Pokémon TCG Almanac · 2000
This page covers Japan's 210 cards in three sets. The English market shipped five sets that year, 588 cards, and they are a separate product line — the English side was still catching up, replaying Japanese material from 1997 to February 2000. See the 2000 English edition.
Darkness and Metal, Baby Pokémon, and a new card frame — 210 cards in three sets.
On 4 February 2000 the Japanese game moved into the world of Gold and Silver with the seventh expansion, Gold, Silver, to a New World… — two and a half months after the Game Boy games. Three new ideas arrived at once: two new types, Darkness and Metal, Baby Pokémon that do not evolve in the usual way, and Pokémon Tool cards that stay attached to a Pokémon. The frame itself was redrawn — the evolution box became circular and the HP number went from red to black.
Japan shipped three sets and 210 cards this year — more than 1999's two sets and 116 cards, but well down from the four to six sets a year of 1996–98. English shipped five sets and 588 cards, working through Base Set 2, Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge and Neo Genesis — the first year English outnumbered Japanese. Japan's four-year run was compressed into twelve months.
Each entry shows the card face on the left and name, HP, type, stage, artist and attacks on the right. The pack-details block under each set carries the original price, pack spread and publisher.
Japanese card faces here are scans of the English print of the same set — no public scans of the Japanese originals exist, and the artwork, HP and attacks are identical. Three exceptions: ① Moo-Moo Milk was re-illustrated for English, so the image shown is the altered one. ② Dark Raichu is the English card face. ③ Ruin Wall (Aerodactyl print) has no English counterpart and is shown without an image.
This page documents 210 main-series cards across three products on three release dates in 2000. It covers cards printed in Japan only; printings for other editions are tracked separately.
| Publication edition | Japanese edition |
|---|---|
| Products | 3 |
| Cards | 210 |
| Release dates | 3 (2000-02-04 – 2000-11-23) |
| Series codes | neo1, neo2, neo3 |
| Card faces on record | 209 of 210 |
| Latest release on record | 2000-11-23 |
7th expansion · Gold, Silver, to a New World… (2000-02-04, 96 cards) · 8th expansion · Crossing the Ruins… (2000-07-07, 57 cards) · 9th expansion · Awakening Legends (2000-11-23, 57 cards).
How many main-series cards does this page record for 2000?210 cards across three products, an average of 70.0 cards per product. This is the main-series archive count, not a claim that every promo and event card from the year is itemised here.
What release dates does this page cover?3 release dates, from 2000-02-04 to 2000-11-23.
Do these Japanese cards have English-edition counterparts?209 of 210 cards (99.5%) carry a mapping to an English-edition card; the remaining 1 are Japanese-only printings or not yet paired.
How many of these 210 cards are shown with a card face?209 of 210 cards have a card face on record; the other 1 are listed without one rather than showing a card face from a different printing.
Gold, Silver, to a New World…, the seventh expansion. 96 cards, ten to a pack at ¥315. Darkness and Metal types, Baby Pokémon and Pokémon Tools all arrive together, and the card frame changes with this set. The Starter Pack (78 cards, ¥1,580) shipped the same day.
English Base Set 2. 130 cards — not a new set but a compilation drawn from Base Set, Jungle and Team Rocket. It has no Japanese counterpart.
English Team Rocket — 82 cards plus one secret card, two years and five months after Japan's November 1997 release. English had finally reached 1997.
Pikachu & Pichu, a jumbo, in the August issue of Bessatsu CoroCoro. Tied to the short film that played alongside the feature.
Crossing the Ruins…, the eighth expansion. 57 cards at ¥315 for ten. Built around Unown and the Ruins of Alph; Darkness rises to four cards and Metal to three.
Spell of the Unown: Entei opens. Moviegoers received Igglybuff and Hitmontop, and cinemas sold Premium File 2 (nine cards) ahead of shops, which got it on 5 August.
Crystal Tower's Entei, a jumbo, in the August CoroCoro. The same issue also bound in an Unown card — two cards in one magazine.
English Gym Heroes. 132 cards, one year and ten months after Japan's Leaders' Stadium — built around Brock, Misty, Lt. Surge and Erika.
Pokémon Gold and Silver reach North America, eleven months after Japan. The matching card set, Neo Genesis, followed two months later.
English Gym Challenge. 132 cards, sixteen months after Challenge from the Darkness. Koga, Sabrina, Blaine and Giovanni complete the eight Leaders.
Awakening Legends, the ninth expansion. 57 cards at ¥315. Entei, Suicune and Raikou arrive with Ho-Oh, and Celebi makes its card debut. Premium File 3 (nine cards) shipped the same day.
English Neo Genesis. 111 cards, only ten months after Japan. The 27-month gap of 1999 collapsed here.
The cards you could not buy, in the order they reached people in Japan, with the three English-text cards last. In 2000 the film, the magazines and corporate campaigns all ran at once — and it is the only year with two Premium Files.
6 Jul 2000 (Bessatsu CoroCoro, August issue)
A jumbo tied to the short Pikachu & Pichu that played before the feature. Two Pokémon side by side in a wide frame, roughly four times the area of a normal card. The short was a separate twelve-minute film starring the Pichu Bros. Because jumbos were bound into magazines, most surviving copies carry a centre crease or soft corners.
8 Jul 2000 at cinemas / 5 Aug 2000 in shops
A nine-card file, the sequel to the Premium File of December 1999. It holds Charizard, Entei and Pichu (from the feature and its accompanying short), Espeon, Umbreon and Eevee, and three Unown — E, N and O. All nine carry a Cosmos reverse holo, a foil that reads through the back of the card, so they do not look like an ordinary ★. Sold at cinemas first, then in shops from 5 August.
8 Jul 2000, cinema handout
One of two cards — paired with Hitmontop — handed to everyone who came to see Spell of the Unown: Entei. It went to people at the door on the day, not to advance-ticket buyers. The pair carries a special theatrical-release rarity mark rather than the usual common / uncommon / holo symbol.
8 Jul 2000, cinema handout
The other half of the pair with Igglybuff — the two together are "the 2000 film cards". Hitmontop had almost no cards at the time; a ★ version then appeared in the second Neo set released the day before, on 7 July. So the same Pokémon shipped both as a cinema handout and in a normal pack in the same week.
15 Jul 2000 (CoroCoro Comic, August issue)
A jumbo of the film's centrepiece, the Entei of the crystal tower. A different illustration from the regular Entei card — the tower, the crystals, the whole set piece. The same August issue also carried an Unown card bound in, so one magazine got you two cards.
Jul–Aug 2000, ANA "Get in a Jet! 2000", phase 1
The first of two cards from ANA's domestic campaign. A photographic composite — a real sunset and backlit palms behind a 3D-rendered Marill — credited to Ryuta Kusumi / CR CG gangs. The lower right reads "ANA Special 2000 Version", and of the twelve ANA promo cards, only these two from 2000 print the airline's name.
Aug 2000 (How I Became a Pokémon Card, vol. 4)
The insert in volume four of a manga built around the cards themselves — each chapter takes one card as its subject. The promo matches the volume: Sunkern here. Volumes one to three each carried a different card, so six volumes make six cards.
Aug 2000, ANA "Get in a Jet! 2000", phase 2
The second phase of the same ANA campaign, built the same way — photographic background, 3D Pokémon, Ryuta Kusumi / CR CG gangs. One card per phase, two in total that summer. ANA had given out cards every year since 1998; the 2000 pair were that year's two.
