bw boundaries crossed rulebook

7/28/2019 Bw Boundaries Crossed Rulebook

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Pokmon Trading Card Game Rules


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Pokmon Trading Card Game R

Contents

Become a Pokmon Master! 3

Pokmon TCG Basic Concepts 3How to Win 3Energy Types 4

Parts of A Pokmon Card 53 Card Types 6

Zones of the Pokmon TCG 7

Playing the Game 8Winning the Game 8How to Start a Game 8Parts of a Turn 9Turn Actions 10Special Conditions 15

Pokmon Leagues and Trainer Kits 17

Advanced Rules 18

What Counts as an Attack? 18Full Details of Attacking 19What if You Should Draw More Cards

than You Have? 20What if Both Players Win at the Same Time? 20Whats Sudden Death? 20What Does and Doesnt Count for a

Pokmons Name? 20

Deck Building 21

Appendix A: Pokmon-EX 22*Special Rules for Pokmon-EX 22

Appendix B: Restored Pokmon 23Key Restored Pokmon notes 23

Appendix C: ACE SPECTrainer Cards 24

Glossary 25


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You are a Pokmon Trainer! You travel across the land, battling other Trainers with your Pokmon, creatures that love to battle and

that have amazing powers!

BECOME A POKMON MASTER!These rules will tell you everything you need to play the Pokmon TCG. Your deck o cards represents your Pokmon as well as items

and allies that help you on your adventures.

Trading card games are strategy based and use collectible cards to let each player customize his or her game. The best way to learn

to play the Pokmon TCG is with a Trainer Kit. This has two ready-to-play decks that walk you through the game, step by step. From

there, try a theme deck to get an idea o the dierent kinds o decks out there.

Once youre ready, you can start building your collection o cards with Pokmon TCG booster packs. Trade with your riends or the

strongest Pokmon or collect all your avorites! Then, build your own 60-card deck, play with your riends, and show o your own

personal Pokmon team!

POKMON TCG BASICCONCEPTSHOW TO WINIn the Pokmon TCG, your Pokmon battle your opponents Pokmon.The rst player to Knock Out 6 o his or her opponents Pokmon wins!

Also, i your opponent cannot draw a card at the start o his or her turn,

or has no Pokmon let in play, you win the game!


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ENERGY TYPESPokmon Knock Out opposing Pokmon by using attacks or Abilities. To power their attacks, Pokmon need Energy cards. The

Pokmon TCG has 10 Energy types, and you will nd Pokmon matching all 10 types in the game.

Each Energy type powers dierent attacks. Find the ones that match your personality! The Energy types are the ollowing:

GRASSGrass Pokmon oten have

attacks that heal themselves

or Poison their opponents.

FIREFire Pokmon have big

attacks! They can Burn their

opponents, but their attacks

need time to build up again.

WATERWater Pokmon can

manipulate Energy and move

Pokmon around on the

other team.

FIGHTINGFighting Pokmon can take

bigger risks to do extra

damage, and some can ip

coins or combination hits.

DARKNESSDarkness Pokmon eature

sneaky attacks that oten

make opponents discard cards!

METALMetal Pokmon can resist

attacks or longer than most

other Pokmon.

LIGHTNINGLightning Pokmon can bring

back used Energy rom the

discard pileand they can

Paralyze opponents.

PSYCHICPsychic Pokmon are great

or special powers! Their

opponents oten nd

themselves Asleep, Conused,

or Poisoned.

DRAGON

Dragon Pokmon have verystrong attacks, but oten

require 2 Energy types to

use them.

COLORLESS

Colorless Pokmon have lotso dierent moves, and they

work with any kind o deck.


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PARTS OF A POKMON CARD

CARD NAME

CARD NAME CARD TYPE

STAGE

COLLECTOR CARD NUMBER

RARITY SYMBOL

EXPANSION SYMBOL

EVOLVES FROMPOKMON

TRAINE

TRAINER

TEXT

POKMON TYPE

HP


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3 CARD TYPESYoull nd 3 dierent types o cards in the Pokmon TCG:

Pokmon

O course the most important cards are Pokmon!

Most o these cards are Basic Pokmon, Stage 1 Pokmon, or Stage 2 Pokmon. Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokmon are also called

Evolution cards. Look at the upper-let corner and you will see the Pokmons Stage and the Pokmon it evolves rom, i any.

Energy Cards

Most o the time, Pokmon cant attack without

Energy cards! Youll need to match the symbols othe attack cost to the Energy card, but any kind o

Energy can be used or .

Trainer CardsTrainer cards represent the Items, Supporters, and

Stadiums a Trainer can use in battle. You can see

the specic Trainer subtype in the upper-right

corner and any special rules or that subtype at the

bottom o the card.


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2012Pokmon.19952012Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAMEFREAKinc.

TM, ,andcharacter names are trademarks of Nintendo.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

I a Pokmon isaectedbya Special Condition,itcanbecuredby retreatingthatPokmon to theBench orbyevolvingthatPokmon.

Asleep

WhileAsleep,a Pokmoncannotattackorretreat.

In-between turns,theplayeripsa coin.I heads,thePokmon wakesup.

Burned

I a Pokmon isBurned,puta Burn markeron it.

In-between turns,theplayeripsa coin.I tails,put2 damagecountersontheBurnedPokmon.

Confused

IyouattackwithaConusedPokmon,ipacoin.Itails,theattackstops,andput3damagecountersontheConusedPokmon.

Paralyzed

WhileParalyzed,a Pokmoncannotattackorretreat.

