Pokemon has been an excellent opportunity for my family to spend time together. I’ve been going with my daughter to the "Pokemon League" for several weeks and have really enjoyed watching her evolve from a confused beginner to a self-professed Pokemon master.

We have created a set of rules and a series of steps to help my daughter play her best. I believe these items are important for parents who do not understand the game and may want to see what Pokemon is capable of teaching (with some guidance), for new players who need to have a tool to help remember EVERYTHING that needs to be done during a turn, and for advanced players who like to help others learn this addicting game. Anyway, onto the rules:

1. Read Everything Carefully! Every card is unique and many have special rules.
2. Play honestly! New players may not understand retreat, resistance, and weakness. Make sure you help them apply these rules to both players cards.
3. Play nice! Always thank your opponent for playing (whether you win or lose).
4. Play Carefully! Make sure you and your opponent leave the table with whatever items you sat down with, including damage counters, cards, and play mat.
5. Be Alert! This game has some high priced cards; keep a close eye on all of your items.
6. Don’t Play! You can really benefit from sitting out a game and watching another player. You can learn about new cards, see how those cards work, and get a better understanding for the strategy. You can also ask a friend to watch you play, and talk about your game afterwards to get an opinion on your deck and/or moves.

To help my daughter learn to play, I created an acronym (a word formed from the initials of a sentence) for REPEATS. This is a great way to help new players structure their turn and prevent confusion and frustration:

R Remove Condition

• ASLEEP (flip a coin; if heads Pokemon wakes up)
• PARALYZED (recovers automatically).

E Examine deck and draw a card

P Play Pokemon

• Put up to 5 Pokemon on a bench

Evolve any Pokemon that WERE NOT PLAYED this round

E Energy Card (play one)

A Activate Pokemon (Retreat your Pokemon if you want)

T Trainer card (play any and all trainer cards—but read it first to make sure it helps!)

S Start Attack.

• Choose Attack
• Discard Energy (if necessary)
• Flip coin(s)
• Apply Resistance/Weakness
• Apply Trainer Cards
• Apply Damage Counters
• Get Prize if a knockout
• Turn Defending Pokemon:
• NORMAL é
• PARALYZED è
• CONFUSED ê
• ASLEEP ç

To help young players, I’ve created a document that has the above steps in a box the size of a trading card. Put it in a sleeve and you have a miniature guide for beginners.

Donna H.

Dhmn@earthlink.net