Japan · 2003
This page covers Japan's four ADV-era releases of 2003, 242 cards. The English market released five sets in the same year — 677 cards — and for the first time three of them really were Japan's 2003: EX Ruby & Sapphire, EX Sandstorm and EX Dragon are the January, April and June expansions below. The other two, Aquapolis and Skyridge, were Japan's 2002 sets reaching English at last. Each edition has its own page.
Four releases, 242 cards, a silver frame around the picture, and the end of the e-Reader strip
Japan closed the e-Card era in October 2002 and opened a new one on 31 January 2003. The new series was called ADV, it was built on Ruby & Sapphire and the hundred and thirty-five Pokémon of Generation III, and it arrived with the first genuinely new card type since Baby Pokémon: Pokémon-ex, which hands the opponent two prize cards when it is Knocked Out instead of one.
The card itself changed again. The gold border around the artwork window went silver, and the illustrator's credit moved into the lower-right corner of the picture. The thick bottom border stayed — but the strip of black dots that let an e-Reader read a card was gone. Japan had printed it from 2001 to the end of 2002; not one ADV card carries it. The only 2003 cards anywhere that still had the dots were the English Aquapolis and Skyridge, and Skyridge in May was the last set in the game to print them.
Each set opens with what it was and when it landed, then the cards in set order — 001 to 055, 001 to 053, 001 to 054, 001 to 080. Pokémon-ex are marked separately from ordinary holofoils: in Japan they sit inside the numbered run rather than at the end, and they carry the ex suffix on the card face itself.
About the pictures. The card faces here are Japanese scans, 728 × 1024, first-edition stamp and all. Where a Japanese scan could not be obtained, the page uses the English printing of the same illustration and marks the card English scan underneath — it is the same picture, and it is labelled rather than passed off as Japanese. The Japanese ADV sets have no HP, type or attack data in any database we can reach, so those fields are read off the English twin of the same card — matched by exact name first, then by perceptual hash, because the English sets are nearly twice the size and often print the same Pokémon twice.
This page documents 242 main-series cards across four products on four release dates in 2003. It covers cards printed in Japan only; printings for other editions are tracked separately.
| Publication edition | Japanese edition |
|---|---|
| Products | 4 |
| Cards | 242 |
| Release dates | 4 (2003-01-31 – 2003-10-24) |
| Series codes | ADV1, ADV2, ADV3, ADV4 |
| Card faces on record | all 242 |
| Latest release on record | 2003-10-24 |
ADV 1 · Expansion Pack (2003-01-31, 55 cards) · ADV 2 · Miracle of the Desert (2003-04-18, 53 cards) · ADV 3 · Rulers of the Heavens (2003-06-25, 54 cards) · ADV 4 · Magma VS Aqua: Two Ambitions (2003-10-24, 80 cards).
How many main-series cards does this page record for 2003?242 cards across four products, an average of 60.5 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?4 release dates, from 2003-01-31 to 2003-10-24.
Do these Japanese cards have English-edition counterparts?241 of 242 cards (99.6%) carry a mapping to an English-edition card; the remaining 1 are Japanese-only printings or not yet paired.
How many of these 242 cards are shown with a card face?All 242 cards have a card face on record. 106 of those faces are marked as a scan from another print run rather than the original printing.
ADV Expansion Pack (拡張パック), 55 cards — 51 Pokémon and four Trainer. The first set of the ADV era and the debut of Pokémon-ex: five of them here, sitting inside the numbered run at 023, 026, 030, 036 and 046 rather than tacked on at the end. Every card carries the new silver frame.
The rules changed with the set. Retreating is once per turn instead of unlimited; a Confused Pokémon puts three damage counters on itself on a failed flip instead of taking 20 damage; a mulligan gives the opponent one card, not two; the opening coin flip happens after setup and heads means you go first — and on that first turn you may not draw or play a Supporter.
Half decks ship alongside an expansion for the first time. The two constructed decks carried cards the 55-card set did not, and three of them were Pokémon-ex: Lapras ex, Magmar ex and Scyther ex. Japan would not see those three in a booster; English would see all eight ex cards in June.
Miracle of the Desert (砂漠のきせき), 53 cards. The set leans on fossils: Claw Fossil and Root Fossil are Trainer cards that behave like Pokémon and can be attacked, and both evolved forms — Cradily and Armaldo — are here.
Skyridge goes on sale in English — 182 cards, the English printing of Japan's Split Earth and Mysterious Mountains from 2002, and the last expansion Wizards of the Coast ever made. One print run only, and the prices never came back down.
The licence changes hands. EX Ruby & Sapphire is the first English expansion distributed by Nintendo of America, five months after Japan's January set. In the e-Card era the same gap had been twelve months. From here English and Japanese run almost in parallel.
Rulers of the Heavens (天空の覇者), 54 cards, and the dragon set: Rayquaza ex at 047 plus Dragonite ex, Kingdra ex and Ampharos ex. Twelve of the fifty-four are Colourless, the largest single group.
Magma VS Aqua: Two Ambitions (マグマVSアクア ふたつの野望), 80 cards — the only 強化拡張パック, or subset, of the whole ADV era. Team Magma's and Team Aqua's Pokémon return for the first time since the Rocket sets of 1997, with two types on one card, computer-rendered art, team-coloured borders and team logos inside the attack box. Not one card in this set carries the e-Reader dot code — the strip every Japanese card had from 2001 to the end of 2002 is simply absent, and the only 2003 cards in the world that still printed it were the English Aquapolis in January and Skyridge in May.
EX Dragon closes the English year — Japan's June set, in English five months later. The one thing left behind is the October subset: Team Magma vs Team Aqua does not reach English until March 2004, and by then Japan has already moved on to a new series.
31 January 2003. Fifty-five cards — 51 Pokémon and four Trainer — and the smallest main expansion Japan had been given since 1997. Thirteen commons, twelve uncommons, eleven rares, fourteen holofoil rares and five Pokémon-ex. Grass and Colourless lead with ten each.
The card is a different object again. The artwork window is silver instead of gold, the evolution box and the illustrator line have moved under the picture, and the attack cost symbols are smaller and set in a row. The dot-code strip is still printed along the bottom — but this is the last year it will be. Four Trainer cards only, and all four are still played today: PokéNav, Lady Outing, Professor Birch, Oran Berry.
10 cards · listed in original order.
Koffing, 50 HP — level with the 1999 and 2001 cards, ten above 1997 — a common, retreat 1, a 10 Tackle for one Colourless and a 30 Double-edge for a Grass plus a Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida, who draws both halves of the Koffing line in this set.
Weezing, 80 HP Stage 1 — the same 80 the 2001 card carried, after 60 in 1997 and 1999 — a plain rare, retreat 2, a 10 Confusion Gas for one Grass and a no-damage Poison Smog for a Grass plus a Colourless. A plain-rare 80 HP Stage 1 whose heavier attack does no damage at all — the set keeps its Grass damage on the three holofoils around it.
Sceptile, 120 HP Stage 2 — the Grass starter's last stage and the first Sceptile ever printed — holofoil, retreat 3, a 20 Lizard Poison for one Colourless and a 70 Solarbeam for two Grass and three Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. One of four cards at 120 HP in the set, with Wailord, Chansey ex and Slaking.
Wurmple, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, and two attacks that do nothing but fetch an evolution: Signs of Evolution for one Colourless and Poison Barb for one Grass. Wurmple is the set's only card that can become two different Stage 1s, which is why it carries two search attacks instead of one.
Silcoon, 60 HP Stage 1 — one of the two casings Wurmple can become — uncommon, retreat 2, a single 10 Gooey Thread for one Grass. Cascoon at 007 is the other at 70 HP, so the two branches are separated by ten HP rather than by their attacks, which are both one Energy and both non-lethal.
Beautifly, 80 HP Stage 2 — Silcoon's evolution — holofoil with free retreat, a 20 Stun Spore for one Grass and a 50 Parallel Gain for a Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. Four cards in the set have retreat 0 and this is one of the two holofoils among them.
Cascoon, 70 HP Stage 1 — the second Wurmple casing — uncommon, retreat 2, one Poison Thread for one Grass that does no printed damage. Drawn by Midori Harada, who also draws its evolution at 008. Ten HP above Silcoon and one attack lighter, which is the whole of the difference between the two branches at this stage.
Dustox, 90 HP Stage 2 — Cascoon's evolution, ten above Beautifly — holofoil with free retreat, a no-damage Toxic for a Grass and a Colourless and a 50 Gust for a Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. The highest-HP Stage 2 in the set with free retreat, and the only Stage 2 here that can poison.
Shroomish, 40 HP — a Generation III debut, and the lowest HP among the set's ten Grass Pokémon — common, retreat 1, one 10 Sleep Powder for a single Colourless that puts the Defending Pokémon to sleep. The cheapest status in the set: one Energy of any type.
Breloom, 70 HP Stage 1 — Shroomish's evolution — a plain rare, retreat 1, a 20 Headbutt for two Colourless and a 40-plus Battle Blast for a Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Ken Sugimori, who draws twelve of the fifty-five cards here, more than any other artist in the set.
3 cards · listed in original order.
Blaziken, 100 HP Stage 2 — the Fire starter's final stage and the first Blaziken printed — holofoil, retreat 2, a single 50 Fire Stream for a Fire and two Colourless. Drawn by Kouki Saitou. The set carries only three Fire cards, and Blaziken and Camerupt are the two that hit for 50 or more.
Numel, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a 10 Headbutt for one Colourless and a Burn Off for a Fire plus a Colourless that does no damage. The set's entire Fire section is three cards: Numel, Camerupt at 013 and Blaziken at 011, one line and one starter final.
Camerupt, 90 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 3, a 20 Lava Burn for a Fire and a Colourless and a 100 Fire Spin for two Fire and two Colourless. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. One of only two attacks at 100 damage in the set — the other is Slaking's Critical Move at 043, and both need four Energy to reach it.
9 cards · listed in original order.
Goldeen, 50 HP — the same 50 as the 2001 card and ten above 2000 and 2002 — a common, retreat 1, and one attack only: Flail, 10 damage times the damage counters on Goldeen, for a single Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. The only card in the set whose attack grows as the card is damaged.
Seaking, 70 HP Stage 1 — 70 in every printing since 1997 — but promoted from uncommon to rare for the first time, and given free retreat, where every earlier Seaking in the almanac cost 1. Two attacks, a Water Arrow for one Water that reaches a Benched Pokémon, and a 30 Fast Stream for two Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima.
Swampert, 110 HP Stage 2 — the Water starter's final stage and the first Swampert printed — holofoil, retreat 3, a single 50 Hypno Splash for two Water and two Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Level with Aggron at 110, ten below Sceptile at 120 and ten above Blaziken at 100 — the three starter finals stack 120 / 110 / 100 in this set.