Summer 2000, Pokémon Card Fan Club
A jumbo sent to Fan Club members — less a playable card than a card about cards, stamped "NEW CENTURY" at the turn of the century. It was treated as a special card that cannot be used in a game. Distribution was capped against the membership, and it has been scarce since 2000.
Summer 2000, Tropical Mega Battle finals
A Stadium given to finalists at the international invitational that pits Japanese and English players against each other. Japanese and English printed on one card, the same format as 1999's Bilingual Exeggutor. Lucky Stadium exists in a different illustration for each venue, and the 2000 version shows the tournament hall itself.
Oct 2000 (CoroCoro Comic, November issue)
One letter of the Unown that the second Neo set was built around, bound into a magazine. Unown runs A to Z, twenty-six cards, each with its own attack. R came with a magazine, J with a book, E / N / O in Premium File 2 — in 2000 the letters were scattered across different handouts.
23 Nov 2000, same day as the third Neo set
A nine-card set released the same day as the third Neo expansion, arranged so that nine cards cover nine types, exactly one each: Celebi, Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Lugia, Sudowoodo, Skarmory, Sneasel, Ho-Oh. Celebi makes its card debut here, ahead of the film. Six of the nine are Legendary.
Dec 2000 (CoroCoro Comic, January 2001 issue)
The last magazine insert of 2000 — on sale in December 2000, but numbered as the January 2001 issue, so it straddles the year. Smoochum also appears as a ★ in the third Neo set; this is a separate illustration. It is the last of the seven Baby Pokémon cards that arrived during the year.
Summer 2000, JR Pokémon Stamp Rally pass pack
One of the cards in the pack given according to how many stations you had stamped on the JR rally. Handed out in Japan, but printed in English — unusual for a Japanese promo at the time. The rally ran across the Kantō network, and finishing it earned a second, different prize card.
Summer 2000, JR Stamp Rally silver course prize
The prize for the rally's silver course — a mid-tier number of stamps. Also printed in English. With the gold-course Eevee it made a two-step prize structure; more silver cards went out than gold, but neither could be had anywhere except at the rally.
Summer 2000, JR Stamp Rally gold course prize
The top tier of the rally — the gold course prize, and the hardest of the three to find. English text, English attacks. That an English card was the reward for a Japanese event is the shared oddity of all three 2000 stamp-rally cards.
2000 is the year the number of channels grew: magazine bind-ins, cinema handouts, the fan club, an airline, a rail stamp rally, a manga volume and an international tournament. These are the main ones; counting every monthly CoroCoro insert and tournament card would add more. Public scans exist for almost none of them, so entries are left without images rather than filled with a different card.
Seventh expansion. Ten cards a pack at ¥315 (¥300 before tax), sixty packs a box; 96 cards in Japan, 16 of them holofoil. This is the set that brought in Darkness and Metal, Baby Pokémon and Pokémon Tools, and that redrew the frame — round evolution box, black HP. The Starter Pack of the same day (¥1,580) is a beginner deck assembled at random from these cards. The common / uncommon / holo ratio was never published, so it is not stated here.
4 February 2000. The set that moved the card game into Gold and Silver, two and a half months after the games. Seventy-two Pokémon, twenty-one Trainers and three Energy cards. The new types start small: two Darkness (Murkrow, Sneasel) and two Metal (Steelix, Skarmory).
Evolution runs 39 Basic, 22 Stage 1, 7 Stage 2 and 4 Baby. Sixteen cards are holofoil — but one of them is not a Pokémon: Metal Energy, a Special Energy card, the first Energy ever printed as a ★. Its counterpart, Darkness Energy, was an ordinary rare, so the two were treated differently. The four Baby Pokémon are Magby, Pichu, Elekid and Cleffa, all at rare or better.
17 cards · listed in original order.
40 HP, retreat 1. Hide costs one Colorless and, on heads, shuts off every effect and all damage aimed at Oddish for the whole of your opponent's next turn. Absorb costs two Grass for 20 and heals half of it back. A 40 HP Basic that can simply refuse to die.
40 HP, retreat 1. Tackle deals 10; Deflector halves all damage Chikorita takes next turn, rounded down to the nearest 10. Attack effects still land, so status conditions get through — but a 40 HP Basic surviving a second turn matters.
40 HP with no retreat cost. Supersonic confuses on heads for one Grass; Comet Punch flips four coins for 10 each. Because retreat is free, a bad flip costs nothing but a turn.
40 HP, retreat 1. Scary Face, on heads, stops the Defending Pokémon from attacking or retreating for a turn. String Shot deals 10 and paralyzes on heads. Three different ways to lock a Pokémon down, on a 40 HP Basic.
50 HP, retreat 0. Hop costs one Colorless for 10; Sprout fetches another Hoppip straight onto your Bench. The entry point for a deck that stacks the same name — and with free retreat it can come and go at will.
40 HP but a retreat cost of 2. Growth, on heads, lets you attach up to two Energy from hand at once; Mega Drain costs three Grass for 30 and heals half. The expensive retreat is offset by the healing.
50 HP, retreat 1. Withdraw blocks all damage next turn on heads; Wrap costs two Grass for 20 and paralyzes on heads. It defends and attacks at the same time — one of the sturdier Grass Basics in the set.
A 60 HP Stage 1. Strange Powder deals 20 and confuses on heads, puts to sleep on tails — either way the opponent is disrupted. Sticky Nectar hits for 20, plus 10 and a block on switching on heads.
An 80 HP Stage 1. Sweet Scent heals two damage counters — off your side or the opponent's, depending on the coin, an odd and useful option. Double Razor Leaf flips two coins for 40 each, up to 80. The bridge from Chikorita to Meganium.
A 60 HP Stage 1. Baton Pass deals 30, then moves every Energy off Ledian onto a Benched Pokémon and switches to it — handing a loaded attacker to the next turn rather than losing the investment.
A 60 HP Stage 1. Spider Web stops the Defending Pokémon retreating on heads; Poison Bite deals 20, poisons, and heals Ariados for half the damage dealt. Lock it down, then let the poison work.
60 HP, retreat 0. Poisonpowder costs one Grass for 10 and poison; Stun Spore costs one Grass for 10 and paralysis on heads. One Energy buys either status, and with free retreat it can stay put.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Petal Dance flips three coins for 30 each — up to 90 — but confuses Sunflora after the damage. The aggressive end of the Sunkern line.
A 100 HP Stage 2 with only one attack, despite being holofoil. Body Slam costs two Grass and two Colorless for 40 and paralyzes on heads. Modest on paper, but 100 HP behind a four-Energy attack held up — and a single-attack ★ was unusual at the time. Retreat 3 is steep.
A 70 HP Stage 2. Sweet Nectar, on heads, wipes every damage counter off one of your Pokémon. Flower Dance deals 30 for each card named Bellossom you have in play — the more copies you stack, the harder it hits.
A 70 HP Stage 2 with no retreat cost. Sleep Powder is one Grass for 20 and sleep; Leech Seed is one Grass for 20 and a counter off Jumpluff. A Stage 2 you can pull back for free was rare, and Jumpluff became a Grass-deck staple.
A Basic, and holofoil. Megahorn costs three Grass for a hefty 60 — but does nothing at all on tails. Being able to hit 60 without evolving is the appeal; the price is that a bad flip leaves you with nothing. Retreat 2.
