weak to grass. Fighting types should be avoided to combat Meowth as the other Normal types in this deck, Doduo and Farfetch'd, are resistant. Electric types are therefore a perfect choice alongside psychic types since they can attack the bench, are strong against Doduo, and can bypass Meowth's psychic resistance. You should note that David often sacrifices his active Pokemon to build the bench, so having a Pokemon that can attack the bench is even more beneficial. Name: Joseph Deck: Flyin' Pokemon Deck 13x Grass Energy 10x Lightning Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 4x Zubat 3x Golbat 2x Flying Pikachu 4x Pidgey 3x Pidgeotto 1x Pidgeot Lv38 1x Pidgeot Lv40 4x Spearow 3x Fearow 2x Imposter Professor Oak 2x Bill 2x Lass 4x Potion Prizes: 4 Booster: Laboratory Pokemon Types: Colorless, Grass, Electric Recommended Counters: Electric and Psychic types, Energy Removals, Status inducing moves, Full Heals, low retreat costs and/or Switch cards Watch For: Fighting resistance, Whirlwind type moves, status, Flying Pikachu's Fly, Golbat and Fearow This deck's theme is its ability to manipulate its opponent's bench and hand. Thankfully, this strategy is not very effective due to the relatively high energy costs and low base damage associated with Whirlwind type attacks and Pidgey's low HP. The real threat lies in Golbat and Fearow, which can be particularly dangerous if allowed to appear. These Pokemon can be countered using psychic or electric type pokemon, according to their weakness. He will sometimes sacrifice his active Pokemon to build his bench, so using an electric Pokemon that can attack the bench may be helpful. Using Energy Removal cards can be helpful as Joseph makes use of double colorless energies to charge up his pokemon and removing one of these puts him back two turns. In addition, because this is a dual type deck, removing a grass energy from Zubat or Golbat is even more effective since there is a greater chance Joseph will not have the appropriate energy to replace it. Be wary of Zubat's ability to confuse via Supersonic, and Flying Pikachu's ability to paralyze via Thundershock. It's Fly attack is also dangerous if it hits, as it will also negate damage done to Pikachu in the next turn. You should also note that all of Joseph's Pokemon are resistant to fighting type attacks, so you should avoid using fighting type Pokemon against him. Finally, you should try and use Pokemon with little or no retreat costs, or include more Switch cards in your deck to counteract Joseph's Whirlwind strategy. Name: Rick Deck: Wonders of Science Deck 15x Grass Energy 8x Psychic Energy 4x Grimer 3x Muk 4x Koffing 3x Weezing 2x Mewtwo Lv53 1x Mewtwo Lv60 P12 1x Mewtwo Lv60 P13 2x Porygon 2x Professor Oak 1x Imposter Professor Oak 2x Bill 2x Energy Search 2x Switch 2x Computer Search 2x Pokedex 2x Full Heal 2x Maintenance Prizes: 6 Booster: Laboratory Pokemon Types: Grass, Psychic, Colorless Recommended Counters: Psychic Pokemon not weak to psychic (Gastly & evolutions), Pokemon with Psychic resistances (Snorlax works well as it has status immunity), Full Heals, Switches, Energy Removals Watch out for: Lots of status including poison, paralysis and confusion, Muk's ability to negate Pokemon Powers (goodbye Snorlax's Thick Skin), Mewtwo's ability to power up quickly using its Energy Absorption attack The main threat Rick poses is his ability to spread status around incredibly quickly. Koffing can spread both confusion and poison, the most deadly status combination, while Grimer has the ability to paralyze your pokemon. It would be quite wise to include a good amount of Full Heals and Switch trainer cards in order to combat this, or consider putting Snorlax on your team, who is completely immune to status ailments. However, if Muk is put into play, his Pokemon Power will be negated. Psychic types are a great option as all of Rick's Pokemon but the two lone Porygon are weak to psychic. Gastly and his evolutions are an even better match as they can take on Mewtwo without taking double damage. Other than trying to avoid status, the only other advice I can give is to take out Rick's pokemon before they evolve, as they will only continue to annoy. Muk can induce poison, as can Weezing, who can also use Selfdestruct, and often does. Mewtwo is fairly harmless in the early game, as its Energy Absorption attack can't work if there are no energies in the discard pile. However, if it comes into play later in the game it will quickly become a threat, so you should try to take it out early in the game. ............................................................................... ..THE WATER CLUB............................................................... Members: Sara, Amanda, Joshua, and Club Leader Amy. Pokemon types: Water, Colorless, Grass, Psychic, Fighting Weaknesses: Electric, Grass, Fighting, Psychic Notes: All club members are found on the Club Floor. The Man near card table who mentions that Amy has been bored lately as she has no one to duel will disappear after you defeat Joshua. The Lass near the center of the Club Lobby will allow Imakuni? to begin appearing. Refer to the beginning of this section on Club Battles for more information on Imakuni?. The Gal near the card table will trade you a Lv34 Arcanine for a Lapras. Joshua will not let you duel Amy until you have beaten Sara, Amanda, and then himself. Name: Sara Deck: Waterfront Pokemon Deck 18x Water Energy 7x Psychic Energy 2x Squirtle 1x Wartortle 1x Blastoise 2x Poliwag 1x Poliwhirl 1x Poliwrath 2x Goldeen 1x Seaking 2x Psyduck 1x Golduck 2x Staryu 1x Starmie 2x Slowpoke Lv18 1x Slowbro 1x Farfetch'd 2x Dratini 1x Dragonair 2x Bill 1x Pokedex 2x Switch 2x Potion 2x Energy Retrieval 1x Gust of Wind 1x Super Potion Prizes: 2 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Water, Colorless, Psychic Recommended Counters: Electric and Grass types, pokemon with low energy costs, Switch cards, Potions, Scoop Ups, PlusPowers, Defenders Watch For: variety of Pokemon and attacks (stalling, energy removal, paralysis, and damage prevention) Sara's deck is a smorgasbord of water Pokemon (and more); a sampling of what water Pokemon can do. Due to the amount of variety in this deck, it is difficult to give specific strategies to counter it as it's quite likely you'll encounter different Pokemon each time you battle Sara. The best advice I can give is general then. Use electric or grass pokemon that do not need to evolve in order to deal a substantial amount of damage and that have low energy costs. This is especially important given the fact that in this battle there are only two prize cards; you want to hit as hard and as fast as possible, and take steps in order to keep your active Pokemon from fainting. Trainer cards such as Switch, Scoop Up, Potion, and Defender can keep your Pokemon in the game longer, while Pluspower will help you knock out Sara's. Due to the shortness of the game and low ratios of basic pokemon cards to their evolutions, it's likely that Sara won't be able to use her more powerful cards, however you should still be wary of a few in particular. Sara has access to Poliwrath, Golduck, and Dragonair, all of which have a move that can remove energies. Squirtle, Starmie, Golduck, and Slowbro can induce paralysis. Squirtle and Wartortle can stall using Withdraw. Poliwhirl can also stall with Amnesia, which blocks the opponent from using on of its attacks. Psyduck's Headache blocks the opponent's trainer card usage for one turn, and last but not least, Slowbro and Blastoise have some annoying Pokemon Powers. One last thing to note would be that Dratini and Dragonair don't have a weakness but carry a psychic resistance, so I would avoid using Psychic types to combat slowpoke or slowbro for this reason. Name: Amanda Deck: Lonely Friends Deck 9x Water Energy 8x Grass Energy 4x Double colorless Energy 4x Scyther 4x Poliwag 2x Omanyte 1x Omastar 1x Aerodactyl 2x Jigglypuff Lv13 2x Jigglypuff Lv14 4x Wigglytuff 2x Professor Oak 2x Bill 4x Mysterious Fossil 4x Clefairy Doll 4x Potion 2x Scoop Up 1x Super Potion Prizes: 3 Booster: Mystery Pokemon types: Colorless, Grass, Fighting, Water Recommended counters: Fighting types, pokemon that can attack the bench. Watch for: Wigglytuff's "Do The Wave" aided by benched Clefairy Doll's & Mysterious Fossils Amanda's deck doesn't really center around water types. If anything, her main focus is on Jigglypuff and evolving it to Wigglytuff to make use of the potentially devastating move "Do The Wave" which does 20 damage plus 10 more damage for each benched pokemon. Amanda's bench normally consists of Jigglypuff, Scyther, the occasional Poliwag, and most often, lots of Mysterious Fossils and Clefairy Dolls. These trainer cards don't pose a direct threat, but are actually essential to Amanda's strategy, which is solely to abuse Wigglytuff's aforementioned signature move. The best thing you can do to stop her (if she doesn't stop herself by playing an Aerodactyl that prevents the play of all other evolution cards via its Pokemon Power) is to keep her at bay using energy removals. This works particularly well since she likes to use double colorless energies on her Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff, Scyther and Aerodactyl. Another way to ruin her plan is to include pokemon cards in your deck that can attack the bench. Jungle Pikachu is good at this, and I have used it to single handedly destroy Amanda's strategy by picking off the trainer cards, or simply hitting her benched pokemon that she has retreated and are already close to death. Another more deadly option, is to use Magnemite or Magneton's Selfdestruct. Yet another option is Hitmonlee's stretch kick, but be aware that both Scyther and Aerodactyl sport fighting resists. Gust of Wind is also incredibly useful since it will allow you to bring out her trainer cards so that you can attack them directly if you don't have access to pokemon that can attack the bench or would rather not completely reconstruct your deck to include these cards. One last thing to note, is Jigglypuff & Wigglytuff's ability to inflict sleep status. This works in Amanda's favor in that it allows her to stall for time until she manages to get Jigglypuff's evolution or until she has enough energies to attack. Some Full Heals can help with this, or Switch cards, as can Gust of Winds, which will allow you to switch out Jiggly Wigglytuff in favor of a less annoying opponent. All in all, Amanda is not a very difficult opponent, but if you're not careful, Wigglytuff definitely has the ability to sweep a team, and it does tend to show up often, so be wary. Name: Joshua Deck: Sounds Of The Waves Deck 24x Water Energy 2x Tentacool 1x Tentacruel 3x Krabby 2x Kingler 3x Shellder 2x Cloyster 2x Horsea 1x Seadra 3x Seel 2x Dewgong 3x Lapras 3x Bill 3x PlusPower 2x Energy Removal 2x Pokemon Trader 2x Full Heal Prizes: 4 Booster: Mystery Pokemon Types: Water Recommended Counters: Electric types, Snorlax or Full Heals, Gust of Winds, and Switch cards Watch For: Stalling with Shellder, Horsea, and Seadra. Status from Tentacruel, Cloyster, Dewgong and Lapras. Joshua's deck has the potential to be powerful if you allow his basic Pokemon to evolve. However, if you can take them out quickly enough, they shouldn't provide you with much a problem. Seeing as all of Joshua's Pokemon are weak against electric types, they make the best counter. Snorlax is also advisable if you're worried about possible status effects, although Full Heals are just as useful. To get around Smokescreen you'll need to switch your active Pokemon, so Switch cards will help with this and will also remove any other status conditions. Switching is the only thing that will rid the opponent's Pokemon of the effects of Withdraw, Hide in Shell, or Agility, so Gust of Wind cards are advisable there. You also want to note that these attacks (except Agility) only prevent damage and not other effects of attacks, therefore the defending Pokemon is still affected by a status condition or any other effect of your attack. Name: Amy Deck: Go Go Rain Dance Deck 24x Water Energy 4x Squirtle 3x Wartortle 2x Blastoise 3x Horsea 2x Seadra 4x Goldeen 3x Seaking 2x Lapras 2x Professor Oak 1x Pokemon Breeder 1x Energy Retrieval 1x Super Energy Retrieval 2x Energy Removal 1x Super Energy Removal 2x Switch 2x Potion 1x Gambler Prizes: 6 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon types: Water Recommended counters: Electric types, pokemon that can attack the bench, Lass Watch for: Quick evolutions (Seaking, Wartortle, Blastoise), (Super) Energy Removals, (Super) Energy Retrievals, Confusion & Paralysis, Withdraw & Smokescreen stall Amy uses Professor Oak's to get evolution cards, energies, and other Trainer cards swiftly. Her deck centers around Blastoise, and she will try to power up and evolve Squirtle while on the bench, all the while using Energy Removals (regular and super) to hamper your progress. Take note of Blastoise's Pokémon Power, Rain Dance, which allows her to attach as many water energies cards from her hand to her pokemon during her turn as she likes. She combines this Pokémon Power with the use of Energy Retrievals (regular and super) to keep all her pokemon set to attack. The best way to stop her strategy, is to take out her Squirtles as quickly as possible. They are usually benched in favor of Goldeen or Lapras, but almost always have an energy card on them if they happen to get switched into battle. Use a Gust of Wind or an attack similar to "Whirlwind" to bring Squirtle onto the playing field, or use an attack that can damage the bench. Electric pokemon are good for this, and the fact that all Amy's pokemon are weak to electricity makes this an even better strategy. I recommend Jungle Pikachu and Fossil Raichu as an evolution. Jungle Zapdos is another good option. Another option is to prevent her from using Trainer Cards via Psyduck's "Headache" attack or by using the Lass Trainer Card. This is really only a short-term strategy, however, and doesn't get you closer to winning so much as it hampers her strategy. Slowpoke or Poliwhirl's Amnesia can effectively stop almost all her pokemon from using damaging attacks, but again it would be rather difficult to build a deck around that strategy, which does nothing but to stall, which is something you do NOT want to do, as Amy is usually quite offensive and can still put a hurting on you through trainer cards, or by simply evolving her pokemon to end the effect of your attack. Beware of Lapras' "Confuse Ray", especially on Psychic pokemon who are weak to Psychic, for they take double damage if they hurt themselves. Amy does attempt to stall a bit with her use of Squirtle and Wartortle's "Withdraw", and her Horsea's "Smokescreen" can be quite annoying, so kill them off quickly. Also note that Amy tends to evolve her pokemon quickly, often sending Lapras to stall until she gets evolution cards. Rarely does she send a pokemon into battle with no energy to be sacrificed as she builds up her bench, and don't be surprised if she evolves her pokemon while active, usually just in time to eliminate status conditions. Two last possible counter strategies might include the use of Muk or Aerodactyl, the first to prevent Amy's use of the Rain Dance ability on Blastoise, and the second to stop evolutions entirely, which would probably be more devastating. ............................................................................... ..RIVAL BATTLE #3.............................................................. After obtaining five medals and exiting the Club Floor another rival battle will initiate. It's therefore important that you save your game after defeating your fifth Club Leader. The prize for winning this battle is a P18 Super Energy Retrieval card. If you fail to win the battle, the card can be randomly obtained as a prize by winning the Challenge Cup. Name: Ronald Deck: Powerful Ronald Deck 7x Lightning Energy 9x Fighting Energy 7x Psychic Energy 3x Double Colorless Energy 3x Electabuzz Lv35 2x Hitmonchan 2x Hitmonlee 1x Mr. Mime 2x Jynx 1x Mewtwo Lv53 2x Doduo 1x Dodrio 2x Kangaskhan 2x Lickitung 3x Tauros 1x Energy Search 2x Gust of Wind 2x Energy Retrieval 1x Super Energy Retrieval 2x Energy Removal 2x Pluspower 1x Switch 1x Full heal 1x Gambler Prizes: 6 Reward: P18 Super Energy Retrieval Booster: None Pokemon types: Colorless, Psychic, Fighting, Electric Recommended Counters: Fighting types not weak to psychic, Gastly and its evolutions, Energy Removals, Switch cards, status infliction Watch for: Tauros, Electabuzz, Mr. Mime's Pokemon Power, Energy Removals, Gust of Winds Ronald's deck has evolved further towards being completely filled with basic Pokemon. He has removed the Grass and Fire types completely and has instead focused on Colorless Pokemon while adding Psychic and Electric type Pokemon into the mix. This deck is actually easier to counter than previous decks, although it requires more specific Pokemon in order to do so. The Pokemon to use are Fighting types that are not weak to psychic. It just so happens that these Pokemon (like Cubone, Sandshrew, or Rhyhorn and their evolutions), are also resistant to electric type attacks, thereby countering Ronald's Electabuzz while being able to deal double damage to most of his colorless Pokemon. The inclusion of Gastly in your deck allows you to hit Ronald's psychic types for double damage while not taking double damage yourself. In addition, they sport fighting resistances, so you will deal double damage to Ronald's fighting types and be resistant to their attacks. Other than that, I would recommend using Pokemon that are neutral to the types in this deck. That means Grass types, Fire types, Water types weak to grass, and Pokemon with no weaknesses (like the legendary birds and Dratini and its evolutions) are all fair game. Besides the Pokemon in his deck, Ronald also has some annoyingly effective trainer cards he loves to use. To counter these, you'll want to include Switch cards, and some Energy Retrievals of your own. You also want to include lots of Energy Removal cards in your deck, as Ronald often finds it difficult to find the right energy cards even if you're not constantly removing them. Inflicting status will also be helpful, as it may induce switches which will only further hinder Ronald's attempts to energize his Pokemon. Also, be sure to be wary of the heavy hitters in this deck and their ability to inflict damage quickly; you may want to include some Defender cards. ............................................................................... ..RIVAL BATTLE #4.............................................................. After winning your fifth badge the Challenge Cup will be held. The prize for this cup is a P14 Mew. As the third challenger in a series of three, Ronald will be using the same deck as in the previous challenge hall battle. Here is his deck and some quick facts regarding it. For an in depth strategy against this deck, refer to the description of Rival Battle #2. For tips and a detailed explanation regarding how the Challenge Cup operates, refer to section 9 of this guide. Name: Ronald Deck: Invincible Ronald Deck 7x Grass Energy 6x Fire Energy 7x Fighting Energy 4x Double Colorless Energy 3x Grimer 2x Muk 4x Scyther 3x Magmar Lv31 3x Geodude 2x Graveler 2x Kangaskhan 2x Chansey 2x Professor Oak 2x PlusPower 2x Scoop Up 2x Gust of Wind 2x Energy Retrieval 2x Bill 2x Energy Removal 1x Gambler Prizes: 6 Reward: P14 Mew Lv8 Booster: None Pokemon types: Grass, Fighting, Colorless, Fire Recommended Counters: Fire, Water types not weak to grass, Energy Removals, Mr. Mime, Golduck, Dragonair, status inducing attacks, Full Heals, Gust of Wind Watch for: Scyther, PlusPower usage, Gust of Winds & Energy Removals, Muk's Pokemon Power, status from Muk and Magmar ............................................................................... ..THE FIRE CLUB................................................................ Members: John, Adam, Jonathan, and Club Leader Ken. Pokemon types: Fire, Colorless, Fighting Weaknesses: Water, Fighting, Electric, Grass Notes: All club members are found on the Club Floor. The Lad near the bookcases will let you in on the location of a rare card if you give him all your energy cards (you also need to have 3 medals). Refer to section 10 (Trading and Promo Cards) for more info. Jessica will appear at the card table in the Club Lobby after talking to Fighting Club Leader Mitch. The Chap near the PC in the Club Lobby will initiate trade sequences with Ishihara. Refer to section 10 (Trading and Promo Cards) for a detailed explanation of when the trades can be initiated and what cards are required for them. If it's your first time entering the Fire Club, Ken may tell you that you don't have enough cards to duel with him yet and will tell you to go and collect more. You'll need 300 cards before you can battle him. Name: John Deck: Anger Deck 10x Fire Energy 8x Fighting Energy 4x Double Colorless Energy 3x Growlithe 2x Arcanine Lv34 3x Cubone 3x Rattata 2x Raticate 3x Doduo 2x Dodrio 3x Tauros 2x Professor Oak 3x Bill 2x Defender 2x Computer Search 2x Energy Retrieval 2x Gust of Wind 4x PlusPower Prizes: 4 Booster: Evolution Pokemon Types: Colorless, Fire, Fighting Recommended Counters: Fighting, Water, Electric, Defenders, Scoop Ups, Status infliction Watch For: Attacks increasing in damage as the Pokemon gains damage counters Adam's deck revolves around Rage and attacks that have similar effects. All of his Pokemon except for Rattata and Raticate have access to this type of move in one of their evolutionary stages. The best way to defeat them will be through 1-hit KO's, as John's Pokemon just become more dangerous when their damage count increases. Unfortunately, the typing of John's deck will make this difficult to pull off; most of his Pokemon are weak to fighting, but some (like Doduo and Dodrio) have Fighting resistance. A Fighting-Electric or Fighting- Water type deck would be ideal. Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Electabuzz, Zapdos, Lapras, and Dewgong come to mind as good counters to this deck. You also need to be aware of John's PlusPowers, which make his Pokemon even more dangerous. He also loves to use Gust of Winds to bring in vulnerable pokemon so watch out for this when you switch out a damaged Pokemon. Scoop Ups will help to keep your Pokemon from fainting, and if you use lots of Basic Types you don't have to worry about evolving again after the Scoop Up. Status infliction will also be very helpful in this battle. Paralysis, Confusion, Sleep, and to an extent, Poison, will all help you to wear down John's Pokemon while avoiding taking damage yourself. Be wary of poison though, as it will only increase the amount of damage you will receive from Rage type attacks if it doesn't knock out the defending Pokemon. If you aren't using type advantage or status to win this fight, the best you can do is to play close attention to the amount of damage counters on your opponent and how much damage your attacks will do and then plan your moves carefully to strategically knock out your opponent without taking heavy damage from a powered up rage-type attack. Name: Adam Deck: Flamethrower Deck 22x Fire Energy 4x Double Colorless Energy 2x Charmander 2x Charmeleon 1x Charizard 2x Growlithe 1x Arcanine Lv45 2x Vulpix 1x Ninetales Lv32 3x Magmar Lv24 2x Flareon Lv28 3x Eevee 1x Pokemon Trader 3x Energy Retrieval 3x Bill 3x Gust of Wind 2x PlusPower 1x Super Energy Retrieval 2x Switch Prizes: 4 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Fire, Normal Recommended Counters: Water, Fighting, Basic Pokemon with low energy and retreat costs, Energy Removals, Gust of Winds, Switches, and Mr. Mime Watch For: Flamethrower, Gust of Winds, PlusPowers, Charizard, Flareon Adam's Pokemon can get dangerous quite quickly, and most of them sport a Flamethrower-type move, that is, one that deals massive damage but requires the removal of one or more energy cards. In order to combat this, you're going to want to take out Adam's basic pokemon as quickly as possible. To do this, I would recommend basic Pokemon that only require one energy card to attack (all of Adam's basic Pokemon require two energies to inflict damage so you will have at least one free turn). If your Pokemon can also inflict a status condition this makes it even better (Electabuzz comes to mind, Horsea or Squirtle work well if you're using water types). You also need to be very wary of what Pokemon you place on the Bench in this battle. Adam loves to use Gust of Wind to bring out Pokemon that have no energies and high retreat costs, and if your Pokemon cannot retaliate or make it safely back to the Bench, they will fall quickly to Pokemon like Magmar. If Adam does manage to evolve any of his Pokemon, Mr. Mime is a wonderful counter, as he completely blocks damage from Charmeleon, Charizard, Arcanine, Ninetales, and Magmar. Flareon is also limited to doing 10 damage 50% of the time. Just watch out for Eevee as it sports a psychic resistance. Adam will also sacrifice Pokemon in order to build his Bench, so pay attention to which Pokemon he's attaching energies to so you can predict his strategy. Use Energy Removals to keep Pokemon with Flamethrower attacks at an energy loss; Adam also uses Double Colorless energies so Energy Removals can be particularly useful. Also, be sure to include Switch cards to bring back Pokemon with high retreat costs that get switched out due to Gust Of Wind, and don't hesitate to use your own Gust of Winds in order to bring out weaker basic Pokemon in order to kill them off before they become threats. Also note Adam's potential PlusPower usage. It might be helpful to have a Mankey or two in your deck to utilize its Peek ability. Name: Jonathan Deck: Reshuffle Deck 23x Fire Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 2x Ponyta 2x Growlithe 1x Arcanine Lv45 4x Vulpix 3x Ninetales Lv35 4x Pidgey 3x Pidgeotto 2x Pidgeot Lv38 1x Jigglypuff Lv13 1x Wigglytuff 1x Tauros 2x Lickitung 1x Kangaskhan 2x Bill 1x Energy Removal 1x Super energy Removal 2x Switch 2x Energy Retrieval Prizes: 4 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Colorless, Fire Recommended Counters: Electric, Fighting, Water types, Switch Cards, Full Heals, Pokemon with low retreat costs and energy costs Watch For: Ninetales' Dancing Embers, Whirlwind-type attacks, Sleep & Confusion This deck is named after Pidgey and its evolutions' abilities to shuffle your Pokemon around. Thankfully, these attacks don't do much damage, but if your Pokemon don't have a low retreat cost and energy costs, it will be difficult to get much damage dealt. At the same time, you also have to be wary of John's powerful Fire types. Both Arcanine and Ninetales are particularly dangerous, each having the potential to do 80 damage in one hit. Also watch out for status coming from Vulpix, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff, and Lickitung; a few Full Heals would help to combat this. As far as types go, Electric types will do well to combat the colorless birds that are the focus of this deck. Fighting types work well against the other normal types, although note that Pidgey and its evolutions sport a Fighting resistance. Water types will make short work of the remaining Fire types. Snorlax is also worth a mention for its ability to soak up status. One last note: be sure to include a few switch cards to help combat the Whirlwinds from Pidgey et al. Thankfully many of John's Pokemon require more than one energy in order to begin attacking, so if you use Pokemon with low energy costs you'll have at least one free turn to attack before your opponent is ready to go. Name: Ken Deck: Fire Charge Deck 21x Fire Energy 4x Double Colorless Energy 4x Growlithe 3x Arcanine Lv45 2x Magmar Lv24 3x Jigglypuff Lv12 1x Jigglypuff Lv14 1x Wigglytuff 2x Chansey 2x Tauros 1x Professor Oak 2x Bill 2x Energy Retrieval 1x Poke Ball 1x Computer Search 2x Defender 3x Potion 1x Full Heal 1x Gambler 3x Recycle Prizes: 6 Booster: Mystery Pokemon types: Fire and Colorless Recommended counters: Water and Fighting types, Energy Removals, attacks like Hyper Beam or Whirlpool Watch out for: Stall with Chansey or Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff, Flamethrower on Arcanine & Magmar, Chansey's Double Edge Ken's deck is actually half colorless, half fire. Jigglypuff,Wigglytuff and Chansey mainly serve to stall, but can also become offensive with enough energies. Chansey is particularly notorious for this, and is not afraid to go kamikaze in order to take out your Pokémon. The main threat of this deck probably comes from Arcanine, and a slightly lesser extent, Tauros which will be built up on the bench as Chansey or Jigglypuff stall using Scrunch or Lullaby, respectively. Using Full Heals can help bypass the sleep status (as can Snorlax via its Pokémon Power), or you can try to prevent them by inducing confusion or paralysis or by using Smokescreen. Other than that, bringing a mixed deck consisting of water and fighting types is your best counter. Including pokemon whose attacks can remove energies will further hamper Ken's progress, since he makes use of double colorless energies and his Magmar and Arcanine already require an energy to be removed in order to attack. The fact that two of the Pokemon that can learn energy removing moves are of the water type (Poliwrath and Golduck) makes them even better choices (the other is Dragonair). Hitmonlee is a decent choice for a fighting type, as he has the ability to attack the bench, which is useful for hitting the Pokemon that Ken is trying to build up there. Horsea also deserves mention as it functions well against fire types and its Smokescreen will also slow down Chansey and Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff. ............................................................................... ..THE PSYCHIC CLUB............................................................. Members: Robert, Stephanie, Daniel, and Club Leader Murray. Pokemon types: Psychic, Colorless, Grass Weaknesses: Psychic, Fighting, Fire Notes: Robert can be found in the Club Lobby, while Stephanie, Daniel and Club Leader Murray are on the Club Floor. Pappy near the card table will give you a P13 Lv60 Mewtwo after you defeat Murray. If this is your first time at the Psychic Club, Murray may be in the corner of the club floor "not listening to what people are saying". You'll need to collect 4 medals before he'll come out of his corner and allow you to duel him. Club member Daniel will not battle you until you have 1 medal, and Stephanie requires 2. Robert will battle you regardless of how many medals you have. It is not necessary to battle any of the Psychic club members before battling Murray. Name: Robert Deck: Ghost Deck 15x Psychic Energy 6x Grass Energy 3x Double Colorless Energy 4x Zubat 3x Golbat 2x Gastly Lv8 2x Gastly Lv17 2x Haunter Lv17 2x Haunter Lv22 4x Gengar 3x Meowth Lv15 3x Ditto 2x Professor Oak 1x Bill 1x Full Heal 2x Potion 2x Pokemon Breeder 1x Gust of Wind 2x Recycle Prizes: 4 Booster: Evolution Pokemon Types: Psychic, Colorless, Grass Recommended Counters: Colorless pokemon with psychic resistance and Pokemon neutral to psychic and grass, Full Heals Watch For: Status, Fighting and Psychic resistance, Lv17 Haunter's Pokemon Power "Transparency", Gengar Robert's deck is difficult to counter not only due to the psychic type ghosts with no weakness that it contains, but also due to the fact the other two types of Pokemon included in the deck serve to block each others weaknesses. (Ditto and Meowth are weak to fighting, but Zubat and Gastly and its evolutions resist it, and some fighting types are weak against psychic. Zubat is weak against psychic, but Meowth and Ditto are resistant and most psychic pokemon are also weak against psychic.) So the best way to counter this deck is to either use your own ghost Pokemon (which would still be met with psychic resistance) for use against Zubat, or to use a Pokemon whose type is neutral to Psychic and Grass. Colorless pokemon with psychic resistance (such as Snorlax, who also benefits from a resistance to Zubat, Gastly and Haunter's status inducing attacks) are a good option as they will negate all possible damage from all the ghost Pokemon in this deck, with the exception of Lv22 Haunter if it manages a Dream Eater attack on them (Snorlax will never take damage from the ghosts as Dream Eater requires the defending Pokemon to be asleep in order to work and Snorlax cannot be put to sleep). Using Full Heals is also an option to combat status, and if you use status inducing attacks yourself you'll be in good shape to deal with Haunter's "Transparency" Pokemon Power which requires a coin to be flipped whenever an attack is to be directed towards it (the power is nullified while Haunter is Asleep, Confused or Paralyzed). Name: Stephanie Deck: Strange Power Deck 25x Psychic Energy 1x Double Colorless Energy 3x Slowpoke Lv9 2x Slowbro 4x Drowzee 3x Hypno 2x Mr. Mime 2x Jynx 1x Mew Lv8 2x Mew Lv23 2x Lickitung 1x Snorlax 2x Pokemon Trader 2x Energy Retrieval 2x Energy Removal 1x Super Energy Removal 2x PlusPower 1x Item Finder 1x Gust of Wind 1x Full Heal Prizes: 4 Booster: Laboratory Pokemon Types: Psychic, Colorless Recommended Counters: Gastly and its evolutions, fighting types not weak to Psychic, Colorless Pokemon (Snorlax works well), Full Heals, Gust of Winds, and non-evolving Basic Pokemon Watch For: Slowbro's "Strange Power", Mr. Mime's "Invisible Wall", and Mew's "Neutralizing Shield" Stephanie's deck functions similarly to Murphey's, but does not focus so heavily on stalling.The main theme of this deck is Slowbro's "Strange Power" Pokemon Power, which allows Stephanie to move damage counters from other Pokemon onto slowbro. Since Slowbro does not have that much HP and cannot move damage counters onto other Pokemon (like Alakazam), this strategy is not particularly effective and can be countered by knocking out Stephanie's Slowpoke before they evolve or by using Gust of Winds so that her Slowbro can be attacked directly. You also need to watch out for Mew's Pokemon Power "Neutralizing Shield" which nullifies damage done by evolved Pokemon. I would recommend using Basic Pokemon, Snorlax being a good counter as it has psychic resistance and is immune to paralysis, which is another strategy utilized by Stephanie's deck. Mr. Mime's Pokemon Power "Invisible Wall" can also be tricky to deal with as it blocks all damage greater than 30. Mr.Mime is best dealt with using status to quickly deplete his health (poison) or to stop his Pokemon Power from working (sleep, confusion or paralysis). Gastly and its evolutions are good for this as they are not weak to psychic, will deal maximum damage to Mr. Mime, and can induce status. Name: Daniel Deck: Nap Time Deck 18x Psychic Energy 8x Grass Energy 4x Paras 4x Exeggcute 4x Gastly Lv8 2x Haunter Lv17 2x Haunter Lv22 4x Jigglypuff Lv14 3x Wigglytuff 2x Bill 3x PlusPower 2x Gust of Wind 2x Potion 2x Switch Prizes: 4 Booster: Evolution Pokemon Types: Psychic, Grass, Colorless Recommended Counters: Colorless Pokemon (Snorlax is perfect), fire types, Switches, Full Heals, and Gust of Winds Watch For: Sleep attacks on all Pokemon, Dream Eater on Basic Haunter, Transparency on Fossil Haunter Daniel's deck focuses completely on putting your Pokemon to sleep; all of his Pokemon are capable of doing so. In order to combat this, you should include lots of Full Heals and Switch cards. Snorlax also works well as he sports a psychic resistance and his Pokemon Power negates Daniel's sleep inducing moves. Using a deck that relies on evolution can also be effective, as evolving a Pokemon is one of the ways of getting rid of status effects. Despite the annoyance posed by a plethora of sleep attacks, Daniel generally has trouble doing damage due to a lack of proper energies and the low base damage done by most of his Pokemons' attacks. I would say that both types of the Haunter card in Daniel's deck are the most dangerous, particularly base set Haunter if it gets a chance to use its Dream Eater attack. Fossil Haunter can also be tricky as its Pokemon Power can prevent damage and effects of attacks. However, if you use a Gust of Wind to switch in Haunter from the bench, his Pokemon Power will not be recognized during that turn (this is a glitch in the game). Name: Murray Deck: Strange Psyshock Deck 22x Psychic Energy 4x Abra 3x Kadabra 2x Alakazam 2x Mr. Mime 3x Chansey 3x Kangaskhan 2x Snorlax 2x Professor Oak 3x Energy Removal 4x Switch 2x Pokemon Center 4x Scoop Up 3x Gust of Wind 1x Gambler Prizes: 6 Booster: Laboratory Pokemon Types: Psychic & Colorless Recommended Counters: Psychic types not weak to psychic (Gastly & its evolutions), colorless pokemon (Snorlax works well as it has status immunity) Watch out for: Alakazam's "Damage Swap" Pokemon Power, confusion and paralysis, extreme stall tactics, damage counter removals via Pokemon Center trainer just when most of Murray's Pokemon have taken maximum damage Murray's deck is a dedicated stall deck, so much so that it is difficult to defeat him by drawing all of your prizes. It may be simpler to just let him defeat himself by drawing all of his cards. In order to do this, you'll need to make use of psychic resistances. Colorless pokemon, therefore, make good combatants against Murray's deck, with Snorlax being particularly useful in that it resists Abra and Alakazam's status-inducing attacks. Another way to foil Murray's plan, which focuses solely on building Alakazam up on the bench and then using its Pokemon Power to keep the attacking Pokémon free of damage, is through the use of Gust of Winds or attacks like Whirlwind which will allow you to either switch in Abra to knock it out before it evolves or to switch in Murray's colorless pokemon that serve as damage holders. Another option is to include pokemon that can attack the bench, such as Jungle Pikachu or fossil Raichu. Killing off Abra and its evolutions are key, as they are the main attackers, but also be wary of Kangaskhan and Mr. Mime, who are also sometimes used offensively. To make short work of psychic types, Fossil set Gastly and its fossil evolutions work well as they do not sport psychic weaknesses and due to the fact that both Gastly and Haunter have attacks that do 10 base damage, meaning they can deal an ideal 20 damage to Mr. Mime after weakness. Another option is to use Lickitung to to confuse Murray's psychic types, which will take double confusion damage (note that Mr. Mime is immune to this as its Pokemon Power prevents the damage). Murray's colorless Pokemon can be kept at bay with fighting types, but make sure they are not weak to psychic. Also pay attention to the retreat cost of your pokemon. Murray does a lot of switching himself so you will have to keep up with him by using Pokemon with low retreat costs and by including more Switch trainer cards and Gust of Winds in your deck. Don't forget to include Full Heals as well to combat status. ............................................................................... ..THE FIGHTING CLUB............................................................ Members: Michael, Chris, Jessica, and Club Leader Mitch. Pokemon types: Fighting, Colorless, Fire, Electric Weaknesses: Psychic, Fighting, Electric, Water Notes: After talking with Mitch, Chris will appear for battle in the Rock Club Lobby near the Lass. Michael will appear in the Medal Room of the Grass Club. Jessica will appear at the card table in the Club Lobby of the Fire Club. After defeating them, they will all return to the Club Floor of the Fighting Club. The Granny next to the card table in the Club Lobby who says that she would be dueling too if she were younger disappears after defeating the Grand Masters. The Man at the card table is a collector looking for various cards. If you give him all the cards he is looking for he will reward you with a P05 Pikachu Lv16. Refer to section 10 (Trading and Promo Cards) for more info. Mitch will battle you after you defeat his pupils, which are off training at other clubs. Special Note: Your opponent can't seem to tell when a Defender has been placed on a benched Pokemon, so he or she will continue to attack it with an attack like Stretch Kick even when other Pokemon without defenders attached are available. Name: Michael Deck: Heated Battle Deck 15x Fighting Energy 8x Fire Energy 4x Lightning Energy 4x Magmar Lv24 2x Electabuzz 3x Mankey 2x Primeape 3x Hitmonlee 3x Hitmonchan 2x Kangaskhan 2x Energy Search 2x Scoop Up 3x PlusPower 2x Defender 3x Potion 2x Full Heal Prizes: 4 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Fighting, Fire, Electric, Colorless Recommended Counters: Gastly & evolutions, Water types, and Fighting types with Electric resistance, Gust of Winds, and Energy Removals. Watch For: Powerful and devastating basic pokemon, PlusPower & Defender Michael focuses on using powerful basic pokemon with no evolutions that can cause high amounts of damage rather quickly (Mankey being an exception). The Pokemon themselves are quite dangerous, but thankfully Michael often lacks the proper energies to utilize them effectively. This means that you'll often have a few turns to attack his active Pokemon as he is forced to build his bench. You can further weaken his strategy by using Energy Removals to keep him from powering up his Pokemon. Gust of Winds are also helpful as they will allow to bring out Pokemon that have no energies on them, or a Mankey, both of which are vulnerable to attack. The best strategy is to take out Michael's Pokemon as soon as possible, particularly his fighting types, or to take them out more slowly by concentrating on resistances. Gastly and its evolutions are perfect for this, as they deal double damage to Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, and Mankey and also have a fighting resistance. One last bit of warning, be wary of Michael's use of Defender and PlusPower cards, as he'll use them to stall or to put even more of a hurting on your Pokemon. Name: Chris Deck: Muscles For Brains Deck 26x Fighting Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 3x Machop 2x Machoke 2x Machamp 1x Mankey 1x Primeape 2x Hitmonchan 2x Hitmonlee 3x Meowth Lv15 2x Persian 1x Lickitung 2x Tauros 1x Kangaskhan 1x Bill 1x Energy Removal 1x Revive 1x Potion 1x Super Potion 2x PlusPower 1x Full Heal 2x Gust of Wind Prizes: 4 Booster: Evolution Pokemon Types: Fighting, Colorless Recommended Counters: Gastly & its evolutions, fighting types, status inducing moves, Gust of Winds, Energy Removals Watch For: Hitmonchan/Hitmonlee, PlusPowers Chris' deck can be particularly destructive if you let him build up his bench. To stop this, try to get Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan out early using a Gust of Wind, or kill off his active pokemon quickly before he is able to build up his Bench. You can also slow Chris down using status inducing moves or via moves like Smokescreen and Sand Attack. Beware of Chris' PlusPower usage as he always seems to get them at just the right time. Like other fighting club members, Chris will attempt to evolve Machop (as well as Meowth). The main danger of his deck, however, is Tauros. It's very difficult to take it out without losing a Pokemon thanks to Tauros' Rampage attack increasing by 10 damage for every damage counter on Tauros. The best way to deal with Chris' colorless types is with a fighting type Pokemon of your own, but make sure you can take Tauros out in one hit or can withstand damage from his now boosted Rampage attack. Another option is to inflict Tauros with status such as sleep or paralysis, although beware that both of these will replace confusion if Tauros has confused itself. Name: Jessica Deck: Loves To Battle Deck 26x Fighting Energy 4x Machop 3x Machoke 2x Machamp 2x Mankey 1x Primeape 3x Rattata 2x Raticate 2x Doduo 1x Dodrio 1x Tauros 4x Defender 2x Full Heal 3x Potion 4x PlusPower Prizes: 4 Booster: Colosseum Pokemon Types: Fighting, Colorless Recommended Counters: Gastly & its evolutions, Fighting types and Zapdos, Potions & Defenders, Status infliction Watch For: Defender & PlusPower usage, Raticate's Super Fang attack, quick damage from Rattata and Machop Like the other trainers of the Fighting Club, Jessica loves to use Pokemon that can attack quickly with minimal energy costs. The central danger of this deck is the Machop evolutionary line, and to a lesser extent, Rattata and Tauros. To combat this Jessica's strategy, try to take out her Machop as soon as possible. If she manages to evolve it into Machamp you will be sorely sorry (and so will your Pokemon!). The best way to do this is by using Gastly and his evolutions against her fighting types, and then Fighting types against Rattata, Raticate, and Tauros. Unfortunately, Doduo and Dodrio have Fighting resistances, so if Zapdos happens to fit in your deck, you can include him in there to help take care of him (as Zapdos is resistant to Fighting types, unlike all other Electric types). Also, be sure to watch out for Jessica's use of PlusPower and Defender. She will use Defender to stall or to negate recoil damage from her Machoke's Submission attack. I would recommend using your own Defenders to protect your Pokemon from Jessica's attacks, and to stall her using Smokescreen or by inflicting her Pokemon with a status condition while healing with Potions. Name: Mitch Deck: First-Strike Deck 25x Fighting Energy 4x Mankey 1x Primeape 4x Machop 3x Machoke 2x Machamp 4x Hitmonlee 2x Hitmonchan 4x Bill 2x Switch 2x PlusPower 2x Defender 3x Gust of Wind 2x Potion Prizes: 6 Booster: Laboratory Pokemon types: Fighting Recommended Counters: Psychic types and pokemon with Fighting resistances (Gastly and its evolutions are perfect), basic Pokemon with low energy costs, Gust of Wind, status-inducing attacks Watch for: Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, heavy Trainer card use Mitch can really take you unaware if you aren't careful. Every turn will count, and it's almost impossible to stall this deck as its main focus is to attack as quickly and as powerfully as possible. All Mitch's pokemon except Hitmonlee (which is arguably his most powerful) can attack with just one energy. Both Machop and Hitmonchan can do 20 damage with just one energy card attached, and make short work of many basic pokemon that have low HP. Your best counter is a psychic type or something with a fighting resistance. Gastly fits the bill perfectly. I would recommend fossil Gastly and fossil Haunter as en evolution as both can induce status and will slow down Mitch's otherwise relentless attack. Other than that, the best you can do is to use basic Pokemon with high HP that have low energy costs associated with their attacks. You should couple this with Potions and Defenders and even Scoop Up cards if they fit your strategy. Note that Mitch will be using Defenders and PlusPowers of his own so you should be wary; you may think you are safe from a KO when in reality you're not. Mitch will usually keep all his active pokemon ready to attack, and generally won't sacrifice pokemon to build his bench, other than Mankey. Also note that even when you have a pokemon with fighting resistance active, he will often use Hitmonlee to attack your bench or Gust of Wind pokemon out that are not resistant. Another way to slow him down is to induce status. Poison will almost always induce switches which will keep his energy supply low and give you the upper-hand when attacking. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 8. The Grand Masters \\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\\\// /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// "Those in search of the legendary Pokemon cards... defeat the masters of the 8 clubs and obtain the 8 medals. Once attained, defeat the grand master here at Pokemon Dome...then you shall inherit the legendary Pokemon cards." So reads the inscription next to the door of the Pokemon dome proper. Your quest has finally come to an end; four great masters of the Pokemon TCG lie before you, each with a mysterious and powerful legendary Pokemon card. For a brief description of each card check the bookcases to the left of the first Pokemon dome entrance. I will provide the exact details of each card right before introducing the trainer that uses that card. I will also provide a sample counter deck for each of the trainers in addition to a general strategy for defeating them. You by no means need to create a deck for each of these trainers, although doing so will make them much more easy to deal with. So without further ado, let the final challenge begin! NOTE: Before and after each battle, I would recommend saving your game. To do this, choose "Yes" when asked if you wish to prepare for the duel. All portions of the menu will be accessible, meaning you can save, switch decks, or even create decks between battles. Courtney's Legendary Pokemon card is P02 Moltres Lv37. HP: 100 Type: Fire Pokemon Power: Firegiver - When you put Moltres into play during your turn (not during set-up), put 1-4 (chosen at random) fire energy cards from your deck into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward. Attack: Dive Bomb - Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing. Base damage: 70 Energy Cost: 3 Fire Energies Weakness: None Resistance: Fighting Retreat Cost: 2 Name: Grand Master Courtney, the Fire Queen Deck: Legendary Moltres Deck Sample counter deck: 25x Fire Energy 22x Water Energy 4x Vulpix 4x Psyduck 3x Ninetales Lv35 4x Golduck 4x Growlithe 3x Seel 2x Arcanine Lv45 3x Dewgong 2x Magmar Lv24 3x Horsea 2x Magmar Lv31 3x Seadra 2x Moltres Lv35 4x Lapras 2x Moltres Lv37 2x Bill 3x Bill 1x Energy Retrieval 2x Lass 4x Energy Removal 1x Pokemon Trader 2x Switch 1x Energy Retrieval 2x Gust of Wind 1x Super Energy Retrieval 3x Potion 2x Energy Removal 2x Switch 1x Potion 1x Super Potion Prizes: 6 Pokemon types: Fire Recommended counters: Water types, attacks that remove energies (Hyper Beam on Golduck and Dragonair, and Whirlpool on Poliwrath) Watch for: Lv37 Moltres' Pokemon Power Firegiver, quick evolutions to Arcanine and Ninetales Courtney relies on a constant supply of energies for her Pokemon who have high energy requirements, and a few of which (like Arcanine and the Fossil Moltres) require the removal of energies for some of their attacks. She does this by relying on the Pokemon Power of her Legendary Moltres card as well as through the use of Energy Retrievals, Bill cards, and the Pokemon Trader Trainer (which she uses to find and play Moltres). There is no real way to prevent this, except perhaps through the use of Muk's Pokemon Power to stop Moltres' from functioning. However, by the time a Grimer has been evolved, it may be too late. Instead, a strategy involving pokemon cards that have attacks that involve energy removals can keep Courtney grabbing for energies. This will be especially useful on her Arcanine, who will not be able to keep up with your attacks since its own attack, Flamethrower, also requires the removal of a fire energy to work. If you couple these kinds of pokemon with Energy Removal Trainers, you'll really leave Courtney powerless to attack. Another thing to note, is that while a Pokemon like Arcanine is active and consuming an energy per turn, Courtney is unable to attach any energies to Pokemon on her bench (since she is constantly attaching energies to her active pokemon), leaving them to become prime targets for Gust of Wind Trainer cards. And not only do her benched pokemon usually lack energies, they also tend to have high energy costs associated with their attacks (both varieties of Moltres, as well as Arcanine and Ninetales require three fire energies in order to attack), so you will be met with no resistance for at least three turns of attacking. Also note that Courtney will stop attaching energies to her active Pokemon, and instead begin attaching energies to her benched Pokemon when it is clear her active Pokemon will be knocked out next turn (sometimes this results in situations where her Pokemon could have knocked out the opposing pokemon if an energy card was attached, such as in Arcanine's Flamethrower, but the energy is attached to a benched Pokemon instead). NOTE: Remember to save! Steve's Legendary Pokemon card is P10 Zapdos Lv68. HP: 100 Type: Electric Pokemon Power: Peal of Thunder - When you put Zapdos into play during your turn (not during set-up), do 30 damage to a Pokemon other than Zapdos chosen at random. (Don't apply weakness and resistance.) Attack: Big Thunder - Choose a Pokemon other than Zapdos at random. This attack does 70 damage to that Pokemon. Don't apply weakness and resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying weakness and resistance still happen.) Base damage: 70 Energy cost: 3 Lightning Energies Weakness: None Resistance: Fighting Retreat Cost: 2 Name: The Thunder Grand Master Steve Deck: Legendary Zapdos Deck Sample counter deck: 25x Lightning Energy 15x Fighting Energy 4x Voltorb 8x Psychic Energy 3x Electrode Lv35 3x Sandshrew 4x Electabuzz Lv35 3x Sandslash 2x Jolteon Lv29 4x Diglett 1x Zapdos Lv40 4x Dugtrio 1x Zapdos Lv64 3x Rhyhorn 2x Zapdos Lv68 3x Mr. Mime 3x Eevee 3x Mewtwo Lv53 4x Bill 2x Bill 2x Energy Retrieval 2x Energy Search 2x Switch 4x Energy Removal 3x PlusPower 2x Switch 3x Potion 2x Gust of Wind 1x Gambler 2x Pokemon Flute Prizes: 6 Pokemon types: Electric, Normal Recommended counters: Fighting types with electric resistance, Pokemon neutral to electric types with low energy costs and high base attack power (to combat Zapdos), Energy Removals, Mr. Mime, Gust of Winds, Pokemon Flute Watch for: Lv68 Zapdos' Pokemon Power Peal of Thunder, Electabuzz, Jolteon, PlusPower usage Steve's deck, like Courtney's, is quite true to type. This means that it has little diversity as far as typing is concerned and has a major weakness that can be exploited. In this case, that is fighting type attacks. Pokemon like Cubone, Rhyhorn, Diglett, Sandshrew and their evolutions are all good options for countering this deck, as they will do double damage to Steve's Pokemon and sport electric resistances. You'll also want to include other Pokemon that are neutral to electric type attacks though, as Steve will certainly attempt to block your fighting types with his various Zapdos cards, all of which sport no weakness and are resistant to Fighting. A Pokemon like Dragonair is good against them as it can use its Hyper Beam to keep them from getting up to attacking strength. A Pokemon like Scyther is a good candidate, but you need to make sure that it can be powered up quickly, as it will be a race to see who can power up their Pokemon first once Zapdos is placed on the scene. Oftentimes Steve's Zapdos will simply be sent out to stall while he powers up his benched Pokemon, so it might be wise to include Pokemon that can attack the bench, or perhaps you want to induce switches using Gust of Wind cards. One thing you should be wary of at all times, is Lv68 Zapdos' Peal of Thunder Pokemon Power, as well as its attack Big Thunder. Its Pokemon Power does 30 damage to a random Pokemon in play (it can hit either player)! This means you should try to keep as few Pokemon on your bench as possible. It also means that this is one of the few situations where the Pokemon Flute trainer card may actually be useful (it allows you to take a basic Pokemon card from your opponent's discard pile and put it on his/her bench). The more Pokemon on your opponent's Bench, the greater chance Zapdos' Pokemon Power will hit his Pokemon rather than yours. You also need to be very wary of this Zapdos' attack, Big Thunder. With three energies it does 70 damage to a random Pokemon in play! This is another reason to keep your benched Pokemon to a minimum. To combat this, you should keep lots of Defenders and Potions handy. You might also include Mr. Mime in your deck, as he is immune to all of Steve's Zapdos! (except the bench damage from Lv40 Zapdos' Thunderstorm) NOTE: Remember to save! Jack's Legendary Pokemon card is P03 Articuno Lv37. HP: 100 Type: Water Pokemon Power: Quickfreeze - When you put Articuno into play during your turn (not during set-up), flip a coin. If heads, the defending Pokemon is now paralyzed. Attack: Ice Breath - Does 40 damage to 1 of your opponent's pokemon chosen at random. Don't apply weakness and resistance for this attack. (Any other effects that would happen after applying weakness and resistance still happen.) Base damage: 40 Energy Cost: 3 Water Energies Weakness: None Resistance: Fighting Retreat Cost: 2 Name: Grand Master Jack, the Ice-man Deck: Legendary Articuno Deck Sample counter deck: 25x Water Energy 22x Lightning Energy 4x Seel 2x Double Colorless Energy 3x Dewgong 2x Pikachu Lv12 4x Lapras 2x Pikachu Lv14 2x Articuno Lv35 2x Raichu Lv40 2x Articuno Lv37 2x Raichu Lv45 3x Chansey 3x Magnemite Lv13 2x Ditto 3x Magneton Lv28 2x Professor Oak 4x Electabuzz Lv35 2x Pokemon Trader 4x Snorlax 3x Energy Retrieval 3x Bill 3x Switch 3x Switch 4x Scoop Up 3x Gust of Wind 1x Gambler 4x Potion 2x Full Heal Prizes: 6 Pokemon types: Water, Colorless Recommended counters: Electric Pokemon, Snorlax, Full Heals, Gust of Winds Watch for: Lv37 Articuno's Pokemon Power Quickfreeze, stalling with Chansey, Dewgong, status from Articuno and Lapras Jack's deck is a bit more defensive than the preceding decks, but it can still wreak havoc if you are not prepared to deal with it. Jack has a habit of sending out stalling Pokemon (or just sacrificing one) in order to build up his Bench. He especially loves to build up his Articuno. The best way to combat this is through the use of Gust of Wind cards to bring out his Articuno cards before they are able to be built up. You can also use Pokemon that can attack the bench, but these Pokemon don't tend to do enough damage for what is needed. What's worse, is that PlusPower cards do not work to increase damage done by attacks that can hit the bench; you can and should use them to attack Jack's Pokemon directly, though. You should use electric Pokemon against Jack, and while it might be tempting to use Fighting types against his normal types, it would be wise to stay away from them as his Articuno are resistant to fighting. Instead you can use a Pokemon like Snorlax, who is immune to Articuno's attempts at paralysis, Lapras' Confuse Ray, and Dewgong's Ice Beam. Electabuzz is a great Pokemon to use against Jack as it hits many of his Pokemon for double damage and will really hit his Articuno hard. Be sure to include lots of Switch or Full Heals in your deck to combat status, particularly from Lv37 Articuno's Quickfreeze, a Pokemon Power that activates when Articuno is played from the hand allowing for Jack to flip a coin and paralyze your active Pokemon if heads (he likes using Scoop Ups to keep trying his luck). Energy Removal cards can also come in handy, but don't rely on them too much as Jack already packs quite a few energies in his deck and also has three energy retrieval cards. NOTE: Remember to save! Rod's Legendary Pokemon card is P16 Dragonite Lv41. HP: 100 Type: Colorless Pokemon Power: Healing Wind - When you put Dragonite into play, remove 2 damage counters from each of your Pokemon. If a pokemon has fewer damage counters than that, remove all of them from that Pokemon. Attack: Slam - Flip 2 coins. This attack does 30 damage times the number of heads. Base damage: 30x Energy Cost: 3 Colorless Energies Weakness: None Resistance: Fighting Retreat Cost: 2 Name: Grand Master Rod, leader of the Grand Masters Deck: Legendary Dragonite Deck Sample counter deck: 20x Water Energy 17x Lightning Energy 4x Double Colorless Energy 6x Water Energy 3x Charmander 3x Squirtle 2x Charmeleon 3x Wartortle 2x Charizard 2x Pikachu Lv12 3x Magikarp 2x Pikachu Lv14 2x Gyarados 4x Raichu Lv40 2x Lapras 3x Magnemite Lv13 2x Kangaskhan 3x Magneton Lv28 4x Dratini 4x Electabuzz Lv35 3x Dragonair 2x Bill 2x Dragonite Lv41 1x Energy Search 2x Professor Oak 2x Energy Removal 2x Pokemon Trader 2x Switch 2x Pokemon Breeder 2x Pluspower 1x Energy Retrieval 2x Gust of Wind 1x Super Energy Retrieval 2x Full Heal 2x Switch 1x Gambler Prizes: 6 Pokemon types: Colorless, Fire, Water Recommended counters: Electric, Water, Energy Removals, Gust of Winds, PlusPowers, Switches, Full Heals, Pokemon that can attack the bench Watch for: Quick Evolutions, Confusion from Lapras This deck's theme is the use of dragon-like Pokemon. That said, they don't cover their weaknesses very well, and as basic Pokemon, many of the Pokemon here don't pose much of a threat. The basic types to watch out for are Lapras and Kangaskhan. Electabuzz works wonders against Lapras and can also handle Kangaskhan well, especially if Kangaskhan is waiting on energies to attack. Electric Pokemon also work well on Magikarp and Gyarados, while water types will make short work of Charmander and his evolutions. Including Pokemon that attack the bench is a good idea here, as Rod likes to send out Lapras and Kangaskhan to stall a bit while he builds his bench. Gust of Wind cards coupled with PlusPowers are perfect for taking out Rod's benched basics like Dratini and Magikarp that have such low HP. You'll be thankful you took them out early! You'll want to include some Switch or Full Heal cards to deal with Lapras' Confuse Ray. You might consider adding some Energy Removals as these will help you deal with Kangaskhan and the Dratini line (watch out for Dragonair's Hyper Beam, as it will remove one energy card in addition to doing 20 damage). Note that there are no fire energies in this deck, which means that Charmander and Charmeleon do not have access to their higher power attacks. If you take out Rod's basic Pokemon quickly this battle isn't particularly difficult. Just pay attention to what Rod is doing on his Bench and use trainers appropriately. NOTE: Remember to save! ............................................................................... ..RIVAL BATTLE #5.............................................................. It would seem that your rival Ronald has already inherited the legendary cards! The only way to win them back is to defeat him in the duel to end all duels! Name: Ronald Deck: Legendary Ronald Deck Sample counter deck: 20x Fire Energy 22x Lightning Energy 4x Double Colorless Energy 2x Pikachu Lv12 4x Eevee 2x Pikachu Lv14 4x Dratini 2x Raichu Lv40 3x Dragonair 2x Raichu Lv45 2x Dragonite Lv41 4x Electabuzz 2x Kangaskhan 4x Tauros 2x Moltres Lv37 2x Energy Retrieval 1x Zapdos Lv68 4x Energy Removal 1x Articuno Lv37 3x Switch 1x Vaporeon Lv29 3x PlusPower 1x Jolteon Lv24 3x Defender 1x Flareon Lv22 3x Gust of Wind 1x Gambler 4x Potion 2x Pokemon Breeder 3x Energy Removal 1x Pokemon Trader 1x Professer Oak 2x Scoop Up 4x Bill Prizes: 6 Pokemon types: Colorless, Fire, Electric, Water Recommended Counters: Electric and Colorless types (these are the only Pokemon that can be included that are not weak to Ronald's Pokemon or that Ronald's Pokemon have resistance to), Energy Retrievals, Energy Removals, Gust of Winds, Stalling, Pokemon that can attack the bench Watch for: The Pokemon Powers of the three legendary birds and Dragonite, Dragonair's Hyper Beam attack The variety of different types included in this deck makes it fairly difficult to counter. Eevee, Kangaskhan, Dratini and Dragonair are resistant to psychic, Dragonite and the three legendary birds carry fighting resistance, and then the three Eevee evolutions pose threats to Grass, Water, and Fire types. Because of this I would suggest choosing the only two types left that will not face any resistances and will not be weak to any of Ronald's Pokemon. These two types are Colorless and Electric. You might also consider adding some fighting types despite the resistances, but that's up to you. One major difficulty when facing this deck is the Energy Removal cards at Ronald's disposal as well as Dragonair's Hyper Beam, which will really keep you searching for energies. You definitely want to include a few energy retrieval cards as well as some Energy Removal cards of your own. They will definitely help to remove the double colorless energies that Ronald likes to attach to the Dratini line. As far as basic energies are concerned, Ronald is pretty much covered, as he will use Scoop Ups and Moltres in order to keep a steady supply of fire energies handy. You do want to note though, that because Ronald only uses Fire energies in this deck, Zapdos and Articuno cannot attack. He will still make use of their Pokemon Powers, oftentimes multiple times using his Scoop Up cards. There's one more thing you should note about Zapdos and Articuno; if Ronald sends them out as active Pokemon, or if you bring them out using a Gust of Wind, he will not attach energies to them, and will not use Scoop Up on them! While you could just take the free kill, you can also simply keep ending your turn until Ronald draws all of his cards! Just be sure not to use many Professor Oak or Bill cards. You can include some Gust of Wind cards in order to get these Pokemon active and then you'll be set from there! The Legendary Pokemon cards vanished from Ronald's deck! "No! My...my legendary Pokemon cards! No...! Noooooo!!!" Congratulations! You are a card master worthy of inheriting the legendary Pokemon cards! The legendary Pokemon cards recognize you as a true master! Now go through the hall of honor to receive the legendary cards! The 4 legendary pokemon cards float, glowing in the air! The legendary cards speak to you... "You who have inherited us... great card master! Our master must not forget: Inheriting us does not make you a Pokemon card master! A true Pokemon card master is one who has the skill to use the abilities of the different cards and the courage to duel powerful opponents. And most of all, the ability to love the Pokemon trading card game no matter what - win or lose! A new journey has just begun..." NOTE: In the back of the hall of honor is a Legendary Deck Machine. This deck machine has the configurations for the decks of the Grand Masters as well as for a "Mysterious Pokemon Deck". After claiming the Legendary Pokemon cards, the credits will roll (you can turn off the game at this time, if you wish, and the data will be saved) and then you will be returned to the pre-game menu screen. Upon loading the game you will find yourself in the laboratory of Dr. Mason, where he will inform you that he has installed a Challenge Machine in his laboratory. You can find more information on this machine as well as the Challenge Cup (which will now be held randomly at game start up) in the sections that follow. You can continue challenging the Grand Masters as many times as you wish in order to collect duplicate copies of the legendary cards. However, after obtaining the initial four cards, you will receive only one legendary card as a prize for each subsequent Grand Masters defeat. In addition, you can only collect a maximum of 2 of each card. The only way to obtain more than this is to trade over additional cards from another Pokemon TCG game cartridge. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 9. The Challenge Cup \\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\\\/ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// The Challenge Cup takes place in the Challenge Hall, and is held twice during the main game (after acquiring your 3rd and 5th medals), and then is held randomly upon game start up after defeating the Grand Masters and Ronald for the first time. (The Challenge Cup cannot be triggered at any other time before defeating the Grand Masters.) As the Challenge Cup may be triggered at game loading, you can use this fact to your advantage by saving just inside the Pokemon Dome (as it's closest to the Challenge Hall) and then resetting and loading your game until the Challenge Cup is being held. Soft resetting makes this process much faster. ("A"+"B"+ Start+Select on GBC's, "A"+"B"+"L"+"R"+Start+Select on GBA's.) The Challenge Cup will continue to be held until you reset the game or turn it off, meaning that engaging in other battles and then engaging in the Challenge Cup is possible. NOTE: The Challenge Cup can be triggered by loading the game from any location EXCEPT from within any room in the Challenge Hall itself. If you load the game from within the Challenge Hall, it will always be in the same condition that you saved it in. If when you saved there was no Challenge Cup going on, then there will never be one; the game must be loaded somewhere else. The Challenge Cup consists of a series of 3 battles back to back. All of the challengers will be random players from one of the eight Clubs. Your rival Ronald will also show up from time to time. After defeating him at the Pokemon Dome, this will be the only way to battle him again. He will always use his Invincible Ronald Deck. The Strange Life-Form Imakuni? may also make an appearance. The Club Leaders and the Grand Masters do not appear as challengers in the Challenge Cup. It is important to note that the challengers you will face in a given challenge cup are not pre-decided. You can use this fact to your advantage and save at particular points throughout the Challenge Cup to avoid battling specific opponents. A challenger is only set in stone if you save while he or she has reached the challenge table. For this reason, the only way to 'change out' the first challenger is to turn off the game and reset for another challenge cup. In order to be able to influence the second challenger you will need to save before battling the first. If you were to save after the first, the second challenger would be set in stone. To be able to manipulate the third challenger you will want to save after beating the first challenger. After choosing your save spot, to manipulate the challenger just power off and then reload the game. This process is rather long (as you'll have to battle the first challenger again if you want to change the second), but if you are having trouble with a particular challenger and don't want to build/modify another deck in order to beat him/her this may be an option. Just like in your battles with the Grand Masters, you will have full access to the menu in-between battles (if you so choose). I strongly advise you to take this time to save, construct, modify or choose decks according to your preferences. If you save before battling an opponent, you can begin the battle, see which challenger you are facing, and then turn off the game, reload, and then create a deck to counter your opponent (or simply choose a different deck you've already created). The prizes for winning the Challenge Cup include all the Promotional Cards EXCEPT the four legendary Pokemon cards (P02, P03, P10 & P16) and the two special Card Pop! Promo cards (Lv64 Venusaur & Lv15 Mew). This means that if you missed any promo cards in the main game (such as those given to you by your rival after defeating him or in the two main game Challenge Cups) you will be able to obtain them here. The prize you receive is random, however, so it will probably take a while if you are looking to get a specific card or cards. NOTE: If you save before defeating the last opponent, you can reset the game and defeat the opponent again to receive a different prize. This will save you some time if you are looking for a specific promo card. For your convenience, here is a list of the possible prizes: P01 Arcanine Lv34 P04 Pikachu Lv16 P05 Pikachu Lv16 P06 Flying Pikachu Lv12 P07 Surfing Pikachu Lv13 P08 Surfing Pikachu Lv13 P09 Electabuzz Lv20 P11 Slowpoke Lv9 P12 Mewtwo Lv60 P13 Mewtwo Lv60 P14 Mew Lv8 P15 Jigglypuff Lv12 P17 Imakuni? P18 Super Energy Retrieval To my knowledge, the Challenge Cup will be held indefinitely, and there is no limit to how many of a given Promo card you can receive. (The max you can hold onto is 99, so I imagine after that when you receive your 100th card it will simply be discarded.) \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 10. The Challenge Machine \\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// After defeating the Grand Masters for the first time and obtaining the Legendary Pokemon cards, Dr. Mason will bring you back to his lab and will show you his latest invention- the Challenge Machine. This machine offers a sort of "survival" challenge similar to the Battle Tower of the Pokemon RPG series of games. You will battle five challengers in a row using only one deck. You may not save in-between battles, modify your deck, or choose a different deck. Resetting the game in-between battles will reset the consecutive win counter to zero and return the player to the last save point. You may, however, turn the game off during a battle; a temporary save file will be saved and can be loaded without penalty. After winning the five battles, you will exit the Challenge Machine screen where you may now save or do whatever else you wish. You can come back to the Challenge Machine again at any time (even after saving/quitting) and battle another five challengers to increase your consecutive win streak. If you lose against a challenger your consecutive win score will be set to zero and you will exit the Challenge Machine screen. NOTE: Resetting the game before initiating a battle or in-between battles will reset the consecutive win counter. For example, if you had a consecutive win streak of five and had saved, and then used the Challenge Machine again and reset before battling challenger #6, the counter would be reset. So, if you must turn your game off, do so while in a battle with one of the challengers. Each challenger will have an icon next to their name that corresponds to the club they hail from. This symbol does NOT indicate the dominant type of Pokemon card in their deck! Refer to the strategies listed in section 7 (Club Battles) of this guide for tips on to how to defeat any of the opponents you come across and to see what sort of Pokemon are included in their decks. The first three challengers of the five will be a random Club Member from one of the eight different clubs. They will use the same decks as they usually do, but they will NOT use the same number of prize cards. Each of the first three battles will be for four prize cards as opposed to the usual amount that player chooses. The fourth challenger will be a random Club Leader and will be for six prizes, as usual. The fifth challenger is usually a Grand Master, but may sometimes be the Strange Life-form Imakuni? or Dr. Mason's Tech, Aaron. Regardless of the challenger, the duel will be played for six prizes. For tips on how to defeat the grand masters refer to section 8 (The Grand Masters), tips on defeating Imakuni? can be found in the introduction portion of section 7 (Club Battles). Strategies used to defeat Aaron will follow. NOTE: Both times I battled Aaron he used the Grass & Psychic Deck. It is possible that he could use a different deck, and so I have provided strategies for all three. If anyone has fought Aaron as a challenger in the Challenge Machine and has any information as to what deck he was using, please email me at [email protected] Name: Aaron Deck: Grass & Psychic Deck 12x Grass Energy 12x Psychic Energy 2x Weedle 1x Kakuna 1x Beedrill 2x Exeggcute 1x Exeggutor 2x Nidoran(F) 1x Nidorina 2x Paras 1x Parasect 1x Pinsir 3x Abra 2x Kadabra 3x Drowzee 2x Hypno 1x Jynx 1x Farfetch'd 1x Tauros 2x Bill 2x Potion 1x Full Heal 2x Energy Search 2x Gust of Wind Prizes: 6 Booster: None Pokemon Types: Grass, Psychic, Colorless Recommended Counters: Gastly & its evolutions and fire types, Full Heals, Gust of Winds, Energy Removals, Switches, Snorlax Watch For: Kadabra & Hypno, status infliction This deck is fairly harmless due to the excessive evolutionary lines, but there are a few you need to watch out for such as Abra's evolution to Kadabra and Drowzee's evolution to Hypno. Other than that, the main threat from this deck comes from status infliction like sleep from Exeggcute, Paras, and Parasect, paralysis from Abra & Pinsir, confusion from Drowzee and Nidorina, and then poison from Weedle and its evolutions. Full Heals and Switches will help with this. Alternatively, Snorlax doesn't mind the status and will resist the main threats of the this deck, Kadabra & Hypno. The fact that this is a mixed type deck means that including Energy Removals in your deck will put Aaron in a tight spot as far as energies are concerned. Gust of Winds can help to bring out Aaron's weaker Pokemon, or to take out threats before Aaron has a chance to energize them (this is especially true in Tauros' case). As far as typing is concerned, Gastly and its evolutions works well against other psychic types, and also deals super-effective damage to the likes of Nidoran(F) & Nidorina. A solid fire type can take care of most of the rest of this deck, leaving Farfetch'd & Tauros the only Pokemon not taking double damage from this combination of types. Name: Aaron Deck: Fire & Lightning Deck 10x Fire Energy 10x Lightning Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 2x Charmander 1x Charmeleon 1x Charizard 2x Growlithe 1x Arcanine Lv45 2x Ponyta 1x Rapidash 1x Magmar Lv24 1x Magmar Lv31 1x Pikachu Lv12 1x Pikachu Lv14 1x Raichu Lv40 3x Voltorb 1x Electrode Lv35 1x Electrode Lv42 2x Magnemite Lv13 1x Magneton Lv28 2x Rattata 1x Raticate 1x Professor Oak 2x Energy Search 2x Bill 1x Potion 2x PlusPower 2x Defender 2x Switch Prizes: 6 Booster: None Pokemon Types: Fire, Electric, Colorless Recommended Counters: Water types not weak to Electric, Fighting types (preferably those with electric resistance), Energy Removals Watch For: Pluspower/Defender usage, hard hitting attacks (Pikachu's Thunder Jolt, Charmander's Ember, Rattata's Bite) with small energy costs This deck is actually more dangerous than it looks if Aaron can draw the right energies at the right time. Though it is still plagued by the incredibly large range evolutionary lines (making it difficult for Aaron to get the right evolution cards, although he does sometimes succeed), and by being a dual-type deck. By making use of Energy Removals you should be able to keep Aaron's Pokemon at bay. One thing to watch out for though are the PlusPowers & Defenders in this deck. These can be particularly dangerous with the likes of Charmander and Pikachu, as it gives them a two for 40 energy card to base damage ratio (although this can backfire in Pikachu's case, as it doesn't appreciate taking double recoil damage). Magnemite also sports a similar attack, and Rattata can be powerful in the early game if you find yourself searching for energies and can't retaliate. Type-wise, water types not sporting an electric weakness work well against the fire types in this deck (Poliwag & its evolutions, Omanyte & Omastar, and Articuno). Fighting types with electric resistances do well against the other half of this deck, including the few colorless Pokemon in the mix (I'm thinking Cubone, Diglett, Sandshrew & Rhyhorn lines of evolution). Name: Aaron Deck: Water & Fighting Deck 12x Water Energy 10x Fighting Energy 2x Double Colorless Energy 2x Poliwag 1x Poliwhirl 1x Poliwrath 2x Seel 1x Dewgong 2x Staryu 1x Starmie 2x Goldeen 1x Seaking 2x Sandshrew 1x Sandslash 3x Machop 2x Machoke 1x Machamp 2x Rhyhorn 1x Rhydon 1x Hitmonchan 1x Professor Oak 3x Potion 2x Bill 2x Full Heal 2x Energy Search Prizes: 6 Booster: None Pokemon Types: Water, Fighting Recommended Counters: Scyther (and other grass types), Psychic types, pokemon with fighting resistance, Energy Removals, Gust of Winds, Switches Watch For: Sandshrew's Sand Attack, Machop & its evolutions, Hitmonchan The water half of this deck isn't particularly dangerous (until the evolutions are placed), but the fighting half can be rather dangerous (or just annoying) if you let them. You'll want to use grass types to take out Poliwag & its evolutions as well as the fighting types in this deck that are weak to grass. Running electric types against this deck is quite a gamble considering some of Aaron's Pokemon carry electric resistances and those fighting types that don't will still deal heavy double damage. Scyther is a perfect counter as it's a grass type and yet has a fighting resistance. Psychic types can be used to take care of the remaining fighting types that aren't weak to grass. Gastly & its evolutions are a good choice as they have fighting resistance. Energy Removals will be helpful to keep Aaron fumbling for energies (although he does have energy searches in his deck, so energy removals may not be as effective). Gust of Winds are great to bring out weaker pokemon, pokemon who are weak to yours, or Pokemon that have already taken damage. You definitely want to try and take care of Machop before it can evolve as it will only get tougher to take down. Hitmonchan is also a big threat and should be taken out ASAP. Switches will rid you of the effects of Sand Attack as well as Rhyhorn's Leer. As far as what sort of deck to use for the Challenge Machine in general, I have yet to find a truly spectacular one. Since you will be facing all sorts of opponents it's nearly impossible to construct a deck that will be able to counter each one without trouble. I will make some general recommendations, however. 1) Keep type match-ups, resistances, weaknesses, and retreat costs in mind. - Since you won't be able to control which opponents you will be fighting, it is important to include a variety of types in your deck, but not so many that you will be left searching for energy cards. Try to focus on Pokemon with helpful resistances, low energy costs & retreat costs, and if possible, no weaknesses. (Scyther, Gastly & evolutions, Dratini & evolutions) 2) Include a substantial amount of trainer cards in order to deal with varying situations. - This includes cards that help you to get rid of status like Full Heals and Switch cards. Including Pokemon in your deck that have low retreat costs helps as well as it conserves energies and allows you to use Switch cards on those Pokemon with higher retreat costs. If your Pokemon causes recoil damage consider including Potions & Defenders. Use Bills and Professor Oak cards to gain an advantage and to help you draw energy cards. Gust of Wind cards help you to get rid of stallers and bring out weaker, more vulnerable Pokemon. 3) Keep your strategy simple. - Try limiting your deck to a few evolutionary lines and include a good amount of Basic Pokemon in your deck. A strategy that is too complex may take too long to develop and will leave you a sitting duck for your opponent. You will be facing Club Leaders and Grand Masters, so keep this in mind when developing your deck. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 11. Trading & Promo Cards \\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// This section will detail the various in-game trades including information on when and how these trades are established. I will also provide a list of the Promotional Cards in the game and information on how they are acquired. I will start with a club by club listing of the trades offered and then will explain the trades done with Ishihara and then finally outline the rest of the Promotional Cards and the elusive Card Pop! cards. Rock Club: No trades take place in the Rock Club. Grass Club: The Lass in the Club Lobby near the bookcases wants to trade cards. She will trade with you three times, each time asking for a different card. This trading sequence can be completed at any time. Her first trade requires you to trade her an Oddish for her Vileplume. If you save and quit, she will then be looking for a Clefairy for which she will give you a P04 Pikachu Lv16 in return. Save and quit again and she will ask for a Charizard and will provide you with a Blastoise in return. Oddish and Clefairy appear in Mystery booster packs, while Charizard appears in Evolution boosters as well as in the Charmander & Friends starter deck. Electric Club: The Chap in the Club Lobby will trade you a P09 Electabuzz Lv20 if you give him an Electabuzz Lv35. This trade can be completed at any time. Electabuzz Lv35 can be found in Colosseum boosters and is also included in both the Squirtle & Friends and Bulbasaur & Friends starter deck. Science Club: No trades take place in the Science Club. Water Club: The Gal near the card table in the Club Lobby will trade you a P01 Arcanine Lv34 if you give her a Lapras. This trade can be completed at any time. Lapras can be found in Mystery booster packs and is also included in the Squirtle & Friends starter deck. Fire Club: The Lad near the bookshelves in the Club Lobby will tell you about the 'secret location' of a special card if you let him have all of your energy cards. The amount of energy cards that you have is not important (even though he may say you don't have enough energy cards), the only requirement is that you have three medals. After that he will allow you to hand over your cards. All you need is one 'free' energy card to give him (free energy cards are those not included in decks); so put all but one energy in decks and talk to him when you're ready. It's VERY important that you accept his offer. If you reject his offer he will storm off and you will not be able to talk to him again. After giving him your energies, he will inform you that there is a P11 Slowpoke Lv9 behind the picture next to the bookcases (if you try looking without giving him your energies, you won't find anything). If you did happen to miss out on this trade, you can receive this card as a Challenge Cup prize. Psychic Club: Pappy near the card table will give you a P13 Lv60 Mewtwo after you defeat Murray. You must have four medals before Murray will agree to battle you. Fighting Club: The Man at the card table in the Club Lobby is a collector looking for various cards. The order he'll ask for them in seems to be random, but it's always the same five cards: Rapidash, Omastar, Graveler, Parasect, and Weezing. You'll need to save and quit in between trades in order to get him to request another card. After giving him the final card he will give you get a P05 Pikachu Lv16. Rapidash and Graveler are found in Evolution booster packs, Parasect and Omastar are found in Mystery boosters, and Weezing is found in Laboratory booster packs. This trade can be competed at any time. Ishihara: Ishihara is a well-known Pokemon card collector who is said to have amassed thousands of cards and lives in the house on the cape (in the upper left hand corner of the map). When you first begin the game you'll find the house empty. In order to get Ishihara to appear, you must talk to one of three NPCs: the Woman in the Rock Club Lobby near the potted plant just as you enter, the Lad in the Science Club Lobby also near the potted plant, and the Chap in the Fire Club Lobby next to the PC. After speaking with Ishihara, save and quit the game, and then talk to one of the three NPCs mentioned above. They will inform you that Ishihara is looking to trade cards. The first card Ishihara will ask for is a Clefable, for which he will trade you a P07 Surfing Pikachu. If you save and quit again, and then talk to one of the three NPCs, they will tell you Ishihara is looking to trade yet again. Upon visiting Ishihara he will ask for a Ditto, for which he will trade you a P06 Flying Pikachu. Both Clefable and Ditto can be found in Laboratory booster packs. These two trades can be completed at any time. The final Ishihara trade can only be initiated after defeating the Grand Masters. Just talk to one of the three NPCs after receiving the Legendary Pokemon cards and they will inform you that Ishihara is looking to trade. This time he wants a Chansey (found in Colosseum boosters) and will provide you with a P08 Surfing Pikachu in return. After this final trade, Ishihara will disappear. If you talk to one of the three NPCs they will tell you that he's left to search for a very rare card. He will never return. Promotional Cards: Half of the promotional cards are obtained through the above trades, but the others require you to meet different conditions. I've mentioned these conditions in the main walkthrough, but I will post all Promos and how to collect them here for easy access. P01 Arcanine - Trade a Lapras to the Gal in the Water Club Lobby. P02 Moltres - Defeat the Grand Masters. P03 Articuno - Defeat the Grand Masters. P04 Pikachu - Trade a Clefairy to the Lass in the Grass Club Lobby. P05 Pikachu - Trade the Man in the Fighting Club Lobby the cards he wants. P06 Flying Pikachu - Trade Ishihara a Ditto. P07 Surfing Pikachu - Trade Ishihara a Clefable. P08 Surfing Pikachu - Trade Ishihara a Chansey. P09 Electabuzz - Trade the Chap in the Electric Club Lobby an Electabuzz Lv35. P10 Zapdos - Defeat the Grand Masters. P11 Slowpoke - Give the Lad in the Fire Club Lobby all your energies. P12 Mewtwo - Defeat Ronald in the first Challenge Cup. P13 Mewtwo - Talk to Pappy in the Psychic Club Lobby after defeating Murray. P14 Mew - Defeat Ronald in the second Challenge Cup. P15 Jigglypuff - Defeat Ronald after obtaining 2 medals. P16 Dragonite - Defeat the Grand Masters. P17 Imakuni? - Defeat Imakuni? for the third and sixth time. P18 Super Energy Retrieval - Defeat Ronald after obtaining 5 medals. NOTE: Promo cards P01, P04, P05, P06, P07, P08, P09, P11, P12, P13, P14, P15, and P18 can also be received as prizes in the Challenge Cup after defeating the Grand Masters. Card Pop!: In addition the above Promo cards, there are two Card Pop! Promo cards that can be received by Card Pop!