Wingull, 40 HP — a Generation III debut, the lowest HP in the set alongside Shroomish and Slakoth — common, retreat 1, a single 20 Surprise Attack for one Water. One of five attacks in the set that print 20 for a single Energy: Lizard Poison, Stun Spore, Claw and Magnitude are the others.
Pelipper, 70 HP Stage 1 — Wingull's evolution — a plain rare, retreat 1, and three attacks that work as one combo: Stockpile for one Colourless, then Spit Up for 30 or Swallow for 20, each costing a Water and a Colourless or two. One of two cards in the set with three attacks, the other being Aggron at 051.
Carvanha, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a single 10 Big Bite for one Colourless. The Water section of the set is nine cards and four of them are Basics, all four attacking for one or two Energy — the damage is all placed on the five evolutions above them.
Sharpedo, 70 HP Stage 1 — Carvanha's evolution — a plain rare, retreat 1, a Dark Slash for a Water and two Colourless that does 40 plus 10 for each damage counter on the Defending Pokémon. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima, who draws both halves of the line.
Wailmer, 80 HP Basic — a Generation III debut, and the highest HP on any Basic in the set that is not an ex — uncommon, retreat 3, a Rest for two Colourless and a 20-plus Water Gun for a Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita, who also draws its evolution at 022.
Wailord, 120 HP Stage 1 — the largest Stage 1 in the set, level with two Stage 2s and one ex — holofoil, and retreat 4, the heaviest cost printed here alongside Aggron at 051 — a 50 Take Down for three Colourless and a 70 Surf for three Water and two Colourless. Drawn by Ken Sugimori.
3 cards · listed in original order.
Electabuzz ex, 90 HP Basic — one of the five Pokémon-ex that open the ADV era, and all five are Basics — retreat 2, a 10 Thundershock for one Lightning and a 40-plus Quick Attack for two Lightning and a Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. When a Pokémon-ex is Knocked Out the opponent takes two prize cards instead of one, and the rule is printed on the card face itself.
Electrike, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a Charge for one Lightning and a 30 Thunder Jolt for a Lightning and a Colourless. The Lightning section is three cards — Electrike, Manectric at 025 and Electabuzz ex at 023 — and this is the only one of the three that is a common.
Manectric, 70 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, a 10 Attract Current for one Colourless and a 50 Thunder Jolt for two Lightning and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. The only non-ex Lightning holofoil in the set, and one of two Stage 1 holofoils here at 70 HP.
4 cards · listed in original order.
Mewtwo ex, 100 HP Basic — the set's headline ex — retreat 3, an Energy Absorption for one Psychic that pulls two Psychic Energy out of the deck, and a 60 Psyburn for two Psychic and a Colourless. Drawn by Katsura Tabata. The largest Mewtwo in the almanac — 30 HP above the 60 of 1999 and the 70 of 2001 — but only the second-largest ex in its own set, behind Chansey ex at 120.
Ralts, 50 HP — a Generation III debut and the bottom of the Gardevoir line — common, retreat 1, a 10 Pound for one Colourless and a 40 Link Blast for a Psychic and a Colourless. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. Link Blast falls to 10 the moment Ralts and the defender hold different amounts of Energy — the line's Energy-counting idea starts here.
Kirlia, 70 HP Stage 1 — uncommon, retreat 1, and two attacks that deal no damage at all: a Dazzle Dance for one Colourless that Confuses on a flip, and a Life Drain for one Psychic that, on heads, puts damage counters on the defender until it is 10 HP from being Knocked Out. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. Both attacks cost a single Energy and both need a coin — the middle stage sets the line up and never swings for damage.
Gardevoir, 100 HP Stage 2 — the line's holofoil, retreat 2, and a single attack: Energy Burst, 10 damage for every Energy attached to Gardevoir and to the Defending Pokémon, for one Psychic. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. One Energy for a scaling attack — the same shape as Flail and Max Energy Source, but with no ceiling at all.
6 cards · listed in original order.
Hitmonchan ex, 90 HP Basic — the Fighting ex, retreat 2, a 10-plus Steady Punch for one Fighting and a 50 Sky Uppercut for two Fighting and a Colourless. Drawn by Hiromichi Sugiyama, whose only card in the set this is. The 2001 and 2002 Hitmonchan were 60 HP commons; this one is thirty HP larger and the set's cheapest way to 50 damage in one hit.
Phanpy, 50 HP — ten above every earlier Phanpy, which sat at 40 in 2000, 2001 and 2002 — common, retreat 1, a 10 Stampede for one Colourless and a no-damage Trembler for a Fighting and a Colourless. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno, who draws both halves of the line.
Donphan, 80 HP Stage 1 — level with the 2002 card, ten above 2000's 70 — a plain rare, retreat 1, a 20-plus Rend for a Fighting and a Colourless and a 60-times Double Spin for a Fighting and three Colourless. One retreat on an 80 HP Stage 1 is the cheapest Fighting evolution cost in the set.
Makuhita, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a single 10 Fake Out for one Fighting. Drawn by Naoyo Kimura, who draws both halves of the line. One of two Fighting Basics in the set whose attack costs exactly one Energy, with Phanpy's Stampede.
Hariyama, 90 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 2, a no-damage Super Slap Push for one Fighting and a 40-plus Mega Throw for a Fighting and two Colourless. Drawn by Naoyo Kimura. The only Fighting holofoil in the set that is not an ex, and the highest HP on any non-ex Fighting card here.
Nosepass, 60 HP — a Generation III debut — a plain rare, retreat 1, and two attacks that both cost Colourless only: Invisible Hand for one and Repulsion for two. A 60 HP Basic as a rare, with no Energy of its own type anywhere on the card — the set uses the rare slot to make a wall, not a hitter.
3 cards · listed in original order.
Sneasel ex, 80 HP Basic — the Darkness ex, retreat 1, a 10-times Double Scratch for one Darkness and a 20-times Beat Up for two Darkness and a Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. 80 HP is the lowest of the five ex here — thirty cards of HP below Chansey ex, traded for two scaling attacks.
Poochyena, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a single 10 Shadow Bind for one Darkness. Drawn by Naoyo Kimura. The set carries exactly three Darkness cards — this, Mightyena at 048 and Sneasel ex at 046 — and two of them are the same hand.
Mightyena, 70 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, a single 40 Shakedown for a Darkness and two Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. The only Darkness holofoil in the set that is not an ex, and the only Stage 1 in the set that reaches 40 damage for two Energy without a coin flip.
3 cards · listed in original order.
English scan
Aron, 50 HP — a Generation III debut and the bottom of the Aggron line — uncommon, retreat 1, a 10 Rollout for one Metal and a 20-times Double Stab for two Colourless. Metal had been in the game since 2000 and this is the type's first appearance in the ADV era, with Aron's line taking all three Metal slots the set has.
Lairon, 80 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 2, a 20 Magnitude for one Metal and a 30-plus One-Two Strike for four Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita, who draws all three stages of the line. The middle stage at 80 between Aron's 50 and Aggron's 110.
Aggron, 110 HP Stage 2 — holofoil, retreat 4, the heaviest in the set alongside Wailord — and three attacks: a 10-times Retaliate for one Colourless, a 40 Mega Punch for three, and a 70-times Double Lariat for two Metal and three Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. The only card in the set with attacks costing one, three and five Energy.
10 cards · listed in original order.
Chansey ex, 120 HP Basic — level with Sceptile, Wailord and Slaking for the highest HP in the set — retreat 3, a Healing Egg for two Colourless and an 80 Double-edge for three Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda, who draws three of the five ex cards here. 120 HP on a Basic, and it is not even the largest attack in the set.
Zigzagoon, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a single Fury Swipes for one Colourless doing 10 times a coin flip. One of four 40 HP Basics in the set, and the first card of the Linoone line that continues at 038.
Linoone, 70 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 1, a Seek Out for one Colourless that takes any one card from the deck, and a 40-times Continuous Headbutt for two Colourless. A Stage 1 rare that searches the deck for anything, which no other non-ex Stage 1 in the set can do.
Taillow, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a 10 Peck for one Colourless and a 20 Wing Attack for two. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. One of four 40 HP Colourless Basics in the set, with Zigzagoon, Slakoth and Skitty.
Swellow, 70 HP Stage 1 — Taillow's evolution — a plain rare with free retreat, and a single 30 Wing Attack for two Colourless. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. Four cards in the set have free retreat and this is the only one that is not Grass or Water — and the only one with a single attack.
Slakoth, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a 20 Claw for one Colourless and a no-damage Slack Off for two. The line it starts is the set's showcase: 40 HP here, 70 at Vigoroth, 120 at Slaking — an eighty-point climb across three cards, the largest in the set.
English scan
Vigoroth, 70 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 1, a 20-times Fury Swipes for two Colourless and a 20-plus Rage for three. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno, who draws all three stages of the line. The stage that gains least in the line — thirty HP from Slakoth where Slaking takes fifty from here.
Slaking, 120 HP Stage 2 — one of four cards at 120 HP in the set — holofoil, retreat 3, and one attack: Critical Move, 100 for four Colourless. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. It ties Camerupt's 100 for the highest damage any non-ex card here prints, and it does it on Colourless Energy alone.
Skitty, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a no-damage Minor Errand-Running for one Colourless and a 10 Lullaby for one more. Drawn by Midori Harada. A 40 HP uncommon with a search attack: one Energy of any type to take a Trainer card out of the deck.
Delcatty, 70 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, and one attack: Max Energy Source, 10 damage for every Energy attached to all of your Pokémon, for a single Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. One of two holofoils in the set whose only attack costs a single Energy, with Gardevoir at 029.
4 cards · listed in original order.
Look at the top 3 cards of your deck, and choose a Basic Pokémon, Evolution card, or Energy card. Show it to your opponent and put it into your hand. Put the 2 other cards back on top of your deck in any order.
PokéNav — a Trainer, not a Supporter, so it may be played any number of times in a turn: look at the top three cards, take a Basic Pokémon, an Evolution or an Energy, and put the other two back in any order. Drawn by Katsura Tabata. The set's only search Trainer, and the card that does the job Computer Search did in 1999.
You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Search your deck for up to 3 different types of basic Energy cards, show them to your opponent, and put them into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.
Lady Outing — one of the first Supporter cards ever printed, the class that arrives with this set: one per turn, placed beside the Active Pokémon, discarded at the end of the turn. Its effect searches the deck for up to three different types of Basic Energy. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. With 054 it is the debut of the Supporter rule itself.
You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Draw cards from your deck until you have 6 cards in your hand.
Professor Birch — the second Supporter in the set and in the game: draw until you hold six cards, one per turn, discarded at the end of the turn. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. Professor Oak's 1996 card drew seven and threw your hand away; this one draws to six and keeps what you already had, which is why the Supporter slot exists.
Attach Oran Berry to 1 of your Pokémon that doesn't already have a Pokémon Tool attached to it. If that Pokémon is Knocked Out, discard this card. At any time between turns, if the Pokémon this card is attached to has at least 2 damage counters on it, remove 2 damage counters from it. Then discard Oran Berry.
