How To Play
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What's the Basic Game?
You and your opponent take the role of competing Pokémon Trainers. Each turn, that player can boost his or her Pokémon's attack power by adding Energy cards to that Pokémon, play special Trainer cards, and even evolve his or her Pokémon into stronger forms! Your goal is to Knock Out your opponent's Pokémon by attacking with your Pokémon.

What Do You Need to Play?
You and your opponent will each need a 60-card deck. You will also need some counters to keep track of damage on the different Pokémon in play and a coin for flipping. You may also use the playmat included with this product to help learn the game-setup, but it's not required for play.

How Do You Get Started?
First, let's learn about the different types of cards you'll be seeing.

Pokémon cards
These cards are referred to as Basic Pokémon or Evolution cards. (If the Pokémon is a Stage 1 or Stage 2, it's an Evolution card.) Evolution cards work just like Basic Pokémon - they're just the advanced form.

Energy cards
Energy cards give your Pokémon the Energy they need to use their attacks. Some attacks require specific kinds of Energy to use. Unless a card specifically tells you to discard Energy, don't discard any Energy from your Pokémon!

Trainer cards
Trainer cards are played by doing what they say and then putting them in your discard pile.

Supporter cards
Supporter cards are similar to Trainer cards, but you can only play one each turn.

Stadium cards
Stadium cards represent special battle arenas, staying around until another Stadium card is played.

How Do You Start the Game?
SHAKE HANDS with your opponent. SHUFFLE your 60-card deck and draw 7 cards. CHECK to see if you have any Basic Pokémon in your hand. PUT ONE of your Basic Pokémon face-down in front of you, as your Active Pokémon. PUT up to 5 Basic Pokémon from your hand to your Bench, face-down. Players SET ASIDE their own 6 Prize cards. All players NOW PLAY with their Active and Benched Pokémon, face-up.

Let's Play!
As you play, you and your opponent take turns. During your opponent's turn, you do not do anything except replace your Active Pokémon if it gets Knocked Out. During your turn, go through the steps below.

What Can You Do During Your Turn?


1. Draw a card


2. Now do any of these in whatever order you want
· PUT Basic Pokémon
· EVOLVE Pokémon (as many as you want).
· ATTACH 1 Energy card to 1 of your Pokémon (only once per turn)
· PLAY Trainer cards (as many as you want) and Supporter and Stadium cards (only one each).
· RETREAT your Active Pokémon (once per turn)
· USE Poké-Powers (as many as you want)


3. ATTACK!
· CHECK to make sure you have enough Energy attached to your Active Pokémon to attack.
· CHECK Weakness and Resistance of your opponent's Pokémon.
· PUT damage counters on your opponent's Pokémon.
· CHECK to see if you Knocked Out your opponent's Pokémon.
· TAKE a prize card (if you Knocked Out your opponent's Pokémon).


4. Your turn is OVER now.


What Happens after Each Player's Turn?
After each player's turn, if either player's Active Pokémon is Poisoned, it takes damage; if it's Burned, it might take damage; and if it's Asleep or Paralyzed, it might recover. Then the next player's turn begins.

How Do You Win?
You win the game if any one or more of these things occur:
· You collect all of your Prize cards (collect Prize cards as your opponent's Pokémon are Knocked Out).
· Knock Out your opponent's last Pokémon in play.
· Your opponent is out of cards in his or her deck, when he or she goes to draw a card at the beginning of the turn.

How Do Special Conditions Work?
Some attacks cause the Defending Pokémon to be Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed, or Poisoned. These conditions are called "Special Conditions." They do not happen to a Benched Pokémon, only to an Active Pokémon - in fact, if a Pokémon goes to the Bench, Special Conditions are removed from it. And evolving a Pokémon also means it is no longer affected by a Special Condition.

Asleep
If a Pokémon is Asleep, it cannot attack or retreat. As soon as a Pokémon is Asleep, turn it sideways to show that it is Asleep. After each player's turn, flip a coin. On heads, the Pokémon wakes up (turn the card back right-side up), but on tails it is still Asleep, and you have to wait until after the next turn to try to wake it up again.

Burned
If a Pokémon is Burned, place a "Burn marker" on it to show that it is Burned. As long as it's still Burned, flip a coin after each player's turn. If tails, place 2 damage counters on it, ignoring Weakness and Resistance. If an attack would Burn a Pokémon that is already Burned, it does not get doubly Burned; instead, the new Burn condition replaces the old one. Make sure whatever you use for a Burn marker looks different from a damage counter.