Attheendo yourturn,yourPokmon returnsto normal.

Poisoned

I a Pokmon isPoisoned,

puta Poison markeron it.

In-between turns,put1damagecounteron thePoisonedPokmon.

Thetoprow o a playersin-play section isorthe ActivePokmon.Each playerstartswith (andmustalwayshave)oneActive Pokmon.Each playermay only haveoneActivePokmon ata time.I youropponentdoesnth aveany morePokmon in play,you win thegame!

Each playerhashisorher own discardpile.Cardstaken outo play goto thediscardpile, unlessa cardisplayed thatsaysotherwise.Typicallywhen a Pokmon isKnockedOut,itand any cardsattachedto it(suchasEnergy cards)aresentto itsownersdiscardpile.

Both playersstartwith theirown deckso 60 cardsto play thegame.Whileboth playersknow how many cardsarein each deck,no onecanlookatorchan getheordero thecardsin eitherplayersdeckunless acardallowshim orherto do that.

Thebottom row o a playersin-play section isortheBenchedPokmon. Each playermay haveupto 5 Pokmon on theBench atany onetime.Any Pokmon in play otherthan theActivePokmon mustbeputon theBenc h.

Parts of a Turn

Each turn has3 main parts:

1.Draw a card.

2. Doany of the followingactions inany order:

a. PutBasicPokmon cardsrom yourhandonto yourBench

(asmany timesas you want)

b. EvolveyourPokmon (as many timesasyou want)

c. Attach an Energy cardrom yourhandto oneo your

Pokmon (onceper turn)

d. Play Trainercards(asmany asyou want,butonly one

SupportercardandoneStadium cardperturn)

e. UseAbilities(asmany asyou want)

. RetreatyourActivePokmon (onceperturn)

3. Attack.Then,end your turn.

Each playerhashisor herown Prizecards.Prizecardsare6 cardsthateach playersetsaside,acedown, rom hisorhero wn deckatthestarto thegame.Thesecards arechosen randomly,andneitherplayer shouldknow whatcardshis orherPrizec ardsareatthestarto thegame.When you KnockOutan opposingPokmon, you takeoneo yourPrizecards.Thisisput into yourhandandthenplayednormally.I yourethefrstoneto draw yourlastPrizecard,you win!

BENCH

DECK

DISCARDPILE

PRIZE CARDS

PRIZECARDSThetoprowoaplayersin-playsectionisortheActivePokmon.Eachplayerstartswith(andmustalwayshave)oneActivePokmon.EachplayermayonlyhaveoneActivePokmonatatime.IyouropponentdoesnthaveanymorePokmoninplay,youwinthegame!

Eachplayerhashisorherowndiscardpile.Cardstakenoutoplaygotothediscardpile,unlessacardisplayedthatsaysotherwise.TypicallywhenaPokmonisKnockedOut,itandanycardsattachedtoit(suchasEnergycards)aresenttoitsownersdiscardpile.

Bothplayersstartwiththeirowndeckso60cardstoplaythegame.Whilebothplayersknowhowmanycardsareineachdeck,noonecanlookatorchangetheorderothecardsineitherplayersdeckunlessacardallowshimorhertodothat.

Thebottomrowoaplayersin-playsectionisortheBenchedPokmon.Eachplayermayhaveupto5PokmonontheBenchatanyonetime.AnyPokmoninplayotherthantheActivePokmonmustbeputontheBench.

PartsofaTurn

Eachturnhas3mainparts:

1.Drawacard.

2.Doanyofthefollowingactionsinanyorder:

a.PutBasicPokmoncardsromyourhandontoyourBench

(asmanytimesasyouwant)

b.EvolveyourPokmon(asmanytimesasyouwant)

c.AttachanEnergycardromyourhandtooneoyour

Pokmon(onceperturn)

d.PlayTrainercards(asmanyasyouwant,butonlyoneSupportercardandoneStadiumcardperturn)

e.UseAbilities(asmanyasyouwant)

.RetreatyourActivePokmon(onceperturn)

3.Attack.Then,endyourturn.

EachplayerhashisorherownPrizecards.Prizecardsare6cardsthateachplayersetsaside,acedown,romhisorherowndeckatthestartothegame.Thesecardsarechosenrandomly,andneitherplayershouldknowwhatcardhisorherPrizecardsareatthestartothegame.WhenyouKnockOutanopposingPokmon,youtakeoneoyourPrizecards.Thisisputintoyourhandandthenplayednormally.IyourethefrstonetodrawyourlastPrizecard,youwin!

BENCH

DECK

DISCARDPILE

SPECIALCONDITIONS

IaPokmonisaectedbyaSpecialCondition,itcanbecuredbyretreatingthatPokmontotheBenchorbyevolvingthatPokmon.

Asleep

WhileAsleep,aPokmoncannotattackorretreat.

In-betweenturns,theplayer ipsacoin.Iheads,the

Pokmonwakesup.

Burned

IaPokmonisBurned,putaBurnmarkeronit.

In-betweenturns,theplayeripsacoin.Itails,put2damagecountersontheBurnedPokmon.

Confused

IyouattackwithaConusedPokmon,ipacoin.Itails,theattackstops,andput3damagecountersontheConusedPokmon.

Paralyzed

WhileParalyzed,aPokmoncannotattackorretreat.

Attheendoyourturn,yourPokmonreturnstonormal.

Poisoned

IaPokmonisPoisoned,putaPoisonmarkeronit.

