The initial Idea:
And the Lore Dump:
And the Lore Dump:
Writing VTCG Adventure - Snippits (and others)
- Thread starter Lord Hierarch
- Start date
*** *** *** ***
A rough idea. Trying to figure how to make this... work, I guess.
Looking to see if you could follow the game or any other critique.
*** *** *** ***
A rough idea. Trying to figure how to make this... work, I guess.
Looking to see if you could follow the game or any other critique.
*** *** *** ***
They shuffled their decks and slid them into their deck boxes. The PokeGear registered the act, scanned the cards, and a playfield appeared between them. It placed six cards to the side for them.
A window appeared in front of him.
Do you want to play with a physical hand?
“Uhh…. Yes?”
The window disappeared. Another appeared in its place.
BATTLE DISK not detected. Please connect BATTLE DISK.
Goddamnit. He declined the option to play with his actual cards. Seven cards appeared in front of him. Five Trainers, one energy, and one Pokemon. At least it was a basic!
“I’m waiting!” Cristo called out.
“Don’t rush me, I’m thinking!”
He had one Pokemon, what was there to think? He tapped the Pokemon card. It flew from his ‘hand’ to the active spot. Cristo had his active ready and another Pokemon on his Bench. All three cards were facedown, a holdover from the old card game.
A new window appeared.
Ready?
“Yes!” They said.
Music filled their ears. The cards flipped themselves over. Little motes of light spiraled out from the center of the cards and took shape.
His Hitmomchan hit the air one-two-three times and hopped back and forth in place.
On the otherside of the field, a Tauros let out an angry snort as it pawed the ground. Behind it, a Bulbasaur slammed its feet on the floor and screeched.
Jim felt some relief seeing the bull-like Pokemon. Tauros had a double weakness to fighting types like his Hitmonchan. When Cristo finished his turn, he could attach his Fighting Energy to his Pokemon and attack with a Clean Hit for a third of its HP!
“I play Nest Ball, which lets me search my deck for a Basic Pokemon and put it on my Bench! And I select a Magikarp!”
A new card appeared on Cristo’s Bench and a flopping orange fish flopped out.
Jim gave Cristo a look.
“I got a plan, bro. No rush. I attach an Energy to my Tauros and end my turn.”
Jim just rolled his eyes, then focused on his cards.
One Professor’s Research, discard your hand and draw seven new cards. Nah.
Two Potion’s, each healed 30 damage from one of his Pokemon. Not yet.
Poke Friends, draw three cards. Yes.
PlusPower, attach it a Pokemon and it’s attacks will do 30 extra damage. Oh Yes!
A new card was drawn for him, but it was just another Fighting Energy.
“I attach an Energy Card to my Hitmonchan and use Poke Friends to draw three cards-”
Another Professor’s Research, a Fearrow, and another Fighting Energy.
“-and attach a PlusPower to my Hitmonchan!”
A red pill appeared in front of his Pokemon. The fighting boxer swallowed it in a single gulp. The Damage counter for Hitmonchan jumped from 40 to 70.
The look on Cristo’s said made Jim giddy.
“Hitmonchan, use Clean Hit on his Tauros!”
Hitmonchan bellowed out a warcry, leapt off its card and ran at the Tauros. It leveled its horns as if to defend itself but Hitmochan was too fast and landed its hit straight on the bull’s head. Tauros flew back and its HP counter dropped to 40.
“Hah! Take that, bro!”
“Tauros is still standing. My turn.” He draw a card. “I attach a Water Energy to my Magikarp and use Switch to switch my Tauros with Bulbasaur.”
On the field, Tauros limped away from the Active spot while Bulbasaur scampered over to its new spot.
“I evolve my Bulbasaur and attach an Energy to it!”
Cristo’ Bulbasaur started glowing. The bulb on its back bloomed open and its body grew larger and stouter. Jim quickly ready the new card details.
“Your attack doesn’t do any damage!”
