List of Pokémon Trading Card Game sets
The Pokémon Trading Card Game collectible card game was released in Japan in 1996. As of December 2025, there are 126 card sets for the game released in English and as of April 2022, there are 91 released in Japan, including special sets. As of September 2017, collectively, there are 6,959 cards in Japanese sets and 9,110 cards in English sets. As of March 2017, 23.6 billion cards have been shipped worldwide.
The sets are generally divided into two categories: Wizards of the Coast cards, and cards made after Nintendo's acquisition of the franchise.
First generation sets
1998 Pokémon Demo Game Plastic Pack
The 1998 Pokémon Demo Game Pack were the earliest cards to be released in the English Pokémon TCG and served as the introduction to Pokémon cards in the United States. This Pokémon pack consists of 24 Base Set shadowless cards and an instruction manual.Pokémon Base Set
Base Set is the name given to the first expansion of cards and Theme Decks for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Released in Japan on October 20, 1996, one month after Bandai Pokémon Carddass 100 Pocket Monster Part 1 and in the United States on January 9, 1999. It is the only set not to have a set logo or symbol. It is one of limited number of sets to include a full set of basic Energy cards. The set also contained Double Colorless Energy, the first special Energy card. Merchandising also included four theme decks, based on different strategies. A 2-player starter package was also available, which included two half-sized decks, markers, a player's guide, a rulebook, and a playmat."1st edition" print and early prints have a slightly different design than the standard "unlimited" prints. These early prints are generally brighter in color, use a thinner font, have the year 1999 included in the copyright notice, and lack the shadow around the pictures. Because of this, these cards are known as "shadowless" cards among collectors. Since there were fewer 1st edition and "shadowless" cards printed, these are rarer than the "unlimited" print. cards have the year 2000 included in their copyright notices, these were released exclusively in Europe.
[|Jungle]
Jungle is the second expansion and was released on June 16, 1999. After being a very small set in Japan, the English set started the trend of having both holo and non-holo editions of rare cards, effectively doubling the number of rares in the set. Unlike Base Set, it had only two theme decks. Its expansion symbol resembles a Vileplume. During production, some of the Jungle holos were printed without the jungle symbol. The 64-card set included 45 new pokémon, two from the Base Set with new powers, and one trainer.Fossil
Fossil released on October 10, 1999, is the third expansion set in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The 62-card set was sold in 11-card booster packs and contained the fewest cards of any standard set in the card game for some time. This set was known for the first TCG appearance of Ditto.Base Set 2
Base Set 2 is the fourth expansion set, released only in English on February 24, 2000. It is a compilation of selected cards from previous sets. Wizards of the Coast started a trend of releasing compilation sets. This set contains 130 cards and its set symbol is a Pokéball with the number 2 running through it. As Base Set 2 only featured reissues of previous cards, it did not feature any "First Edition" cards in its print run.Team Rocket
Team Rocket, released on April 24, 2000, is the fifth expansion in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The title refers to a criminal organization from the video games Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, and Pokémon Yellow, and features the trio Jessie, James and Meowth who relentlessly follow the protagonists in the animated series. Its symbol is the R of the Team Rocket organization.The set introduced the Dark Pokémon, Pokémon corrupted and controlled by the Team Rocket organization. After the release of this set, Dark Pokémon would not show a strong presence until the set's sequel released four years later, Team Rocket Returns.
As part of a promotional campaign, the set included an exclusive English only Dark Raichu, although it was eventually released in Japanese, it was the first "secret" rare card, numbered "83/82".