In-betweenturns,put1damagecounteronthePoisonedPokmon.

ACTIVE

POKMON

ACTIVE

POKMON

ZONES OF THE POKMON TCG

Active PokmonThe top row o a players in-play section is or the Active Pokmon. Each

player starts with (and must always have) one Active Pokmon. Each

player may only have one Active Pokmon at a time. I your opponent

doesnt have any more Pokmon in play, you win the game!

BenchThe bottom row o a players in-play section is or the Benched Pokmon.

Each player may have up to 5 Pokmon on the Bench at any one time.

Any Pokmon in play other than the Active Pokmon must be put on

the Bench.

HandEach player draws 7 cards at the

start and keeps his or her own

hand hidden. Cards you draw go

into your hand. Players may not

look at their opponents hand

unless a card is played that

allows otherwise.

DeckBoth players start with th

own decks o 60 cards to

game. While both players

how many cards are in ea

no one can look at or chan

the order o the cards in e

players deck unless a card

him or her to do that.

Prize CardsEach player has his or her own

Prize cards. Prize cards are 6 cards

that each player sets aside, ace

down, rom his or her own deck

at the start o the game. These

cards are chosen randomly, and

neither player should know what

cards their Prize cards are at the

start o the game. When you

Knock Out an opposing Pokmon,

you take one o your Prize cards.

This is put into your hand and

then played normally. I youre

the rst one to draw your last

Prize card, you win! Discard PileEach player has his or her

discard pile. Cards taken o

o play go to the discard p

unless a card is played tha

otherwise. Typically when

Pokmon is Knocked Out,

any cards attached to it (s

as Energy cards) are sent

owners discard pile.

In PlayThe in-play zone is shared by

the players. Each player has two

sections, divided into two rows,

or his or her Pokmon


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PLAYING THE GAMEPokmon TCG games are ast and urious. Heres the summary to play right away!

WINNING THE GAMEYou can win the game in 3 ways:

Take all o your Prize cards.

Knock Out all o your opponents in-play Pokmon.

I your opponent cant draw a card at the start o his or her turn.

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HOW TO START A GAMEShake hands with your opponent.

Shue your 60-card deck and draw the top 7 cards.

Check to see i you have any Basic Pokmon in your hand.

Put one o your Basic Pokmon ace down as yourActive Pokmon.

Put up to 5 more Basic Pokmon ace down on your Ben

1

2

3

4

ACTIVE POKMO

BENCHEDPOKMON

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Put the top 6 cards o your deck o to the side ace down asyour Prize cards.

Flip a coin. The winner o the coin fip goes rst.

Both players fip all their ace-down Pokmon ace up andstart the game!

PARTS OF A TURNEach turn has 3 main parts:

Draw a card.

Do any o the ollowing actions in any order:

Put Basic Pokmon cards rom your hand onto your Bench (as many times as you want).

Evolve your Pokmon (as many times as you want).

Attach an Energy card rom your hand to one o your Pokmon (once per turn).

Play Trainer cards (as many as you want, but only one Supporter card and one Stadium card per turn).

Use Abilities (as many as you want).

Retreat your Active Pokmon (only once per turn).

Attack. Then, end your turn.

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I you dont have any Basic Pokmon, what do you do? First, reveal your hand to your

opponent and shufe your hand back into your deck. Then, draw 7 more cards. I you still dont

have any Basic Pokmon, repeat.

Each time your opponent shufes his or her hand back into his or her deck because there were

no Basic Pokmon, you may draw an extra card!

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2

A

B

C

D

E

F

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TURN ACTIONS

DRAW A CARD

Start your turn by drawing a card. (I there are no

cards in your deck at the beginning o your turn and

you cannot draw a card, the game is over, and your

opponent wins.)

DO ANY OF THESE IN ANY

ORDER:Put Basic Pokmon cards from your hand onto your Bench(as many as you want)

Choose a Basic Pokmon card rom your hand and put it ace up onto your Bench. Your

Bench can hold up to 5 Pokmon, so you can only do this i there are 4 or ewer Pokmon

on your Bench.

1

2

A

BASIC POKMON ON BENCH


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Evolve Pokmon (as many as you want)

I you have a card in your hand that says Evolves rom so-and-so

and so-and-so is the name o a Pokmon you had in play at the

start o your turn, you may play that card in your hand on top o

Pokmon so-and-so. This is called evolving a Pokmon.

You may evolve a Basic Pokmon to a Stage 1 Pokmon or a Stage 1

Pokmon to a Stage 2 Pokmon. When a Pokmon evolves, it keeps

all cards attached to it (Energy cards, Evolution cards, etc.) and

keeps any damage it already has, but it cant use the attacks and

Abilities o the Pokmon rom which it evolved. Special Conditionson the Pokmonsuch as Asleep, Conused, or Poisonedalso

end when it evolves.

Attach an Energy card to one of yourPokmon (once per turn)

Take 1 Energy card rom your hand and attach it to either your Active

Pokmon or one o your Benched Pokmon. You can attach Energy just

once each turn!

B

Example:

The Watchog card in Timmys hand reads, Evolves rom Patrat, and Timmy has a

Patrat in play. He may play the Watchog card on top o the Patrat card, keeping

any damage counters and clearing all other eects.

Evolution notes: Neither player can evolve a Pokmon on its rst turn in play. When you

evolve a Pokmon, it means that Pokmon is new in play, so you cant evolve it a second time thesame turn! You can evolve either your Active or Benched Pokmon. Finally, neither player can evolve a

Pokmon on his or her rst turn!

