Tutorial (TCGO)

New players of the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online are presented with a series of tutorials designed to teach them the basics of game play in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Introduction

Main article: Pokémon Trading Card Game Online

Upon login into Pokémon Trading Card Game Online for the first several sessions, players are welcomed to the Game Store by Zach and Ella, who then lead them through a series of two in-game Tutorials in order to teach them the Pokémon Trading Card Game. After completing the tutorials, players are presented with a full Match with a random computer-controlled Trainer from the Trainer Challenge's "Gold League". If players "Play as a Guest", they may repeat but will not advance beyond this stage. Players will, however, be encouraged to create a Pokémon Trainer Club User Name and Password after each match. With a Pokémon Trainer Club account, players are directed through the first few matches in the Trainer Challenge's Gold League.

• In order to help new players learn the mechanics of the game, they are directed through the tutorials and initial Matches before unlocking all game features. Players already familiar with the game may bypass this directed phase by disabling the New User Experience under Options.

NOTE: For those seeking additional tutorials outside of the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online itself, a brief description of How to play appears on the Pokémon Trading Card Game page. The Appendix:Glossary also defines most of the Pokémon Trading Card Game terminology. Finally, there are browser-based step-by-step TCG tutorials on Pokémon.com.

Tutorial #1

Intro

• Ella – "I am Ella!"
• Zach – "And I am Zach!"
• Ella – "Welcome to our game store! Let’s play a game of Pokémon"

Tutorial

When given instructions, bouncing green arrows show players where to click or touch the screen to perform the described action. When no specific instructions are given (usually because the player is expected to repeat an actions already described earlier in the tutorial), clicking on a non-highlighted or game specific portion of the screen will produce a brief description for what you need to do next from Zach or Ella. Cards that are playable are highlighted in a light blue color on a player’s Turn. A list of available actions are listed along the lower right side of the screen above the player’s picture or Avatar.

• Zach – "You start each game with an Active Pokémon. Right-click Oshawott for a closer look."
• Zach – <"Stage", "Hit Points", and "Attacks" are highlighted> "Oshawott is a Basic Pokémon, which means you can start the game with it. It also has 60 Hit Points and two attacks that do damage!."
• Zach – "You can attach one energy each turn. I’m attaching a Metal Energy to Eevee. Click anywhere to continue."
• <Zach's Turn.>
• Zach – "Now it’s your turn. Attach a Water Energy to Oshawott."
• Zach – "The first player cannot attack on his or her first turn. But since you didn't go first, you can! Select Oshawott to attack."
• Zach – "To use Rain Splash, Oshawott needs one Water Energy . You attached one of those this turn! Attack with Rain Splash!"
• Zach – "Rain Splash did 10 damage to my Eevee. It has 50 Hit Points, so 40 more damage will Knock Out Eevee. Click anywhere to continue."
• <Zach's Turn.>
• Zach – "Oshawott has a stronger attack that requires more energy. Attach another Water Energy ."
• Zach – "Seashell Attack requires one Water Energy and an energy of any type <colorless>. Since you have two Water Energy attached, you can use it now!"
• Zach – "My Eevee is almost knocked out. I had better put another Pokémon onto my Bench. Click anywhere to continue."
• <Zach's Turn.>
• Zach – "You just drew a Trainer card. These are different from Pokémon and Energy. Right-click on the Potion to take a look."
• Zach – "Trainer cards have special effects that can help you out. Play your Potion to heal Oshawott!"
• Zach – "Now use Seashell Attack to Knock Out my Eevee!"
• Zach – "When you Knock Out out my Pokémon, you get to take a Prize card. If you take all 6 Prize cards, you win the game!"
• Zach – "Now I pick a Pokémon from my Bench to be my new Active Pokémon. Click anywhere to continue."
• Zach – "Quick Attack has a special effect. I flip a coin, and if it comes up heads, then I do 10 more damage! Click anywhere to continue."
• <Zach's Turn.>
• Zach – "You should play Buneary onto your Bench in case Oshawott gets Knocked Out."
• <Attach another Water Energy to Buneary.>
• <Attack with Oshawott.>
• <Zach's Turn.>
• <Attach another Water Energy to Buneary.>
• <Attack with Oshawott.>
• <Zach's Turn.>
• Zach – "I Knocked Out Oshawott and took a Prize card. Buneary is your only Bench Pokémon, so it’ll be your new Active Pokémon. Click anywhere to continue."
• Zach – "One more attack will take out my Fletchling. I don’t have any more Pokémon on my Bench, so that’ll win you the game!"
• <Attach another Water Energy to Buneary.>
• <Attack with Buneary.>
• <Win Match>