5 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 1. Fireworks costs one Fire for 20 but discards an Energy off Cyndaquil on tails. Quick Attack is two Colorless for 10, or 30 on heads. Fire that costs you fuel — typical of the era's Fire Basics.
70 HP, retreat 2. Tail Slap is two Colorless for 20; Magma Punch is two Fire and one Colorless for 40. No coin flips, no drawback — and 70 HP on a Basic is generous for Fire in this set.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Smokescreen deals 20 and forces a coin flip on the opponent's next attack — tails and it fails. Char deals 30 and plants a Char counter, making the opponent flip every turn or take 20. The middle of the Cyndaquil line.
A 100 HP Stage 2. Flame Burst costs four Fire for 60; on heads it becomes 80 and deals 20 to Typhlosion. Four Energy was the going rate for a Fire Stage 2 then, and this was the set's Fire ★.
A 30 HP Baby. Sputter costs one Colorless for 10 and shuts off every Pokémon Power in play until the end of your next turn. Babies share a rule that forces a coin flip on the opponent's turn — tails and the attack fails outright — so 30 HP is not as fragile as it looks.
13 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 0. Fin Slap costs two Water for 20 — but becomes 30 if Horsea was damaged on the opponent's last turn. A Basic that hits harder after being hit.
50 HP, retreat 1. Leer, on heads, stops the Defending Pokémon attacking Totodile next turn. Fury Swipes costs one Water and flips three coins for 10 each. Block first, chip second.
40 HP, retreat 1. Defense Curl blocks all damage on heads; Bubble Bomb costs two Water for 30 and paralyzes on heads — but deals 10 to Marill on tails. A card that wins and loses on the same flip.
50 HP, retreat 1. Amnesia costs one Water and locks one of the Defending Pokémon's attacks for a turn; Slam flips two coins for 20 each. Cutting an attacker's best move is why it saw play.
40 HP, retreat 1. Powder Snow costs one Water for 10 and puts the Defending Pokémon to sleep with no coin flip. Ten damage is nothing; buying a guaranteed turn is not.
60 HP, retreat 1. Undulate costs two Water for 20 and, on heads, blocks all effects and damage next turn. With 60 HP behind it, this is a card you play to survive one specific turn.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Bubble is one Water for 10 and paralysis on heads; Mud Splash is two Water for 30 plus 10 onto a Benched Pokémon. The cheap middle stage between Horsea and Kingdra.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Screech costs one Colorless and makes every attack on the Defending Pokémon deal 20 more next turn — a powerful setup. Jaw Clamp then deals 30 and pins the opponent in place.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Surf is two Water for 30; Earthquake is two Fighting and two Colorless for 60 but deals 10 to each of your own Benched Pokémon. You either keep the Bench empty or bring healing.
An 80 HP Stage 1, retreat 3. Freeze deals 10 and, on heads, stops the Defending Pokémon attacking. Blizzard costs three Water for 30, then 10 to the opponent's Bench on heads or your own on tails. A card for grinding at 80 HP.
A 100 HP Stage 2. Chomp costs four Water for 50, then flips one coin per damage counter on Feraligatr and adds 10 for each heads. The more beaten up it is, the harder it hits — the set's plainest comeback card.
A 70 HP Stage 1, holofoil. Tackle deals 20; Bubble Shower costs three Water for 30, paralyzes on heads and puts 10 on every Benched Pokémon your opponent has. Valued less for the damage than for reaching the Bench.
A 90 HP Stage 2. Agility is two Water and one Colorless for 30 and, on heads, blocks everything next turn. Dragon Tornado deals 50 and, if it fails to Knock Out, drags a Benched Pokémon into the Active spot. The Horsea line's finisher.
9 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 1. Quick Attack is one Colorless for 10, or 30 on heads. Agility costs two Lightning and one Colorless for 20 and blocks everything on heads. As a Basic Pikachu it is a stepping stone, not a fighter.
50 HP, retreat 1. Supersonic confuses for one Lightning; Flail deals 10 per damage counter on Chinchou for one Water. A Basic that runs on two different Energy types and gets stronger as it takes damage.
40 HP, retreat 1. Static Electricity lets you fetch one Energy from your deck for each Mareep in play; Thundershock is two Lightning for 20 and paralysis on heads. Stack the name and the deck accelerates itself.
70 HP, retreat 1. Punch is two Colorless for 20; Swift costs three Lightning for 30 and ignores Weakness, Resistance, Pokémon Powers and everything else on the Defending Pokémon. Reliable damage on a 70 HP Basic made it a fixture of Lightning decks.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Floodlight costs two Lightning for 20 and paralyzes on heads. One attack, nothing else — which is why it runs on so little Energy. Evolves from Chinchou.
A 60 HP Stage 1. Discharge discards every Energy on Flaaffy, then flips a coin per card discarded for 30 each. Electric Current deals 20 and moves an Energy to the Bench. Spend it all, then hand the baton on.
A 30 HP Baby, and holofoil. Zzzap deals 20 to every Pokémon in play that has a Pokémon Power, ignoring Weakness and Resistance. Not a lock but a sweep — and it is the set's only holofoil Baby.
An 80 HP Stage 2. Gigaspark costs three Lightning for 40 and, on heads, paralyzes and puts 10 on every Benched Pokémon. The top of the Mareep line, and the Lightning ★ that reaches the Bench.
A 30 HP Baby. Its Pokémon Power, Playful Punch, lets you flip once a turn: heads deals 20 to the opponent's Active Pokémon, and either way your turn ends there. It has no attack at all — the Power is the card.
5 cards · listed in original order.
40 HP, retreat 1. Psyshock is one Psychic for 10 and paralysis on heads; Water Gun is one Water for 10 plus 10 for each Energy attached beyond the cost, up to 20 more. A Basic that works off two types.
30 HP with no retreat cost. Peck is one Colorless for 10; Telekinesis costs two Psychic and puts 20 on any of your opponent's Pokémon, ignoring Weakness and Resistance. Fragile, but free to retreat.
60 HP, retreat 1. Agility is two Colorless for 10 and blocks everything on heads; Psybeam is two Psychic for 20 and confuses on heads. Two attacks splitting defence and disruption — an easy Psychic Basic to use.
An 80 HP Stage 1. Prophecy costs one Psychic and looks at the top three cards of either deck and reorders them — an attack that deals no damage. Confuse Ray is three Psychic for 30 and confusion. Deck manipulation that still hits.
An 80 HP Stage 1, holofoil. Mind Blast costs three Psychic for 20 and, on heads, 30 plus confusion. Slowking was the film's centrepiece that August — but the card came first. Retreat 3.
5 cards · listed in original order.
60 HP, retreat 2. Screech makes every attack on the Defending Pokémon deal 20 more next turn; Rage is two Fighting for 10 plus 10 per damage counter on Onix. Before Steelix, it wants to be hit.
60 HP but retreat 3. Flail deals 10 per damage counter on Sudowoodo for one Fighting; Rock Throw is one Fighting and one Colorless for a steady 30. A Basic whose turn comes after it has been beaten on.
60 HP with no retreat cost. Poison Sting is one Fighting for 10 and poison on heads; Slash is two Colorless for 20. 60 HP and free retreat make it either an early wall or a poisoner.
40 HP, retreat 1. Tackle is one Colorless for 10; Endure, on heads, keeps Phanpy alive at 10 HP even if it would be Knocked Out next turn. Insurance for a 40 HP Basic.