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Play Trainer cards

When you play any Trainer card, do what it says and obey the rule at thebottom o the card, and then put it in the discard pile. You can play as manyItem cards as you like. Supporter cards are played like Item cards, but you can

play only one Supporter card each turn. Stadium cards can be played just onceeach turn as well, but they stay in play until another card removes them.

Retreat your Pokmon (once per turn)

On most turns, you probably will not retreat, but i your Active Pokmon has

lots o damage counters on it, you might want to retreat it and bring out a

Pokmon rom your Bench to ght instead. You may also want to do this i you

have a strong Pokmon on the Bench ready to battle!

To retreat, you must discard 1 Energy rom your Active Pokmon or each

listed in its Retreat. I no are listed, it retreats or ree. Then, you switch

that retreating Pokmon with a Pokmon rom your Bench. Keep all damage

counters and all attached cards with each Pokmon when they switch. Asleep

or Paralyzed Pokmon cannot retreat.

When your Active Pokmon goes to your Bench (whether it retreated or got

there some other way), some things do go awaySpecial Conditions and any

eects rom attacks.

I you retreat, you can still attack that turn with your new Active Pokmon.

Use Abilities (as many as you want)

Some Pokmon have special Abilities they can use. Many o them can be used

beore you attack. Each Ability is dierent, though, so read careully to see how

each one works. Some work only i a condition is met, while others work all the

time even without you using them. Be sure to announce which Abilities you

are using so your opponent knows what youre doing.

D

E

F

Remember, Abilities arent attacks, so you can still attack i you use an Ability! You can use

Abilities rom both your Active and Benched Pokmon.


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You may see some attacks with this as their cost symbol.

That means the attack has a cost o 0, and you can use it

without any Energy attached to the Pokmon!

What Energy would you need to use Scolipedes Poison Claws?

Thats right, 2 Energy and 2 Energy o any type!

This attack is called Tackle

Tepig needs 1 Energy attached to

use this attack

Tepig needs 2 Energy attached to use

Rollout: 1 Energy and 1 o any

type o Energy

This attack is called Rollout

Tackle does 10 damage to the

Deending Pokmon

Rollout does 20 damage to the

Deending Pokmon

ATTACK AND END YOUR TURN

When you are ready to attack, rst make sure that youve done everything in step 2 that you want to do. Once you attack,

your turn is over, so you cant go back later!

Attacking has three simple steps. Once you get it gured out, youll be attacking like a pro in no time!

CHECK the Energyattached to yourActive Pokmon

You need the right amount o Energy

attached to a Pokmon or it to attack.

For example, look at Tepig. Its Tackle

attack costs , so you must have at least

1 Energy attached to Tepig to use this

attack. Next, its Rollout attack costs

. You need at least 2 Energy attached

to Tepig to use Rollout, and the means

you need to have 1 Energy attached.

However, the means that any kind

o Energy can be used or the second

Energy. will work, but so will ,

, or any other Energy type. Once

you are sure you have the right Energy,announce which attack you are using.

3

A


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CHECK Weakness and Resistance of the Defending Pokmon

Some Pokmon have Weakness or Resistance to Pokmon o certain other

types, marked in the lower-let corner o the card. (For example, Snivy has a

Weakness to Pokmon.) I the attack does damage, the Deending Pokmon

takes more damage i it has Weakness to the attackers type. It takes less

damage rom a Pokmon i it has Resistance to that Pokmons type.

PUT damage counters on the Defending Pokmon

When you attack, put 1 damage counter on your opponents Active Pokmon

or each 10 damage your Pokmons attack does (written to the right o the

attack name). In the example above, Tepigs Tackle does 10 damage. Then,

Snivys Weakness o x2 to Fire-type Pokmon makes that 10 x 2 = 20 damage.

So put 2 damage counters with 10s on them on Snivy. I an attack says to do

something else, be sure to do that, too!

Your attack is complete, so check to see i any Pokmon were Knocked Out by

the attack. Some attacks can damage more than one Pokmon, and sometimesthey can even damage the attacking Pokmon! So, make sure to check every

Pokmon that was aected by the attack.

I a Pokmon has total damage at least equal to its HP (or example, 5 or moredamage counters on a Pokmon with 50 HP), it is Knocked Out. I a playersPokmon is Knocked Out, that player puts it and all cards attached to it in the discard

pile. That players opponent takes 1 o his or her own Prize cards and puts it into hisor her hand.

The player whose Pokmon was Knocked Out chooses a new Active Pokmon romhis or her Bench. I your opponent cant do this because his or her Bench is empty (oror any other reason), you win the game! I your opponent still has Pokmon in play,

but you just took your last Prize card, you also win the game!

Your turn is over

Next, you take care o a ew special things during the in-between turns step.

B

Dont apply Weakness and Resistance or Benched Pokmon!

C

D


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IN-BETWEEN TURNS STEP

Beore the game continues to the next player, take care o Special Conditions in this order:

1 Poisoned 2 Burned 3 Asleep 4 Paralyzed

Then, apply the eects o any Abilities (or anything else that a card states must happen between turns). Ater both players

have done these things, check to see i aected Pokmon were Knocked Out. Then, start the next players turn!

SPECIAL CONDITIONSSome attacks leave the Active Pokmon Asleep, Burned, Conused, Paralyzed, orPoisonedthese are called Special Conditions. They can only happen to an Active

Pokmonwhen a Pokmon goes to the Bench, you remove all its Special Conditions.

