This guide focuses on how to play Pokemon Cards, Players are allowed seven cards to be drawn from the relevant decks at the start of each match, with the starting Pokemon being Basic Pokemon. Players then shuffle their decks and draw seven cards, and then cast one Basic Pokemon onto the field. If the player does not have any Basic Pokemon, he or she must shuffle and draw a new hand, with an opponent allowed to draw an extra card.
Each player then puts one Basic-level Pokemon on top, face-down. The player draws an active Pokemon from their hand, but if a player does not, that player must return all those cards to their Deck, then draw seven new cards on their turn.
If during any player’s turn, your active Pokemon is eliminated (usually due to an opponent’s attack), that Pokemon and any cards it is attached to are discarded, and you must select one Pokemon from your bench to instantly become your new Active Pokemon. Players can also win if their opponent runs out of Pokemon on the playing field, including their active Pokemon and benched Pokemon, or if their opponent cannot draw a card from their deck early in the turn.
If a player must reshuffle in order to get a basic Pokemon in play, the opponent’s opponent gets to draw one extra card from the top of his or her deck and put it in his or her hand (one card for each reshuffle). The first player now begins their turn but, importantly, the first player cannot attack during their turn, and neither player may evolve a Pokemon during their turn. Both players flip all of their face-down Pokemon face-up and start playing.
Players can search through their Hand and perform a number of different actions on their turn, including putting a new Basic Pokemon on the Bench, evolving a Pokemon played in the preceding turn to a higher-level Pokemon, playing Trainer Cards, using Non-attacking Abilities, Retreating their Active Pokemon, and using the right Energy Cards to unblock the Ability on their Active Pokemon.
Normal actions are taken by a player while playing Pokemon, such as adding basic Pokemon, putting cards on a shelf, evolving cards, playing trainer cards, and sticking Energy cards. For example, while game rules state a player may play only one energy card each turn, some Pokemon permit the additional energy card if the card is in play.