Oran Berry — a Pokémon Tool, the other class that arrives with this set: attach it to a Pokémon, and between turns, if that Pokémon has two or more damage counters on it, remove two and discard the Berry. Drawn by Kazuo Yazawa, whose only card in the set this is. The fourth and last Trainer here — four Trainer cards in fifty-five, and three of them are the new classes.
18 April 2003. Fifty-three cards — 46 Pokémon, six Trainer and one Special Energy. Twelve commons, eleven uncommons, thirteen rares, twelve holofoil rares and five Pokémon-ex. Grass and Water carry ten and eight.
The fossil set. Claw Fossil and Root Fossil are Trainer cards that sit in play as Pokémon with HP and can be attacked; Cradily ex and Armaldo are what they turn into. Multi Energy arrives here, the first card that counts as every type at once — a card that would stay in the format for years.
10 cards · listed in original order.
Seedot, 40 HP — a Generation III debut and the bottom of the Shiftry line — common, retreat 1, and one attack only: a 30 Surprise Attack for one Grass. Thirty damage for one Energy is the best rate any Basic in the set offers, and it is on a 40 HP common.
Nuzleaf, 80 HP Stage 1 — the highest HP on any Stage 1 in the set that is not an ex, level with Cacturne, Lileep and Anorith at 80 — uncommon, retreat 1, a 20-plus Steady Punch for two Colourless and a 40 Razor Leaf for a Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida, who draws all three stages of the line.
Shiftry, 120 HP Stage 2 — level with Armaldo at 120 for the highest HP in the set outside the ex cards — holofoil, retreat 2, and one attack: Light Touch Throw, 80 damage minus 10 for each damage counter on Shiftry, for two Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida.
Volbeat, 60 HP — a Generation III debut, and one half of the set's only pair of version counterparts — a plain rare, retreat 1, a no-damage Toxic Vibration for one Colourless and a 20 Pester for a Grass and a Colourless. Drawn by Kyoko Umemoto, whose only two cards in the set are Volbeat and Illumise.
Illumise, 60 HP — the other half of the pair, the same 60 HP, the same retreat, the same costs as Volbeat at 004 — a plain rare with a no-damage Chaotic Noise for one Colourless and a 20-plus Pester. The only structural difference between the two cards is the plus on Pester's damage.
Cacnea, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a single 10 Light Punch for one Colourless. One of the set's two Grass Basics that cost a single Energy to attack, with Seedot's 30 for one.
Cacturne, 80 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, and one attack: Feint Attack for three Colourless, which does 30 to a Pokémon of your choice — the only holofoil in the set whose single attack can be aimed at the Bench instead of the Active Pokémon.
Seviper, 80 HP Basic — holofoil, retreat 2, a 10 Deadly Poison for one Colourless that poisons, and a 20 Extra Poison for two that does 20 more if the Defending Pokémon is already Poisoned. A Basic holofoil at 80 HP with no evolution at all, which the set uses instead of a Zangoose line.
Lileep, 80 HP Stage 1 — the only Stage 1 in the set that evolves from a Trainer card: Lileep comes from the Root Fossil at 048 rather than from a Basic Pokémon. Uncommon, retreat 2, a no-damage Influence for one Colourless and a no-damage Time Spiral for two. Drawn by Midori Harada.
Cradily, 100 HP Stage 2 — holofoil, retreat 2, a no-damage Lure Poison for one Colourless and a 50 Spiral Drain for a Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada, who draws both halves of the fossil line. The only Stage 2 in the set whose first attack costs a single Energy and does no damage.
3 cards · listed in original order.
Cyndaquil, 50 HP — level with the 50 of 2000 and ten above the 40 of 2001 — common, retreat 1, a 10 Tackle for one Colourless and a no-damage Singe for one Fire. Drawn by Naoyo Kimura, who draws the whole line here. Fifty HP is the ceiling this line reached all year — no Cyndaquil in 2003 goes higher.
Quilava, 80 HP Stage 1 — ten above the 70 of 2000 — a plain rare, retreat 2, a 20 Slash for two Colourless and a 40 Burning Claw for a Fire and two Colourless. Drawn by Naoyo Kimura. The first Quilava in the almanac to be a rare rather than an uncommon.
Typhlosion ex, 160 HP Stage 2 — the second-largest card in the set after Wailord ex — retreat 2, a 40 Ring of Fire for a Fire and two Colourless and a 100 Split Blast for three Fire and two Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. Where all five ex of January's set were Basics, all five here are evolutions, and this is the one that starts at Stage 2.
8 cards · listed in original order.
Psyduck, 50 HP — level with 1999, 2001 and 2002 — common, retreat 1, and one attack only: a no-damage Confusion Wave for a single Colourless that confuses. Drawn by Kouki Saitou. The cheapest status in the set, and the only card here with no way to do damage at all outside its evolution.
English scan
Golduck, 70 HP Stage 1 — 70 in every printing since 1997, but promoted from uncommon to rare for the first time since 1999 — retreat 1, a single 30-plus Special Blow costing a Water and a Psychic. The set's only card that asks for two different types of Energy on its only attack.
Marill, 50 HP — level with 2001 and 2002, ten above the 40 of one 2001 printing — common, retreat 1, a 10-times Double Bubble for a Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita, who draws both halves of the line.
Azumarill, 70 HP Stage 1 — 70 in every printing since 2000, but a plain rare here, after being a holofoil in 2000 and in one of its two 2002 printings — retreat 1, a Drizzle for one Colourless and a 30-times Max Bubbles for a Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita.
Lotad, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a single 10 Ram for one Colourless. Drawn by Tomokazu Komiya, whose only three cards in the set are the whole Lotad line, 018 to 020.
Lombre, 60 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 1, a single 30-times Double Scratch for a Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Tomokazu Komiya. A 60 HP Stage 1 as a rare: the set prices the line on its final stage and gives the middle one nothing but a coin flip.
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Ludicolo, 90 HP Stage 2 — holofoil, retreat 2, a single 50-plus Hydro Punch for a Water and two Colourless. Drawn by Tomokazu Komiya. One of two three-card lines in the set drawn entirely by one hand, with Seedot's at 001–003.
Wailord ex, 200 HP Stage 1 — the largest HP ever printed on a Pokémon card to that point, and still the largest in this almanac — holofoil, retreat 5, the heaviest cost in any set of 2003 — a Super Deep Dive for one Colourless that returns Wailord ex and everything attached to your hand, and a 100-minus Dwindling Wave for three Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. An ex evolution at 200 HP: two prize cards if it falls, and it costs five Energy to retreat.
3 cards · listed in original order.
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Pikachu, 50 HP — level with the 2001 and 2002 cards — common, retreat 1, a 10 Scratch for one Colourless and a 40 Pika Bolt for a Lightning and two Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Forty damage for three Energy with no drawback and no flip — the same shape as Solrock's Solar Blast at 036, but on a 50 HP Basic rather than a 70 HP holofoil.
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Raichu ex, 100 HP Stage 1 — holofoil ex, retreat 1, a 20 Dazzle Blast for one Lightning and a 120 Mega Thunderbolt for two Lightning and a Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. The highest damage printed in the year's first two sets, and the cheapest route to it: three Energy against the four and five every other big attack costs.
Pichu, 40 HP — ten above the 30 of every earlier Pichu — a plain rare, retreat 1, and one attack: Energy Retrieval for one Lightning, which takes two Energy out of the discard pile. Drawn by Naoyo Kimura. A 40 HP Basic with no damage attack at 40 HP is unusual for a rare — Pichu is here as a support card, not a fighter.
8 cards · listed in original order.
Natu, 50 HP — the same 50 as the 2002 card, after 30 and 40 in 2000 — common, retreat 1, a 10 Peck for one Colourless and a no-damage Soothing Wave for one Psychic. Drawn by Kouki Saitou, who draws both halves of the line.
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Xatu, 70 HP Stage 1 — ten below the 80 of 2000 and 2002 — a plain rare with free retreat, and one attack: Psyimpact, a no-damage attack for a Psychic and a Colourless that puts eight damage counters on the Defending Pokémon — the largest single placement any card in the set makes.
Wobbuffet, 80 HP Basic — ten below the 90 of 2000, ten above the 70 of 2002 — a plain rare, retreat 2, a single 50 Flip Over for a Psychic and two Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. The only card in the set whose entire strategy is one attack, and after being a holofoil in 2000 and 2001 it is a plain rare here.
Gardevoir ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 2, a no-damage Feedback for a Psychic and a Colourless and a 10-times Psystorm for a Psychic and three Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. One hundred and fifty HP on the Stage 2 that January printed at 100, fifty more than the ordinary Gardevoir at n12-029.
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Lunatone, 60 HP — a Generation III debut — holofoil, retreat 1, a Cosmic Draw for one Colourless and a 30 Lunar Blast for a Psychic and a Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. Lunatone and Solrock are the set's only pair of counterpart holofoils — 029 and 036, same artist, same Cosmic Draw attack, Psychic against Fighting.
Duskull, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a no-damage Surprise for one Colourless and a no-damage Confuse Ray for one Psychic. Both attacks do nothing but disrupt, which makes a 40 HP common-shaped card an uncommon.
Dusclops, 70 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, a no-damage Judgement for a Psychic and a Colourless and a no-damage Random Curse for a Psychic and two Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. A holofoil with no damage printed on either attack — the only such card in the set, and the reason Dusclops is played as a lock rather than a hitter.
Wynaut, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, and one attack: Alluring Smile for one Psychic, which does no damage and shuffles a card from the discard pile back into the deck. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno.
7 cards · listed in original order.
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Sandshrew, 50 HP — ten above every earlier Sandshrew, which sat at 40 — common, retreat 1, a single 10 Poison Needle for one Fighting that poisons on a flip. Drawn by Kouki Saitou, who draws both halves of the line.
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Sandslash, 70 HP Stage 1 — 70 since 1997, but a rare with free retreat where every earlier printing cost 1 — a no-damage Sand Swirl for a Fighting and a Colourless and a 60 Earthquake for a Fighting and two Colourless. Sixty damage for three Energy, matched in the set only by Armaldo at 039, and the only free-retreat Pokémon here that is not Xatu.
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Trapinch, 40 HP — a Generation III debut and the bottom of the Flygon line — common, retreat 1, a 10 Sand Pit for one Colourless and a 20 Irongrip for two. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Flygon itself is not in the set, so Trapinch's evolution stops at nothing here — the only Basic in the set whose line is left unfinished.
Solrock, 70 HP — a Generation III debut — holofoil, retreat 1, a Cosmic Draw for one Colourless and a 40 Solar Blast for a Fighting and two Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. Ten HP and ten damage above its twin Lunatone at 029, which is the only thing separating the two cards.