Evolving a Pokmon also removes its Special Conditions.

Asleep

Turn the Pokmon counterclockwise to show that it is Asleep.

I a Pokmon is Asleep, it cannot attack or retreat. In-between turns, fip acoin. I you fip heads, the Pokmon wakes up (turn the card back right-side

up), but i you fip tails, it stays Asleep.

Burned

I a Pokmon is Burned, it may take damage in-between turns. When a

Pokmon is Burned, put a Burn marker on it. In-between turns, the owner

o the Burned Pokmon fips a coin. I he or she fips tails, put 2 damage

counters on the Burned Pokmon. A Pokmon cannot have two Burn markers;

i an attack gives it another Burn marker, the new Burned Condition simply

replaces the old one. Make sure your Burn markers look dierent rom yourdamage counters.

4


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Confused

Turn a Conused Pokmon with its head pointed toward you to show that it

is Conused.

I a Pokmon is Conused, you must fip a coin beore attacking with that

Pokmon. I you fip heads, the attack works normally, but i you fip tails,

your Pokmon receives 3 damage counters and the attack ends without

urther eect.

ParalyzedTurn the Paralyzed Pokmon clockwise.

I a Pokmon is Paralyzed, it cannot attack or retreat. Remove the Special

Condition Paralyzed during the in-between turns phase i your Pokmon

was Paralyzed since the beginning o your last turn.

Poisoned

A Poisoned Pokmon takes damage in-between turns. When a Pokmon isPoisoned, put a Poison marker on it. Put a damage counter on each Poisoned

Pokmon during each in-between turns step. A Pokmon cannot have two

Poison markers; i an attack gives it another Poison marker, the new Poisoned

Condition simply replaces the old one. Make sure your Poison markers look

dierent rom your damage counters.

Removing Special Conditions

Moving to the Bench removes all Special Conditions. The only Special Conditions that prevent Pokmon rom retreating are Asleep

and Paralyzed. Since Asleep, Conused, and Paralyzed all rotate the Pokmon card, whichever one happened last to the Pokmon

is the only one that is still in eect. Since Poisoned and Burned use counters, those dont aect other Special Conditions. An

unortunate Pokmon could be Poisoned, Burned, and Paralyzed all at the same time!


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POKMON LEAGUES AND TRAINER KITSThis is all you need to know to play the game! I you need more help, ask your

local store or a Trainer Kit. This kit shows you and a riend how to play an entire

game, start to nish!

Learn more at wwwpokemoncom

Ask your hobby store i they have a Pokmon League, or nd one near

you at support.pokemon.com

Learn to play Pokmon games!

Earn cool prizes!Battle against other players!

Check out our online

tutorials for more rules help

www.pokemon.com/tcgtutorials


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ADVANCED RULESWHAT COUNTS AS AN ATTACK?Every attack has a cost and a name, and it might have a base damage and damage text. Most o the text on a Pokmon describes its

attack, even i it doesnt do any damage.

For example, Lilipups Collect does no damage, but its still an attack! Anything else is called an Ability or something else. For instance,

Reunicluss Damage Swap Ability moves damage counters around, but it doesnt count as an attack.

Swoobats Attract aects Collect, but not Damage Swap.


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FULL DETAILS OF ATTACKINGFor most attacks, the order in which you do things doesnt really matter. However, or a complicated attack, here are the ull steps:

Look at your Pokmon and decide which attack to use. Make sure you have the correct Energy attached. Then, announceyou are using that attack.

Make any choices the attack requires you to make. For example, i an attack says, Choose 1 o your opponents BenchedPokmon, you would make that choice now.

Do anything the attack requires you to do to use it. For example, you must fip a coin i an attack says Flip a coin. I tails,this attack does nothing.

Apply any eects that might alter or cancel the attack. For example, i an attack used against your Pokmon last turn says,I the Deending Pokmon tries to attack during your opponents next turn, your opponent fips a coin. I tails, that attackdoes nothing.

I your Attacking Pokmon is Conused, check now to see i the attack ails.

Apply any eects that happen beore damage, then place damage counters, and then do all other eects.

Figuring out how many damage counters to place is usually straightorward. However, i many things are changing the damage,

ollow these steps in this order:

Start with the base damage printed to the right o the attack. I an , , or + is printed next to it, the attack text willtell you the damage to do. I an attack tells you to put damage counters, you have no more calculations to do because

damage counters arent aected by Weakness, Resistance, or any other eects on a Pokmon. Just put those damagecounters on the aected Pokmon!

Figure out damage eects on the Attacking Pokmon based on Trainer cards or any other relevant eects. For example,i your Pokmon used an attack last turn that said, During your next turn, each o this Pokmons attacks does 40 moredamage (before applying Weakness and Resistance), then add that in. Stop i the base damage is 0 (or i the attack does notdo any damage at all). Otherwise, keep going.

Increase the damage by the amount next to the Deending Pokmons Weakness, i it has Weakness to the Attacking

Pokmons type.

Reduce the damage by the amount next to the Deending Pokmons Resistance, i it has Resistance to the Attacking

Pokmons type.

Figure out damage eects o Trainer or Energy cards, or other eects on the Deending Pokmon. For example, i the

Deending Pokmon has an Ability that says Any damage done to this Pokmon by attacks is reduced by 20 (afterapplying Weakness and Resistance).

For each 10 damage o the nal attack, put 1 damage counter on the aected Pokmon. I the damage is 0 or less, dontput on any damage counters!