A 70 HP Stage 1 at rare. Flail deals 10 per damage counter for one Fighting; Rapid Spin is three Fighting for 50 and then swaps one Benched Pokémon on each side into the Active spot. A card for forcing the pace.
2 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 0, and Darkness type. Mean Look pins the Defending Pokémon in place; Feint Attack puts 20 on any of your opponent's Pokémon, ignoring Weakness and Resistance. One of the cards that introduced Darkness.
60 HP, retreat 0, Darkness. Fury Swipes flips three coins for 10 each; Beat Up flips one coin per Pokémon you have in play for 20 each. The wider your board, the harder it hits.
2 cards · listed in original order.
A 110 HP Stage 1, holofoil — one of the first Metal cards, evolving from Onix. Tackle is two Colorless for 20; Tail Crush is one Metal and two Colorless for 30, or 50 on heads. The largest HP in the set, paid for with a retreat cost of 4.
A Basic, and holofoil — Metal type. Claw is one Colorless for 20 but does nothing on tails; Steel Wing is one Metal and two Colorless for 30 and, on heads, reduces all damage taken next turn by 20. The first card to put Metal's toughness into numbers.
14 cards · listed in original order.
40 HP, retreat 1. Fury Swipes flips three coins for 10 each — anywhere from 0 to 30. One attack, nothing else, on a 40 HP Basic that exists to become Furret.
50 HP, retreat 1. Hypnosis puts the Defending Pokémon to sleep with no coin flip; Peck is two Colorless for 20. A guaranteed skipped turn is worth more than raw HP early on.
50 HP, retreat 1. Roar, on heads, forces the opponent to switch their Active Pokémon; Lick is two Colorless for 10 and paralysis on heads. Played to drag a built-up attacker off the field.
60 HP, retreat 2. Stomp is two Colorless for 20, or 30 on heads; Mystifying Horns is three Colorless for 20 and confusion. Both attacks flip, but 60 HP lets it keep swinging.
50 HP, retreat 1. Doubleslap flips two coins for 10 each. Squaredance flips one coin per Pokémon in play and pulls a basic Energy from your deck for each heads — the wider the board, the more Energy it finds.
A 60 HP Stage 1. Quick Attack is two Colorless for 20, or 30 on heads; Slam flips two coins for 30 each. A cheap, fast Colorless bridge out of Sentret.
A 60 HP Stage 1 with no retreat cost. Wing Attack is three Colorless for 30 — one attack and nothing else, but 60 HP with free retreat means it can keep coming back to hit for 30.
40 HP, retreat 1. Poison Barb is two Colorless for 10 and poisons with no coin flip. The card before Togetic, built to do exactly one thing reliably.
40 HP, retreat 0. Pilfer shuffles Aipom and everything on it back into your deck, and on heads returns a card from the discard pile too. Tail Rap flips two coins for 10 each. A card that recycles itself.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Tackle is two Colorless for 20; Raging Charge is three Colorless for 10 plus 10 per damage counter on Granbull, at 20 to itself. Built for a slugging match.
70 HP, retreat 2. Milk Drink flips two coins and removes two damage counters per heads; Body Slam is three Colorless for 20 and paralysis on heads. A 70 HP Basic that heals itself was rare among Colorless cards.
A 30 HP Baby. Its only attack shuffles your hand into your deck and draws seven — no damage at all. When your hand runs dry, Cleffa resets it, and that made it a staple answer to being stuck.
A 60 HP Stage 1 with free retreat, holofoil. Super Metronome copies one of your opponent's attacks and uses it for free; Fly is three Colorless for 30 and blocks everything on heads. A card that borrows the other side's moves.
A 90 HP Basic, and holofoil. Elemental Blast costs one Fire, one Water and one Lightning for 90 damage, then discards all three. Nothing else on a Basic hit that hard in 2000 — the cost is assembling three types. Retreat 2.
21 cards · listed in original order.
One of the first Pokémon Tools ever printed. Once the holder has two or more damage counters on it, remove two between turns and discard Berry. With Gold Berry and Miracle Berry, four Tools debut in this set.
Flip a coin: heads returns an Evolution card from the discard pile, tails a Basic Pokémon. Widely played as insurance against a broken evolution line.
Forces one Benched Pokémon on each side into the Active spot — yours first, then your opponent's. It both drags out a built-up attacker and rescues one of your own.
Lets each player put a Basic Pokémon from their deck onto their Bench — the opponent first, and they may decline. Played to speed up the early board in decks that want a wide Bench.
Flips two coins and removes two damage counters per heads — a one-shot card, not a Tool. The Japanese art showed a Miltank and a Sentret; the English release replaced it with cans in a barn.
Shuffles your hand into your deck and draws seven, but you cannot play another Trainer that turn. The set's hand-reset card, played everywhere.
A stronger Tool version of Berry: once the holder carries four or more damage counters, remove four between turns and discard it. Twice Berry's rate, and the reason heavy Stage 2s stayed alive.
Name one of your opponent's face-down Prizes as Energy, Trainer or Pokémon — guess right and draw two. The real value is that one of their Prizes is now face up.
A Tool that clears sleep, confusion, paralysis and poison at once — the moment the holder is affected, all of it comes off and the card is discarded. The most played of the set's four Tools, as an answer to status decks.
Shuffles your deck, then looks at the top five cards and reorders them. It draws nothing, but it decides your next five draws — the set's main deck-manipulation card.
On heads, returns one of your Pokémon and everything attached to it to your hand. Evolution and Energy come back with it, which is how it rescued a dying Stage 2.
On heads, draw four cards. A miss does nothing — but a hit is the biggest single draw in the set. A card you play early and gamble on.
A Stadium: while it is in play, all damage from Colorless Pokémon's attacks is reduced by 30. Against a Colorless-heavy deck, one card shuts down the main attackers.
A Stadium: whenever an attack, Power or Trainer discards a non-Colorless Energy, it returns to its owner's hand instead. An answer to Energy-denial decks — they strip it, and it comes straight back.
On heads, shuffles up to two Energy cards from the discard pile back into the deck. Unassuming, and exactly what a deck that burns through Energy needs.
The most famous Tool of the set. When the holder would be Knocked Out by an attack, flip a coin — heads and it survives at 10 HP, then Focus Band is discarded. It eats one hit of any size, which is why it went into almost everything.
Draw two, then shuffle two cards from your hand back into the deck. It improves hand quality rather than size — spare cards go back instead of to the discard pile.
Reveal the top three cards: if two or more share a name, take all of that name into your hand; otherwise all three go back. The more duplicates you run, the better it gets.
Lets each player shuffle up to five cards from their discard pile back into their deck — the opponent first, and no further Trainers that turn. A long-game card that turns the discard pile back into a resource.
Trade two cards from hand for four basic Energy out of the discard pile. The refuel card for Energy-hungry decks — and choosing which two to give up was the skill.
Look at the top seven cards and take one Trainer from among them — but no more Trainers that turn. A Trainer that finds Trainers.
3 cards · listed in original order.
The debut of Darkness Energy. The holder deals 10 more damage, and at the end of every turn takes one damage counter — unless it is Darkness type or has Dark in its name. A Special Energy, not a basic one, and printed at rare.
