Pokémon Trading Card Game

Pokémon Trading Card Game
Developer	Hudson Soft
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Game Boy Color, 3DS Virtual Console
Release Date	Game Boy Color JP December 18, 1998 US April 10, 2000 EU December 14, 2000 3DS Virtual Console EU/AU July 10/11, 2014 US November 13, 2014 JP December 24, 2014
Rating	ESRB: E

Pokémon Trading Card Game is a Game Boy game that was based on the popular tie-in 'Pokémon trading card game that Wizards of the Coast released. The game only features cards from the base game, the Jungle expansion, and the Fossil expansion. It also came with a promotional Meowth card.

Story

A contest has been announced. Anyone who can beat the Grand Masters will win the four Legendary Cards and earn the title of champion. Mark wants to be the champion, but so do many others, including his rival, Ronald.

Gameplay

The player is presented with a map showing all the locations in the game. The player can go to any of them and challenge any player to a game by talking to them. The rules of the game are the same as the rules in the real-life trading card game. It is also blended with the formula of the mainstream games as the club system is based on the gyms, while the Grand Masters are this game's version of the Elite Four.

There are eight clubs on the island, each with a Club Master. The player must beat each of the Club Masters and earn their medal. Along with allowing the player access to the club's decks, all the medals are needed to challenge the Grand Masters. Each of the Grand Masters has a deck built around one of the Legendary Cards. If the player beats each Grand Master, they must defeat Ronald who is using a deck with all of the Legendary Cards. Aside from earning medals, there are several other events for the player to participate in. Every once in a while, a tournament is held with a rare card as the prize. A collector living to the northwest will occasionally trade a rare card. The player will get the chance to battle Ronald as well as Imakuni?.

Copies of Pokémon Trading Card Game can be connected through the link cable in separate Game Boys for multiplayer capabilities which allow players can battle or trade cards. If both players possess a Game Boy Color, they can use the infrared port to do a Card Pop, which gives each player a random card.

Legacy

Ports/Remakes

• In 2014, it was released for download on the 3DS as part of the 3DS Virtual Console. In this version, some of the features are disabled due to the limits of this release and its hardware, including the Card Pop! feature, the Game Boy Printer connectivity and the ability to link with other players.
• In August 2023, it was added to the Nintendo Switch's digital library of Game Boy games that could be played by Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. This release retained the multiplayer features, which could now be carried out through wireless local communication or online.

Sequels

Its only sequel was Pokémon Card GB2: GRdan Sanjou!, which was only released in Japan.