“I don’t need it to do damage, I just need it to attack. Ivysaur, use Summon Aroma! This attack lets me search for p to 2 Pokemon and put them in my hand. I just gotta show you them.”
He flashed two cards at Jim. His heart dropped. Gyarados and another Magikarp.
His new draw was another Fearrow. Useless. Should he use a Professor’s Research, discard his hand for seven new cards? He’d be throwing away the second research, two Potion’s, an Energy, and two Evolved Pokemon, but what if he needed the Potion’s next turn? What if he need the Fearrow later? Hitmonchan was his only Pokemon on the field. If it fainted it was over. No, he could use the Potion to keep his Hitmonchan battle ready for at least another two turns. And Ivysaur had a three Energy retreat cost. So that was what, another 5 turns? That was plenty of time to deal with that wannabe dragon.
He attached another energy and attacked with Bullet Straight Punch. Ivysaur’s HP dropped to 60.
“Now get ready for my ace Pokemon! I use Switch-”
“Oh c’mon!”
“-to switch my Ivysaur with my Magikarp. And I evolve my Magikarp into Gyarados!”
Mid-flop, the dumb-looking, useless goldfish wannabe exploded outward. A massive serpentine body dominated the battlefield, its coils big enough that Jim couldn’t even see Cristo’s Benched Pokemon, just the info boxes hovering beside them. And the box next to Gyarados snarling face.
Gyarados, a Stage 2 Pokemon. 150 HP, weak to electricity with two attacks. The first of which cost only one Water, but Cristo had to reveal the top 7 cards of his deck and it would 30 damage for each Water Energy there. Jim bit his lip as seven cards appeared in front of Cristo. Two shattered like breaking glass.
“Gyarados, use Distilled Blast!”
“No, not my Hitmonchan!”
Water pooled up in front of Gyarado’s snarling mouth, then it launched it like a cannonball and hit the boxing Pokemon before it could even react. Its HP dropped from 110 to zero. It glowed red and zipped back to Jim in a red beam.
Draw Prize Card.
Oh, to add insult to injury….
It was just a Fighting Energy.
The music change to the Victory Theme, and Gyrados let out a triumphant roar as it and the other Pokemon on Cristo’s side faded.
“That ain’t right,” Jim whined. “Best two out of three!”
Cristo just grinned and walked over to ruff up Jim’s hair. “Not today, little bro! Try and figure out how you can improve your deck, then get back to me!”
A/N: And I'm aware of my prize card mistake. Mea culpa
.And the Spiritual Sequel:
Writing this is hard.
1: IDK how to make TCG battle exciting.
2: Am I busying the scene with too much interaction?
"Its time to battle!" Jim and Cristo cried out.
They flipped over the Active Pokemon. Fighting Machop appeared in front of Jim. Razor-hand Scyther appeared in front of Cristo.
Scyther, a Grassic Basic. 80 HP. Two attacks, Sword Dance and Blinding Scythe. Both only need one Colorless Energy. It was a good thing only Blinding Scythe did 20 damage. But Swords Dance would add 70 more damage on the next turn.
Machop dug his thick fingers into the dirt and hefted out a giant boulder above his head. He dropped a hand started lifting it up and down like it was nothing.
Behind Scyther, a Chansey and Dratini were waiting on the wings. They were both Colorless Basics, and Chansey had double the HP the Dratini had.
Cristo said, "I draw, and add one energy to my Pokemon. Then I use Friends in Kanto to draw three cards. Then…" he hesitated. Maybe the cards he drew weren't the ones he wanted. "I use a Pokeball!"
In a burst of light a Pokeball dropped from the sky and bounced on the battle field. Pokeball was a flip card, you had a fifty-fifty percent chance of it working. It let the user search their deck for any Basic or Evolution card. They'd show to their opponent and put in their hand. Since this was Cristo's first turn he wouldn't able to evolve any of his Pokemon, but he'd be able to next-
Wait, did any of Cristo's Pokemon evolve? Syther didn't, Chansey was a no, Dratini did but Dragonair was like, a super rare card to get. Maybe he was going for a Basic Pokemon, then?
