This part of the site will teach you and help you learn how to play the Pokemon T.C.G

Step 1: Have an opponent and a 60 card deck. Shuffle you deck and put it in front of you face down. Draw 7 cards, this is your hand. Look at you hand and if you do not have a Basic Pokemon card in your hand, show it to your opponent and shuffle it back into your deck and draw a new hand of 7 cards. Because you did this, your opponent may draw 2 more cards. Repeat this process until each of you has a Basic Pokemon card in your hand.

Step 2: You and your opponent choose a Basic Pokemon from your hand and put them face down in front of you, these are you active pokemon. You may play up to 5 Basic Pokemon from your hand. Now take 6 cards from the top of you deck, don't look at them. Place these in front of you. When you knock out an opponent's pokemon, you get to take one of these as your prizes. Now, flip a coin to decide who goes first. Then, flip over all active pokemon that you and your opponent have played.

Step 3: Now either you or your opponent will begin his or her turn. Follow these steps during your turn:
Draw a card
Do any of these as often as you like during your turn:
Put a Basic Pokemon on your bench.
Evolve a Pokemon in play.
Attach an energy card to a Pokemon, you can do this only once a turn
Play a trainer card.
Retreat an active pokemon.
Use a Pokemon Power
Attack with an active pokemon.
End your turn

Step 4: This is probably the most complex part of the game, attacking. To attack with a Pokemon, declare it as an attacker to your opponent, and your opponent declares a defending Pokemon. Each Pokemon has at least one ability to attack, and these usually require Plant, Fire, Water, Electric, Psychic, Fighting, or Colourless power. Colourless power can use any type of energy, but the others have to be of that type. Choose the ability you want to use. Read what it does and how many points of damage it does. For each 10 damage done, put a counter on the pokemon that the damage was done to. When the damage exceeds the HP of a pokemon, it is knocked out. For example, a pokemon with 50 HP with 5 or more counters on it passes out. If a pokemon has a weakness to the type of attack done, double the damage done. When a pokemon gets knocked out, put it and all cards attached to it into the owner's discard pile

Step 5: Sleep, Confusion, Paralysis, and Poison.
Some attacks may put these effects on a Pokemon. Only an active pokemon can get these problems. When a pokemon is returned to the bench, these effects are removed.

Poison: Identify a poisoned pokemon by putting a poison marker on it. A poisoned pokemon gets 10 damage after each player's turn

Confused: Turn a confused pokemon up-side down. Whenever a confused Pokemon attacks or tries to retreat, flip a coin. If you are trying to retreat, flip a coin. If it is heads, the pokemon retreats, if it is tails, it doesn't. If you are attacking, flip a coin too. On heads the attack works normally, but on tails, the pokemon does 20 damage to itself.

Paralyze: Turn a paralyzed pokemon on it's right side. When a pokemon is paralyzed, it cannot attack or retreat. It recovers after it's players next turn. When it recovers, turn it right-side up.

Sleep: Turn a pokemon on it's left side when it is asleep. A pokemon that is asleep cannot attack or retreat. After each player's turn, flip a coin. On heads, the pokemon wakes up and returns to it's right-side up position. On tails, it remains asleep and you must wait till after the next turn to wake it up.