Baltoy, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a single 10 Rapid Spin for one Colourless. Baltoy evolves into Claydol, which this set does not print — the second of the set's two Basic-only lines, with Trapinch at 035.
Anorith, 80 HP Stage 1 — the second fossil evolution, from the Claw Fossil at 047 — a plain rare, retreat 1, a Fast Evolution for one Colourless and a 30 Pierce for a Fighting and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita, who draws both halves of the line.
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Armaldo, 120 HP Stage 2 — level with Shiftry for the highest non-ex HP in the set — holofoil, retreat 3, and one attack: 60 Blade Arms for two Fighting and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. The only 120 HP card in the set with a single attack, which keeps its damage at 60 while Shiftry's reaches 80.
1 cards · listed in original order.
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Sableye, 60 HP — a Generation III debut — the set's only Darkness card, a holofoil, retreat 1, a no-damage Supernatural for one Colourless and a 20 Dark Bind for a Darkness and a Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. Darkness appears exactly once in the 53 cards, against three in January's set.
2 cards · listed in original order.
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Mawile, 60 HP — a Generation III debut — one of two Metal cards in the set, a holofoil, retreat 1, a no-damage Scam for one Colourless and a 20 Metal Hook for a Metal and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Metal is two cards here: Mawile and Aggron ex at 046.
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Aggron ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 4 — a 30-plus Rend for three Colourless and a 50 Metal Surge for two Metal and three Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. Fifty HP above the ordinary Aggron printed in January, and the third of the set's five ex cards — all five of them evolutions, where January's five were all Basics.
4 cards · listed in original order.
Zigzagoon, 40 HP — the same card as n12-037, same 40 HP, same retreat, same Fury Swipes, same artist, same rarity, printed twice in the same year — the two January and April sets share a card outright, which is the clearest sign that ADV2 was built as a continuation rather than a fresh start.
Azurill, 40 HP — a Generation III debut, and the only Baby Pokémon in the set — uncommon, retreat 1, and one attack: Jump Catch for one Colourless, which searches the deck for a Trainer. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. The almanac's first Baby since 2002's Pichu and Cleffa.
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Zangoose, 70 HP Basic — holofoil, retreat 1, a 10-plus Target Slash for one Colourless and a 30-plus Super Slash for three. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. A standalone Basic holofoil with no evolution, paired in the set with Seviper at 008 — the two version-exclusive rivals of Ruby and Sapphire, printed here as a matched pair.
Kecleon, 60 HP — a Generation III debut — a plain rare, retreat 1, a single 20-times Double Scratch for two Colourless. A Colourless card whose whole point is the type it copies in play, and the only plain-rare Basic here at 60 HP.
6 cards · listed in original order.
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Play Claw Fossil as if it were a Basic Pokémon. While in play, Claw Fossil counts as a Colorless Pokémon (instead of a Trainer card). Claw Fossil has no attacks of its own, can't retreat, and can't be affected by any Special Conditions. If Claw Fossil is Knocked Out, it doesn't count as a Knocked Out Pokémon. (Discard it anyway.) At any time during your turn before your attack, you may discard Claw Fossil from play.
Claw Fossil, 40 HP — a Trainer card you play as if it were a Basic Pokémon: while in play it counts as a Colourless Pokémon, has no attacks, cannot retreat, cannot be affected by Special Conditions, and if it is Knocked Out it does not count as a Knocked Out Pokémon. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. The card that makes Anorith at 038 playable — its whole purpose is to be evolved away.
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Play Root Fossil as if it were a Basic Pokémon. While in play, Root Fossil counts as a Colorless Pokémon (instead of a Trainer card). Root Fossil has no attacks of its own, can't retreat, and can't be affected by any Special Conditions. If Root Fossil is Knocked Out, it doesn't count as a Knocked Out Pokémon. (Discard it anyway.) At any time during your turn before your attack, you may discard Root Fossil from play.
Root Fossil, 40 HP — the same text as the Claw Fossil at 047, the same 40 HP, the same artist, the same category, and the parent of Lileep at 009. Two fossil Trainers in one set, which is the set's structural idea: the two fossil lines of Ruby & Sapphire enter play through a Trainer rather than a Basic.
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Remove all Special Conditions from each of your Active Pokémon.
Double Full Heal — remove all Special Conditions from each of your Active Pokémon — a wording that only makes sense once a player can have more than one Active Pokémon in play. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. The only Trainer in the set that is neither a Supporter, a Tool nor a fossil.
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Choose 1 of your Basic Pokémon in play. If you have a Stage 1 or Stage 2 card that evolves from that Pokémon in your hand, put that card on the Basic Pokémon. (This counts as evolving that Pokémon.)
Rare Candy — choose a Basic Pokémon in play and put a Stage 1 or Stage 2 card that evolves from it straight on top, skipping the middle stage entirely, counting as an evolution. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. The most consequential Trainer of the year: it lets a 40 HP Basic become a 120 HP Stage 2 in one turn, and it is why the set's fossils matter.
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You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Search your deck for up to 3 different types of Basic Pokémon cards (excluding Baby Pokémon), show them to your opponent, and put them into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.
Lanette's Net Search — a Supporter, one per turn, discarded at the end of the turn: search the deck for up to three different types of Basic Pokémon and take them into hand. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. The word different is the whole card — three Basics, but never three of the same type.
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You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Search your deck for a card that evolves from your Active Pokémon (choose 1 if there are 2) and put it on your Active Pokémon. (This counts as evolving that Pokémon.) Shuffle your deck afterward.
Wally's Training — a Supporter: search the deck for a card that evolves from your Active Pokémon and put it straight on, counting as an evolution. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. The Supporter version of Rare Candy at 050, except it works from the Active Pokémon and only one stage at a time.
1 cards · listed in original order.
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Attach Multi Energy to 1 of your Pokémon. While in play, Multi Energy provides every type of Energy but provides only 1 Energy at a time. (Doesn't count as a basic Energy card when not in play.) Multi energy provides Colorless Energy when attached to a Pokémon that already has Special Energy cards attached to it.
Multi Energy — the set's only Special Energy card: it provides every type of Energy, one at a time, and turns into plain Colourless if the Pokémon it is attached to already has another Special Energy. Drawn by Takumi Akabane, whose only card in the set this is. It is what makes Golduck's Water-plus-Psychic attack at 015 payable.
25 June 2003. Fifty-four cards — 49 Pokémon and five Trainer — with six Pokémon-ex, the most of any Japanese set this year. Fourteen commons, eleven uncommons, eleven rares and twelve holofoil rares. Colourless is the largest group at twelve, then Water at ten.
Rayquaza ex at 047 is the card of the set, and the only Dragon-type Pokémon-ex printed in Japan in 2003. Buffer Piece and Balloon Berry are the two Tools, and TV Reporter is the first Supporter in the ADV era to be printed as an ordinary uncommon rather than a promo.
7 cards · listed in original order.
Grimer, 50 HP — level with 1997, 1999 and 2002 — common, retreat 1, a 10 Pound for one Colourless and a no-damage Poison Spurt for one Grass. Drawn by Yuka Morii, whose clay figures give the set its softest art. Muk ex at 002 is its only evolution here, and the two are the whole Grass section's sludge line.
Muk ex, 100 HP Stage 1 — holofoil ex, retreat 2, a 10 Poison Breath for one Grass and a 40-plus Slimy Water for two Grass and a Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. One hundred HP on a Stage 1 ex — the smallest of the set's six ex cards, and the only one whose damage scales off the Defending Pokémon's retreat cost.
Wurmple, 50 HP — the same card as n12-004, word for word: same 50 HP, same two search attacks, same artist, same common rarity, printed in January and again in June. The two sets share a card outright, which is what a two-month gap between expansions looks like.
Nincada, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, one attack: a 10 Leech Life for one Grass that heals back what it deals. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. The only card in the almanac with two evolutions inside the same set: Ninjask at 005 and Shedinja at 006.
Ninjask, 70 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare with free retreat, the only retreat-0 Pokémon in the fifty-four cards — and one attack: 30 Quick Touch for two Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. The evolution that keeps the card; the one at 006 throws the body away.
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Shedinja, 30 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, and one attack: Damage Curse for one Colourless, which puts damage counters on the Defending Pokémon equal to the damage counters on Shedinja. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. One of only two cards at 30 HP in the whole year, the other being Magikarp at 013, and the only one whose attack is powered by being hurt.
Roselia, 60 HP — a Generation III debut — holofoil, retreat 1, a Speed Growth for one Colourless and a 10 Sleep Powder for one Grass. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. A 60 HP Basic as a holofoil with no evolution at all, which the set uses three times: Roselia, Torkoal and Absol.
3 cards · listed in original order.
Slugma, 50 HP — 50 in every printing since 2000 — common, retreat 2, a 10 Ram for one Colourless and a no-damage Luring Flame for a Fire and a Colourless. Drawn by Kyoko Umemoto, whose only card in the set this is.
Magcargo ex, 100 HP Stage 1 — holofoil ex, retreat 3, a 20 Melting Mountain for one Fire and a 40-plus Lava Flow for two Fire and a Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. The second Fire ex of the year and the second 100 HP ex in this set, both of them Stage 1 evolutions rather than Basics.
Torkoal, 80 HP Basic — a Generation III debut — holofoil, retreat 3, a Power Generation for one Colourless that attaches Fire Energy, and a no-damage Scorching Smoke for one Fire. A holofoil whose only damaging route is a status — eighty HP and no attack that prints a number above zero.
10 cards · listed in original order.
Horsea, 40 HP — level with 1997 and 1999, ten below 2000 — uncommon, retreat 1, a 10-times Retaliate for one Colourless and a 10 Smokescreen for one Water. An uncommon where every earlier Horsea in the almanac was common, which is how the set prices the Kingdra line.
Seadra, 70 HP Stage 1 — level with 2000 and 2002, ten above 1997 and 1999 — promoted from uncommon to rare — retreat 1, a 20-plus Energy Cannon for one Water and a Water Arrow for a Water and two Colourless. The Water Arrow costs three Energy and prints no damage number, so the card's whole output rides on the first attack.
Magikarp, 30 HP — 30 in every printing since 2001 — common, retreat 1, a Call for Family for one Colourless and a 20 Tackle for a Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Kouki Saitou. Two attacks on a 30 HP Basic — the card spends one of them fetching a Bench rather than attacking.
Gyarados, 100 HP Stage 1 — back to the 100 of 1999 after the 90s of 2002 — a plain rare, retreat 2, a no-damage Dragon Crush for one Water and an 80 Aqua Sonic for one Water and four Colourless. Drawn by Kouki Saitou. Eighty damage on five Energy is the largest non-ex attack in the set.
Kingdra ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 3, a Genetic Memory for one Water that evolves from the deck, and a 50-plus Hydrocannon for three Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. The top of the Horsea line in this set — Horsea at 011, Seadra at 012, this at 015 — and one of three ex cards here at 150 HP.