Gym Heroes
Gym Heroes, released on August 14, 2000, is the 6th set of 132 cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Its symbol is an amphitheater with a black stage and white tiers. Its name comes from the Gym Leaders it focuses on and how these first four Gym Leaders have relatively optimistic and carefree personalities compared to those featured in Gym Challenge. This set also introduced a card layout change, eliminating the flavor text and stacking the weakness/resistance/level to fit the Gym Leader's headshot/badge.This is the first set to have Owner's Pokémon, the owners being the Gym Leaders of the various Pokémon Gyms around Kanto. While Sabrina and Blaine are also represented in this set, the most attention is paid to the first four met in the video games: Brock, Misty, Lt. Surge, and Erika. Each of their Pokémon reflects their favorite Pokémon types, as well as the Pokémon they have been seen carrying in the TV show. For example, Brock specializes in the Rock-type, so a lot of his cards in the card game are Rock Pokémon. However, in the anime, he also carried a Vulpix, a Fire-type, which is also included in this set.
The owner's Pokémon must be evolved from a Pokémon of the same owner, which also proved to be unpopular, as the element of mixing and matching cards from different sets is lost. Additionally, some of the "Rare" cards had little or no value in play, such as Misty's Tentacool, which is incapable of doing damage and is overshadowed by a better version of the "Uncommon" rarity. However, Owner's Pokémon have been sporadically released in Japan, though except for those within EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua, none have been translated into English. This set was originally released with theme decks that contained cards not found in the main set in Japan, released in the odd rarities for Basic Pokémon.
This set is also the first set to introduce Stadium cards, Trainer cards that stay in play until another Stadium card comes into play. Unlike Pokémon Tool cards that were introduced later on, Stadium cards are not attached to Pokémon.
Gym Challenge
Gym Challenge, released on October 16, 2000, is the 7th set of cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Its expansion symbol is an amphitheater and black tiers, the inverse of the Gym Heroes symbol. It also has a set of 132 cards. Its name comes from the four characters from the anime it focuses on.Second generation sets
Neo Genesis
Neo Genesis, released in December 2000, is the 8th set of 111 cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Its symbol is a pair of stars, one in front of the other. Neo is Greek for "new", and Genesis is Greek for "birth" or "beginning". Neo Genesis features second-generation Pokémon that come from the region of Johto and is the first set to do so. With it comes two new Pokémon types: Darkness and Metal, each with its own Special Energy cards.The design on the cards has also changed, now looking closer to the Japanese version. The hit points displayed on the upper-right are now smaller, and their color has changed from red to black. The statistics on the bottom of the card now have dune-shaped indentations in the background immediately behind each stat. The text reading "Basic Pokémon" is now directly under the HP instead of in the upper-left corner. The information about the Pokémon directly below the illustration is now in a parallelogram instead of a rectangle.
Two cards from this set were banned from tournament play: Sneasel and Slowking. Controversial Japanese illustrations of the cards Moo-Moo Milk, Arcade Game, and Card-Flip Game were significantly changed in the English release.
It was at this point the 2 different play formats were realized: Unlimited, and Limited where only the Neo Genesis cards could be played. At this point, the idea of "proxy" cards became frequent at tournaments where an older card could be used as a placeholder for a card a player only had a single print of.
Neo Discovery
Neo Discovery, released in June 2001, is the ninth set of 75 cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Its symbol is a Mayan temple. While the architectural structure of the ruins is ambiguous in the video games Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, in Pokémon 3: The Movie, they seem to be of Central or South American origin. Neo Discovery premieres many second-generation Pokémon into the TCG, such as Smeargle, Politoed, and Wobbuffet and may be considered a counterpart to the Jungle set,.The Unown are Pokémon-themed on the English alphabet. At the time of Neo Discovery's release, there were 26 types, one for each letter. Neo Discovery introduced nine of these Pokémon into the card game. Each could affect the game in different ways related to a word starting with the letter the Unown represents. Unown "O" is associated with the word observe, and this application in the card game is done through "observing" the opponent's deck.
Southern Islands
Southern Islands is a set of cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. In Japan, it was released at the same time as [|Gym 2], while in America it came after Neo Discovery and before Neo Revelation. This set's symbol is a palm tree.Though it is often considered the 10th set, it was a promotional set, sold as a complete collection in the form of a specially-packaged box. The mini-set only contains a total of 18 cards. When arranged correctly, every illustration used in this set forms a single larger image.