The Pokeball stopped rolling red-side up. Heads.
"Yes!"
His brother unlatched his Deck Box and started rifling through the cards. He picked one out and slapped it against the Battle Disk's sensor. A scan of the card appeared in front of Jim.
Scisor? The heck was a Scisor?!
"It's an Ultra Rare Promo Card," Cristo said proudly. "Its rarer than Charizard."
Scizor, Metal Stage 1. 130 HP. Two attacks, X-Scissor and Dangerous Claws. Flip a coin, if heads X-Scissor does 30 more damage, 30+30 so 60. Machop has 70 HP so either way, he'll still be in the field. But I need something on the Belt to replace him! Jim magnificed the card art. The animated artwork lash out with its razor fast pincers! What a cool card!
Jim drew a card. What did he have? Two Oak's, a Machamp, PlusPower, two Potion's, and now two Fighting Energy Cards. He immediately added one energy to his Pokemon. The Machamp was useless at the moment. The Potion's would come into handy next turn, heal 20 each. Scyther had a double weakness to Fighting, but Machop's Dual Chop needed two Energy, and it was flip dependent. Or if he attached a PlusPower would that still do 30 damage times two, or did it do the damage excluding the weakness?
He could Oak, discard his hand and draw seven new cards. Was it worth it? Or should he wait one more turn?
Jim ended his turn.
Cristo drew, then cried out, "now Scyther! Evolve into Scizor!"
Energy appeared and swirled around the mantis Pokemon. He crossed his razor-sharp razor hands in front of his chest as the energy surrounded his body like an egg. Jim was entranced at the spectacle when suddenly the energy ball exploded outward and showered the whole room in falling sparkles!
A red and black Pokemon that Jim had never seen before stood in Scyther's place. Its head was like someone had fused a crown with it, eyes were orange and angry. Its body shone like it had metallic skin, and instead of razors for hands it had larger pincers that looked like the jaws of a snapping turtle. The yellow-and-black swirls on its pincers even looked like eyes! Two pairs of smallish wings flapped on its back and a part of Jim's brain, all the way in the back, thought they looked way too small for it to fly with.
Cristo's Chansey meanwhile clapped its little hands as if excited to see Scizor. Jim scoffed.
"I add another energy to my Pokemon, and I use Plus Energy-"
"Ok that's it, I can't-"
"Are you giving up?"
"No! I just," Jim gave up trying to say anything. "Go on. Sorry."
"Uh, sure. I attach a Plus Energy to my Scizor and attack with X-Scissor!"
A little red pull appeared in front of the Metal Pokemon. Instead of eating it, Scizor snatched it with its pincers and crushed it! Then it bolted at Machop with one outstretched, snapping pincer. Machop stopped lifting its boulder and threw it at Scizor but the Pokemon crushed it with its pincers and with the other scissored Machop, tossing him around before throwing him at Jim's feet.
Scizor flittered back to its spot while Jim knelt beside his Machop. Always the fighter, he gingerly got back to his feet and walked back his zone. That Machop hadn't fainted meant X-Scissor's flip was unsuccessful. Still, Machop only had 10 HP left. And now that he could properly read Scizor's info, it wasn't weak to Fighting types like its pre-evolution. That'd be fire.
Jim drew a Bill. Okay, okay, he could work with this!
"I use my Supporter, Bill, to draw two cards!"
Heart of the Cards, don't fail him now… oh, ohohohohyes! Wait, could he last another turn? He used his two Potion's to heal 40 HP, enough to take one more blow by X-Scissor, but not if the flip was successful, or if Cristo had one more energy to attach. Dammit, why did Supporters have to be limited to one per turn? Well, if he couldn't use Pokemon Breeder this turn, he needed to buy himself time till he could.
"Now I use Gust of Wind! I can choose one of your Belt Pokemon and switch it with your Active. And I choose your Chansey!"