Tutorial #2

Intro

• Zach – "That was a great game!"
• Ella – "Now that you know the basics, I’m going to teach you some advanced rules."

and possibly

• Zach – "I am Zach!"
• Ella – "And I am Ella! We are going to teach you how to play Pokémon!"

Tutorial

• <Select Buneary to be your Active Pokémon.>
• <Attach a Water Energy to Buneary.>
• Ella – "Remember that the first player can’t attack on the first turn. Make sure to select End Turn when you can’t attack."
• <Ella's Turn.>
• <Attach another Water Energy to Buneary.>
• <Attack with Buneary.>
• <Ella's Turn.>
• Ella – "Make sure you have a Pokémon on your Bench in case your Active Pokémon is Knocked Out!"
• <Select Oshawott from your Hand.>
• <Attach a Water Energy to Oshawott.>
• <Attack with Buneary.>
• Ella – "I drew a Stage 1 Evolution for Lillipup. Now I can evolve it into Herdier to make it stronger! Click anywhere to continue."
• <Ella's Turn. Knocks Out the player's Buneary.>
• Ella – "You just drew Dewott. Now your Oshawott can evolve too!"
• <Select Dewott from your Hand.>
• <Attach a Water Energy to Dewott.>
• <Attack with Dewott.>
• Ella – "My Herdier is close to being Knocked Out. I had better retreat. As long as I have a Bench Pokémon, I can do that by discarding one energy from Herdier. Click anywhere to continue."
• <Ella's Turn.>
• Ella – "Now that you know how retreating and evolutions work, you’re ready to play on your own. Let’s see if you can win this game!"
• <Continue playing using all of the concepts from Tutorial #1 and #2.>
• <The cards the player receive are scripted to assist the player and to encourage them to take certain actions at certain times.>
• <There are only Water Energy cards in the player's Prize cards.>
• <Eventually Win Match>
• <It is possible for the player to go out of their way to loose the Match. Even if they do so, the game advances to Tutorial #3.>

Tutorial #3 – Full Match

Players are then presented with the Trainer Challenge and are guided through the first few Matches before the full game is unlocked.

Trainer Challenge

• Zach – "This is the Trainer Challenge. Here you can play the first league in the Pokémon TCG Online: the Gold League!"
• Ella – "If you create a Pokémon Trainer Club account, you will be able to collect cards, build decks, an compete against other Trainers."
• <Players choose from "No Thanks", "Register Now!", and "Login Screen".>
• <Players choose from one of three Starter Theme decks, each representing one of three Starter Pokémon types — Fire , Grass , and Water .>

and possibly

• Ella – "Welcome back! Ready for another game?"

Match – Random Trainer

Players are presented with their first full Match against a random computer-controlled Trainer from the Trainer Challenge "Gold League". If players select "No Thanks" and continue to "Play as a Guest", they may repeat but will not advance beyond this stage. Players will, however, be encouraged to create a Pokémon Trainer Club account User Name and Password after each Match.

Match – Zach

After the random Trainer Match and if players create a Pokémon Trainer Club account, they will be guided through the first few Matches in the Trainer Challenge's "Gold League" starting with Zach.

• Ella – "With that win, you’ve unlocked a card for you deck! Win 7 games with a basic deck to unlock all of the cards and earn it for your collection!"
• Zach – "Trainers have been excited to play you!"

Ending the Game

• Ella – "Thanks for playing with us today!"

and possibly

• Zach – "If you make an account you’ll be able to collect cards and build your own decks!"

This article is part of both Project Sidegames and Project TCG, Bulbapedia projects that, together, aim to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames and TCG, respectively.