Barboach, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a 10 Splash for one Colourless and a 20 Mud Slap for a Fighting and a Colourless. A Water card with a Fighting attack, the set's only one, and the first half of the Whiscash line at 017.
Whiscash, 90 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 2, a 30 Surf for a Water and a Colourless and a 60 Magnitude for a Fighting and three Colourless. Drawn by Tomokazu Komiya, who draws both halves of the line. Ninety HP and 60 damage for four Energy — the cheapest four-Energy 60 in the set.
Corphish, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a no-damage Poison Claws for one Colourless and a 10 Bubble for one Water. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. Two attacks for two different types of Energy on a 40 HP common, which is how the set sets up Crawdaunt at 019.
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Crawdaunt, 80 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 2, a single 50 Guillotine for a Water and two Colourless. Drawn by Hisao Nakamura, who draws five of the fifty-four cards here, all of them Water or Fighting. The only Water holofoil in the set that is not an ex.
Snorunt, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, and one attack: 10 Powder Snow for one Water. Snorunt's evolution Glalie is not in the set, so a 50 HP uncommon here has nothing to become — one of two dead-end Basics in the fifty-four cards.
7 cards · listed in original order.
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Magnemite, 40 HP — level with the two 2002 printings, ten below the 50 of the set's own January card — common, retreat 1, a 10 Rollout for one Colourless and a 20 Hook for two. Drawn by Tomokazu Komiya, whose only card in the set this is.
Magneton, 70 HP Stage 1 — ten below the 80 of 2002 — a plain rare, retreat 1, and one attack: Magnetic Force, 10 damage for every Lightning Energy attached to all your Pokémon, for a Lightning and a Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. The set's only card that scales off the whole board's Energy.
Mareep, 50 HP — level with 2001, ten above the 40 of 2002 — common, retreat 1, and one attack: Jolt for one Colourless, which does no damage and takes a Lightning Energy out of the deck. Drawn by Miki Tanaka, who draws the whole Ampharos line here.
Flaaffy, 80 HP Stage 1 — level with 2001 and 2002, ten above 2000 — promoted from uncommon to rare — retreat 1, an Energy Recall for one Lightning and a 30 Lightning Ball for a Lightning and a Colourless. Drawn by Miki Tanaka. The first Flaaffy in the almanac to be a rare rather than an uncommon.
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Ampharos ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 3, and one attack: Gigavolt, 40 plus 10 for each Energy on Ampharos, for a Lightning and two Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. One hundred and fifty HP on the Stage 2 of a line whose Basic is a 50 HP common — seventy HP above Mareep, the same jump Kingdra and Dragonite make in this set.
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Plusle, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — holofoil, retreat 1, a Cheer On for one Colourless and a no-damage Extra Circuit for a Lightning and a Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. Half of the set's only matched pair of 50 HP holofoils, printed as 026 and 027 with Minun.
Minun, 50 HP — the other half, the same 50 HP, the same retreat, the same costs, the same artist as Plusle at 026 — its second attack is Special Circuit instead of Extra Circuit and the card does no damage either way. Two holofoils that differ only in the name of one attack — the clearest sign the pair was designed as a set.
4 cards · listed in original order.
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Girafarig, 70 HP Basic — ten above the 60 of every earlier Girafarig, and the first to be a rare rather than a common — retreat 1, a Synchronized Search for one Colourless and a no-damage Breaking Impact for a Psychic and a Colourless.
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Spoink, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a single 10 Bounce for one Colourless. Drawn by Miki Tanaka, who draws both halves of the line. The cheapest attack shape in the set, and the only Grumpig line here.
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Grumpig, 80 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, a 20-plus Psychic Boom for a Psychic and a Colourless and a 50 Mind Trip for a Psychic and two Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. The only Psychic holofoil in the set that is not an ex.
Shuppet, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a no-damage Hypnosis for one Colourless and a no-damage Night Attack for one Psychic. Drawn by Aya Kusube. Both attacks do nothing but disrupt, the same shape as ADV2's Duskull, and Banette is not in the set.
4 cards · listed in original order.
Geodude, 50 HP — level with 1997, 1999 and 2001 — common, retreat 1, a 10 Light Punch for one Colourless and a no-damage Pebble Throw for one Fighting. Drawn by Hisao Nakamura, who draws all three stages of the Geodude line in this set.
Graveler, 80 HP Stage 1 — ten above the 70s of 2000 and 2002 and the first Graveler in the almanac to be a rare rather than an uncommon — retreat 3, a 10-times Grind for one Colourless and a 10-times Big Explosion for two Fighting and two Colourless that Knocks Out Graveler. Drawn by Hisao Nakamura.
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Golem, 120 HP Stage 2 — twenty above the 100 of 2001 and 2002 — holofoil, retreat 4 — a 20-plus Rock Vengeance for a Fighting and two Colourless and a 60 Rock Slide for two Fighting and three Colourless. Drawn by Hisao Nakamura. Twelve of the set's fifty-four cards are Colourless, and 120 HP here still puts Golem behind the three 150 HP ex cards.
Meditite, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a 10 Punch for one Colourless and a 10-plus Meditate for a Fighting and a Colourless. Medicham is not in the set, so this is the third of the set's dead-end Basics and the only one with a plus on its second attack.
1 cards · listed in original order.
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Absol, 70 HP Basic — a Generation III debut — the set's only Darkness card, a holofoil, retreat 1, a no-damage Bad News for one Darkness and a 20-plus Prize Count for a Darkness and a Colourless. Drawn by Naoyo Kimura. Darkness appears once in fifty-four cards, the same single slot ADV2 gave Sableye.
1 cards · listed in original order.
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Skarmory, 70 HP Basic — ten above the 60 of every earlier Skarmory — a plain rare, retreat 1, a Pick On for one Metal and a 20-plus Power Count for a Metal and a Colourless. Drawn by Hisao Nakamura. The set's only Metal card, against two in ADV2 and three in January.
12 cards · listed in original order.
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Dratini, 50 HP — ten above every earlier Dratini, which sat at 40 — uncommon, retreat 1, a Dragon Dew for one Water and a 10 Tail Slap for one Lightning. Drawn by Aya Kusube, who draws all three stages of the set's Dragonite line.
Dragonair, 70 HP Stage 1 — level with 2001, ten below the 80 of 1999 — promoted from uncommon to rare — retreat 2, a 20 Dazzle Blast for a Lightning and a Colourless and a 30 Healing Wave for a Water and two Colourless. Two different types of Energy on one colourless-typed card, which is how dragons work in this era.
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Dragonite ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 2, a 70 Dragon Wave for a Water and a Lightning and a 120 Giant Tail for four Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. The highest damage printed in the set and in the year's first three sets, eighty above the same card's other attack.
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Taillow, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, one attack: a Whirlwind for one Colourless that does no damage and makes the opponent switch. Drawn by Kyoko Umemoto. Swellow is in ADV1, not here — this Taillow's evolution sits three sets back, in January's list.
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Vibrava, 80 HP Stage 1 — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a Quick Charge for one Colourless and a no-damage Dragon Spark for a Grass and a Colourless. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. The only line in the set that changes type between stages: its Basic, Trapinch, is a Fighting card in ADV2, and Vibrava and Flygon here are Colourless.
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Flygon, 120 HP Stage 2 — holofoil, retreat 2, an Energy Shower for a Grass and a Lightning and a 30-plus Rainbow Burn for three Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Trapinch, Vibrava and Flygon are split across two sets: the Basic is in ADV2 at 035, the other two here.
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Swablu, 40 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, a 10 Lullaby for one Water and a 10 Stifling Fluff for one Lightning. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida, who draws both halves of the line. Two attacks of ten for two types — the cheapest spread in the set.
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Altaria, 80 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, a Dragon Dance for one Colourless and a 30 Dragon Song for a Water and a Lightning. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. Two Energy types on a 30-damage attack — the cheapest dual-type cost in the set, against Salamence's three.
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Bagon, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — uncommon, retreat 1, a no-damage Paralyzing Gaze for one Water and a 20 Combustion for a Fire and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita, who draws all three stages of the Salamence line here.
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Shelgon, 80 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 2, a no-damage Scrunch for one Colourless and a 50 Rolling Attack for a Fire, a Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Three different types of Energy on one attack, the set's most demanding cost outside the ex cards.
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Salamence, 120 HP Stage 2 — holofoil, retreat 2, a 20 Agility for two Colourless and a 60 Dragon Claw for a Fire, a Water and two Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. One hundred and twenty HP, level with Flygon and Golem — the highest non-ex HP in the set.
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Rayquaza ex, 100 HP Basic — the set's headline ex and the only Basic among its six — holofoil ex, retreat 2, a Spiral Growth for one Colourless and a 40-times Dragon Burst for a Fire and a Lightning that discards the Energy. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. A hundred HP on the cover Pokémon of Emerald, the smallest ex in the set by HP.
5 cards · listed in original order.
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Search your discard pile for basic Energy cards. You may either show 1 basic Energy card to your opponent and put it into your hand, or show 3 basic Energy cards to your opponent and shuffle them into your deck.
Energy Recycle System — a Trainer: take one basic Energy card from the discard pile into hand, or three and shuffle them back into the deck. Drawn by Zu-Ka, whose only card in the set this is. The only plain Trainer here — 051 and 052 are Supporters and 053 and 054 are Pokémon Tools, so this is the one card in the set that is neither.
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You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Draw 3 cards. Then discard any 1 card from your hand.
TV Reporter — a Supporter: draw three cards, then discard one from your hand. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. Draw three and lose one is a net plus two — the set's cheapest card advantage, and the reason a Supporter slot was worth spending on card draw rather than on a search.
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You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Choose 1 of your Pokémon in play (excluding Pokémon-ex). Return that Pokémon and all cards attached to it to your hand.
Mr. Briney's Compassion — a Supporter: pick one of your Pokémon other than a Pokémon-ex and return it and everything attached to your hand. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. The card that resets a damaged attacker, and the reason it names ex cards as ineligible — the format's designers were already worried about ex recursion in June 2003.
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Attach Balloon Berry to 1 of your Pokémon that doesn't already have a Pokémon Tool attached to it. If that Pokémon is Knocked Out, discard this card. When the Pokémon Balloon Berry is attached to retreats, discard Balloon Berry instead of discarding Energy cards.
Balloon Berry — a Pokémon Tool: when the Pokémon it is attached to retreats, discard the Berry instead of discarding Energy. Drawn by Keiji Kinebuchi. A free retreat for one turn, on any Pokémon, for one card.
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Attach Buffer Piece to 1 of your Pokémon that doesn't already have a Pokémon Tool attached to it. If that Pokémon is Knocked Out, discard this card. Damage done to the Pokémon Buffer Piece is attached to by an opponent's attack is reduced by 20 (after applying Weakness and Resistance). At the end of your opponent's turn after you played Buffer Piece, discard Buffer Piece.
