Beginner's guide
How to play Pokémon TCG
The Pokémon Trading Card Game turns the video games you grew up with into head-to-head battles: bench your Pokémon, attach Energy, evolve them into monsters, and take all six of your Prize cards to win. It's the friendliest TCG for kids and families — and the chase for holographic pulls is exactly what Holo Hunting was named after.
- Players
- 2
- Game length
- 15–30 minutes
- Deck size
- 60 cards exactly
- Great for ages
- 6+
What you need
- A 60-card deck — League Battle Decks and Battle Academy boxes are ready to play
- Damage counters or dice
- A coin (or a dice convention) for coin-flip effects
- Your Prize cards come from your own deck — no extra pieces needed
Setting up
- 1Shuffle and draw 7 cards. You must have at least one Basic Pokémon — if not, reveal your hand, shuffle, and redraw.
- 2Put one Basic Pokémon face down as your Active Pokémon, and up to 5 more face down on your Bench.
- 3Set aside the top 6 cards of your deck face down — these are your Prize cards.
- 4Flip a coin for who goes first, flip all Pokémon face up, and battle!
How a turn works
01Draw
Draw a card — mandatory. If your deck is empty when you must draw, you lose, so pace yourself.
02Do any of these, in any order
Bench Basic Pokémon · evolve Pokémon you've had in play since last turn · attach ONE Energy card from your hand · play Trainer cards (one Supporter and one Stadium per turn) · retreat your Active Pokémon by paying its Retreat Cost · use Abilities.
03Attack
If your Active Pokémon has the Energy its attack requires, deal the damage. Apply Weakness (double damage!) and Resistance. Attacking ends your turn.
04Between turns
Check Special Conditions (Poison, Burn, Sleep, Paralysis). Knocked Out Pokémon go to the discard pile and the attacker takes a Prize card.
How you win
- Take all 6 of your Prize cards (you grab one each time you Knock Out an opposing Pokémon — big ex/V Pokémon give up 2 or 3!)
- Your opponent has no Pokémon left in play
- Your opponent can't draw a card at the start of their turn
Words you'll hear at the table
- Basic Pokémon
- A Pokémon you can play straight from your hand — the foundation of every deck.
- Evolution
- Stage 1 and Stage 2 cards that stack on top of your Basics to get stronger (Charmander → Charmeleon → Charizard).
- Energy
- The cards that power attacks. You may attach only one per turn, so every attachment matters.
- Trainer cards
- Items, Supporters, Tools, and Stadiums — the spells of the Pokémon TCG.
- Prize cards
- Your win-counter: six cards set aside at the start; take one (or more) per Knock Out.
- Weakness / Resistance
- Type matchups: Weakness doubles the damage a Pokémon takes; Resistance reduces it by 30.
- Retreat
- Swap your Active Pokémon to the Bench by discarding Energy equal to its Retreat Cost.
- ex / V / GX
- Extra-powerful Pokémon that give your opponent 2–3 Prizes when Knocked Out. High risk, high reward — and the best pulls.
Beginner tips from the shop
- 1.Always keep a backup attacker on your Bench — never leave yourself with just one Pokémon.
- 2.Attach an Energy every turn, even if you're not attacking yet.
- 3.Play your Supporter every turn — card draw wins games.
- 4.Don't bench everything: each benched ex/V is a Prize card waiting to be taken.
- 5.Bring your kids Friday nights — Pokémon open play is 3–9 PM and we love teaching new trainers.
Ready to play for real?
Pokémonopen play runs every Friday 3–9 PM at the shop. Tell us you're new — first game's on us, loaner deck included.