"Stalling, I get it," Cristo said smugly. "Fine, you're up Chansey! My draw?"
"Sure, I'm done."
"I draw and… hm. I skip."
A wicked smile crossed Jim's face as he drew and cried out, "I use Pokemon Breeder to evolve my Basic Machop into its final evolution, Machamp!"
Machop's body started to glow and grow, another pair of arms sprouted out and when Machop stopped growing the light instantly vanished. In little Machop's place, the superpowered Machamp stood in his place! With a haughty expression on his face, the four-armed Pokemon started flexing all four of its arms. He still kept the prior 30 damage, but he still had 130 HP. Uncertainty washed over Cristo's face. Jim was happy. He spent a lot of money ripping packs for this card!
"Then I use Ooaakk…" Oh No, Oak was a Supporter. And he just used a Supporter.
Machoke had 1 attack and it needed 3 Fighting Energy. He already had two, and Jim didn't have anymore in hand. Oh hell. One Oak, and a PlusPower, both useless. He scoffed and skipped. His Machoke stopped mid-flex and glanced back at him as if asking 'What the heck?'
I'll stop it here. Bit bored honestly, it drags. Which I think is an issue with writing out a TCG battle, or perhaps its just how I write it. Could be both!
And if anyone interested, the cards I imagine used:
https://pkmncards.com/card/machop-evolutions-evo-57/
https://pkmncards.com/card/scyther-rebel-clash-rcl-004/
https://pkmncards.com/card/chansey-evolutions-evo-70/
https://pkmncards.com/card/dratini-team-rocket-ro-53/
https://pkmncards.com/card/scizor-crown-zenith-crz-086/
https://pkmncards.com/card/machamp-evolutions-evo-59/
Writing this is hard.
1: IDK how to make TCG battle exciting.
2: Am I busying the scene with too much interaction?
"Its time to battle!" Jim and Cristo cried out.
They flipped over the Active Pokemon. Fighting Machop appeared in front of Jim. Razor-hand Scyther appeared in front of Cristo.
Scyther, a Grassic Basic. 80 HP. Two attacks, Sword Dance and Blinding Scythe. Both only need one Colorless Energy. It was a good thing only Blinding Scythe did 20 damage. But Swords Dance would add 70 more damage on the next turn.
Machop dug his thick fingers into the dirt and hefted out a giant boulder above his head. He dropped a hand started lifting it up and down like it was nothing.
Behind Scyther, a Chansey and Dratini were waiting on the wings. They were both Colorless Basics, and Chansey had double the HP the Dratini had.
Cristo said, "I draw, and add one energy to my Pokemon. Then I use Friends in Kanto to draw three cards. Then…" he hesitated. Maybe the cards he drew weren't the ones he wanted. "I use a Pokeball!"
In a burst of light a Pokeball dropped from the sky and bounced on the battle field. Pokeball was a flip card, you had a fifty-fifty percent chance of it working. It let the user search their deck for any Basic or Evolution card. They'd show to their opponent and put in their hand. Since this was Cristo's first turn he wouldn't able to evolve any of his Pokemon, but he'd be able to next-
Wait, did any of Cristo's Pokemon evolve? Syther didn't, Chansey was a no, Dratini did but Dragonair was like, a super rare card to get. Maybe he was going for a Basic Pokemon, then?
The Pokeball stopped rolling red-side up. Heads.
"Yes!"
His brother unlatched his Deck Box and started rifling through the cards. He picked one out and slapped it against the Battle Disk's sensor. A scan of the card appeared in front of Jim.
Scisor? The heck was a Scisor?!
"It's an Ultra Rare Promo Card," Cristo said proudly. "Its rarer than Charizard."
Scizor, Metal Stage 1. 130 HP. Two attacks, X-Scissor and Dangerous Claws. Flip a coin, if heads X-Scissor does 30 more damage, 30+30 so 60. Machop has 70 HP so either way, he'll still be in the field. But I need something on the Belt to replace him! Jim magnificed the card art. The animated artwork lash out with its razor fast pincers! What a cool card!