Buffer Piece — a Pokémon Tool: damage from an opponent's attack to the attached Pokémon is reduced by 20, and the card is discarded at the end of the turn it reduces. Drawn by Katsura Tabata. The last of the set's five Trainers, and the only one that has to be timed — the other four are permanent or immediate.
24 October 2003. Eighty cards — 65 Pokémon and fifteen Trainer & Energy — the only subset of the ADV era and the largest Japanese release of the year. Sixteen commons, twenty-four uncommons, sixteen rares, sixteen holofoil rares and eight Pokémon-ex. Water leads with fifteen.
Two teams, two card designs. Team Magma's Pokémon have curved lines on the artwork border and a team logo inside the attack box; Team Aqua's have bubbles. All of them are computer-rendered rather than painted, and seventeen cards carry an owner's name in the title. No dot codes on any team card — and no dot codes on anything printed after this set, anywhere.Published in pieces. Thirty-one of these eighty cards were already on English shelves on 18 September, five weeks before Japan; twelve more followed in EX Dragon on 24 November; the remaining thirty-six waited for EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua in March 2004. Only the Team cards and the deck-kit cards stayed exclusive to the Japanese set.
12 cards · listed in original order.
Ekans, 50 HP — level with the 1997 Rocket and 2001 cards, ten above 1997 and 1999 — common, retreat 1, one attack: 10 Bind for one Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada, who draws both halves of the line here. One attack on a Basic is all a 50 HP card needs — the set spends its text on the evolutions.
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Arbok, 70 HP Stage 1 — level with the 2001 card, ten above 1997 and 1999 — a plain rare, retreat 1, one attack: 20 Toxic for a Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. Ekans and Arbok are the first line the set prints, and one of only three Grass lines in it that reach a Stage 1, with Cacnea's and Lileep's.
Pineco, 40 HP — the same 40 it has carried since 2000, bar the 50 HP printing of 2002 — common, retreat 1, one attack: 20 Tackle for a Grass and a Colourless. Forretress is at 064, sixty-one numbers after its Basic — the set does not keep a line together anywhere.
Treecko, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, one attack: a 10-plus Quick Attack for two Colourless, twenty more on a coin. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. The Sceptile line runs 004 to 006: this Basic, Grovyle at 005, and a 150 HP ex at 006 closing it.
Grovyle, 70 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 1, one attack: a 10-plus Fury Cutter for a Grass and a Colourless — 70 damage if all four coins come up heads, otherwise 10 plus 10 per head. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. The middle stage is the only card of the three without a second attack, which is what makes the 150 HP ex at 006 feel like a jump.
Sceptile ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 2, a Green Heal for one Grass, a 40 Poison Ring for a Grass and two Colourless and a 100 Slashing Strike for two Grass and three Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. Three attacks, one of only two cards in the set with three, and the second-highest HP here at 150.
Cacnea, 50 HP — a different Cacnea from ADV2's 006 — common, retreat 1, one attack: a 10 Poison Sting for one Grass that Poisons on a coin. Drawn by Midori Harada. English put both Cacnea into EX Sandstorm, at 057 and 058 — two cards apart on the same sheet, and neither is a reprint of the other.
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Lileep, 80 HP Stage 1 — a different Lileep from ADV2's 009 — rare, retreat 2, an Amnesia for two Colourless and a 30 Headbutt for a Grass and a Colourless. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. It evolves from the Root Fossil, and the Root Fossil stays in ADV2 — this set prints Mysterious Fossil at 067 instead, which is the fossil for Kabuto, Omanyte and Aerodactyl, not for Lileep.
Cradily ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 2, a 30 Eerie Light for two Colourless and a 60 Acidic Poison for two Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. Fifty HP above the Cradily printed in ADV2 in April, and the third of the set's eight ex cards at 150.
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Team Aqua's Seviper, 80 HP Basic — rare, retreat 2, a Call for Family for one Colourless and a 20 Thick Poison for a Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by Jungo Suzuki. The first card in the set whose name carries a team, and an 80 HP Basic with no evolution — Aqua's version of a wall.
Team Aqua's Cacnea, 50 HP — uncommon, retreat 1, a no-damage Paralyzing Gaze for one Colourless and a 10-times Pin Missile for two Colourless. Drawn by K. Utsunomiya, who draws both halves of the Aqua Cacnea line. A second Cacnea in the same set at 007 — one plain, one Aqua, different artists, different attacks.
Team Aqua's Cacturne, 80 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 2, a 10 Dark Bind for one Darkness and a 40 Poison Barb for a Grass and two Colourless. Drawn by K. Utsunomiya. A Grass card with a Darkness attack — the team cards mix types on purpose, and this is the clearest case in the set.
9 cards · listed in original order.
Growlithe, 50 HP — level with the two 2002 printings, ten below the 60 of one 2002 card — common, retreat 1, one attack: 20 Flare for a Fire and a Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima, who draws both halves of the line.
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Arcanine, 80 HP Stage 1 — ten below the 90 of 2002 — holofoil, retreat 1, one attack: 60 Burn Up for a Fire and two Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. Sixty damage for three Energy on a Stage 1 holofoil, the cheapest rate of any non-ex Fire card in the set.
Flareon, 80 HP Stage 1 — ten above the 70 of 1997, 1999 and 2002 — holofoil, retreat 2, a 20 Super Singe for a Fire and a Colourless and a 70 Flamethrower for a Fire and three Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. One of five Eevee evolutions the set prints, and the only one that reaches 70 damage.
Torchic, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, one attack: a 20-plus Firebreathing for a Fire and a Colourless, twenty more on a coin. Drawn by Hironobu Yoshida. Three starter lines end in this set's eight ex cards: Sceptile ex at 006, Blaziken ex at 018 and Swampert ex at 050, each one behind a 50 HP Basic printed here.
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Combusken, 70 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 1, a 10-plus Quick Attack for two Colourless and a 40 Combustion for a Fire and two Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. The one plain card in a line of three: Torchic at 016 is a common, Blaziken ex at 018 is a holofoil ex, and this sits between them at rare.
Blaziken ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 2, a 30-plus Blaze Kick for a Fire and a Colourless and a Volcanic Ash for two Fire and two Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. The third 150 HP ex in the set — Sceptile ex, Cradily ex and this — one for each of the three starter lines the set finishes.
Team Magma's Houndour, 50 HP — uncommon, retreat 1, a no-damage Singe for one Fire and a 20 Dark Shock for a Darkness and a Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Ujiie, whose only two cards in the set are the two Magma Basics at 019 and 044.
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Team Magma's Houndoom, 70 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, a 30-plus Roasting Heat for a Fire and a Colourless and a 30-times Magma Spurt for a Fire and two Colourless. Drawn by Ken Ikuji, whose only card in the set this is. The only Magma Pokémon here that is a Stage 1 holofoil and not an ex.
Team Magma's Torkoal, 80 HP Basic — holofoil, retreat 2, a 10 Magma Burn for one Fire and a 30 Hot Air for a Fire and a Colourless. Drawn by K. Hoshiba. A team-named holofoil Basic at 80 HP — the teams get their own holofoils here, not just their own Trainers.
15 cards · listed in original order.
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Vaporeon, 70 HP Stage 1 — ten below the 80 of 1997 and 1999, level with 2002 — holofoil, retreat 1, a 30 Aurora Beam for a Water and a Colourless and a 50 Aqua Sonic for a Water and two Colourless. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. Fifty damage for three Energy with no flip — the only Eevee evolution here that reaches 50 without a coin.
Omanyte, 70 HP Stage 1 — thirty above the 40 of 1997 and 1999, twenty above 2000, ten above 2002 — uncommon, retreat 1, a Team Assembly for one Colourless and a 20 Bind for two. Drawn by Kouki Saitou. The largest Omanyte in the almanac, thirty HP above its own 1997 printing.
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Omastar, 110 HP Stage 2 — twenty above the 90 of 2002 and forty above 1997 — holofoil, retreat 2, a Pull Down for one Colourless and a 30-plus Hydrocannon for two Colourless. Drawn by Kouki Saitou. One hundred and ten HP on a Stage 2 that attacks entirely on Colourless Energy.
Kabuto, 60 HP Stage 1 — double the 30 of 1997 and 1999 and ten above 2002 — uncommon, retreat 2, a Team Assembly for one Colourless and a 20 Pierce for a Fighting and a Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. Kabutops ex at 026 is its only evolution here, and it evolves from Mysterious Fossil at 067.
Kabutops ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 2, a 40-times Hydrocutter for one Colourless and a 70 Spiral Drain for two Fighting and two Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. A Water-typed Stage 2 with a Fighting attack — the fossil ex cards in this set do not sit in one type.
Suicune ex, 100 HP Basic — holofoil ex, retreat 2, an Energy Flip for one Water and a 50-plus Reverse Stream for two Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Ryo Ueda. The only Basic ex card in the set that is not Aerodactyl ex, and one of three at 100 HP among the eight.
Mudkip, 50 HP — a Generation III debut — common, retreat 1, one attack: a 10-plus Water Gun for a single Colourless, ten more for every Water Energy attached but unspent. Drawn by Hironobu Yoshida. One Colourless pays for it, so a 50 HP Basic can attack from the first turn — and its line ends at Swampert ex, 050.
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Marshtomp, 80 HP Stage 1 — a plain rare, retreat 1, one attack: a 20 Mud Splash for a Water and a Colourless that also puts ten damage on a Benched Pokémon. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. Of the three starters' middle stages, this is the only one that reaches the Bench.
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Wingull, 40 HP — a different Wingull from ADV1's 017, and one of four 40 HP cards in the set — common, retreat 1, one attack: a no-damage Supersonic for one Colourless that Confuses on a coin. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. English printed this Wingull in EX Sandstorm on 18 September, five weeks before Japan got the set — one of the cards that crossed first.
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Pelipper, 70 HP Stage 1 — a different Pelipper from ADV1's 018 — rare, free retreat, one attack: a 30-plus Water Gun for two Colourless, ten more per unspent Water Energy. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. One of only four Pokémon in the set that retreats for nothing, with Team Aqua's Sharpedo at 035, Linoone at 057 and Swellow at 058.
Wailmer, 80 HP — a different Wailmer from ADV1's 021 — uncommon, retreat 3, a 20 Rollout for two Colourless and a 30 Super Hypno Wave for a Water and two Colourless that puts the defender to sleep. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. Wailord stays behind in ADV1 — October prints the Basic and leaves the evolution in January.
Team Aqua's Carvanha, 50 HP — uncommon, retreat 1, one attack: 20 Slow-Acting Poison for two Colourless. Drawn by Mt. TBT, a house name used for four cards in this set. Ten HP above the plain Carvanha of January, and its only attack costs no Water at all.
Team Aqua's Corphish, 50 HP — uncommon, retreat 1, a 10-times Double Pinchers for one Colourless and a 20 Dark Poison for a Darkness and a Colourless. Drawn by Jungo Suzuki. The set's second Corphish of the year, after ADV3's 018, and the only Aqua Basic that carries two attacks.