-ing with other players. To do this, you will need two Game Boy Colors and two Pokemon TCG (GBC) game cartridges. Simply select Card Pop! on the Main Menu screen before loading the game and follow the on-screen instructions. Each of you will receive a random card. You cannot Card Pop! again with the same player, so you will need to Card Pop! with many players in order to obtain both promo cards. Alternatively, you can restart the game on one of the carts over and over again in order to Card Pop! again. I have received the following cards through Card Pop!: Gloom, Charmeleon, Jynx, Poliwag, Graveler, Growlithe, Rapidash, Nidoran(M). Here is the card info for the two Card Pop! cards, Venusaur and Mew: Venusaur Lv64, 100HP (Grass type) [Stage 2 Evolution - Evolves from Ivysaur] Pokemon Power: Solar Power - Once during your turn (before your attack), you may use this power. Your active Pokemon and the defending Pokemon are no longer Asleep, Confused, Paralyzed, or Poisoned. This power can't be used if Venusaur is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed. 4 Grass Energies - Mega Drain - 40 damage - Remove a number of damage counters from Venusaur equal to half the damage done to the Defending Pokemon (after applying Weakness and Resistance) (rounded up to the nearest 10). If Venusaur has fewer damage counters than that, remove all of them. Retreat cost: 2 energies, Weakness: Fire, Resistance: None. Seed Pokemon, Length: 6'7", Weight: 221lbs. The flower on its back catches the sun's rays. The sunlight is then absorbed and used for energy. Mew Lv15, 50HP (Psychic type) [Basic Pokemon Card] 1 Psychic Energy, 1 Colorless - Mystery Attack - Does a random amount of damage to the Defending Pokemon and may cause a random effect to the Defending Pokemon. Retreat cost: None, Weakness: Psychic, Resistance: None. New species Pokemon, Length: 1'4", Weight: 9lbs When viewed through a microscope, this Pokemon's short, fine, delicate hair can be seen. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 12. Advanced TCG Strategy Bank /\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// This section will go into detail on specific subjects relating to how the TCG is played, including detailed tips on when to use certain trainer cards, how to manage your energy cards, examples of more complex strategies involving more than one Pokemon or evolutionary line, and finally ways to counter certain strategies and Pokemon. Potions: While potions can be helpful to keep your Pokemon from being knocked out, it is possible to use them foolishly. Computer players will oftentimes do this. For example, a Machop with 30 damage is up against a Hitmonchan that has three energy cards attached to it. Using a Potion on the Machop in this situation is a waste of a trainer card. Regardless of whether the Potion is used or not, Machop can be knocked out by Hitmonchan's Special Punch on your opponent's next turn. Pay particular attention when using Potions while afflicted by a status condition. For example, a poisoned Machop with 30HP remaining against the same Hitmonchan would also find the Potion useless; the Machop would still get 10HP taken away after finishing its turn, giving it 40HP remaining, the perfect amount to be taken out by Hitmonchan's Special Punch. The only time a Potion is beneficial in a situation like this, is if it is used in tandem with another card, such as a Gust of Wind, to bring out a Pokemon that will not be able to knock it out, or if Energy Removal cards are used to make it impossible for the opponent to attack your active Pokemon with a finishing blow during the next turn. PlusPowers: PlusPowers are also easily wasted. Let's say a Machop was up against a Pinsir (60HP). Using one PlusPower here is useless because either way it will take three hits in order to knock out the Pinsir. The only time a strategy like this is viable is if you plan to switch out Machop with another Pokemon who can finish the opponent's active Pokemon, or if you plan to evolve Machop after having used the PlusPower (assuming Machoke/Machamp will now be able to knock the Pinsir out in less hits). Remember that a PlusPower will not add damage to a non-damaging attack (such as Fetch), or an attack that involves flipping coins where no damage is done (such as getting all four tails when attempting a Comet Punch). In addition, a PlusPower does not augment any sort of bench damage (yours or your opponent's). This includes attacks like Stretch Kick or Cat Punch or bench damage done by attacks like Selfdestruct. However, any recoil damage is augmented, so a tails flip for Electabuzz's Thunderpunch will deal 20 damage in recoil rather than 10, and will also deal 40 damage to the opponent rather than 30. The effects of PlusPowers take place after weakness is taken into account but before resistance is taken into account. So if you use Pikachu's Thunder Jolt on Sandshrew with a Pluspower attached, you will do 10 damage. However, if Sandshrew has a PlusPower attached and uses Sand Attack, it would do 30 damage, not 40. Defenders vs Potions: Defenders can function to block more damage than Potions can heal in certain situations. For example, if a Magnemite with a Defender attached uses Selfdestruct against a Growlithe with full HP, the Defender will prevent 20 damage of recoil, leaving Magnemite with 20HP. Since the Defender remains until the end of the opponents next turn, it will also block the 20 damage from Growlithe's Flare attack. In this way it has blocked a total of 40 damage, where a Potion would not have sufficed at all in this case; Magnemite would have been knocked out after using Selfdestruct, and then the Potion would have removed 20 damage from your new active Pokemon, who received Growlithe's Flare attack. You should also note that Defenders can be attached to benched Pokemon, and I'm quite sure that the computer opponents cannot detect this. They will attack benched Pokemon with a defender attached with a Stretch Kick even if there are other benched Pokemon that do not have defenders attached. A defender card is also carried over to the bench if the active Pokemon it is attached to retreats or is sent to the bench by the effect of an attack or a Trainer card. Gust of Winds: If you're not careful, you can easily waste a Gust of Wind trainer card by bringing in the wrong benched Pokemon. For example, bringing in a Pokemon that resists your active Pokemon, or bringing in a Pokemon with no retreat cost that can simply be switched back out next turn. You also need to take into account the amount of energies on all Pokemon in play and the attacks of the Pokemon you are considering switching out and the one you are planning on switching in. For example, if it's the first turn of battle and you are facing a Hitmonchan with your Machop, would you rather deal 60 damage before being knocked out by Hitmonchan, or switch in a weaker Pokemon, but allow Hitmonchan to be built up on the bench? I would probably take out Hitmonchan as he is a greater threat and can deal more damage per turn than a weaker Pokemon like Mankey who will deal considerably less and is easy to take care of any time he becomes active. Scoop Ups: While you might think Scoop Ups are limited to just saving Pokemon from fainting, they can actually serve many other specific purposes. Scoop Ups can be used in place of Switch Cards and Full Heals, the only downside being that any energies attached to the Pokemon are removed. Scoop Ups are also quite helpful when you are using the Legendary bird cards (whose Pokemon Powers are activated upon playing the cards), or are fighting an opponent who is using the cards. Scoop Up will allow you to replay these cards if you're using them yourself, and it gives you a certain advantage against Zapdos. Both Zapdos' Pokemon Power and his attack do damage to a random Pokemon in play, so the less you have in play, the more likely Zapdos' attack will damage your opponent. In addition, if you're the one using Zapdos, the same rule applies; you want to have as few Pokemon on the Bench as possible, and Scoop Ups help with this. An alternative to the Scoop Up card is the Mr. Fiji trainer card, however it is only limited to benched Pokemon and places Pokemon cards (and all cards attached to them) into the deck rather than into the hand. Pokemon Flute: While seemingly useless, this card does have a few uses, particularly in the GBC game, where it makes a great counter to P10 Zapdos. This card can be used to place more basic Pokemon on the opponent's bench, so that it becomes more likely for Zapdos to attack them using his Big Thunder attack and Peal of Thunder Pokemon Power. You can even bring Zapdos itself back into play if you feel luck is on your side. An alternative use for this card is to bring back weak basic Pokemon cards you've already knocked out. This is usually best coupled with a Gust of Wind card or a Pokemon that knows Whirlwind or a similar attack. Energy Cards: Proper energy card attachment and discard is an essential part to successful TCG play. It's important to know when to attach energies and which Pokemon to attach them to. There are certain instances where it is beneficial for you to allow a Pokemon to be sacrificed in order for you to build up one of your benched Pokemon. An example: Let's say that your opponent has just finished the first turn of the match. His Machop has just attacked your Ponyta for 20 damage. You have a few fire energy cards in your hand and a Charmander on the bench. Ponyta can't attack this turn, because it needs two energy cards to attack. While you could attach an energy card to it and retreat it, this would leave Charmander with no energy cards and unable to attack. In this case, rather than attempt to retreat Ponyta, you should attach an energy card to Charmander and let Ponyta faint. In this way, you can attach another energy card to Charmander next turn, allowing it to use its Ember attack for a substantial amount of damage against Machop. So now, instead of fighting a losing battle with Charmander, you have the upper-hand. Another aspect of energy card use I would like to comment on is that of discarding cards, specifically involving the discard of double colorless energies. When you retreat a Pokemon with a double colorless energy card attached, pay close attention to how you discard the energies. Because of the way the retreat system is set up, it is possible to overpay a retreat cost using double colorless energies! This happens because double colorless energies count for two energies, but cannot be split. So, if you try to pay a one energy retreat cost with a double colorless energy, the double colorless energy card must be removed entirely, causing you to remove two energies instead of one! To avoid this, always remove single energy cards when possible (so long as they equal the amount of energy cards you need to discard). Be careful though, as always discarding single energies first can still trip you up! For example, if you are trying to retreat a Nidoqueen, which requires three energies to be discarded in order to retreat, and it has two grass energy cards and one double colorless energy card attached to it, you should remove the double colorless energy first, and then one grass energy so you're still left with one grass energy attached. Removing the two grass energies first would be a mistake because you still need to pay one more energy to retreat, and since the double colorless cannot be split, you'll need to discard it as well. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Now that I've commented on a few trainer cards and strategies for their use, I'm going to move on to discussing combinations of cards, both Pokemon cards and trainer cards as well as combinations of Pokemon Cards and Pokemon Powers. I will provide counterstrategies as well in case you have to face these combos yourself! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Venusaur + Exeggutor: One of the most common match-ups is that of Venusaur and Exeggutor, and for good reason! Exeggutor is capable of dealing incredible amounts of damage due to the fact that its Big Eggsplosion allows one coin to be flipped for each energy card attached and then does 20 damage for each heads flipped. Venusaur comes into the equation with its Pokemon Power Energy Trans, which allows you to move as many Grass Energies to and from your Pokemon as often as you'd like during your turn, thus making it quite easy and quick to power up Exeggutor to ridiculously dangerous levels. Counterstrategies: Energy Removals and Super Energy Removals will hurt this strategy to an extent, but if Exeggutor already has a large amount of energy cards attached, removing one isn't going to hurt very much. Just about any fire Pokemon will pose a threat to both of these Pokemon, but Pokemon like Magmar Lv31 are particularly useful. Its Smokescreen attack will keep Exeggutor attacking only half of the time, regardless of how many energies it has attached. Its Smog attack takes out half of Exeggutor's HP and has the chance to poison. Even Charmander can take both Venusaur and Exeggutor out in two turns (although it will only last one if either is ready to attack). As for Venusaur, he falls in one hit to the many fire Pokemon who use a Flamethrower- like attack of at least 50 damage. This makes Charmeleon, Charizard, Ninetales Lv32 (and potentially Ninetales Lv35 if the flipping goes right), Arcanine Lv45 (and Arcanine Lv34 if it has any damage on it), Magmar Lv24, Flareon Lv28, and both Moltres particularly devastating cards. If the Venusaur was evolved with a Pokemon Breeder, Mew Lv23's Devolution Beam can be particularly useful, as it will turn Venusaur into a Bulbasaur, thus removing its ability to use its Pokemon Power (very useful if your opponent doesn't have any more Pokemon Breeders/Ivysaur, as he will need to draw one before being able to evolve Bulbasaur again). Mew Lv8's Neutralizing Shield makes it a great counter to both Venusaur and Exeggutor as it negates damage from evolved Pokemon. Mr. Mime can help as well, as he doesn't take any damage from Venusaur and will only take 20 damage maximum from Exeggutor (and the more energy cards attached, the less of a chance he will take any damage!). Mewtwo Lv53 can also be used, as his Psychic attack does 10 more damage for each energy card on the defending Pokemon (7 or more energy cards means 1-HKO!). Another Pokemon to consider is Pidgeot Lv40 and its Hurricane attack. If all your opponent's energies are attached to Exeggutor, this attack will put them all back in your opponent's hand! Since your opponent can only attach one energy per turn, you have put him or her at an incredible disadvantage. Chansey is also worthy of mention, as it can stall with Scrunch until it can use Double-Edge, at which point it can take out Exeggutor in one hit. Notes: Venusaur's Pokemon Power doesn't limit it to just being used with Exeggutor; it works well with many grass Pokemon with high energy costs, and can open up spots in your deck that may have otherwise been filled with energy cards. Exeggutor is also versatile and can work in just about any deck as a main attacker since its attack does not require a specific type of energy card. This makes it a good partner with both Blastoise and Alakazam. Blastoise's Pokemon Power- Rain Dance, will allow you to attach as many Water Energies to Exeggutor as you have in your hand, and Alakazam can keep Exeggutor damage free as he attacks, turning him into quite a tank. Leech Life-type attacks and PlusPowers: Pokemon like Butterfree, Zubat, Golbat, Venonat, and Kabutops have attacks that both heal and deal damage. What's more, the amount they heal depends on how much damage they deal. By using PlusPowers you'll deal more damage and heal more damage making your Pokemon even harder to take down! Counterstrategies: The only way to hamper this strategy is to deal high damage blows so that the opponent can't heal stall, use status to keep them from attacking, use attacks that the reduce the damage of your opponent's attacks (like Persian's Pounce), or perhaps use Mr. Mime, although he will still take damage equaling 20 or less; not only that, since Mr. Mime's attack varies in the amount of damage it does depending on the amount of damage counters on the defending Pokemon, it may be quite difficult (even impossible) to take out the opponent. Selfdestruct + Defender & Potions: The point of this strategy is to take out (at least) two of your opponent's Pokemon with one of your own. The Pokemon to use this sort of strategy with are Magnemite Lv13 or perhaps Weezing. Magneton and Golem are options, but they require at least two Defenders to be attached in order keep them from fainting after using the attack. I would venture to say that Magnemite Lv13 is the ideal candidate since it can deal heavy damage early in the game, while Weezing needs to evolve from Koffing and will likely take damage in that process, thereby requiring a potion and defender to survive the attack. Potions also help the turn after using Selfdestruct, and if you have two Defenders, you can potentially use Selfdestruct 3 times in a row! Even Electabuzz has trouble dealing that much damage in 3 turns and surviving it! Counterstrategies: What makes this strategy particularly difficult to counter in the early game is the fact that with a Defender attached, a Pokemon like Magnemite, even with 20HP left, requires 40 damage to be done in order to be knocked out! Not many Pokemon can do that kind of damage, especially if the game recently started and Pokemon have not had the time to be built up with energies. Countering this strategy then, will take a bit of luck and a good amount of HP! Snorlax makes a good choice, as he can take two Selfdestructs from Magnemite, and isn't phased by its Paralysis-inducing Thunder Wave or Weezing's Smog. In addition, if Snorlax manages to paralyze either Pokemon with its attack, it will keep them from using yet another Selfdestruct the next turn. Mr. Mime is a good counter as it's completely immune from Selfdestructs, but doesn't like being paralyzed by Magnemite's Thunder Wave or poisoned by Weezing's Smog. Alternatively you could simply use a Pokemon with Electric resistance. Sandshrew makes a particularly potent counter with its Sand-Attack. Moltres + Fire Pokemon: As you probably noticed when battling Courtney and Ronald in the Pokemon Dome, this combination of cards works amazingly to keep you stocked with energies. Since many fire Pokemon have attacks similar to Flamethrower, requiring you to discard one or more fire energies in order to use the attack, combining these cards with P02 Moltres Lv37 will give you a unique advantage. Plus, Moltres does not have a weakness, AND it carries a fighting resistance, something no other fire Pokemon can boast about. You can improve this strategy further by including Scoop Up cards in your deck so that you can keep reusing Moltres' Pokemon Power, and by including Pokemon Trader Trainer Cards or Computer Searches in your deck so you can easily locate Moltres or any other card you happen to be looking for. Using Moltres in any deck where Fire energy cards are needed will allow you to use less Fire Energy cards in the deck, since you don't have to rely on drawing them individually. Including some Energy Retrieval cards wouldn't hurt though! Counterstrategies: Countering this strategy is pretty difficult. The only way to stop it completely is through the use of Muk's Pokemon Power Toxic Gas, which negates the effect of all other Pokemon Powers. Other strategies might be to use lots of Energy Removals and Super Energy Removals, and to knock out Moltres so that it cannot be Scooped Up and reused. Mr. Mime is nice for this as it won't take damage from Moltres' Dive Bomb attack. Another strategy might be to use the Pokemon Flute to fill your opponent's bench so that Moltres cannot be played. Of course, if your opponent is already using Scoop Ups in his deck, this plan of attack is fairly useless as he can just scoop up a benched pokemon to put Moltres down. Blastoise + Water Pokemon: Blastoise is the focal point of the dreaded Rain Dance deck, whose power has been exaggerated to mythical proportions. This is the type of Deck Amy uses, and is feared for good reason. Blastoise's Pokemon Power Rain Dance allows you to attach as many water energy cards per turn as there are in your hand. (You are still only allowed to attach one of any other kind of energy.) The idea behind this strategy is to stall until you can evolve Squirtle into Blastoise and then attach a great amount of energies quickly to either Blastoise itself or to powerful Pokemon like Dewgong, Gyarados, or Articuno so you can immediately use powerful attacks that would otherwise take many turns to charge up. Counterstrategies: This strategy can be stopped completely through the use of Muk or Aerodactyl's Pokemon Powers. Aerodactyl will halt evolution while Muk stops all other Pokemon Powers from working. You'll find that one of these two pokemon work to stop many strategies. Muk might be a slightly better choice in this case as some Water pokemon are weak to grass (like Poliwag and its evolutions) might be included in a water deck of this type. Mr. Mime comes through once again, as it's immune to the