The debut of Metal Energy — and the only holofoil Energy in the set. Damage done to the holder drops by 10, and if it is not Metal type, damage it deals drops by 10 too. The mirror of Darkness Energy, and the first Energy ever printed as a ★.
A Special Energy that provides Colorless and returns to your hand whenever it goes to the discard pile from play. Against Energy denial it effectively survives one strip, so decks ran one or two.
Eighth expansion. Ten cards at ¥315, sixty packs a box; 57 cards in Japan (56 distinct plus the alternate-art Ruin Wall), 19 holofoil and one secret. Only five Trainers against fifty-two Pokémon — a lopsided set. Unown runs A to Z across twenty-six cards; A is the holofoil one; N is common. The pack format held unchanged through the four-month gap to the ninth set.
7 July 2000, built around Unown and the Ruins of Alph. Fifty-two Pokémon and only five Trainers — a set with almost no Trainer support. Darkness doubles to four cards and Metal rises to three. Nineteen of the 57 are holofoil, roughly one in three.
57 = 56 distinct cards plus one alternate artwork. Ruin Wall exists only in Japan in two versions, a Kabuto puzzle and an Aerodactyl puzzle; English printed only the Kabuto one. The single secret card is Dark Raichu, originally made as English Team Rocket 83/82 — a secret card for the English market only — and brought into Japanese here. It is the first card to reach Japan after being released abroad.
11 cards · listed in original order.
A 50 HP Basic — sturdy for this set's Grass. Spin Tackle deals 20 and 10 to itself. One attack only, so its job is to carry you quickly to Metapod and Butterfree.
40 HP, retreat 1. Spike Stab costs one Grass for 20 — poisoning on heads, doing nothing at all on tails. When it lands, one Energy buys 20 and a status.
50 HP, retreat 1. Poison Sting costs one Grass and one Colorless for 20 and poison on heads. A different card from the seventh set's Spinarak — 50 HP and a heavier cost make this one the front-line version.
30 HP with free retreat — about as light as cards get. Rolling Tackle is one Grass for 20. Free retreat means it comes and goes at will, on the way to Skiploom and Jumpluff.
40 HP, retreat 2. Burst is one Grass for a big 40 — but on heads Pineco takes 40 and every Benched Pokémon takes 10, and on tails nothing happens. One Energy for 40, or a wasted turn.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Harden blocks any damage of 20 or less; Hatch, on heads, clears all damage and then fetches the evolution and evolves on the spot. A card that skips a turn of waiting.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Secrete Poison does no damage; instead, every time Kakuna is hit next turn the attacker becomes Poisoned and their whole Bench takes 10. Punishing the opponent for attacking.
60 HP, retreat 1. Fury Cutter flips four coins and scales with exactly how many come up heads: one adds 10, two add 20, three add 40, all four add 80. Hit the top and it is 90.
An 80 HP Stage 2 with free retreat, holofoil. Magic Dust deals 20 and on heads lets you pick sleep, confusion, paralysis or poison. Hyper Reverse deals 10 per Energy on the Defending Pokémon and heals Butterfree for the damage. A ★ that chooses its status was rare.
An 80 HP Stage 2 with free retreat, holofoil. Triple Poison is one Grass for 10, and on heads the poison puts 3 counters a turn instead of 1. Pin Missile flips four coins for 20 each, up to 80.
A 60 HP Basic, and holofoil. Shockwave, on heads, hits every one of your opponent's Pokémon for 10 and then drags a Benched one forward; Swift is three Grass for 30 that ignores everything on the Defending Pokémon.
1 cards · listed in original order.
A 50 HP Basic, holofoil — and the only Fire Pokémon in the set. Smog is one Fire for 10 and poison on heads; Collect Fire is two Fire for 20 and re-attaches a Fire Energy from the discard pile. With Fire almost absent here, it mattered.
7 cards · listed in original order.
40 HP, retreat 1. Rollout is one Colorless for 10; Hypnosis is one Water and puts the Defending Pokémon to sleep with no flip. The 40 HP start of the Poliwag line.
A 50 HP Stage 1 that evolves from a Fossil Trainer. Work Together is one Fighting and one Colorless for 10 plus 10 for each Omanyte, Omastar, Kabuto or Kabutops on your Bench. The more fossils you assemble, the harder it hits.
50 HP, retreat 1. Slime deals no damage; instead your opponent flips on their next attack, and tails blocks all of it. Tail Slap is two Colorless for 20. Defence that makes the other side gamble.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Belly Drum puts three damage counters on Poliwhirl and, if it survives, attaches up to two basic Energy from the deck. Water Gun is two Water and one Colorless for 30 plus 10 per spare Energy. HP converted into acceleration.
50 HP, retreat 1. Recover discards an Energy and clears every damage counter; Spike Cannon flips two coins for 30 each. A 50 HP Basic that patches itself up.
A 90 HP Stage 2, holofoil. Slash is one Colorless for 20; Hydrocutter flips one coin per Energy on Kabutops, up to three, for 40 each. The more Energy you pile on, the harder it lands — the top of the fossil line.
A 100 HP Stage 2, holofoil. Doubleslap costs two Water and two Colorless and flips two coins for 40 each — so 0, 40 or 80. Eighty damage off four Energy was exceptional for a Water ★ in 2000. Retreat 3 is the price.
2 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 1. Thunder Jolt is one Lightning and one Colorless for 30 — with 10 to itself on tails. Two Energy for 30 makes it the aggressive end of the Mareep line here.
The set's secret card — and a card that came home. A 70 HP Stage 1 from Pikachu. Surprise Thunder costs three Lightning for 30, then on heads flip again: heads hits the whole Bench for 20, tails for 10. It was originally English Team Rocket 83/82 and entered Japanese here in 2000.
10 cards · listed in original order.
40 HP, retreat 1. Confuse Ray is one Psychic for 10 and confusion on heads. It moves on a single Energy, which is the point — get to Xatu fast.
![Unown [N] — アンノーン [N] (2000)](images_web/e9_050.webp)
Unown N. 40 HP, retreat 1, Hidden Power for one Psychic and 10. Unown runs A to Z across twenty-six cards, each with its own attack. Here N sits at common, with D, F, M, U and A scattered around it in the same set.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Energy Cycle deals 10 and, on heads, moves an Energy off the Defending Pokémon onto one of its own Benched Pokémon. Super Psy is two Psychic and one Colorless for 50.
![Unown [D] — アンノーン [D] (2000)](images_web/e9_047.webp)
Unown D. 40 HP, Hidden Power for one Psychic and 10. Every Unown looks the same; only the letter changes — collecting them was the point. D is uncommon here.
![Unown [F] — アンノーン [F] (2000)](images_web/e9_048.webp)
Unown F. 40 HP, one Psychic for 10. Collect all twenty-six and they spell something — and which letters landed in which set varied from year to year.
![Unown [M] — アンノーン [M] (2000)](images_web/e9_049.webp)
Unown M. 40 HP, one Psychic for 10. Fittingly for a set built on the Ruins of Alph, six Unown letters appear here. M is uncommon.
![Unown [U] — アンノーン [U] (2000)](images_web/e9_051.webp)
Unown U. 40 HP, one Psychic for 10. With the same HP and the same attack on every letter, deck choice comes down to the illustration, not the letter. U is uncommon here.
An 80 HP Stage 1 with free retreat, holofoil. Bite is two Colorless for 20; Psychic is two Psychic and one Colorless for 30 plus 10 per Energy on the Defending Pokémon. Evolves from Eevee, and punishes loaded attackers.