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Team Aqua's Sharpedo, 70 HP Stage 1 — holofoil with free retreat, a 10-plus Rage for two Colourless and a 60 Aqua Slash for two Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Katsura Tabata. Sixty damage for three Energy with no drawback — the best rate on any Water card in the set.
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Team Aqua's Crawdaunt, 80 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, a 20 Aqua Reverse for a Darkness and a Colourless and a 40 Deep Impact for two Water and a Colourless. Drawn by Nakaoka. A second Crawdaunt in the year, after ADV3's 019, with a completely different attack spread and two types on one card.
3 cards · listed in original order.
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Jolteon, 70 HP Stage 1 — level with 1997, 1999 and 2002 — holofoil, retreat 1, a 20-times Double Kick for two Colourless and a 40 Lightning Strike for two Lightning and a Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Nishida. The only Lightning Eevee evolution in the set, and the only one of the five whose damage attack is not its cheapest.
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Team Aqua's Electrike, 50 HP — uncommon, retreat 1, a Random Spark for one Lightning and a 10 Plasma for two Colourless. Drawn by M. Akiyama. Fourteen numbers after January's plain Electrike at 024, and the Aqua version is the cheaper of the two to attack with.
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Team Aqua's Manectric, 70 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 1, and one attack: 50 Thunderspark for a Lightning and two Colourless. Drawn by K. Utsunomiya, who draws three cards in the set. The only Lightning holofoil in the set, and 50 damage for three Energy — the same rate ADV3's Manectric prints.
6 cards · listed in original order.
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Espeon, 80 HP Stage 1 — level with 2000 and 2002 — holofoil, retreat 1, a 20 Confuse Ray for one Psychic and a 20-plus Energy Crush for three Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. The only Psychic Eevee evolution here, and the second of the set's five Eeveelutions to print a coin-free 20 for one Energy.
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Ralts, 50 HP — a different Ralts from ADV1's 027 — common, retreat 1, a Hypnosis for one Colourless that puts the defender to sleep and a 10-times Psychic Boom for one Psychic that counts the defender's Energy. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. No Gardevoir in this set, so October's Ralts and Kirlia at 042 are a line with nothing on top.
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Kirlia, 70 HP Stage 1 — a different Kirlia from ADV1's 028 — rare, retreat 1, a 20 Psyshock for a Psychic and a Colourless that may Paralyse, and a 60 Link Blast for a Psychic and two Colourless that falls to 30 when the Energy counts differ. Drawn by Hajime Kusajima. Sixty damage where January's Kirlia did none — same Pokémon, different card, nine months apart.
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Duskull, 40 HP — a different Duskull from ADV2's 030, and one of four 40 HP cards here — common, retreat 1, a Haunt for one Psychic that puts a damage counter on the defender and a 10 Dark Mind for two Colourless that also reaches the Bench. Drawn by Aya Kusube. Dusclops is in ADV2, not here — October prints the Basic and leaves the evolution in April.
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Team Magma's Baltoy, 50 HP — uncommon, retreat 1, a no-damage Psymist for one Colourless and a no-damage Pain Amplifier for a Psychic and a Colourless. Drawn by Atsuko Ujiie, who draws the two Magma Psychic Basics. A team card with no damage printed anywhere on it — it exists to make Claydol at 045 work.
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Team Magma's Claydol, 80 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 2, one attack: 40-plus Dark Hand for a Psychic and two Colourless, which grows with the number of Energy on the Defending Pokémon. Drawn by Zu-Ka. The set's only team-named Stage 1 Psychic card.
8 cards · listed in original order.
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Geodude, 40 HP — ten below ADV3's 032, which is a different card — common, retreat 1, one attack: a 10-plus Steady Punch for one Fighting, ten more on a coin. Drawn by Midori Harada. The family runs 046, 047 and 048 — Geodude, Graveler, and Golem ex at 160 HP, the tallest total in the set.
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Graveler, 80 HP Stage 1 — not the Graveler of ADV3's 033 — rare, retreat 3, a 20 Magnitude for a Fighting and a Colourless that damages every Benched Pokémon on both sides, and a 40 Rollout for a Fighting and two Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. Magnitude hits its own Bench too — the family's whole idea, one number before Golem ex at 048.
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Golem ex, 160 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 5, the heaviest cost in the set — a 60 Magnitude for a Fighting and two Colourless and a 120 Double-edge for two Fighting and three Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. The largest HP and the largest damage in the whole of 2003 — ten above the 150 of the set's other Stage 2 ex cards.
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Onix, 80 HP Basic — twenty above the 60 of 2000 and 2002, though still ten short of 1999's 90 — common, retreat 3, a 10 Bind for two Colourless and a 10-plus Rage for a Fighting and two Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. Steelix at 065 is its evolution, sixteen numbers later and the set's only Metal holofoil.
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Swampert ex, 150 HP Stage 2 — holofoil ex, retreat 3, a 20-plus Hyper Pump for one Colourless and a 20-plus Crushing Wave for a Water and two Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. A Fighting-typed Swampert — the only card in 2003 where the Water starter's final stage is printed outside Water, and the set's answer to Sceptile ex and Blaziken ex.
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Anorith, 80 HP Stage 1 — not the Anorith of ADV2's 038 — rare, retreat 2, a 20 Slash for one Fighting and a 40-times Double Scratch for three Colourless. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. Its Claw Fossil and its evolution Armaldo both stay in ADV2, so nothing in this set can grow into it.
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Team Magma's Rhyhorn, 50 HP — uncommon, retreat 1, a Double Damage for one Colourless and a 60 Horn Rush for a Fighting and two Colourless. Drawn by Mt. TBT. Sixty damage on a 50 HP Basic for three Energy — the largest attack printed on any Basic in the set that is not a holofoil.
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Team Magma's Rhydon, 90 HP Stage 1 — holofoil, retreat 2, a 20 Magma Jab for a Darkness and a Colourless and a 50 Shoot Down for two Fighting and a Colourless. Drawn by T. Honda, whose only card in the set this is. Ninety HP, second in the set among non-ex Stage 1 cards only to Omastar's 110.
2 cards · listed in original order.
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Umbreon, 80 HP Stage 1 — level with 2000 and 2002 — holofoil, retreat 1, a 10 Confuse Ray for one Colourless and a 40 Moon Impact for a Darkness and two Colourless. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. The last of the five Eevee evolutions in the set and the only Darkness one.
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Murkrow, 60 HP Basic — ten above the 50 of 2000 and 2002 — a plain rare, retreat 1, a no-damage Surprise for one Colourless and a 20 Dark Mind for a Darkness and a Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. The set's second Darkness Pokémon, after Umbreon.
2 cards · listed in original order.
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Forretress, 80 HP Stage 1 — level with 2000, ten above 2002 — a plain rare, retreat 2, a Double Metal Ball for a Metal and a Colourless and a 40 Backspin for three Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. One of two Metal cards in the set with Steelix at 065, and the only one that is not a holofoil.
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Steelix, 100 HP Stage 1 — ten below the 110 of 2000, level with 2002 — holofoil, retreat 4 — a 10-plus Rage for a Fighting and two Colourless and a Spinning Tail for two Metal and two Colourless. Drawn by Midori Harada. A 100 HP Stage 1 with a Metal attack that prints no damage — the set's most defensive holofoil.
8 cards · listed in original order.
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Eevee, 50 HP — level with 2000 and 2002 — common, retreat 1, a Signs of Evolution for one Colourless and a 10-plus Quick Attack for one Colourless. Drawn by Kouki Saitou. The card five others in this set evolve from: Flareon at 015, Vaporeon at 022, Jolteon at 037, Espeon at 040 and Umbreon at 062.
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Aerodactyl ex, 100 HP Stage 1 — holofoil ex, retreat 1, a 10 Supersonic for one Colourless and a 60 Wing Attack for three Colourless. Drawn by Hikaru Koike. A Stage 1 ex that evolves from Mysterious Fossil at 067, and the only ex in the set whose pre-evolution is a Trainer card.
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Dunsparce, 50 HP — ten above the 40 of 2002, twenty above 2000 — common, retreat 1, a Strike and Run for one Colourless and a 10 Sudden Flash for one Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Two attacks that both cost a single Energy, and one of them searches the Bench while the card retreats itself.
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Linoone, 70 HP Stage 1 — not the Linoone of ADV1's 038 — uncommon, free retreat, a Sniff Out for one Colourless that takes any one card back from the discard pile and a 20-times Fury Swipes for two Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Zigzagoon is in ADV1 and ADV2 but not here — a Stage 1 printed without its Basic.
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Swellow, 70 HP Stage 1 — not the Swellow of ADV1's 040 — rare, free retreat, a 10 Clutch for one Colourless that stops the defender retreating, and a Quick Dive for two Colourless that does 50 to any of the opponent's Pokémon on a coin. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Quick Dive never touches the Active Pokémon — it picks its target on the Bench.
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Skitty, 50 HP — not the Skitty of ADV1's 044 — common, retreat 1, an Energy Catch for one Colourless that returns a basic Energy from the discard pile, and a 30 Double-edge for two Colourless that costs Skitty 10 damage. Drawn by Kagemaru Himeno. Delcatty follows at 060 — both printings of this family fall in 2003, in ADV1 and again here.
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Delcatty, 80 HP Stage 1 — not the Delcatty of ADV1's 045 — uncommon, retreat 1, a 30 Scratch for two Colourless and a 10-times Ultra Energy Source for three Colourless that counts every basic Energy on both Active Pokémon. Drawn by Midori Harada. A holofoil in January, an uncommon here — the same Pokémon printed plain nine months later.
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Team Magma's Zangoose, 70 HP Basic — rare, retreat 1, a Call for Family for one Colourless and a 10-times Team Play for three Colourless. Drawn by Zu-Ka. A Colourless team card in a set where every other team card is typed to its team's colour.
12 cards · listed in original order.
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Flip 2 coins. For each heads, search your deck for a Basic Pokémon card, show it to your opponent, and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.
Dual Ball — flip two coins and take a Basic Pokémon from the deck for each heads. Drawn by "Big Mama" Tagawa, whose only card in the set this is. The replacement for the 1999 Pokémon Trader, and the cheapest way in the format to fetch two Basics at once.
Mysterious Fossil, 10 HP — a Trainer you play as if it were a Basic Pokémon, counted as Colourless in play, with no attacks, no retreat, and no Knocked Out count if it is destroyed. Drawn by Keiji Kinebuchi. Ten HP, the lowest HP printed in 2003, and the card that makes Aerodactyl ex at 055 and the two fossil lines playable.
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Your opponent switches 1 of his or her Defending Pokémon with 1 of his or her Benched Pokémon, if any. You switch 1 of your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon, if any.
