Appendix:Glossary (TCG)

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This glossary is a list of all general terms used in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Active Pokémon

The Active Pokémon is the Pokémon that the player has chosen as their main lead. During the player's turn, they are able to attach Energy cards, Pokémon Tools and Technical Machines to their Active Pokémon, evolve it, use a Level Up card on it, attack with it or retreat it. The Active Pokémon is also sometimes referred to by the opponent as the Attacking Pokémon or, if affected by an opponent's attack, the Defending Pokémon.

Baby Pokémon

A Baby Pokémon is a type of Pokémon card introduced in Neo Genesis to be treated as a Basic Pokémon. Baby Pokémon are pre-evolved forms of existing Basic Pokémon, such as Pichu is to Pikachu, and thus are able to evolve into their respective Basic Pokémon (which are then treated as Evolved Pokémon). Up to Skyridge, the opponent was also forced to flip a coin when attacking a Baby Pokémon: if tails, the attack would fail. As of EX Sandstorm, Baby Pokémon are officially Basic Pokémon, and instead have a Baby Evolution Poké-Power to allow them to evolve into their respective evolutions.

Basic Energy card

A basic Energy card is one unit of Energy required for a Pokémon to use an attack. There are eight types of basic Energy card: Grass; Fire; Water; Lightning; Psychic; Fighting; Darkness; and Metal. The exact unit of Energy is required in order to use the attack, unless any Colorless Energy are required for the attack, as any type of Energy can be used in place of Colorless Energy. For example, if an attack requires one Lightning Energy to be used, a Grass Energy will not allow the player to use that attack, but it will allow the player to use any attacks that require Colorless Energy. In Diamond & Pearl, basic Darkness Energy and basic Metal Energy were introduced, as well as attacks which require no Energy to be used.

Basic Pokémon

A Basic Pokémon is a form of Pokémon which does not evolve from any other Pokémon. A Basic Pokémon can be placed directly into play, either as the Active Pokémon at the start of the game or as a Benched Pokémon any time during play. Some Basic Pokémon, such as Mewtwo, do not evolve; some, such as Bulbasaur, do; and some, such as Pikachu can evolve from Baby Pokémon, either classified as a Baby Pokémon or with the Baby Evolution Poké-Power. In these cases, Basic Pokémon that are evolved from Baby Pokémon or other Basic Pokémon are considered to be Evolved Pokémon.

Bench

During play, any Pokémon that are not considered to be the Active Pokémon are put onto the Bench. These are classed as Benched Pokémon. They cannot attack or retreat, but they may be able to use Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies if they do not state that the Pokémon must be Active to use them, and they can also be switched out into the Active position if the current Active Pokémon retreats. Some attacks allow a Pokémon to deal damage to the opponent's Benched Pokémon (and some even deal damage to the player's own Benched Pokémon): in these cases, Weakness and Resistance are not applied to the Benched Pokémon. Unlike Active Pokémon, a Pokémon LV.X card cannot be played in order to Level Up a Benched Pokémon.

Damage

When an Active Pokémon attacks, the attack they use may specify an amount of damage to be done to the Pokémon being attacked. Damage is tallied up, by way of damage counters, in order to Knock Out an opponent's Pokémon. Each damage counter counts as 10 damage, so, for example, if a Pokémon had 120 Hit Points and had twelve or more damage counters on it, it would be Knocked Out. Damage done by attacks may also be affected by the Weakness or Resistance of the Pokémon being attacked.

Defending Pokémon

When attacking, the effect of an attack may mention the Defending Pokémon in the event that is being affected by a Special Condition or other effect. The Defending Pokémon is your opponent's Active Pokémon at the time that the attack is used.

Discard pile

When cards are taken out of play, they are moved into the discard pile. Either player can look at the cards in their own discard pile, as well as those in their opponent's. When a Pokémon is Knocked Out, it, along with all cards attached to it, is moved to the discard pile. When a Trainer card is used, it is immediately moved to the discard pile after being used. Similarly, a Supporter card is moved into the discard pile at the end of the turn in which is was used. Some cards also allow the player to recollect cards from their discard pile.

Evolution card

Evolution cards, split into Stage 1 Pokémon and Stage 2 Pokémon, are types of Pokémon which evolve from other Pokémon. Both the player's Active Pokémon and their Benched Pokémon can be evolved during their turn. Stage 1 Pokémon are placed onto Basic Pokémon (including those evolved from Baby Pokémon) and Stage 2 Pokémon are placed onto Stage 1 Pokémon. A Pokémon cannot be evolved more than once during a turn. Pokémon that are resurrected from fossils, such as Omanyte and Kabuto, are Stage 1 Pokémon, as their respective Fossil Trainer cards, Helix Fossil and Dome Fossil, are classed as Basic Pokémon. Some cards, such as Rare Candy, even allow the player to bypass a Stage 1 Pokémon by evolving a Basic Pokémon directly into a Stage 2 Pokémon.

Hit Points

Hit Points, shown on a Pokémon card as HP, represents the health of each Pokémon card and the amount of damage it can take before being Knocked Out. Pokémon in the Trading Card Game have anywhere between 30 and 140 HP, and some Pokémon cards, such as Pokémon-ex and Pokémon LV.X, can have between 100 and 200 HP. Some Poké-Bodies and Pokémon Tool cards will temporarily increase the number of Hit Points a Pokémon has, if only by 10 or 20 HP.

Poké-Body

A Poké-Body is a type of Pokémon Power that is active for as long as the Pokémon which has it is in play. A Poké-Body is sometimes reminiscent of that Pokémon's in-game ability, such as Ludicolo's Rain Dish ability. Poké-Bodies have a vast amount of different effects and can affect almost any aspect of gameplay.

Poké-Power

A Poké-Power is a type of Pokémon Power that the player is able to use during their turn. In a similar fashion to Poké-Bodies, Poké-Powers can affect almost any aspect of gameplay, and can often be used once during the player's turn, before their attack. Some can be used multiple times and some are designed to cause an after-effect to the Pokémon with it being Knocked Out.

Prize card

A Prize card is a card taken by a player for Knocking Out one of their opponent's Pokémon. When using the regular 60-card deck, six prizes are put down at the start of the game: however, three are put down if using a 30-card half deck, and four are put down if using a 40-card prerelease deck. The first player to take all of their Prize cards wins the game. When a player Knocks Out one of their opponent's Pokémon-ex, however, they take two Prize cards instead of one.

Resistance

If a Pokémon has Resistance to a certain type, it means that if it is attacked by a Pokémon of that type, it will receive less damage. Before Diamond & Pearl, Resistances were fixed at -30 damage, meaning the Pokémon would take 30 less damage from an attack; as of that set, Resistances are officially variables, though are always -20 damage unless on a reprint of a Pokémon card that originally had a -30 Resistance.