A

B

C

D

E

F

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3

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WHAT IF YOU SHOULD DRAW MORE CARDSTHAN YOU HAVE?I a card tells you to draw or look at more cards rom your deck than you have let, draw or look at the cards you have and continue

play as normal.

For example, i a card tells you to draw or look at the top 5 cards o your deck and you have only 3 cards let in your deck, draw the

top 3 or look at the top 3. You lose i you cannot draw a card at the start o your turn, but not i you cannot draw one because a card

told you to do so.

WHAT IF BOTH PLAYERS WIN AT THE SAME TIME?You win i you take your last Prize card or i your opponent has no Benched Pokmon to replace his or her Active Pokmon i it is

Knocked Out (or otherwise removed rom play). This makes it possible or both players to win at the same time.

I this happens, play Sudden Death. However, i you win in both ways and your opponent wins in only one way, you are the victor!

WHATS SUDDEN DEATH?In Sudden Death, you play a new game, but each player uses only 1 Prize card instead o the usual 6. Except or the single Prize card,

treat the Sudden Death game like a whole new game! Set everything up and fip a coin again to see who goes rst. The winner o

this game is the overall winner. I the Sudden Death game also ends in Sudden Death, just keep playing Sudden Death games until

somebody wins.

WHAT DOES AND DOESNT COUNT FOR APOKMONS NAME?Some Pokmon cards have extra inormation ater their name, such as a Level or a symbol like . A Pokmons name

changes how you can evolve or play certain cards. Level is notpart o a Pokmons name:

Gengar, Gengar LV. 43, Gengar LV. 44, and Gengar LV.Xall have the same name

Symbols at the end o a Pokmons name are part o a Pokmons name:

Alakazam, Alakazam , and Alakazamhall have dierent names rom each other

However, (Delta Species) is notpart o a Pokmons name. Aerodactyl and Aerodactyl (Delta Species) have thesame name

An owner in a Pokmons name is part o the Pokmons name:

Geodude and Brocks Geodude have dierent namesWhen you are building a deck, you can have only 4 copies o a card with the same name in it, except or basic Energy cards. I your

deck has 1 each o Gengar, Gengar LV. 43, Gengar LV. 44, and Gengar LV.Xyou cant put any more cards named Gengar in your deck!

However, you could have 4 Geodude and 4 Brocks Geodude.

When evolving, the evolves rom Pokmon name must match the Pokmon being Evolved. So Graveler can evolve rom Geodude, or

Geodude LV. 12, but not Brocks Geodude.


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DECK BUILDINGWhen building most decks, youll need to ollow a ew rules. One o the most important rules is that your deck must be exactly 60

cards; it cant be any more or less, not even i its just 59 or 61 cards!

Also, except or basic Energy, you can only have 4 cards with the same name in your deck. This means you can have only 4 cards

called Pignite in your deck, even i they each have dierent attacks. Lastly, your deck must have at least one Basic Pokmon in it.

Building your own deck can be challenging, but also a lot o un. A League Leader at a Pokmon League can help you with some

ideas. Another good idea is to nd a theme deck you like and try modiying it. Remember to keep it at exactly 60 cards! I youre

starting a whole new deck though, try these guidelines or starters:

Pick one or two Energy types at most. Remember, most Pokmon can use any Energy or attacks, so they can go in

nearly any deck!

To make sure you have enough Energy cards, try between 18 and 22 in your 60-card deck

Trainer cards are important, too. Cards like Pokmon Communication and Energy Search can help you nd exactly the

cards you need! Around 13 to 20 Trainer cards is a good start

O course, you need Pokmon! The rest o your deck will be Pokmon. Remember, you need at least one Basic Pokmon in

your deck. Collect your avorite Pokmon so you can have 4 copies o them in your deck to make sure you draw them asmuch as possible. And, i that Pokmon evolves, try to get 4 o each o its evolution chain Pokmon as well!

Every deck is dierent and will t your personality and personal strategy. Over time youll nd the numbers o Pokmon, Trainer, and

Energy cards you like the best.


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APPENDIX A: POKMON-EXPokmon-EXare powerul Pokmon that show o a Pokmon with more HP and stronger attacks than regular Pokmon,

but there are risks to playing these powered-up Pokmon!

*SPECIAL RULES FOR POKMON-EXThe EXis part o a Pokmon-EXs name. Thus Reshiram and

Reshiram-EXhave dierent names, so you can have up to 4

o each in your deck i you wish.

When one o your Pokmon-EXis Knocked Out, your

opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

Apart rom this, Pokmon-EXplay just like any otherPokmon card.

One more cool thing: Pokmon-EXcan have

both regular and ull-art rare Ultra versions!


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APPENDIX B: RESTORED POKMONA new card stage or Fossil Pokmon has been introduced: Restored Pokmon. As you can see, Archen is a Restored Pokmon, and

has the rule Put this card on your Bench only with the eect o Plume Fossil. This means exactly what it says: the only way to play

Archen to your Bench is to play the Plume Fossil Item card. I you look at Plume Fossil, youll see exactly how you can get Archen into

play. Once you do, Archeops works just like any other Stage 1 Pokmonput it on top o Archen when you could normally play a

Stage 1 Pokmon.

KEY RESTORED POKMON NOTESI you have a Restored Pokmon in your hand, you cannot play it to your Bench unless you play an Item card and its eecttells you to.