Confused
If a Pokémon is Confused, you have to flip a coin whenever you try to attack with that Pokémon. Turn a Confused Pokémon with its head pointed toward you to show that it is Confused. A Confused Pokémon can retreat to the Bench normally, where it loses all Special Conditions. When you attack with a Confused Pokémon, you flip a coin. On heads, the attack works normally, but on tails your Pokémon receives 3 damage counters and ends the attack. (Only apply Weakness and Resistance for actual damage, not damage counters.) The Active Pokémon receives 3 damage counters even if its attack normally does not do damage (like Treecko's Poison Breath attack).

Paralyzed
If a Pokémon is Paralyzed, it cannot attack or retreat. Turn the Pokémon sideways to show that it is Paralyzed. If an Active Pokémon is Paralyzed, it recovers after its player's next turn. Turn the card right-side up again. What this means is that if your Pokémon gets Paralyzed, it will be out of action on your next turn, and then it will be okay again.

Poisoned
If a Pokémon is Poisoned, put a "Poison marker" on it to show that it is Poisoned. As long as it is still Poisoned, place a damage counter on it after each player's turn, ignoring Weakness and Resistance. If an attack would Poison a Pokémon that is already Poisoned, it does not get doubly Poisoned; instead, the new Poison condition replaces the old one. Make sure whatever you use for a Poison marker looks different from a damage counter. Can Your Pokémon be Asleep and Confused at the Same Time? If a Pokémon is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed, and a new attack is made against it that makes it Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed, the old condition is erased and only the new one counts. But these three conditions are the only attack effects that erase each other. So, for example, a Pokémon can be Confused and Burned at the same time.

What's new in the Diamond & Pearl expansion?
The Pokémon TCG: Diamond & Pearl expansion introduces a new type of card, Pokémon LV. X! These new cards add special abilities and attacks to an existing Pokémon in play. The original card's Poké-Powers, Poké-Bodies, and attacks remain, so this gives the player a lot of options on how to play! Some of the game rules have been changed to allow improved game play while still working with the older cards. Diamond & Pearl introduces new basic Energy cards-Darkness and Metal! This allows you to play with more than 4 of each in your deck, giving you more options for game play.The Special Energy versions of Darkness and Metal Energy are still legal, but they're still limited to 4 in a deck. If a card tells you to attach a Darkness Energy card, you can choose which kind to add-either one works! Weakness and Resistance have changed, providing more interesting game play. New cards have any Weakness or Resistance modifer listed next to what Pokémon type it has Weakness or Resistance to. Unown cards return with a vengeance in Diamond & Pearl, with new rules to make them even stronger! You can play with 4 of each Unown in your deck, as "Unown A" is a di?erent card name from "Unown B." If a card refers to "an Unown card," it means all Unown cards, not just Diamond & Pearl versions.

Expert Rules
This section answers some questions that do not come up very often - but if they do, you will be glad to have the answers!

What Counts as an Attack?
Anything written on a Basic Pokémon or Evolution card under the picture where attacks are found (except for a Poké-Power or Poké-Body) is considered an attack even if it does not do anything to your opponent's Pokémon. So, for example, Seedot's Bide and Glameow's Charm attacks would be prevented by an effect like Hippopotas's Sand Attack.

In What Order Do You Attack?
The exact steps to go through when attacking are listed here. For most attacks, it will not matter what order you do things in, but if you have to work your way through a really complicated attack, follow these steps in order and you should be fine.
a) If the Defending Pokémon is a Baby Pokémon, flip a coin to see if your turn ends without an attack. (If your turn ends without an attack, do not do any of the other steps. You are done now.)
b) Announce which attack your Active Pokémon is using. Make sure your Pokémon has enough Energy attached to it to use this attack.
c) If necessary, make any choices the attack requires you to make. (For example, Sneasel's Feint Attack reads, "Choose 1 of your opponent's Pokémon." So, you choose now.)
d) If necessary, do anything the attack requires you to do in order to use it. (For example, Dark Marowak's Hard Bone attack reads, "Discard a Basic Pokémon or Evolution card from your hand or this attack does nothing.")
e) If necessary, apply any effects that might alter or cancel the attack. (For example, if your Pokémon was hit last turn by Hippopotas's Sand Attack, Sand Attack reads that if you tried to attack with that Pokémon during your next turn, you should flip a coin. If tails, that attack does nothing)
f) If your Active Pokémon is Confused, check now to see if the attack fails.
g) Do whatever the attack says. Do any damage first, then do any other effects, and finally, Knock Out any Pokémon that have damage greater than or equal to their Hit Points.