Warp Point — your opponent switches their Defending Pokémon with one of their Benched, then you switch your Active with one of yours. Drawn by Keiji Kinebuchi. The only Trainer in the set that changes both sides of the board, and the card that resets a damaged ex without returning it to hand.
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Attach Strength Charm to 1 of your Pokémon that doesn't already have a Pokémon Tool attached to it. If that Pokémon is Knocked Out, discard this card. Whenever an attack from the Pokémon that Strength Charm is attached to does damage to the Active Pokémon (after applying Weakness and Resistance), the attack does 10 more damage. At the end of the turn in which this happens, discard Strength Charm.
Strength Charm — a Pokémon Tool: the attached Pokémon's attacks do 10 more damage, and the Charm is discarded at the end of the turn it applies. Drawn by Keiji Kinebuchi. Ten extra damage is what turns a 110 on a 120 HP Pokémon into a Knock Out, and the Charm costs nothing but the Tool slot.
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Attach Team Magma Belt to 1 of your Pokémon with Team Magma in its name that doesn't already have a Pokémon Tool attached to it. If that Pokémon is Knocked Out, discard this card. At any time between turns, if the Pokémon Team Magma Belt is attached to is your Active Pokémon, search your deck for a card that evolves from that Pokémon and put it on that Pokémon. (This counts as evolving that Pokémon.) Shuffle your deck afterward, then discard Team Magma Belt.
Team Magma Belt — a Pokémon Tool that can only be attached to a Pokémon with Team Magma in its name, and adds 20 HP while it is attached. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. A Tool that evolves the attached Pokémon from the deck between turns, then discards itself — a Rare Candy that only works on a team Pokémon.
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Attach Team Aqua Belt to 1 of your Pokémon with Team Aqua in its name that doesn't already have a Pokémon Tool attached to it. If that Pokémon is Knocked Out, discard this card. At any time between turns, if the Pokémon Team Aqua Belt is attached to is your Active Pokémon, search your deck for a card that evolves from that Pokémon and put it on that Pokémon. (This counts as evolving that Pokémon.) Shuffle your deck afterward, then discard Team Aqua Belt.
Team Aqua Belt — the Aqua half of the same card: a Tool for Pokémon with Team Aqua in the name that searches the deck for an evolution between turns. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. 070 and 071 are the same card with two names, and between them they define what counts as a team Pokémon in this set.
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You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Discard any 1 Pokémon from your hand. Then draw 3 cards. If you discarded a Pokémon with Team Magma in its name, draw 4 cards instead.
Team Magma Schemer — a Supporter: discard a Pokémon from your hand, draw three cards, and draw one more if the discarded card was a Pokémon with Team Magma in its name. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. The only Supporter in the set that pays you for discarding a team Pokémon.
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You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Discard any 1 Pokémon from your hand. Then draw 3 cards. If you discarded a Pokémon with Team Aqua in its name, draw 4 cards instead.
Team Aqua Schemer — the Aqua half: discard a Pokémon, draw three, one more if it was a Team Aqua Pokémon. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. The pair at 072 and 073 is the set's statement of intent — two supporters that only a team deck can use well.
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You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Search your hand or discard pile for a Pokémon with Team Magma in its name and put it onto your Bench. Treat the new Benched Pokémon as a Basic Pokémon. If it is a Stage 2 Pokémon, put 2 damage counters on that Pokémon.
Maxie — a Supporter: search your hand or discard pile for a Pokémon with Team Magma in its name and put it onto your Bench. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. The team leader as a card: it reaches into the hand or the discard pile rather than the deck, and treats whatever it finds as a Basic Pokémon — two damage counters on it if it was a Stage 2.
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You can play only one Supporter card each turn. When you play this card, put it next to your Active Pokémon. When your turn ends, discard this card. Search your deck for a Pokémon with Team Aqua in its name and put it onto your Bench. Shuffle your deck afterward. Treat the new Benched Pokémon as a Basic Pokémon. If it is a Stage 2 Pokémon, put 2 damage counters on that Pokémon.
Archie — a Supporter: search your deck for a Pokémon with Team Aqua in its name and put it onto your Bench. Drawn by Ken Sugimori. Maxie and Archie are the two halves of the set's premise, printed as 074 and 075 with the same artist and the same shape — the only difference is that Maxie can pull from the discard pile and Archie cannot.
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Attach this card to 1 of your Pokémon that has Team Magma in its name. That Pokémon may use this card's attack instead of its own. At the end of your turn, discard Team Magma Technical Machine 01.
Team Magma Technical Machine 01 — attach it to a Team Magma Pokémon, which may use its attack instead of its own, then discard it at the end of the turn. Its attack is a 10 Crushing Magma for one Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. Technical Machines return, having last been printed in the Neo era.
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Attach this card to 1 of your Pokémon that has Team Aqua in its name. That Pokémon may use this card's attack instead of its own. At the end of your turn, discard Team Aqua Technical Machine 01.
Team Aqua Technical Machine 01 — the same card for Team Aqua, with a 10 Miracle attack for one Colourless. Drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita. 076 and 077 are the only Technical Machines printed in 2003, and both are team-locked.
3 cards · listed in original order.
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Double Rainbow Energy can be attached only to an Evolved Pokémon (excluding Pokémon-ex). While in play, Double Rainbow Energy provides every type of Energy but provides 2 Energy at a time. (Doesn't count as a basic Energy when not in play and has no effect other than providing Energy.) Damage done to your opponent's Pokémon by the Pokémon Double Rainbow Energy is attached to is reduced by 10 (after applying Weakness and Resistance). When the Pokémon Double Rainbow Energy is attached to is no longer an Evolved Pokémon, discard Double Rainbow Energy.
Double Rainbow Energy — a Special Energy that provides every type, two at a time, and can only be attached to an Evolved Pokémon other than a Pokémon-ex. Drawn by Takumi Akabane. The card that makes the set's three-Energy evolutions payable, and the reason the ex cards are excluded from it.
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Magma Energy can be attached only to a Pokémon with Team Magma in its name. Magma Energy provides Fighting and /or Darkness Energy but provides 2 Energy at a time. (Doesn't count as a basic Energy card when not in play and has no other effect than providing Energy.) At the end of your turn, discard Magma Energy.
Magma Energy — a Special Energy for Pokémon with Team Magma in the name: it provides Fighting and/or Darkness, two at a time. Drawn by Takumi Akabane. Two Energy from one attachment on a team Pokémon — the same rate Aqua Energy gives at 080, and the reason the team decks could afford their 90 HP Stage 1s.
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Aqua Energy can be attached only to a Pokémon with Team Aqua in its name. Aqua Energy provides Water and Darkness Energy but provides 2 Energy at a time. (Doesn't count as a basic Energy card when not in play and has no other effect than providing Energy.) At the end of your turn, discard Aqua Energy.
Aqua Energy — the Aqua half: Water and/or Darkness, two at a time, on a Pokémon with Team Aqua in its name. Drawn by Takumi Akabane. The last card of the set, and the third Special Energy in a row — 078, 079 and 080 are the only Energy cards in the eighty.
Also released this year: English edition.
Undone Seal (とかれた封印), 83 cards — the last ADV set, and in English EX Hidden Legends. The silver frame and the ex mechanic carry straight over; what ends is the name.
Team Magma vs Team Aqua reaches English — 97 cards against this page's 80, because the English edition folds in the two theme decks. Five months after Japan, and by then Japan has already started the PCG era.
The PCG era opens with Flight of Legends (伝説の飛翔), 82 cards. ADV lasted four expansions and one subset in fifteen months — the shortest Japanese era since the original three sets of 1996.
The dot code finally comes back into the conversation. Skyridge, the English set built from this page's 2002 material, was the last expansion to include a Kadabra card until the 151 set of 2023 — a twenty-year gap caused by a lawsuit, not by the card game.
The ADV era is short and it is the hinge of the whole timeline: four expansions and one subset in fifteen months, and after it the Japanese and English releases never drift a year apart again.
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.
ADV1 verified_secondaryADV2 verified_secondaryADV3 verified_secondaryADV4 verified_secondaryAll 242 cards are listed, and none of them is reconstructed from a list of names. The numbers, names and rarities come from the published card lists; the counts match the printed sets exactly — 55 / 53 / 54 / 80.
This is the first year in the almanac where the Japanese card list had to be found outside the usual database. TCGdex keeps a record for the Japanese ADV sets but it holds only a card count: the card array is empty and single-card lookups return nothing. Pokellector's Japanese catalogue stops at the 2002 set The Town on No Map. Bulbapedia has no separate page for these four sets at all — it files them under the English names. The lists here come from a card database that holds the Japanese printings and their scans.
HP, type, stage, retreat cost, attacks and illustrator are read off the English twin of each card, because the Japanese records do not carry them. Matching is by exact name first; where the English set prints the same Pokémon twice — which it does often, once as a rare and once as a holofoil — the two card faces are compared by perceptual hash and the closer one wins. Do not read this page's card list as a translation of an English set: EX Ruby & Sapphire has 109 cards against these 55, because the English edition folded in the half decks, and it carries eight Pokémon-ex where Japan's booster carried five.
Japanese names appear for Pokémon only. Every Pokémon name here is the official Japanese species name, taken from the species table — extended this year to Generation III, 252 to 386, because 2003 is the first year the almanac needs it. Trainer and Energy cards carry no Japanese name, and neither do the Team Magma and Team Aqua cards: their Japanese titles are マグマ団の… and アクア団の… and there is no Japanese card face in our sources to check the exact wording against. A missing line is better than an invented one.
Pokémon-ex are counted as holofoils and labelled separately. They are holofoil cards with a holofoil border, so they belong in the holo total — but they are a different thing to own, and the page marks them HOLO RARE ex rather than folding them into the ordinary rares. Seventy-eight of the 242 cards are holofoil on that counting.
What is still missing. The pack itself: wrapper artwork, the price of a pack in 2003, how many cards were in one, and the release conditions for each set. That is a standing task across every year of this almanac and it is not done for 2003 — so this page shows no packaging and quotes no price rather than guessing at one.
Some cards have no face. Seventy-two of the English cards on the English page — the separately numbered holofoils H01 to H32 of Aquapolis and Skyridge, and the eight same-number pairs 50a/50b, 74a/74b, 95a/95b and so on — have no card image in the source database at all. They are listed with their numbers, names and rarities, and no picture is substituted. A missing face is better than a wrong one.
Four releases in ten months, 242 cards, and a frame that would last three years. 2003 is the year the Japanese card stopped being a thing the West was a year behind — by December an English player had the January, April and June expansions in hand, and only the October subset was still to come. It is also the year the strip of black dots vanished from the Japanese card: the e-Reader had been finished in Japan since the end of 2002, and ADV is the first series that does not pretend otherwise. The last cards anywhere to carry the dots were the English Skyridge in May, which makes a Wizards of the Coast printing, not a Japanese one, the end of the line.