![Unown [A] — アンノーン [A] (2000)](images_web/e9_014.webp)
Unown A — the only holofoil Unown in the set. 40 HP, one Psychic for 10, the same as every other letter; only A got the ★ treatment. English also printed a non-holo version; Japanese has just this one.
A 90 HP Basic, and holofoil. Counter does no damage on your turn; instead, if Wobbuffet is hit next turn, flip — heads bounces back the exact damage taken. The higher your HP, the more it can return. Retreat 3.
7 cards · listed in original order.
A 50 HP Stage 1 out of a Fossil. Bind is one Water for 10 and paralysis on heads. Its job is to stop something for a single Energy while you build to Omastar.
A 30 HP Baby. Smash Punch is one Colorless for 30 — big for a Baby — but does nothing on tails. The shared Baby rule makes the opponent flip before attacking, so 30 HP survives more than it looks.
40 HP, retreat 1. Bite is one Colorless for 10. One attack on a 40 HP body — and the start of the set's three Darkness ★ cards: Umbreon, Houndoom and Tyranitar all trace back here.
An 80 HP Stage 2. Squeeze is one Water for 10, or 30 and paralysis on heads; Spike Barrage is three Water for 20 plus 20 per heads on a flip for each attached Energy. Rewards stacking Energy.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Skull Bash is two Colorless for 20; Dust Devil deals 10 to every Pokémon in play that is not Fighting — yours included. Powerful and awkward in equal measure.
A 90 HP Stage 2, holofoil. Corkscrew Punch is one Fighting and one Colorless for 30; Submission is two Fighting and two Colorless for 70, at 20 to itself. The biggest hit in the set's Fighting line, on a 90 HP body.
A 60 HP Basic, and holofoil. Detect, on heads, blocks every effect and all damage next turn; Triple Kick flips three coins for 30 each — up to 90 from a Basic. That ceiling made it a tournament regular.
4 cards · listed in original order.
A 40 HP Darkness card. Bite is one Colorless for 10; Plunder is one Darkness and one Colorless for 20 and, before damage, discards every Trainer attached to the Defending Pokémon. In a set that introduced Tools, stripping them matters.
An 80 HP Stage 1 with retreat 1, holofoil. Bite is two Colorless for 20; Feint Attack is two Darkness and one Colorless for 30 that hits any of your opponent's Pokémon and ignores Weakness, Resistance and Powers. Reach into the Bench.
A 70 HP Stage 1, holofoil. Crunch deals 30 and makes every later attack on that Pokémon deal 20 more; Flamethrower is two Fire and one Colorless for 50 but discards an Energy. Setup and payoff on one card.
A 100 HP Stage 2, holofoil. Slam flips two coins for 30 each; Trample deals 50 and then, for every Benched Pokémon in play, flips a coin — heads deals 30 to it. A card that sweeps the whole board.
3 cards · listed in original order.
A 40 HP Basic, holofoil — Metal type. Lock-on makes every tails on next turn's Electric Bolt count as heads; Electric Bolt costs one Lightning and one Colorless and, with both coins heads, deals 50 and paralyzes — one tails and nothing happens. A card that fixes its own flip.
An 80 HP Stage 1, holofoil, Metal. Rapid Spin is one Metal and two Colorless for 30 and forces one Benched Pokémon on each side into the Active spot. A one-attack ★, but 80 HP of Metal sits there a long time.
An 80 HP Stage 1, holofoil, Metal. False Swipe deals half the Defending Pokémon's remaining HP, rounded down to the nearest 10 — the set's only scaling attack of that kind. Double Claw flips two coins for 20 each.
7 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 1. Scout costs one Colorless and simply looks at your opponent's hand; Tackle is two Colorless for 20. Information was scarce in 2000, and this is how you got it.
30 HP with free retreat. Glare is one Colorless for 10 and paralysis on heads. It will not last, but it moves on a single Energy and costs nothing to pull back.
40 HP, retreat 1. Scratch is one Colorless for 10; Nap Time clears every damage counter and puts Teddiursa to sleep. Healing and stalling before it becomes Ursaring.
50 HP, retreat 1. Smash Kick is one Colorless for 10. One attack — but Eevee branches two ways, into Espeon and Umbreon, and this set has both as ★ cards.
A 30 HP Baby with no attack at all. Its Pokémon Power, Gaze, picks one Benched Pokémon with a Pokémon Power and switches that Power off for the turn. An ability that turns off abilities.
An 80 HP Stage 1, holofoil. Headpress is two Colorless for 20 — paralysis on heads, nothing on tails; Double Lariat costs four Colorless and flips two coins for 40 each, up to 80.
A 50 HP Basic, and holofoil. Sketch copies whatever attack the Defending Pokémon used last turn, at no Energy cost. Borrowing the other side's best move — the oddest card in the set.
5 cards · listed in original order.
Flips two coins and pulls one basic Energy from the deck per heads. With Darkness and Metal Special Energy new in this set, fetching basics mattered more than before.
Fetches an Unown from your deck onto your Bench — and since there are twenty-six letters, it does not care which. Japan has two versions with different art, a Kabuto puzzle and an Aerodactyl puzzle.
On heads, puts a card that evolves from Mysterious Fossil onto your Bench and treats it as a Basic Pokémon. The card that let fossil decks skip a step.
Pulls the top Evolution card off one of your evolved Pokémon and returns it to your hand, letting you re-evolve into something else. You cannot re-evolve the same turn you devolve it.
The Aerodactyl print of Ruin Wall — the same name and effect as the Kabuto print (fetch an Unown to your Bench), with different art. English printed only the Kabuto version, so this second card exists in Japanese alone.
Ninth expansion. Ten cards at ¥315, sixty packs a box; 57 cards, 17 holofoil and two secret. Five Legendary Pokémon — Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Ho-Oh and Celebi — with Celebi making its card debut here. The two secret cards, Shining Magikarp and Shining Gyarados, are the first of the alternate-colour line that runs through the rest of the Neo era. Premium File 3 (nine cards, nine types) shipped the same day.
23 November 2000. Entei, Suicune and Raikou arrive with Ho-Oh, and Celebi appears on a card for the first time. Fifty-two Pokémon and five Trainers; seventeen holofoil, five of them Legendary.
Two secret cards: Shining Magikarp and Shining Gyarados. These are the first of the Shining line that runs through the rest of the Neo era — alternate-colour Pokémon whose names carry "Shining" and that sit outside the normal evolution line. Both are drawn by Ken Sugimori.
7 cards · listed in original order.
40 HP, free retreat. Bite is one Colorless for 10; Poison Spray is one Grass and poisons with no flip. Free retreat and a guaranteed status made it an automatic inclusion in poison decks.
40 HP, retreat 1. Sleep Spore is one Grass for 10 and sleep on heads; Scratch is two Colorless for 20. Two options on a 40 HP body on the way to Parasect.
A 60 HP Stage 1 with free retreat. Hop is one Colorless for 20; Mysterious Powder is one Grass for 10 and confusion on heads. Easy to move in and out, on the way to Jumpluff.
A 60 HP Stage 1 with free retreat. Screech makes everything hit that Pokémon for 20 more next turn; Poison Bite deals 10, poisons, and heals Golbat for the damage done. Setup and sustain in one card.