high hitting attacks characteristic of this type strategy. Watch out though, for if Lv37 Articuno uses its Quickfreeze and paralyzes you, your pokemon power will no longer be functional. Electric types will also make short work of the water types in this deck, with Gust of Winds a good way to get Squirtle out into play quickly so he can be taken out before he is able to evolve. Energy Removals and Super Energy Removals are always a great option. Hyper Beam/Whirlpool + Energy Removals: This strategy is quite annoying, and quite deadly once the Hyper Beams get going. The idea here is to keep removing energy cards from your opponent's pokemon in order to keep it from attacking. Counterstrategies: This is a great strategy, with one flaw- all the pokemon that can use Hyper Beam (Golduck & Dragonair) and Whirlpool (Poliwrath) are evolutions. If you stop their significantly weaker basic pokemon forms, defeating this kind of deck becomes quite simple. Aerodactyl should be mentioned right off the bat, as he'll stop the evolutions outright. However, he is an evolution card himself, so you'll have to work on evolving him before you can halt the energy removal strategy. Other good options are pokemon with attacks similar to Sand Attack or a paralyzing move, and pokemon with low energy costs. Where energy removal strategy gets dangerous is on pokemon with high energy costs and high retreat costs. If you have a pokemon like Snorlax out, he's a sitting duck unless you've already powered him up. If he has two energy cards or less on him then you'll never power him up or be able to retreat him with the constant energy loss. Even with three energy cards attached, you'd have to pray for a double colorless on the next turn. Using Energy Removal cards yourself can be a good way to stop the onslaught of Hyper Beams as Dragonair usually takes double colorless energies, and Golduck and Poliwrath require water energies specifically so removing those could give you a few turns to fight back while your opponent searches for more energies himself. Energy Retrievals can also help combat this, but if you can never charge up your pokemon to the point where it can attack, become useless. Stalling: Many pokemon are capable of doing this, the most dangerous being Chansey and to a lesser extent Cubone and Graveler. Pokemon with stalling attacks are usually not meant to be attackers (although in the case of the pokemon previously mentioned, they certainly can be), but are meant to stall the opponent until the player has had time to build up his/her bench. Counterstrategies: The specific counterstrategy employed depends on the pokemon using the stalling move, and the particulars of the stalling move itself. Some stalling attacks prevent only damage, some prevent a limited amount, while some prevent all damage and effects of attacks, or simply prevent one from attacking outright. Attacks that prevent damage but not effects of attacks include Metapod & Kakuna's Stiffen, Squirtle and Wartortle's Withdraw, Shellder's Hide in Shell, and Chansey's Scrunch. These attacks can only be nullified by switching out the Pokemon that used them. Since they don't block other effects of attacks, you should always see if you can poison/paralyze etc. the pokemon. Other attacks, like Onix and Graveler's Harden only block up to 30 damage. Any damage over 30 is not blocked or minimized at all. Other pokemon minimize damage by a certain amount regardless of the amount of damage received. This includes attacks like Lv16 Pikachu's Growl, Cubone's Snivel, Clefable's Minimize, Jigglypuff's Expand, and Persian's Pounce. These attacks are not particularly powerful, as they don't reduce too much damage (no more than 20), but should still be paid attention to, specifically in Cubone's case, as his Rage attack's damage increases based upon the number of damage counters on him. Also note that in the case of Cubone and Persian, benching either the attacking or defending pokemon nullifies the preventative damage effect. Then come the Agility attacks on Rapidash, Seadra, Lv40 Raichu and Flying Pikachu's Fly attack. These attacks prevent all damage and effects of attacks done to the pokemon that manages to use them. The only way to get around these attacks is to bench the pokemon that uses them. Finally come attacks like Marowak's Bone Attack and Rhyhorn's Leer. Both keep the opponent's pokemon from attacking. The only way to nullify the effects of these attacks is to retreat the affected pokemon. To summarize, you'll want to include lots of Gust of Wind cards and Switch cards in your deck in order to get around these stalling attempts. Another strategy is to use attacks that hit the bench. Hitmonlee is probably best for this, as he poses a significant threat to any Chansey or normal type that tries to come out and stall, doesn't have to worry about being dealt double damage from other fighting types like Pikachu or Raichu might when trying to attack the bench, and has no problem dealing with Onix or Graveler's Harden attacks. Alakazam + (Tank): This strategy relies on Alakazam's Pokemon Power "Damage Swap" in order keep the attacking pokemon free from damage either by moving this damage to other members of the bench or onto itself. The damage holders are usually basic pokemon with high HP such as Chansey or Kangaskhan. This strategy usually involves the use of Trainer cards such as Scoop Up, Pokemon Center, or Super Potion in order to get rid of damage counters as they build up on the benched pokemon. Alternatively, Alakazam can be the one attacking, while still diverting damage counters onto benched pokemon. Keeping Alakazam on the bench however, provides some security that it will not be knocked out, which is vitally important considering it is absolutely essential to this strategy. Counterstrategies: The best thing one can do against this setup is to simply knock out Abra before it is able to evolve. Aerodactyl is an option, but you'll be racing against your opponent to evolve it before they evolve Abra. As Abra has such little HP it should be easy to knock out, but chances are your opponent will keep it on the bench while a staller like Chansey is sent out to soak up damage. Gust of Wind cards will be essential in bringing Abra out to fight. If you don't manage to defeat Abra before it evolves, pokemon like Snorlax or Lickitung are great counters. Snorlax resists Alakazam's potential confusion from its Confuse Ray attack. In addition, it deals the perfect amount of damage to knock out Abra, and resists the paralysis from its Psyshock, not to mention it has a psychic resistance and can paralyze, which will prevent Alakazam from being able to use its pokemon power to manage damage. Lickitung is advantageous in that it can confuse, which will severely hurt Alakazam, who will be hard-pressed to retreat and will take heavy damage if it tries to attack you. Unfortunately, Lickitung's other attack can cause paralysis, which will override the confusion. While Mr. Mime may look like a good candidate to pick off pokemon holding damage counters, it doesn't hold up well against Abra and doesn't like being confused, as Confusion negates its Pokemon Power. Strange Behavior: Slowbro's Pokemon Power "Strange Behavior" is similar to Alakazam's in that it allows you to move damage counters around. However, in this case, the damage counters can only be moved to Slowbro. This makes Slowbro an alternative to Alakazam, albeit much more limited. Slowbro functions best on the bench, since as a damage holder he can't really stand on his own to attack. In this strategy Potions, Super Potions, and Pokemon Center cards are necessary to keep Slowbro going. So while it may be easier to get Slowbro into play, he isn't going to be as much as a game changer as Alakazam. Counterstrategies: Slowpoke may have more HP than Abra, but it's a sitting duck when it's not safely sitting on the bench. Gust of Winds are essential to getting Slowpoke off the bench, and if it has already been evolved to Slowbro, it shouldn't be a problem to take out as it most likely has a hefty amount of damage counters on it. An alternative would be to use pokemon that can attack the bench, as Slowbro will be less capable of holding onto damage counters since it needs to be able to take damage directly from your attacking pokemon as well as absorbing indirect damage. Gengar + Hypno: In the same vein of damage counter manipulation comes this interesting combination. This strategy has Hypno as the attacker while Gengar sits on the bench using its Pokemon Power "Curse". Hypno slowly adds damage to the bench, while Gengar can shift it around depending on the changing battle situation. Gengar can move the bench damage done by Hypno's Dark Mind attack onto the opponent's active pokemon, or can focus damage on the bench. And then if necessary, Gengar can attack with a Dark Mind attack of its own. Counterstrategies: Unfortunately there's not much that can be done to stop this combination once it gets going, other than the use of Muk's pokemon power to stop Curse from functioning. This is a rather poor counterstrategy as Muk is weak to psychic attacks so it will have to keep away from Gengar and Hypno anyways. So your best bet would probably be keeping your opponent from evolving Gastly and Drowzee to this stage in the first place. A pokemon with psychic resistance would do well here, and a Gust of Wind would help bring the pokemon out and active. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Now that I've covered strategies involving multiple cards, I'm going to focus on how you can deal with specific threats. While there are certain cards that are more powerful and useful than others, they are always brought into balance by other cards or combinations of cards. I hope to explain this here. You'll want to note that I don't cover all of the pokemon cards here. For the sake of brevity, I've limited myself to the more powerful evolutions. Many other evolutionary lines and basic pokemon fill other niches, and are certainly worthy of use, but I'm leaving it up to you to find them and experiment with your favorite pokemon! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Venusaur: Venusaur is coveted for its Pokemon Power Energy Trans, often used in conjunction with Exeggutor. However it can stand very well on its own, with Solar Beam dealing heavy damage and allowing for a one hit KO of many basic Pokemon. Due to its Pokemon Power, which allows it to move grass energy cards around at will, Trainer cards like Energy Removal become less effective. If you can, a fire type that can deal heavy damage will do well here. Magmar Lv24 with its Flamethrower attack comes to mind. Pokemon that can afflict a status condition are also helpful, and you can use these in conjunction with Energy Removals as Venusaur's Pokemon Power does not function when it is asleep, confused, or paralyzed. Poison is worth a mention, simply because it will wear Venusaur out even if you have to sacrifice multiple pokemon in order to do so. Magmar Lv31 is great for this, as it can poison and then stall using its Smokescreen attack all while dealing double damage. Mr. Mime is always worth a mention, as Venusaur is helpless against it, due to Mr. Mime's Pokemon Power Invisible Wall. Somewhat less effective is Lv8 Mew and its Pokemon Power Neutralizing Shield. While its Pokemon Power will also negate the damage done by Venusaur's attack, Mew is not as powerful offensively and it will take as many as 10 turns before Venusaur is knocked out. Mr. Mime will only take four turns assuming Venusaur doesn't have any damage counters on him already. As always, Muk and Aerodactyl are always good to mention as their Pokemon Powers can stop other Pokemon Powers from working or prevent evolution, respectively. Due to Solar Beam's high base damage, it would also be a good idea to include some Defenders in your deck to prevent basic pokemon with low HP from dying in one blow. Muk: Muk's main claim to fame is its Pokemon Power Toxic Gas which negates all other Pokemon Powers. While its sludge attack can be rather potent, it will probably end up sitting on the bench to make use of its annoying Pokemon Power. To this end, you'll want to include pokemon that can attack the bench in your deck, or a Gust of Wind to bring Muk out to play. As for specific counters, both Lv53 and Lv60 Mewtwo cards are great. Mewtwo Lv53 will discourage the attachment of energy cards on Muk and if he does have enough to attack, Mewtwo will knock Muk out in a one-hit KO, as its Psychic attack increases in damage as the amount of energy cards of the opponent's active pokemon increases. Mewtwo Lv60 can also take Muk out in one hit using its Psyburn attack. Kadabra is also capable of a one-hit KO, but is an evolution card. Just about any psychic type does the job well, Mr. Mime being an exception, as it's no longer protected by its Pokemon Power, Invisible Wall, and if Muk poisons it, Mr. Mime is out in one hit. Exeggutor: With less HP and a higher retreat cost than Venusaur, Exeggutor has to watch out for double damaging fire attacks even more. Anything with Flamethrower is a great counter and will knock Exeggutor out instantly. Due to the fact that Exeggutor will probably be carrying quite a few energy cards, Mewtwo Lv54 is a good option, as is Mew Lv23. Mr. Mime is always great, as it resists everything but minimum damage (20) from Exeggutor, and the more energy cards Eggy has attached, the less of a chance Mr. Mime is in for any trouble. Scyther: Scyther is one of the most coveted cards of the Pokemon TCG world, due to its many advantages. It's a basic pokemon with high HP, no retreat cost, a great resistance, and it can be used in any deck! This is hard to counteract, admittedly, but it can be done. First of all, there's the use of fire types which will pose a surefire threat. Pokemon with Flamethrower will take Scyther out in a hurry, but you have to be quick about it, as Scyther can flee to the bench with no problems. To prevent this, you might look into a move that can cause paralysis or confusion. Any Pokemon with Supersonic or Confuse Ray have a chance of dealing confusion, however the only sure way to do it is Gloom's Foul Odor. Koffing's Foul Gas and Venomoth's Venom Powder are also worth a mention. Because Double Colorless energy cards are often attached to Scyther, Energy Removals and Super Energy Removals are great assets to have, but since Scyther has no retreat cost, it can always retreat to the bench to avoid attack. You can use Gust of Winds to get him back out or you can simply attack him on the bench using attacks that can reach him there. In this case, Lv.14 Pikachu is an option as is Lv45 Raichu as an evolution. Charizard: Charizard is the one of the most overrated cards in Pokemon TCG history. The reason being that its Fire Spin attack knocks out every single card in one hit, the exceptions being another Charizard, Chansey, Mr. Mime, and Mew Lv8 (the last two due to their pokemon powers). While Charizard may seem like a beast, the reality is that the energy cost for its single attack is outrageously high, not to mention the fact that it requires one to discard two energy cards every time it's used. This means that Charizard can only attack every other turn unless you have a double colorless energy handy. To stop Charizard in his tracks, use an energy removal or an attack like Hyper Beam that removes an energy card as an additional effect of the attack. This makes Poliwrath and Golduck great counters as they'll deal double damage to Charizard with their attacks and can remove an energy card at the same time. Muk can render Charizard useless (depending on the deck construction) since some players may be relying on its Pokemon Power to change the energy cards attached to it to the fire type. Mr. Mime laughs in the face of Charizard's fiery onslaught as its Invisible Wall Pokemon Power negates the damage. Water types are great against Charizard. Many can take it out in two hits, some in one hit. Water Pokemon with attacks that can paralyze it are great. This includes Pokemon like Articuno, Dewgong, and Gyarados. Horsea and Seadra make particularly good counters since both of them have attacks that can help them avoid damage. Your best bet against Charizard though,is probably to take him out in an earlier form. Ninetales Lv32: Ninetales is a slightly less powerful version of Charizard, and in some ways can be considered the better of the pair. While it doesn't have as much HP, it does have two attacks rather than one. And while it can't boast a Pokemon Power like Charizard's, it still has a very unique attack- Lure, which allows its trainer to switch out the opponent's active pokemon with another on the bench. (Perhaps this is what that Pokemon Flute is supposed to be used for? Put a bunch of easy to kill pokemon on your opponent's bench and then have Ninetales lure them to their doom.) Fire Blast, its other attack, while not as powerful, still manages to knock out all but about 12% of all cards available in the game. It still requires four fire energy cards to use its attack, but you only have to discard one to use the attack. So, if you have a steady supply of energies, you can just keep using the attack turn after turn, something you can't do with Charizard. Now, to combat Ninetales, you're going to want to rely even more on status inducing attacks. This is because with its Lure attack, Ninetales can send any potential threats back to the bench. Any status will work fine really, although sleep is perhaps the least preferred as there is a chance Ninetales could wake up and turn your active Pokemon into poke-toast. Water types are recommended, of course, and with less HP there are plenty more pokemon that pose a threat to Ninetales that Charizard didn't have to worry as much about. Pokemon like Starmie and Kingler which can now 2KO or OHKO Ninetales, respectively. You might also note, that since the damage Ninetales deals is 1/3 less than Charizard's, it's now more likely that the application of a Defender could stop it from OHKO'ing your pokemon, so be sure to keep them handy. And lastly, I must mention Mr. Mime and Mew Lv8 whose Pokemon Powers will completely negate damage from Ninetales. Arcanine Lv45: This Arcanine is another powerhouse in the same vein as its fire brethren Ninetales and Charizard. Both of its attacks pack a punch, but both deal some sort of recoil whether it be actual damage or the removal of an energy in order to be used. It's definitely a force to be reckoned with, with its high HP. Like Charizard (and unlike Ninetales) however, it has a high retreat cost, which you can use to your advantage with Energy Removal trainers that will not only keep it from retreating, but attacking as well. Since Arcanine is so similar to Ninetales and Charizard, I would suggest the same sort of tactics to defeat it, and rather than realist them, you can just reference them above. Magmar Lv31: Magmar is unique among the fire types in that it offers a great status inducing attack and has access to Smokescreen. Both are very potent and make Magmar a threat very early on in a pokemon duel. It has decent HP and is a basic pokemon, plus it has a low retreat cost, all adding up to make it a great choice for any fire deck. There are a few pokemon that can thwart it, however. Snorlax is great as it doesn't mind being poisoned and can potentially paralyze Magmar. If you're looking to avoid its Smokescreen effects, you'll have to retreat the affected pokemon to the bench, so a pokemon with a low retreat cost would be beneficial. Be sure to keep a full heal around, as poison damage is no fun. Other than that, water types are your best bet. A water type like Lapras, Starmie, Dewgong, or Squirtle among others would be great as they can inflict status. Moltres Lv37: Moltres is a great asset to may decks because of its Pokemon Power Firegiver. This gives it some energies to power up its Dive Bomb attack. You can try and put it at a disadvantage by playing Muk, which will negate its Pokemon Power, however your opponent may simply wait until Muk has already been dealt with before playing Moltres. If Moltres has already been played, then you will want to use a Pokemon that can induce status or that has Smokescreen. By using Smokescreen, it requires the opponent to get two heads in order to do a successful Dive Bomb. Another alternative is sleep which will cause the same sort of thing. You might even try Haunter Lv17. While it will take a while to get Moltres knocked out only dealing 10 damage per turn, you will have reduced the chances of Moltres landing an attack to 12.5%. Mr. Mime is a great asset to have as well since it doesn't need to worry about damage from Moltres at all with its Pokemon Power Invisible Wall negating it all. Getting back to Smokescreen, Magmar Lv31 is great as you can poison Moltres and then use Smokescreen to avoid getting attacked. Just avoid using any sort of fighting type as Moltres is resistant. Blastoise: Blastoise can get very powerful very fast due to its Pokemon Power Rain Dance, and its Hydro Pump is nothing to scoff at. That said, its electric weakness leaves it quite vulnerable. Pokemon like Magnemite Lv13 and Electabuzz Lv35 can take it out in two hits. Magnemite would use Thunder Wave on the first turn, hopefully paralyzing, and then go kamikaze with Selfdestruct. If you're lucky, you might have a Defender handy to keep Magnemite from knocking itself out. The strategy is the same with Electabuzz, who aims to paralyze with Thundershock, and then finish off with Thunderpunch. Raichu Lv40, either Magneton, Jolteon Lv29, and Zapdos Lv64 have the potential to knock Blastoise out in one hit. Outside of the electric types, pokemon that remove energies can be helpful, although Blastoise's Pokemon Power allows them to be easily reattached if the opponent has any energies available. Confusion would be a wise status condition to inflict, as it could force a retreat, which would be very expensive, and if it failed, would leave you in a perfect position to take Blastoise out. Gyarados: As powerful as Gyarados is, he's rarely seen due to the fact that his initial form