Restored Pokmon are notBasic Pokmon! Thus, you cannot play them as your Active or Benched Pokmon during setup.Also, you must still have at least one Basic Pokmon in your deck i you otherwise only have Restored Pokmon in yourdeck. Finally, Restored Pokmon are notEvolution cards.

Cards or eects that reer to Basic, Stage 1, Stage 2, or Evolution cards dont aect Restored Pokmon. For example acard that says Search your deck or a Basic Pokmon cant nd this Restored Archen card. However, one that says Searchyour deck or a Pokmon can nd Archen. Also cards that aect unevolved Pokmon will aect Restored Pokmon.

When playing with older Fossil Pokmon, the most important rules to ollow are the Evolves rom or Put this cardinto play text. I, or example, Kabuto is printed in a later set as a Restored Pokmon, there will be a Stage 1 Kabutops.

Regardless o which Kabuto you have in play, you can evolve it into any Kabutops that says Evolves rom Kabuto.This means you can evolve a Stage 2 Kabutops rom a Restored Kabuto or a Stage 1 Kabutops rom a Stage 1 Kabuto.


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APPENDIX C: ACE SPECTRAINER CARDSA powerul new type o Trainer card debuts in Black & WhiteBoundaries Crossed:ACE SPECTrainer cards! These cards areso powerul, you can only have oneACE SPECcard in your deck. And thats not one o each: thats only oneACE SPECcard

total in your deck. Be sure to assess all theACE SPECcards to decide which one will work best in your deck!


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GLOSSARYABILITY: An Ability is an eect on a Pokmon that is not anattack. Some will be active all o the time, while some you will

need to choose to use. Read each Ability to make sure you

understand exactly how and when it works.

ACE SPECTRAINER CARD: A powerul Trainer card. Youmay only have oneACE SPECTrainer card in your deck.

ACTIVE POKMON: Your in-play Pokmon that is not on theBench. Only the Active Pokmon can attack.

ATTACH: When you take a card rom your hand and put it onone o your Pokmon in play.

ATTACK: 1) When your Active Pokmon ghts youropponents Pokmon. 2) The text written on each Pokmon

card that shows what it does when it attacks (a Pokmon can

have several attacks on it).

ATTACKING POKMON: The Active Pokmon, as it perormsan attack.

BASIC ENERGY CARD: A Grass , Fire , Water ,

Lightning , Psychic , Fighting , Darkness , or MetalEnergy card.

BASIC POKMON CARD: A card you can play directly romyour hand on your turn. See Evolution card.

BENCH: The place or your Pokmon that are in play but arenot actively ghting. They come out and ght i the Active

Pokmon retreats or is Knocked Out. When Benched Pokmon

take damage, do not apply Weakness or Resistance.

BURN MARKER: What you put on a Pokmon to remind youit is Burned. Remove the marker i the Pokmon is Benched or

Evolved. See counter, damage counter.

COUNTER: Object put on a Pokmon as a reminder (orexample, a Char counter). A counter does not go away when

you Bench the Pokmon, but it does go away i the Pokmon

evolves (damage counters are a special exception to this rule).

See damage counter, Poison marker, Burn marker.

DAMAGE: What usually happens when one Pokmon attacksanother. I a Pokmon has total damage greater than or equal

to its Hit Points, it is Knocked Out.

DAMAGE COUNTER: A counter put on your Pokmon toshow it has taken damage. It stays on your Pokmon even i

the Pokmon is Benched or evolved. Each damage counter

counts as much damage as it has printed on it. See counter,

Poison marker.

DEFENDING POKMON: Your Active Pokmon when youropponent is attacking.

DEVOLVE: Certain cards can devolve an Evolved Pokmon,which is the opposite o evolving your Pokmon. When a

Pokmon is devolved, it also loses Special Conditions and any

other eects.

DISCARD PILE: The cards you have discarded. These cardsare always ace up. Anyone can look at these cards at any time.

ENERGY CARD: Cards that power your Pokmon so they canattack. See basic Energy card.

EVOLUTION CARD: A card you play on top o a BasicPokmon card (or on top o another Evolution card) to make

it stronger.

FOSSIL TRAINER CARDS: A special kind o Trainer cardthat acts like a Basic Pokmon when put into play. When a

Fossil Trainer card is in your hand, deck, or discard pile, it is

not considered a Basic Pokmon. However, these Trainer cardsalways count as Basic Pokmon during set-up.

HIT POINTS (HP): A number every Pokmon has, telling youhow much damage it can take beore it is Knocked Out.


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IN-BETWEEN TURNS: The part o each turn when thegame shits rom one player to the other. Check Poison,

Burn, Asleep, and Paralysis at this step, and see whether any

Pokmon are Knocked Out.

IN PLAY: Your cards are in play when they are on the table.Basic Pokmon cards, Evolution cards, and Energy cards cannot

be used unless they are in play. (The cards in your deck, your

discard pile, and your Prizes are not in play, but your Benched

Pokmon are.)

KNOCKED OUT: A Pokmon is Knocked Out i it has damagegreater than or equal to its Hit Points. That Pokmon goesto the discard pile along with all cards attached to it. When

one o your opponents Pokmon is Knocked Out, take one o

your Prizes.

ITEM CARD: A type o Trainer card. Follow the instructions onthe card and then discard it.

LOST ZONE: Cards sent to the Lost Zone are no longerplayable during that match. Put them ace up anywhere out

o play.

OWNER: A Pokmon with a Trainers name in its title, such asBrocks Sandshrew or Team Rockets Meowth. Cards with , ,

, , or do NOT count as Owner cards.