A 60 HP Stage 1. Sleep Pinchers is two Grass for 30 and sleep on heads — one attack, but 30 plus a skipped turn for two Energy is good value. Retreat 2.
A 90 HP Stage 2 with free retreat, holofoil. Triggered Poison deals 20 and poisons the Defending Pokémon the moment your opponent attaches an Energy next turn. Cross Attack flips four coins for 20 each, confusing on two or more heads.
A 70 HP Stage 2 with free retreat, holofoil. Evolutionary Spore does no damage; instead it picks any number of your Hoppip and Skiploom and evolves each on the spot out of the deck. Solarbeam is one Grass for 30.
4 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 2. Flare is one Fire for 10; Magma Ring is two Fire for 20 and stops the Defending Pokémon retreating next turn. The lock before Magcargo.
An 80 HP Stage 1. Lava Flow is three Fire for 40 and adds 20 for each Energy you choose to discard off Magcargo. Fire that runs on its own fuel.
An 80 HP Basic, and holofoil. Searing Flames costs three Fire for 60 damage, but the attack does nothing unless you discard two Energy. Sixty from a Basic was outstanding — the price is paying two every time.
A 90 HP Basic, and holofoil. Stoke accelerates Fire from the deck; Sacred Fire is three Fire for 40 on any of your opponent's Pokémon; Dive Bomb costs five Fire for 90, doing nothing on tails. Three attacks on one Basic — the set's heaviest card.
12 cards · listed in original order.
40 HP, free retreat. Fin Smack flips two coins for 10 each. With no retreat cost it rotates freely, chipping 10 or 20 at a time on the way to Seaking.
40 HP, retreat 1. Tackle is one Colorless for 10; Bubblebeam is one Water for 10 and paralysis on heads. A one-Energy way to stop something, before Starmie.
A 70 HP Stage 1 at common. Mud Slap is two Fighting for 30; Whirlpool is two Water and two Colorless for 40 and discards an Energy off the Defending Pokémon. A Stage 1 at common was unusual here.
60 HP, retreat 1. Poison Sting is one Water for 10 and poison on heads; Needle Storm keeps flipping until tails for 20 per heads — a good run can clear 100.
40 HP, free retreat. Sharpshooting, on heads, puts 20 on any of your opponent's Pokémon, ignoring Weakness and Resistance. One Energy off a Basic to reach the Bench.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Rising Lunge is one Water for 10, or 20 on heads; Horn Swipe is two Water for 20 — but 60 if both coins come up heads. Two Energy for 60 on a good flip.
60 HP, retreat 1. Freezing Kiss Goodnight puts the Defending Pokémon to sleep with no flip; Strange Dance is two Psychic and one Colorless for 20, or 40 and confusion on heads. A card that runs on two types.
An 80 HP Stage 1. Constrict is one Water for 10 and paralysis on heads; Octazooka is three Water for 40 and, on heads, makes the opponent flip before every attack — tails and it fails. Grinding the opponent down by probability.
A 90 HP Stage 2, holofoil. Genetic Memory reuses any attack from Horsea or Seadra at no cost; Twister is two Water and two Colorless for 50 and discards one Energy per heads. It borrows its own earlier forms.
A 70 HP Basic, and holofoil. Aurora Wave costs three Water for 30, then two heads paralyzes, one head puts to sleep. The lightest of the three Legendary beasts, and the one that reliably costs the opponent a turn.
A secret card, and the first of the Shining line. A 30 HP Basic. Gold Scale is one Water and both players draw two; Dragon Bond is one Psychic and fetches a Gyarados, Dark Gyarados or Shining Gyarados from the deck. Built to pair with Shining Gyarados.
A 100 HP Basic secret card, also Shining. Outrage is one Water and two Fighting for 30 plus 10 per damage counter, nothing on tails; Devastate is two Water and two Fire for 50, requires discarding two Energy, and puts 10 on the whole opposing Bench. A 100 HP Basic was near the ceiling here.
6 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 1. Positive Ion is one Lightning for 10, or 20 on heads; Negative Ion is one Water for 10 and reduces damage taken next turn by 10. Lightning and Water on one Basic.
An 80 HP Stage 1. Thundershock is one Lightning and one Colorless for 20 and paralysis on heads; Lightning Strike is three Lightning for 40 — or 80 if you discard every Energy on Raichu. Spend it all for the big number.
An 80 HP Stage 1. Blinding Light is one Lightning and two Colorless for 30 and confusion on heads. One attack, but it delivers 30 plus a status every turn.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Electric Punch is one Lightning for 20; Tail Shock is one Lightning and two Colorless for 30 and, on heads, 10 to every Benched Pokémon. Reaching the Bench before Ampharos.
A 90 HP Stage 2, holofoil. Attract Current deals 20 and attaches one Lightning Energy from the deck per heads on three coins; Gigavolt is three Lightning and one Colorless for 40, 50 and no status on heads, 40 plus paralysis on tails. Acceleration and damage together.
An 80 HP Basic, and holofoil. Lightning Tackle costs three Lightning for 50, with 20 to itself on tails. Ordinary numbers, but 80 HP on a Basic let Raikou hold the front.
7 cards · listed in original order.
![Unown [K] — アンノーン [K] (2000)](images_web/e10_058.webp)
Unown K. Hidden Power is one Psychic for 10. K is common here, and which letters landed in which set varied year to year — in 2000 they were split between the eighth and ninth expansions.
A 30 HP Baby. Psykiss, on heads, picks a Special Energy on one of your opponent's Pokémon and shuffles it back into their deck — an answer to the Darkness and Metal Energy this very set introduced.
![Unown [B] — アンノーン [B] (2000)](images_web/e10_039.webp)
Unown B. Hidden Power is one Psychic for 10. Every Unown shares the same HP and the same attack — the letter changes only the name and the art. B is uncommon here.
![Unown [Y] — アンノーン [Y] (2000)](images_web/e10_040.webp)
Unown Y. One Psychic for 10, identical in build to every other letter. Twenty-six of them spell something when laid out — a puzzle collectors worked on from the start. Y is uncommon here.
A 70 HP Stage 1, holofoil. Confuse Ray is one Water for 10 and confusion on heads; Core Stream deals no direct damage but puts 20 on every opposing Pokémon carrying Energy of a type you name. An attack that reads their Energy lineup.
A 50 HP Basic, and holofoil. Night Eyes puts the Defending Pokémon to sleep with no flip. Perish Song then Knocks it Out outright if it is Asleep and was hit by Night Eyes last turn. Two turns, one guaranteed kill — the set's nastiest card.
A 50 HP Basic, holofoil — and Celebi's first card. Psychic Damage flips three coins and puts one damage counter on the Defending Pokémon per heads. Counters, not damage, so Weakness and Resistance never apply.
6 cards · listed in original order.
40 HP, retreat 1. Knuckle Punch is one Fighting for 20. One attack on a 40 HP body, the start of the Geodude line — and the steadiest 20 in the set's Fighting cards.
40 HP, retreat 1. Tackle is one Colorless for 10; Take Down is one Fighting and one Colorless for 30, at 10 to itself. Two Energy for 30 before Piloswine.
A 70 HP Stage 1. Earthquake is one Fighting and one Colorless for 40 and 10 to your own Bench; Rock Tumble is three Fighting for 50 that ignores Resistance. Two attacks, two jobs.
40 HP, retreat 1. Toxic Saliva deals no damage; on heads it poisons and the poison then deals 20 a turn instead of 10. Boosted poison is a theme of this set, and Beedrill does it too.