is so weak and easy to kill. And I highly advise you to do so before Gyarados ever steps out to attack, particularly if it's powered up. If Gyarados comes out without enough energy cards to attack, using a Pokemon that can remove energies as a result of its Attack (like Dragonair or Golduck's Hyper Beam and Poliwrath's Whirlpool) will keep Gyarados from being able to ever attack, since your opponent can only attach one energy card per turn. A Rain Dance deck bypasses this, so don't count on this strategy alone. Oddly enough Gyarados is weak to grass rather than Electric. This isn't so bad as there are plenty of grass types that can inflict status, which is a great way to slow down and take out a powerhouse such as this. Gloom offers the only move that confuses the opponent outright without involving a coin flip, and is definitely a threat as it can also poison and has enough HP to take a Dragon Rage attack. Butterfree's Mega Drain will deal heavy damage while healing off much if not all of any damage dealt to it by Gyarados. Alternatively, it can send Gyarados back to the bench with Whirlwind while still dealing it a heavy 40 damage in the process. Many other grass types have the capability to poison or paralyze, both very good options. Of course, I must mention Mr. Mime once again who need not worry about Gyarados' attacks with its Pokemon Power Invisible Wall negating the damage. Mew Lv8 does the same with its Neutralizing Shield. Lapras: Lapras is a great non-evolving basic Pokemon, and a great inclusion to any water deck. Its Confuse Ray attack is a great attack to have, although in some cases it's more beneficial to simply use Water Gun as it will deal more damage and knock out the opponent's Pokemon more quickly. Since Lapras has access to a confusion-inducing attack, you definitely want to keep Psychic pokemon who are weak to psychic attacks away, since they will take double damage if they hurt themselves in confusion. Electric types are great against Lapras (I'm looking at you Magnemite Lv13 and Electabuzz Lv35) and can take it out in one hit. As with any pokemon with high HP, status is great as it can keep the pokemon from attacking or wear it down more quickly. Electric types have access to quite a few paralyzing attacks, so those are great assets to use. If you're worried about confusion, Snorlax is an option, and its Body Slam attack does come with a chance of paralysis. Alternatively, you could just keep a few Full Heals or Switch Trainer cards handy. Articuno Lv35: This Articuno is a common inclusion in many Rain Dance decks due to its high energy costs. You can use this to your advantage by including Energy Removals in your deck to keep it from attacking. Snorlax deserves a mention as it doesn't mind the paralysis and can paralyze Articuno right back. Mr. Mime doesn't take any damage from Articuno so it's also an option. Other than that, use status to knock out Articuno more quickly and to keep it from attacking. Attacks like Sand Attack or Smokescreen work well, as does poison, confusion, and paralysis. Due to Articuno's high energy costs, Mewtwo Lv53 is an option, as it takes a fully charged Articuno out in two hits and can take a Blizzard attack. Articuno Lv37: This Articuno can be rather dangerous, as it has the ability to freeze the opponent's active pokemon when it's played if the coin flipping goes right. What's more, Scoop Ups can be used to reuse and abuse the Pokemon Power. Its main attack isn't anything to scoff at either, as it has the potential to it benched pokemon with a hefty 40 damage. Mr. Mime is the first thing that comes to mind as he'll negate the damage, but even if he's active, it's not certain that he'll be the one taking the damage, since Ice Breath attacks a random pokemon. For that reason it might be wise to include Scoop Ups in your own deck so that you can manage who gets dealt damage and perhaps Scoop Up a Pokemon that is in danger of being knocked out. You definitely want to keep Articuno from attacking, and you do this through status. Energy Removals might help, particularly if the Articuno is in a mixed deck, as it requires all water energies to attack. Raichu Lv40: Much like any other pokemon with high attack costs, Raichu doesn't like having its energy cards removed. Unfortunately, it has a low retreat cost, so it doesn't mind retreating if you inflict it with a status ailment like poison. While Raichu's Thunder attack is rather powerful, the possibility of dealing recoil damage will probably deter your opponent from using it except as a last resort or if you're not putting up much of a fight and he/she thinks Raichu will be able to absorb future damage. Agility is even more annoying, as it can provide a free turn or two worth of damage and there is no way around it other than to attack the bench, or using a Gust of Wind to bring out another active pokemon. Using a fighting type is definitely recommended as it will deal double damage to Raichu. A fighting type with an electric resistance would be even better. Sandshrew, Cubone, and Rhyhorn are great counters. Sandshrew's Sand Attack keeps Raichu from attacking while dealing 20 damage a turn. Cubone would just love to get hit by a Thunder attack so that his rage attack would knock out Raichu in one hit. If Raichu takes recoil damage after hitting Rhyhorn with its Thunder attack, Rhyhorn finishes it off with its Horn Attack. And of course, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee can knock Raichu out in one hit, plus Hitmonlee can use Stretch Kick to hit the bench if Raichu is keen on using Agility. Electabuzz Lv45: Electabuzz is a powerhouse in the early game, as it has good HP, is a basic pokemon, and has ridiculously low energy requirements for a great amount of damage. If you are unprepared, Electabuzz could easily take you out within the first few turns of the game because it can power up so quickly and has the potential to do so much damage. Snorlax is a good counter to Electabuzz as it can't be paralyzed, and can paralyze back. However, if Snorlax isn't already powered up with energy cards, it too will fall to Electabuzz. The real way to take out an Electabuzz is with fighting types, and there are plenty that can do the job. Hitmonchan is a great choice, as two Jabs will wipe Electabuzz out. Machop is ok, but if it gets paralyzed by Electabuzz's Thundershock and then Electabuzz gets a 40 damage Thunderpunch, Machop is long gone. Anything with a an electric resistance also works well. Status helps as usual to take Electabuzz down, but since there are very few attacks that automatically inflict status as a result of the attack it's sometimes better just to try and deal more damage to Electabuzz and take it out that way even if it results in the loss of a pokemon in the process. Jolteon Lv29: Jolteon can do some major damage with just three energies. Thankfully, it doesn't have the best HP and it's weak to fighting types, which is a hard-hitting bunch. Fighting types with electric resistances fare even better, like Sandshrew, Cubone and Rhyhorn. Mr. Mime will only take a maximum of 20 damage a turn, and Jolteon has a 1/4 chance of dealing just 20 damage, so Mr. Mime makes a fairly reliable counter. Mew Lv8 will nullify any incoming damage with its Neutralizing Shield. Other than that, a pokemon that has 70HP or more would be a good counter, as it will take all heads flipped in order to knock it out, so you should get at least two hits on Jolteon. Chansey has tons of HP to absorb hits, and can Scrunch to avoid damage until it's able to attack, at which points it destroys Jolteon with Double-Edge. Anything that can prevent you from taking damage or that gives Jolteon a status condition is a good idea. Zapdos Lv64: This Zapdos may have some ridiculously damaging attacks, but at that energy cost, I would venture to say it's not really worth it. Not to mention the fact that it has such a high retreat cost. Why, it could very well seal its fate using its own attacks. Thunder has recoil damage potential and then Thunderbolt requires a removal of ALL energy cards! However, it's tied with Charizard for having the most damaging attack in the TCG. To deal with Zapdos, just get it out off the bench before it's powered up to attack. You can use Energy Removals to keep it out of commission if you need an extra turn to attack it. Because both of its attacks cause such negative effects to itself, it shouldn't be long before Zapdos is knocked out. Attacks like Agility or Smokescreen, or any status effect is great though, as you still want to avoid damage. Unfortunately, all pokemon resistant to electricity are fighting types, which means that they will also deal 30 less damage to Zapdos. As usual, Mr. Mime won't be taking any damage at all and can Meditate Zapdos' health away. Zapdos Lv68: Now this Zapdos is very dangerous, to both players. It's Pokemon Power does 30 damage to a random Pokemon when played, and then using its attack it does 70 damage to a random Pokemon. Since you can't really determine which pokemon this card will attack, it's hard to say any one pokemon has an advantage, what with Zapdos not having any weakness. However, trainer cards can provide you with an advantage. You can use Scoop Up cards to get pokemon off of your bench, so you're less likely to get hit. You can also use Pokemon Flute to put more pokemon on the opponent's bench, which will increase the chances of your opponent hurting himself. Mr. Mime is mentionable as he won't take damage from either attack, whether active or on the bench. Hitmonlee: The kicking fiend. Hitmonlee is a great fighting pokemon plagued only by a slight lack of HP. While he is somewhat disadvantaged by the fact that his only direct damaging attack requires three energy cards, being able to attack the bench does provide an advantage, and 50 damage for three energy cards is rather deadly. Due to its poor HP, there are many psychic types that can handle Hitmonlee, with Gastly and its evolutions providing a great counter, as they have resistance to fighting types while dealing double damage to Hitmonlee. Of course, even though pokemon may be resistant to Hitmonlee's attack, Hitmonlee may instead decide to attack the bench (in fact I've noticed that the computer AI will often choose to do this for whatever reason). You can use a Defender to prevent this, because the computer does not recognize that you have attached a defender to the benched pokemon and will continue to attack it even if there are other pokemon on the bench available to attack that do not have a defender attached. Scyther is a another good counter, and Mr. Mime won't be taking any damage as he knocks Hitmonlee out with two Meditations. Hitmonchan: Hitmonchan is like version two of Hitmonlee. He has 10 more HP, can attack with just one energy, but his Special Punch doesn't do as much damage as Hitmonlee's High Jump Kick. You could make arguments either way as to which is better, although it most likely depends on your play style and deck construction. Unlike Hitmonlee, Mr. Mime gets beat silly by Hitmonchan, as it will take damage from Hitmonchan's Jab attack. Gastly and its evolutions are even better here though, as they will take little damage due to their handy resistance to fighting. If you have trouble with Hitmonchan, definitely try to give it some sort of status, as it will cost Hitmonchan more to retreat to the bench. Aerodactyl: Aerodactyl's claim to fame is its Pokemon Power which halts all evolution by both players. It can completely devastate a deck bent on evolution if it appears early on in the game. To prevent this, use a Gust of Wind to bring out Mysterious Fossil and knock it out. Thankfully, Aerodactyl has low HP and so it's easily taken out by grass types, which it is weak to. Giving it a status is something it won't like either. Scyther is probably the best counter here as it's a basic pokemon, will knock Aerodactyl out in one hit, and is resistant to its attack. Alakazam: Alakazam's Pokemon Power Damage Swap is known to many for being a royal pain in the Jigglypuff. It's great at stalling as it can divert damage from the active pokemon or from itself if it's the one doing the attacking. Its Confuse Ray attack is nothing to scoff at either, as confusion is a rather difficult status to deal with. Now, Snorlax is the obvious counter, since it can't be confused and can paralyze Alakazam so that its Pokemon Power is no longer functional. Just about anything with a psychic resistance is great, but Lickitung has an advantage in that it can confuse Alakazam back with its Supersonic attack. This is particularly useful as Alakazam will deal a hefty 40 damage to itself if it attacks itself in confusion. Mr. Mime should be avoided as its Pokemon Power is not active while its confused, so it will take full confusion damage if it hit itself. Gastly and its evolutions are certainly an option as they have no weakness yet can deal Alakazam double damage. Haunter Lv17: And you thought Alakazam was bad. Haunter's combination of its Transparency ability and its Nightmare attack result in a 25% chance that its opponent's active pokemon will get to attack next turn. If the pokemon's attack requires a coin flip to work, that percentage is reduced to 12.5%. Thankfully Nightmare only does 10 damage, but allows Haunter to stall until it can evolve. Unfortunately, Haunter doesn't have a weakness, and it can retreat to the bench at will. Still, poison, confusion and paralysis will work wonders. Attacks like Smokescreen and Agility are great as well, as you'll be safeguarded a bit from possible sleep status. Snorlax is an option since he doesn't mind sleep and can paralyze Haunter, plus he won't take any damage. Really, any pokemon with psychic resistance will eventually knock out Haunter, it's just a matter of time. Mr. Mime: I don't know how many times I've mentioned this pokemon in this guide. He makes a great counter to many of the powerful pokemon simply because they cannot damage him. Funnily enough, most of the good Mr. Mime counters are basic pokemon, simply because they can damage Mr. Mime so easily. Weedle makes a great counter, as Mr. Mime doesn't do well with status infliction. The ultimate threat though, is Nidoking's Toxic, which is the only attack that can knock out Mr. Mime in one turn. Funnily enough Nidoking is weak to psychic attacks. Lickitung does well to confuse or paralyze Mr. Mime, who likes neither and can't damage Lickitung. Anything with psychic resistance and a base attack of 20 or less works great. Koffing is worth a mention as it will either confuse or poison Mr. Mime, neither of which Mr. Mime likes. Gastly and its evolutions also do well against Mimey, as Gastly Lv17 can paralyze it, while Haunter can put it to sleep, all while dealing maximum damage. Wigglytuff: Do the Wave! What an annoying little attack. Wigglytuff is nice because it has a sleep inducing move to stall the opponent while it gets enough energies to use its damaging attack, which increases in power as pokemon are added to the bench. Gust of Winds are crucial here as they will allow you to bring benched pokemon out to play, which you can defeat and gain a prize card, while at the same time lessening Wigglytuff's potential attack power. Snorlax should be mentioned since it can't be put to sleep, and can paralyze Wiggly. It's a shame that it has such high energy costs. Any fighting type does well against Wigglytuff, with Hitmonchan coming to mind as it powers up quickly and has enough HP to take a hit. Be sure to keep Full Heals on hand to deal with sleep status against Wigglytuff! Chansey: Chansey ties with Charizard for the most HP in the game. It serves her well, although the immense recoil from her double-edge attack is rather disappointing. Chansey is often better of stalling rather than attacking, but can certainly go kamikaze if the need arises. Chansey doesn't mind status too much, often deflecting it with her Scrunch attack. However poison isn't a bad option, neither is confusion. Fighting types are great here, especially the heavy hitters like Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. The only way to bypass Chansey's Scrunch attack is by switching it out, so a Gust of Wind may be in order. Kangaskhan: Kangaskhan is a very interesting pokemon in that it's one of the only pokemon that will allow you to draw a card from the deck (the other being Lv15 Meowth). It also has a pricey but powerful Comet Punch. My recommendation would be to bring along a fighting type pokemon to take it out quickly before it can get enough energy cards to attack. Energy Removals will help as Kangaskhan will often take double colorless energies. Status will once again help take down Kangaskhan, who has a ton of HP for a basic pokemon. Tauros: Tauros is a very dangerous pokemon that will easily knock your pokemon out if you don't play close attention to it. It does great damage for the amount of energy cards, the only real drawback being the possibility of confusion. However, if you pack your deck with lots of Full Heals and Switch cards, you have a way to keep Tauros going. Now, Tauros is perhaps one of the only opponents you might want to hold off on attacking, or at least, attack with caution, because its Rampage attack increases in damage the more damage counters on Tauros. So, to defeat it, you'll want to keep an eye on the amount of damage you're doing and how much HP you have left. Try to knock Tauros out in one hit if possible. Energy removals and super energy removals help as it often has double colorless energies attached to it. Attacks like Agility and Smokescreen are great ways to slow Tauros down and keep your pokemon safe. Snorlax: It's most known for its Pokemon Power Thick Skinned, which keeps it safe from status, and which is why I've mentioned it so many times in this guide. Now, it's a bit overrated as it has a ridiculously high energy cost and a high retreat cost as well. If you don't mind that, then it's a great defensive pokemon. To defeat a Snorlax, use a fighting type. Fighting types are known for having low energy costs and highly damaging attacks, which is perfect against Snorlax. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 13. Multiplayer Guide \\\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\///// /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// Pokemon TCG is a Type 2 Game Boy Pak (also known as Class B or Black Cartridge) and as such can be played on a multitude of systems including the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Pocket, the Game Boy Light, the Game Boy Color, the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP. As a multiplayer game, it requires a link cable in order to exchange data with the other player. Among these systems there are three different sizes of connection ports, thereby requiring a certain type of cable or adapter depending on the system that each player is using. In this portion of the FAQ I will detail the different cables required for whatever combination of systems you happen to be using and will also explain how the multiplayer function works in-game. To begin, a rundown of the game boy systems according to port size: Game Boy: ------------ | ---------- | || ------ || <-- Link Cable Port ||.| | || ______ || | | || Actual size: |======| (Generation I) || |______| || ------ | ---------' | |...GMBY. | | O.| |_||_ O. | |-||- | | //// \\| |_________\\' Game Boy Pocket: ____________ | ---------- | || -------- || Link Cable Port --> ||| ||| ____ ||| ||| Actual size: |====| |||________||| ---- | ----------'| (Generation II) | (NTDO) | | _||_ o O | | -||- | | = = .;;| |_________;;.' Game Boy Light: ------------ | ---------- | || -------- || Link Cable Port --> ||| ||| ____ ||| ||| Actual size: |====| |||________||| ---- | ----------'| (Generation II) | (NTDO) | | _||_ o O | | -||- | | = = .;;| |_________;;.' Game Boy Color: ____________ | ---------- | || ------ || ||.| | || Link Cable Port --> || | | || ____ || |______| || Actual size: |====| |'.________.'| ---- | (NTDO) | (Generation II) | _||_ o O | | -||- | | | | = = .;;| -________;;- Game Boy Advance: ,----------- Link Cable Port V ____ _______________ Actual size: |====| _---; _____________ ;---_ '-__-' :---' |.-----------.| ';--; (Generation III) |_||_ || || | |-||- || || o O | | o|| || | : o|'-----------'| == ; '-._ -___________- _.