POISON MARKER: Object put on a Pokmon to remind youit is Poisoned. Remove the marker i the Pokmon is Benched

or evolved. See counter, damage counter.

POK-BODY: An eect that is active as soon as that Pokmoncard is in play and lasts until the Pokmon leaves play.

POK-POWER: A once-per-turn power on Active andBenched Pokmon you must choose to use. Most Pok-Powers

are turned o i the Pokmon has a Special Condition.

POKMON: The colorul characters that ght or you in the

Pokmon Trading Card Game. They are represented in thegame by Basic Pokmon and Evolution cards.

POKMON-EX: Pokmon-EXare a stronger orm o Pokmonwith a special drawback: when your Pokmon-EXis Knocked

Out, your opponent draws two Prize cards instead o one.

POKMON LEGEND: Special double cards that showcasepowerul Legendary Pokmon. Both cards must be played

together at the same time.

POKMON LVX: Stronger versions o a regular Pokmon,put on top o the regular Pokmon o the same name and

adding extra abilities to the original Pokmon.

POKMON POWER: A special ability some Pokmon have.Pokmon Powers are divided into two categories: Pok-Power

and Pok-Body. They always include the words Pok-Power

or Pok-Body so you can tell they are not attacks.

POKMON SP: A special Pokmon trained by a particularTrainer, with a symbol in its name to show its owner. A Zapdos

card has a dierent name rom a Zapdos card because

Zapdos is a Team Galactics Pokmon and the is part o

the name.

POKMON TOOL: A special kind o Trainer card (an Item)you can attach to your Pokmon to help you. Each Pokmon

can have only 1 Pokmon Tool attached at any time.

PRIZE CARDS: The 6 cards you put ace down at the starto the game. Every time one o your opponents Pokmon is

Knocked Out, you take 1 o your Prizes into your hand (or 2

Prizes, or a Pokmon-EX). When you take your last Prize card,

you win!

RESISTANCE: A Pokmon with Resistance takes less damagewhen attacked by Pokmon o a certain type. The amount

o Resistance is printed next to the type o Resistance(s) a

Pokmon has, i any.

RESTORED POKMON CARD: A card you play with theassociated ossil Item card.


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RETREAT: When you switch your Active Pokmon with oneo your Benched Pokmon. To retreat, you must discard Energy

rom the retreating Pokmon equal to the Retreat Cost o the

Pokmon. This cost appears in the lower right-hand corner o

the card. You can only retreat once per turn.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS: Asleep, Burned, Conused,Paralyzed, and Poisoned are called Special Conditions.

STADIUM CARD: A type o Trainer card similar to an Itemcard, but stays in play ater you play it. Only one Stadium card

can be in play at a timei a new one comes into play, discardthe old one and end its eects. You can play only one Stadium

card each turn.

SUDDEN DEATH: Sometimes both players win at the sametime. In this case, you play a short game called Sudden Death

(use only 1 Prize card each instead o 6).

SUPPORTER CARD: A Trainer card similar to an Item card.You can play only one Supporter card each turn.

TECHNICAL MACHINE: A kind o Trainer card (an Item) youcan attach to your Pokmon. When attached, your Pokmon

can use the Technical Machine attack as its own. Technical

Machine cards remain attached unless the card text says

otherwise.

TRAINER CARD: Special cards you play to gain advantagesin the game. See Item card, Stadium card, Supporter card.

TRAINERS POKMON: Pokmon with Trainers names intheir titles, like Brocks Sandshrew. You cannot evolve a regular

Sandshrew into Brocks Sandslash, and you cannot evolve a

Brocks Sandshrew into a regular Sandslash. This is because

Brocks is part o the name.

WEAKNESS: A Pokmon with Weakness takes more damagewhen attacked by Pokmon o a certain type. The eect o

the Weakness is indicated next to the type(s) o Weakness aPokmon has, i any.

CreditsOriginal Japanese GameProducer: Tsunekazu Ishihara

Original Game Design: Tsunekazu Ishihara, Kouichi Ooyama,and Takumi Akabane

Game Development: Creatures Inc.

Art Direction: Creatures Inc.

Graphic Design: Milky Isobe

Special Thanks To: Satoshi Tajiri, Ken Sugimori,

GAME FREAK inc.

English-Language VersionThe Pokmon Company International

Producer: Kenji Okubo

Director of Production: Richard Simpson

Director of Product Development:Yasuhiro Usui

Production Coordination: Russ Foster, Traci Thomson,and Jay Moon.

Project Coordination: Junko Takaba and Satomi Honda

Translation: Tim Hove

Theme Deck Development: Mike Fitzgerald

Rulebook Writing: TPCi Editing Sta andDylan ExoByteMayo

Editing: Michael G. Ryan and Eoin Sanders

Design Direction: Eric MedalleGraphic Design: Kevin Lalli, Kyle Goodwin, and Kumi Okada

Card Typesetting: Ginny Baldwin

Packaging Illustrations: Shin Nagasawa

Black & WhiteBoundaries CrossedLogo: Kumi Okada

Special Thanks To: Creatures Inc., The Pokmon Company, andThe Pokmon Company International

Need Help Playing a Game?For gameplay help, strategies, rulings,or tournament inormation, visit our website at:

wwwpokemoncom

For other general customer service issues:

wwwpokemoncom/supportPhone: 1-425-274-4855

2012 Pokmon. 19952012 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.TM, , and character names are trademarks o Nintendo.

bw boundaries crossed rulebook

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