How Do You Figure Out the Damage?
Usually the amount of damage an attack does will not depend on the order in which you do things. But if you have to figure out an attack in which a lot of different things might change the damage, follow these steps in order (skip any steps that do not apply to that attack). a) Start with the base damage. This is the number written to the right of the attack, or, if that number has an x, -, +, or ? next to it, it is the amount of damage the attack text tells you to do.
b) Figure out damage effects on the Attacking Pokémon (for example, the Darkness Energy effect, or the Solid Rage Pokémon Tool). Then, if the base damage is 0 (or if the attack does not do any damage at all), just stop figuring the damage. You are done now. Otherwise, keep going.
c) Increase the damage by the amount next to the Defending Pokémon's Weakness, if it has Weakness to the Attacking Pokémon's type.
d) Reduce the damage by the amount next to the Defending Pokémon's Resistance, if it has Resistance to the Attacking Pokémon's type.
e) Figure out damage effects of Trainer cards and Energy cards on the Defending Pokémon (like Metal Energy or Buffer Piece).
f) Apply any relevant effects resulting from the Defending Pokémon's last attack (for example, Bonsly's Fake Tears) or relevant Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies.
g) For each 10 damage the attack ends up doing, put 1 damage counter on the Defending Pokémon. (If at this point the damage done turns out to be less than 0, do not do anything.)
h) Now that damage has been done, if the attack does anything other than damage, do all of that.

In What Order Do Things Happen after Each Player's Turn?
Usually, it does not matter in what order you do things after each player's turn, but if things get complicated, follow these steps in order. a) Put damage counters on any Poisoned Pokémon.
b) Flip a coin to see if Pokémon with Burn markers get damage counters put on them.
c) Flip a coin to see if Asleep Pokémon recover, and have eligible Paralyzed Pokémon recover.
If a Pokémon has a Pokémon Tool card attached to it and that card does something between turns, that card can be used at any time between turns that the person who played the Pokémon wants.
If your Pokémon and your opponent's Pokémon are Knocked Out at the same time between turns or during an attack, the player who is about to take a turn replaces his or her Pokémon first (and chooses his or her Prize card first as well).

Pokémon that Refer to Themselves
Sometimes a Pokémon refers to itself by name. For example, Marill's Splashing Turn says "Switch Marill with 1 of your Benched Pokémon." Read the name as "this Pokémon" if the attack somehow gets used by another Pokémon.

Illegal Evolutions
Whenever you evolve a Pokémon, the Evolution card has to read it "Evolves from" the name of the Pokémon it goes on top of. Certain Pokémon (such as Rocket's Meowth) or Pokémon-ex (like Scyther ex) do not evolve into normal versions. A Pokémon card would have to state "Evolves from Rocket's Meowth" to allow for that evolution.

How Do You Retreat Using Double Energy Cards?
Paying Retreat Costs can get confusing with Double Energy cards. Here is the way it works: Discard Energy cards one at a time until you have paid the Retreat Cost (or maybe more). Once you have paid the cost, you cannot discard any more cards. For example, suppose your Pokémon has a Retreat Cost of and it has 2 Energy cards and a Energy card attached. You can pay the Retreat Cost in several ways - by discarding , by discarding 2 , or by discarding first and then . You cannot discard all 3 cards, though.

What Happens if a Card Tells You to Draw More Cards than You Have Left?
If a card tells you to do something to a certain number of the top cards of your deck, and you have fewer cards than that left in your deck, do whatever you are supposed to do to the cards that you have left and continue play as normal. For example, if a card tells you to draw 7 cards or to look at the top 5 cards of your deck, and you have only 3 cards left in your deck, you draw the top 3 or look at the top 3. Remember, you lose if you cannot draw a card at the beginning of your turn, not if you cannot draw one because a card told you to. What Happens if Neither Player Gets a Basic Pokémon Card in His or Her First 7 Cards? Sometimes neither you nor your opponent get any Basic Pokémon cards in your first hands of 7 cards. If this happens, both players shuffle and draw 7 new cards. In this case, neither player gets to draw an extra card. Repeat this process until at least one of the players has a Basic Pokémon card in his or her hand of 7 cards. If the other player still does not have a Basic Pokémon card in his or her hand, that player can shuffle and draw 7 new cards, but the player who already has a Basic Pokémon card can draw an extra card as usual. Continue this process until each player has a Basic Pokémon card in his or her hand of 7 cards.

What Happens if Both Players Win at the Same Time?
You win if you take your last Prize card or if your opponent has no Benched Pokémon to replace his or her Active Pokémon if it gets Knocked Out or otherwise removed from play. But it might happen that both players "win" in one of these ways at the same time. If this happens, play Sudden Death. However, if you win in both ways and your opponent wins in only one way, you win!

What's Sudden Death?
If Sudden Death occurs, play a new game, but have each player use only 1 Prize card instead of the usual 6. Except for the number of Prize cards, treat the Sudden Death game like a whole new game: Set everything up again, including flipping a coin to see who goes first. The winner of this game is the overall winner. It may happen that the Sudden Death game also ends in Sudden Death; if that happens just keep playing Sudden Death games until somebody wins.