-' '--___________--' Game Boy Advance SP: (Closed, but with see-through top to view controls.) ,----------- Link Cable Port V ____ _____________ Actual size: |====| {_||___|___||_} '-__-' ;--' '------; (Generation III) | o =| | _||_ o O | | -||-::: | | ::: | | o o | '-------------' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Side by side comparison of link cable port sizes: ______ ____ ____ I |======| II |====| III |====| ------ ---- '-__-' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I will now list the compatible link cables or adapters that can be used depending on the combination of systems used. Note that I am listing only official Nintendo brand cables. Third party cables may be used, but they may not follow the setup outlined below in that they may have a variety of different plugs on either side of the cable. The size I, II, or III plugs I mention below refer to the sizes outlined above. Player 1: Game Boy Player 2: Game Boy Connection options: - Use a Game Link Cable (model DMG-04) (also known as Game Boy Video Link). This cable has two size "I" plugs, one at each end of the cable. - Use a Game Boy Pocket Game Link Cable (model MGB-008) and two Universal Game Link Adapters (model DMG-14). The Game Boy Pocket Game Link Cable is a cable with two size "II" plugs, one at each end of the cable. A Universal Game Link Adapter would be attached to each plug, so that there is now a size "I" plug at each end. - Use a Game Boy Color Game Link Cable (model CGB-003) and two Universal Game Link Adapters (model DMG-14). The Game Boy Color Link Cable (CCB-003) is a cable with two size "II" plugs, one at each end of the cable. A Universal Game Link Adapter would be attached to each plug, so that there is now a size "I" plug at each end. - Use a Universal Game Link Cable (model MGB-010) and one Universal Game Link Adapter (model DMG-14). The Universal Game Link Cable (MGB-010) is a cable with one size "II" plug at one end, a splitter in the middle, and two short cables with plugs at the other end. One of these cables has a size "I" plug, and the other has a size "II" plug. A Universal Game Link Adapter would be attached to the size "II" plug on the side of the splitter with only one cable branching off of it. Alternatively, if the size "I" plug on the Universal Game Link Cable was no longer functioning properly, or simply because you wanted to, you could attach a Universal Game Link Adapter to each of the size "II" plugs on the cable, so there is now two size "I" plugs one one end (one with an adapter and one without) and then another size "I" plug on the other end (with an adapter). Player 1: Game Boy Player 2: Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, Gameboy Advance, or Game Boy Advance SP Connection options: - Use a Game Link Cable (model DMG-04) (also known as Game Boy Video Link) and one Game Link Cable Adapter (model MGB-004). The Game Link Cable has two size "I" plugs, one at each end of the cable. Attach a Game Link Cable Adapter to one of the plugs so that there is now a size "I" plug on one side of the cable and a size "II" plug on the other side of the cable. - Use a Universal Game Link Cable (model MGB-010). The Universal Game Link Cable (MGB-010) is a cable with one size "II" plug at one end, a splitter in the middle, and two short cables with plugs at the other end. One of these cables has a size "I" plug, and the other has a size "II" plug. Attach the size "II" plug that sits alone on one side of the splitter to Player 2's Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, Gameboy Advance, or Game Boy Advance SP, and attach the size "I" plug to Player 1's Game Boy. Attaching the two plugs on the same side of the splitter to the Game Boys will not work. - Use a Game Boy Pocket Game Link Cable (model MGB-008) and one Game Link Cable Adapter (model MGB-004). The Game Boy Pocket Game Link Cable is a cable with two size "II" plugs, one at each end of the cable. Attach a Game Link Cable Adapter to one of the plugs so that there is now a size "I" plug on one side of the cable and a size "II" plug on the other side of the cable. - Use a Game Boy Color Game Link Cable (model CGB-003) and one Game Link Cable Adapter (model MGB-004). The Game Boy Color Link Cable is a cable with two size "II" plugs, one at each end of the cable. Attach a Game Link Cable Adapter to one of the plugs so that there is now a size "I" plug on one side of the cable and a size "II" plug on the other side of the cable. Player 1: Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, Gameboy Advance, or Game Boy Advance SP Player 2: Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, Gameboy Advance, or Game Boy Advance SP Connection Options: - Use a Game Boy Color Game Link Cable (model CGB-003). This cable has two size "II" plugs, one at each end of the cable. - Use a Game Boy Pocket Game Link Cable (model MGB-008). This cable has two size "II" plugs, one at each end of the cable. - Use a Universal Game Link Cable (model MGB-010). Attach a size "II" plug to each player's device. - Use a Game Link Cable (model DMG-04) (also known as Game Boy Video Link) and two Game Link Cable Adapters (model MGB-004). A Game Link Cable Adapter would be attached to each plug, so that there is now a size "II" plug at each end. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: The size "II" plug will fit into a size "III" slot. In fact, it is a requirement for you to use a size "II" plug in any size "III" slot because a cord with a size "III" plug is NOT COMPATIBLE with the multiplayer feature on Pokemon TCG. That means, if you have a Game Boy Advance or Game Boy Advance SP you will need to use a cord with a size "II" plug to connect it to another device. Size "III" cords are only used with GBA GAMES to connect together two or more Game Boy Advance Systems, Game Boys Advance SP Systems, or a combination thereof. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Purchasing cables and adapters: Nintendo is no longer selling any of the aforementioned cables or adapters; they are discontinued products. You may be able to find them online, at a used game store, or at the flea market. If you are ordering online, be sure to ask/look for the model number of the cable, to ensure that it is Nintendo brand. Third-party cables will work fine, just be sure that you know what size plugs are on either end. Just a note, the Game Boy Color Link Cable (model CGB-003) was sold in a set called the Universal Game Link Cable Set in the USA and Europe along with the Universal Game Link Adapter (model DMG-14). As far as I know, this was the only way to obtain either product in either region. The Universal Game Link Cable (model MGB-010) was packaged with the Game Boy Printer and was not available separately. I'm unsure as to how the Game Link Cable (model DMG-04) or the Universal Game Link Adapter (model DMG-14) were packaged outside of Japan, as I have not been able to locate box pictures for either of these products. In Japan they were both released separately. The Game Boy Pocket Game Link Cable (model MGB-008) may have only been released in Japan. If you're still having trouble connecting, it might be worth your while to check out the manual that comes with the Game Boy Advance system as it explains how and what you'll need to connect and provides a few diagrams to help you figure out how the connections work. What's more you can download it in three different languages from here: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/manuals/index.jsp The Super Game Boy: Pokemon TCG can also be used in conjunction with the Super Game Boy, which is an adapter cartridge for use with Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as the Super Famicom in Japan. The Super Game Boy will display the game graphics on the TV screen using the SNES or Super Famicom controllers. When the Pokemon TCG is played on the Super Game Boy, it features enhanced colors during battles, making it look almost identical to its display on a Game Boy Color. The Super Game Boy 2: The updated version of the Super Game Boy, the Super Game Boy 2, which is also for use on Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System or the the Super Famicom in Japan, has a built-in link port (size "II") which will allow you to access the multiplayer mode of Pokemon TCG if you hook up (using the appropriate cables/adapters) a Game Boy system or another Super Game Boy 2 (with its own SNES/Famicom and TV screen). This will allow for epic, big screen battles. Just be sure to point the TV screens away from each other so that you can't see the other player's hand, because that would be cheating! :P The Battle Center: In order to access Pokemon TCG's multiplayer mode, just walk up to the Clerk closest to the PC in any of the Club lobbies or the Challenge Hall and respond "Yes" when asked if you would like to duel a friend. Note that both players need a copy of Pokemon TCG in order to battle. Now make sure that the appropriate link cable plug is plugged into each Game Boy's EXT port (see above for more info on this). Once both players have reached the screen displaying the two yellow Game Boy Colors, press Start on one of the Game Boys. The player that presses Start will be able to choose the number of prizes the duel will be played for (from two to six). Play will progress as usual, with each player taking turns to attack until one of the players satisfies the winning conditions, after which the battle ends and both players are returned to the Club Lobby. The Gift Center: Right next to the Battle Center clerk is the Gift Center clerk. She will give you four options: Send Card, Receive Card, Send Deck Construction, and Receive Deck Construction. Unlike the Battle Center, which uses a Link Cable to exchange data, card and deck exchanges are done using the Game Boy Color's infrared communications port on the top of the system. Card trading works at a max distance of about 8 inches. Nintendo states that the 'proper' distance is 1.5-2 inches per their website: http://www.nintendo.com consumer/systems/gameboy/trouble_infrared.jsp Up to 60 cards may be sent at one time. This is the only way to acquire more than two of each of the Legendary Pokemon Cards, as you will not receive any more cards as prizes for beating the Grand Masters after collecting two of each Legendary Pokemon Card. Note: The Game Boy Color is the only system with an infrared port, meaning that if both you and the person you are trading with do not have a Game Boy Color and a Pokemon TCG game, you will not be able to trade. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 14. Card Info Appendix \\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\//\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// This section will contain a listing of all the cards in the game, which packs they're found in, and which trainers will give you which packs. You won't find in-depth info on each individual card. I felt that the Card List provided by NickWhiz1 http://www.gamefaqs.com/gbc/250612-pokemon-trading-card-game/faqs/ 7698 more than covered this and that it's inclusion here would make the FAQ even longer than it already is. There are four trading card packs in the game: Colosseum, Evolution, Mystery and Laboratory. The following is a listing of the cards that can be found in each pack in game order. I have also provided the Promotional Card list as it appears in the Card Album in the PC. There are 228 cards total including the Card Pop! promotional cards. 1. Colosseum (56 Cards Total) 2. Evolution (50 cards total) A01 Nidoran(M) Lv20 B01 Bulbasaur Lv13 A02 Nidorino Lv25 B02 Ivysaur Lv20 A03 Tangela Lv12 B03 Venusaur Lv67 A04 Scyther Lv25 B04 Caterpie Lv13 A05 Pinsir Lv24 B05 Metapod Lv21 A06 Charmander Lv10 B06 Butterfree Lv28 A07 Charmeleon Lv32 B07 Weedle Lv12 A08 Growlithe Lv18 B08 Kakuna Lv23 A09 Arcanine Lv45 B09 Beedrill Lv32 A10 Ponyta Lv10 B10 Nidoking Lv48 A11 Magmar Lv24 B11 Bellsprout Lv11 A12 Seel Lv12 B12 Weepinbell Lv28 A13 Dewgong Lv42 B13 Victreebel Lv42 A14 Goldeen Lv12 B14 Charizard Lv76 A15 Seaking Lv28 B15 Rapidash Lv33 A16 Staryu Lv15 B16 Flareon Lv28 A17 Magikarp Lv8 B17 Squirtle Lv8 A18 Gyarados Lv41 B18 Wartortle Lv22 A19 Pikachu Lv12 B19 Blastoise Lv52 A20 Raichu Lv40 B20 Krabby Lv20 A21 Magnemite Lv13 B21 Kingler Lv27 A22 Magneton Lv28 B22 Starmie Lv28 A23 Electabuzz Lv35 B23 Vaporeon Lv42 A24 Zapdos Lv64 B24 Jolteon Lv29 A25 Diglett Lv8 B25 Sandshrew Lv12 A26 Dugtrio Lv36 B26 Sandslash Lv33 A27 Machop Lv20 B27 Machoke Lv40 A28 Hitmonchan Lv33 B28 Machamp Lv67 A29 Abra Lv10 B29 Geodude Lv16 A30 Kadabra Lv38 B30 Graveler Lv29 A31 Rattata Lv9 B31 Golem Lv36 A32 Raticate Lv41 B32 Cubone Lv13 A33 Jigglypuff Lv14 B33 Marowak Lv32 A34 Wigglytuff Lv36 B34 Gastly Lv8 A35 Meowth Lv14 B35 Haunter Lv22 A36 Chansey Lv55 B36 Gengar Lv38 A37 Kangaskhan Lv40 B37 Jynx Lv23 A38 Snorlax Lv20 B38 Pidgey Lv8 A39 Professor Oak B39 Pidgeotto Lv36 A40 Bill B40 Pidgeot Lv40 A41 Switch B41 Jigglypuff Lv13 A42 Poke Ball B42 Eevee Lv12 A43 Scoop Up B43 Pokemon Trader A44 Computer Search B44 Pokemon Breeder A45 Pluspower B45 Clefairy Doll A46 Defender B46 Energy Retrieval A47 Item Finder B47 Energy Search A48 Potion B48 Gust of Wind A49 Full Heal B49 Super Potion A50 Revive B50 Pokemon Flute E01 Grass Energy E02 Fire Energy E03 Water Energy E04 Lightning Energy E05 Fighting Energy E06 Psychic Energy 3. Mystery (51 cards total) 4. Laboratory (51 cards total) C01 Nidoran(F) Lv13 D01 Ekans Lv10 C02 Nidorina Lv24 D02 Arbok Lv27 C03 Nidoqueen Lv43 D03 Zubat Lv10 C04 Oddish Lv8 D04 Golbat Lv29 C05 Gloom Lv22 D05 Venonat Lv12 C06 Vileplume Lv35 D06 Venomoth Lv28 C07 Paras Lv8 D07 Grimer Lv17 C08 Parasect Lv28 D08 Muk Lv34 C09 Exeggcute Lv14 D09 Koffing Lv13 C10 Exeggutor Lv35 D10 Weezing Lv27 C11 Vulpix Lv11 D11 Tangela Lv8 C12 Ninetales Lv32 D12 Ninetales Lv35 C13 Flareon Lv22 D13 Magmar Lv31 C14 Moltres Lv35 D14 Psyduck Lv15 C15 Shellder Lv8 D15 Golduck Lv27 C16 Cloyster Lv25 D16 Poliwag Lv13 C17 Lapras Lv31 D17 Poliwhirl Lv28 C18 Vaporeon Lv29 D18 Poliwrath Lv48 C19 Omanyte Lv19 D19 Tentacool Lv10 C20 Omastar Lv32 D20 Tentacruel Lv21 C21 Articuno Lv35 D21 Horsea Lv19 C22 Pikachu Lv14 D22 Seadra Lv23 C23 Raichu Lv45 D23 Magnemite Lv15 C24 Voltorb Lv10 D24 Magneton Lv35 C25 Electrode Lv42 D25 Electrode Lv35 C26 Jolteon Lv24 D26 Onix Lv12 C27 Zapdos Lv40 D27 Marowak Lv26 C28 Mankey Lv7 D28 Hitmonlee Lv30 C29 Primeape Lv35 D29 Slowpoke Lv18 C30 Rhyhorn Lv18 D30 Slowbro Lv26 C31 Rhydon Lv48 D31 Gastly Lv17 C32 Kabuto Lv9 D32 Haunter Lv17 C33 Kabutops Lv30 D33 Hypno Lv36 C34 Aerodactyl Lv28 D34 Mr. Mime Lv28 C35 Alakazam Lv42 D35 Mewtwo Lv53 C36 Drowzee Lv12 D36 Pidgeot Lv38 C37 Mew Lv23 D37 Spearow Lv13 C38 Clefairy Lv14 D38 Fearow Lv27 C39 Meowth Lv15 D39 Clefable Lv34 C40 Persian Lv25 D40 Doduo Lv10 C41 Farfetch'd Lv20 D41 Dodrio Lv28 C42 Lickitung Lv26 D42 Ditto Lv19 C43 Tauros Lv32 D43 Porygon Lv12 C44 Dratini Lv10 D44 Imposter Professor Oak C45 Dragonair Lv33 D45 Lass C46 Dragonite Lv45 D46 Super Energy Removal C47 Mr. Fuji D47 Pokedex C48 Mysterious Fossil D48 Devolution Spray C49 Energy Removal D49 Maintenance C50 Pokemon Center D50 Gambler E07 Double Colorless Energy D51 Recycle 5. Promotional Card (18 cards total) (or is it 20?) P01 Arcanine Lv34 P02 Moltres Lv37 P03 Articuno Lv37 P04 Pikachu Lv16 P05 Pikachu Lv16 P06 Flying Pikachu Lv12 P07 Surfing Pikachu Lv13 P08 Surfing Pikachu Lv13 P09 Electabuzz Lv20 P10 Zapdos Lv68 P11 Slowpoke Lv9 P12 Mewtwo Lv60 P13 Mewtwo Lv60 P14 Mew Lv8 P15 Jigglypuff Lv12 P16 Dragonite Lv41 P17 Imakuni? P18 Super Energy Retrieval I have yet to acquire the Card Pop cards, so like most of the other guide writers, we'll just label them PXX. :P If you know the correct number, or if that is indeed their correct number email me at [email protected] PXX Venusaur Lv64 PXX Mew Lv15 Now I will list all the trainers in the game by booster pack they provide and by how many prize cards they play for. This will help you if you're looking for a specific card as you can choose the quickest opponent to defeat. Colosseum Boosters (10 Trainers) Prizes - Name...................Location.................Deck Name 2 - Sara.................(Water Club Floor)......Waterfront Pokemon Deck 4 - Andrew...............(Rock Club Floor).......Blistering Pokemon Deck 4 - Heather .............(Grass Club Floor)......Kaleidoscope Deck 4 - Brandon..............(Electric Club Floor)...Power Generator Deck 4 - Nicholas.............(Electric Club Floor)...Boom Boom Selfdestruct Deck 4 - Adam.................(Fire Club Floor).......Flamethrower Deck 4 - Jonathan.............(Fire CLub Floor).......Reshuffle Deck 4 - Michael..............(Fighting Club Floor)...Heated Battle Deck 4 - Jessica..............(Fighting Club Floor)...Love To Battle Deck 6 - Club Leader Amy......(Water Club Floor)......Go Go Rain Dance Deck Evolution Boosters (7 Trainers) Prizes - Name...................Location.................Deck Name 3 - Ryan.................(Rock Club Floor).......Excavation Deck 4 - Kristin..............(Grass Club Floor)......Flower Garden Deck 4 - Erik.................(Science Club Floor)....Poison Deck 4 - John.................(Fire Club Floor).......Anger Deck 4 - Robert...............(Psychic Club Lobby)....Ghost Deck 4 - Daniel...............(Psychic Club Floor)....Nap Time Deck 4 - Chris................(Fighting Club Floor)...Muscles For Brains Deck Mystery Boosters (8 Trainers) Prizes - Name...................Location.................Deck Name 3 - Amanda...............(Water Club Floor)......Lonely Friends Deck 4 - Matthew..............(Rock Club Lobby).......Hard Pokemon Deck 4 - Brittany.............(Grass Club Lobby)......Etcetera Deck 4 - David................(Science Club Floor)....Lovely Nidoran Deck 4 - Joshua...............(Water Club Floor)......Sounds Of The Waves Deck 6 - Club Leader Gene.....(Rock Club Floor).......Rock Crusher Deck 6 - Club Leader Isaac....(Electric Club Floor)...Zapping Selfdestruct Deck 6 - Club Leader Ken......(Fire CLub Floor).......Fire Charge Deck Laboratory Boosters (7 Trainers) Prizes - Name...................Location.................Deck Name 4 - Jennifer.............(Electric Club Floor)...Pikachu Deck 4 - Joseph...............(Science Club Floor)....Flyin' Pokemon Deck 4 - Stephanie............(Psychic Club Floor)....Strange Power Deck 6 - Club Leader Nikki....(Grass Club Floor)......Flower Power Deck 6 - Club Leader Rick.....(Science Club Floor)....Wonders Of Science Deck 6 - Club Leader Murray...(Psychic Club Floor)....Strange Psyshock Deck 6 - Club Leader Mitch....(Fighting Club Floor)...First-Strike Deck Remember that Imakuni? might give you a booster pack of each type when you beat him (depending on the amount of times you've beat him) 1-2 times: One of each booster pack. 3rd time: Imakuni? promo card. 4-5 times: One of each booster pack. 6th time: Imakuni? promo card. 7+ times: One of each booster pack. Also remember that Dr. Mason will periodically send you booster packs through the PC. You can save just before you open them and then turn the game off and try again until you get the card(s) you want. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miscellaneous Notes: - The game does not include Electrode from the Basic Set or Ditto from the Fossil Set. Not to mention the non-holographic version of every rare card holo card from the Jungle and Fossil sets. - Ninetale's name is misspelled as "Ninetails". - While Ronald appears in Ishihara's house after defeating him and the Grand Masters at the Pokemon Dome, there is no way to battle him again other than his random appearances at the Challenge Cup where he will always be using his Invincible Ronald Deck. - There is no way to get inside the door in the upper right hand corner of the Challenge Hall Arena. That door is the door your opponent walks in from... or so it's said. :P - After the final trade with Ishihara which is triggered after defeating the Grand Masters, Ishihara will disappear. If you talk to one of the three NPCs that initiate some of the Ishihara trades, they will tell you that he's left to search for a very rare card. He will never return. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 15. References \\\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\\\\\//\\\\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// - Pokemon TCG IGN Guide: http://guidesarchive.ign.com/guides/11879/basics.html - Game Boy Series Model Number Info: http://maru-chang.com/hard/gb/english.htm - Game Link Cable Explanation/Rant: http://home.comcast.net/~eichler2/gameboy/GameLink.htm - Nintendo GBA Manuals: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/manuals/index.jsp - Pokemon Card GB2 Translation Info: http://tcg2.110mb.com/index.html - Super Game Boy 2 Info Page: http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/snes/peripherals/supergameboy2.html ---Wikipedia Articles--- - Pokemon TCG Game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokemon_TCG_GB - Super Game Boy/Super Game Boy 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Game_Boy - Game Link Cable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Link_Cable - Game Boy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_boy - Game Boy Line: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_line - Game Boy Color: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Color Many of the General & In-Depth FAQs already listed for this game provided great reference material. I hope that this guide adds something to this wealth of knowledge. \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 16. Thanks & Copyright Info \\\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\// /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// I would like to thank Satoshi Tajiri for creating the Pokemon franchise, Nintendo for making this game on such a great system, all the card illustrators who did such a wonderful job translating the first 151 pokemon into card format, and Wizards of the Coast for distributing the cards here in the US. I would like to thank all those who edit on Wikipedia and who write guides for gamefaqs, your work is certainly appreciated. I would also like to thank pinkerdroit and The Crossing Raven from ACC for your encouragement. I hope that if you're reading this, you've found the above info to be helpful! :D This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private yes. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly with out advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright owners. Copyright 2010 Nicholas Grimes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you see this guide somewhere other than www.gamefaqs.com email me and let me know! [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \|////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\//\\\\\\\//////\//\\\\/\/\\\//\/\\\/\ 17. Donations \\\\\\\////\\\////\\\\\//\\\\\/\/\\////\\\\/\\/\//\\//\\\\\\\/\\ /|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///\\///\\\////////\\\\/\\\/\//////\\\/\\\/// Please send any donations via Paypal to [email protected] And if you do decide to donate, please send me an email so I can add you to the Thanks section. :P ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you find any errors whatsoever, or have any comments, suggestions, or criticism regarding this guide please do not hesitate to email me at [email protected] I would love to hear from you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ was started on October 24th, 2009 and Version 1.0 was completed on July 24th, 2010. It is written in Lucinda Console, size 12 font and is 51,379 words in length.
© Web Media Network Limited, 1999 - 2024 This site is not affiliated in any way with Microsoft, Sony, Sega, Nintendo or any video game publishers.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.
Super Cheats is an unofficial resource with submissions provided by members of the public. These are not usually tested by us (because there are so many), so please use them at your own risk.