A 90 HP Stage 1. Nap removes three damage counters; High-Speed Charge costs two Fighting and two Colorless for 80, but deals 30 to itself and cannot be used next turn. One enormous hit, carefully timed.
A 60 HP Stage 1, holofoil, out of a Fossil. Fly is three Colorless for 30; heads blocks everything next turn, tails does nothing at all. A one-attack ★ that survives by not being hit.
2 cards · listed in original order.
A 40 HP Darkness card. Call for Family fetches another Murkrow onto your Bench; Flock Attack adds 10 per heads on a flip for each Murkrow on your Bench. Stacking the name pays off.
A 70 HP Stage 1, holofoil, Darkness. Dark Flame is one Fire for 20 and recycles a Fire Energy from the discard pile instead of losing one; Black Fang is one Darkness and two Colorless for 30 plus 10 per heads on a flip for each attached Energy. It grows as it cycles Energy.
1 cards · listed in original order.
An 80 HP Stage 1, holofoil, Metal. Plasma is two Lightning and one Colorless for 30 and re-attaches an Energy from the discard pile. One attack only, but Metal's 80 HP plus Energy recycling makes it a long-game card.
7 cards · listed in original order.
50 HP, retreat 1. Gust is one Colorless for 10; Leek Jab is three Colorless for 40 but cannot be used next turn. Cheap, steady damage on a Colorless Basic.
40 HP, free retreat. Grab takes a Trainer attached to one of your opponent's Pokémon and shuffles it into their deck; Tail Punch is two Colorless for 20. In a set that introduced Tools, taking them off matters.
50 HP, retreat 1. Bite is one Colorless for 10; Raging Headbutt is two Colorless for 10 plus, on heads, 10 per damage counter on Snubbull. It gets better as it gets hurt.
60 HP, retreat 1. Terrorize locks one attack on the Defending Pokémon if it is a Basic; Overhead Toss is three Colorless for 30, hitting your own Bench for 10 on tails. Cutting an attacker's best move is the point.
A 60 HP Basic, holofoil. Present flips three coins: exactly one heads deals 40; two removes three counters from the Defending Pokémon; three deals 60; none removes all of its damage. The strangest card in the set.
A 70 HP Stage 1, holofoil. Delta Beam is three Colorless for 20 and, on heads, lets you choose sleep, confusion or paralysis. One attack, but choosing the status makes it flexible.
A 120 HP Stage 1, holofoil — the largest HP in the set. Body Slam costs four Colorless for 30 and paralysis on heads: very little damage. What you are buying is 120 HP on a Stage 1, and decks used her as a wall.
5 cards · listed in original order.
Flip two coins: both heads returns a Baby, Basic or Evolution card from the discard pile; both tails returns a Trainer. You cannot choose the category, so it was used to fish back one specific last card.
A Stadium: once each turn, either player may flip a coin and, on heads, remove two damage counters from their Active Pokémon. Both sides benefit, which suits decks built for a long game.
A Tool that pays for retreat: when the holder retreats, you discard Balloon Berry instead of Energy. Built to pull a heavy Stage 2 out of trouble — the third Tool in this set.
Flip for one or two of your evolvable Pokémon and, for each heads, fetch the next Stage from your deck into your hand. The consistency card that held two-stage decks together.
A Stadium: while it is in play, every Pokémon with Dark in its name — yours and your opponent's — gets +20 HP. A boost for Darkness decks, with the drawback of boosting theirs too.
Also released this year: English edition.
Products from the same year as the booster set, in release order. Expansion Sheets came out of vending machines and the preconstructed decks were sold as boxes — neither is a pack you open. Package photos come from the official product catalogue; where none exists we print NO PHOTO.
An unusual beginner deck with randomised contents, ¥1,580 at the time. The sixty main cards are two ★, two rare, eight uncommon (two three-card evolution lines plus two random) and eighteen common (two three-card Basic lines plus twelve random), with thirty basic Energy (five of each of six types). An eighteen-card side deck adds three Energy of each type, for 78 in total. Rulebook, damage counters and a Lugia coin are included. Japan only — overseas, the two-player starter sets filled the same role.
Intro Pack Neo — two 30-card half decks, each with a ten-card side deck, sold as a beginner product. It closes the Neo era; the e-Card series follows in 2002.
English Neo Discovery — 75 cards against Japan's 57, the extra eighteen being non-holo prints of holofoil rares. Eleven months after Japan.
Pokémon Card★VS — 141 cards. The card back changes with this set to the design still in use, and numbering moves from Pokédex-based to a running series.
English Neo Revelation — 66 cards: Japan's 57 plus nine non-holo prints of holofoil rares. One Neo set remained for English.
Japan's 2000 output is these three sets — 210 cards — plus the Starter Pack's 78, of which 60 are drawn from the seventh expansion. No expansion sheets or constructed decks shipped this year, so unlike 1998 there is no missing slice of the pool.
Release dates and product identities are connected to the Japanese edition release register by set code. Sources are printed per product so a reader can check the claim without trusting this page alone. Unmatched products say so instead of borrowing another edition’s citation.
neo1 verified_secondaryneo2 verified_secondaryneo3 verified_secondaryCard data — HP, type, stage, attacks, artist, rarity — follows the English print of the same set (Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelation). No public scans of the Japanese originals exist and their attack text includes machine translation, so stats and attacks are taken from the English print.
The Japanese data in the source is machine-translated and unusable as card names. Oddish (No. 001 of the seventh set) came back as 奇妙な, "strange"; Bayleef as Bayleef; Politoed (No. 019 of the eighth) as 政治, "politics"; the Old Rod as 古い棒; and Professor Elm as エルム教授. Every card name on this page has been rebuilt — Pokémon from the official species name table, and the 33 Trainer and Energy cards checked one by one against Bulbapedia's Japanese titles.
Card faces are scans of the English print of the same set, since no Japanese scans are public; artwork, HP and attacks are identical. One card differs: Moo-Moo Milk was re-illustrated for English — the Japanese card shows a Miltank and a Sentret, the English one shows cans in a barn. The image here is the English version.
Dark Raichu was made as English Team Rocket 83/82, a secret card for the English market only. When it entered Japan's eighth expansion it kept the English artwork and artist (Mitsuhiro Arita), so the card face here is the English one too.
Ruin Wall exists in two versions in Japan only — a Kabuto puzzle and an Aerodactyl puzzle, with different art. English printed only the Kabuto one, so the Aerodactyl print is shown without an image rather than filled with the wrong card.
Some English rarities were corrected. The source reports every holofoil in Base Set 2, Team Rocket and Neo Genesis as a plain "Rare", which would show zero ★. Cards were promoted to ★ only where a holofoil printing exists and no normal one does, giving 20, 18 and 19. Cards printed both ways were left alone.
Pack prices, spreads and box counts follow what the publisher printed at the time. Japanese packs held ten cards at ¥315 including tax (¥300 before tax), sixty to a box. English packs held eleven cards at $3.29, thirty-six to a box — a format unchanged from Base Set through Neo Genesis. These are original retail prices, not today's market.
2000 is the year the gap between the two markets closed fastest. Japan settled to three sets and 210 cards; English shipped five sets and 588 and cut the lag to ten months. Darkness and Metal arrived, and the cards themselves changed appearance. In 2001 the card back changes, and so does the numbering.