Jim drew a card. What did he have? Two Oak's, a Machamp, PlusPower, two Potion's, and now two Fighting Energy Cards. He immediately added one energy to his Pokemon. The Machamp was useless at the moment. The Potion's would come into handy next turn, heal 20 each. Scyther had a double weakness to Fighting, but Machop's Dual Chop needed two Energy, and it was flip dependent. Or if he attached a PlusPower would that still do 30 damage times two, or did it do the damage excluding the weakness?
He could Oak, discard his hand and draw seven new cards. Was it worth it? Or should he wait one more turn?
Jim ended his turn.
Cristo drew, then cried out, "now Scyther! Evolve into Scizor!"
Energy appeared and swirled around the mantis Pokemon. He crossed his razor-sharp razor hands in front of his chest as the energy surrounded his body like an egg. Jim was entranced at the spectacle when suddenly the energy ball exploded outward and showered the whole room in falling sparkles!
A red and black Pokemon that Jim had never seen before stood in Scyther's place. Its head was like someone had fused a crown with it, eyes were orange and angry. Its body shone like it had metallic skin, and instead of razors for hands it had larger pincers that looked like the jaws of a snapping turtle. The yellow-and-black swirls on its pincers even looked like eyes! Two pairs of smallish wings flapped on its back and a part of Jim's brain, all the way in the back, thought they looked way too small for it to fly with.
Cristo's Chansey meanwhile clapped its little hands as if excited to see Scizor. Jim scoffed.
"I add another energy to my Pokemon, and I use Plus Energy-"
"Ok that's it, I can't-"
"Are you giving up?"
"No! I just," Jim gave up trying to say anything. "Go on. Sorry."
"Uh, sure. I attach a Plus Energy to my Scizor and attack with X-Scissor!"
A little red pull appeared in front of the Metal Pokemon. Instead of eating it, Scizor snatched it with its pincers and crushed it! Then it bolted at Machop with one outstretched, snapping pincer. Machop stopped lifting its boulder and threw it at Scizor but the Pokemon crushed it with its pincers and with the other scissored Machop, tossing him around before throwing him at Jim's feet.
Scizor flittered back to its spot while Jim knelt beside his Machop. Always the fighter, he gingerly got back to his feet and walked back his zone. That Machop hadn't fainted meant X-Scissor's flip was unsuccessful. Still, Machop only had 10 HP left. And now that he could properly read Scizor's info, it wasn't weak to Fighting types like its pre-evolution. That'd be fire.
Jim drew a Bill. Okay, okay, he could work with this!
"I use my Supporter, Bill, to draw two cards!"
Heart of the Cards, don't fail him now… oh, ohohohohyes! Wait, could he last another turn? He used his two Potion's to heal 40 HP, enough to take one more blow by X-Scissor, but not if the flip was successful, or if Cristo had one more energy to attach. Dammit, why did Supporters have to be limited to one per turn? Well, if he couldn't use Pokemon Breeder this turn, he needed to buy himself time till he could.
"Now I use Gust of Wind! I can choose one of your Belt Pokemon and switch it with your Active. And I choose your Chansey!"
"Stalling, I get it," Cristo said smugly. "Fine, you're up Chansey! My draw?"
"Sure, I'm done."
"I draw and… hm. I skip."
A wicked smile crossed Jim's face as he drew and cried out, "I use Pokemon Breeder to evolve my Basic Machop into its final evolution, Machamp!"
Machop's body started to glow and grow, another pair of arms sprouted out and when Machop stopped growing the light instantly vanished. In little Machop's place, the superpowered Machamp stood in his place! With a haughty expression on his face, the four-armed Pokemon started flexing all four of its arms. He still kept the prior 30 damage, but he still had 130 HP. Uncertainty washed over Cristo's face. Jim was happy. He spent a lot of money ripping packs for this card!
"Then I use Ooaakk…" Oh No, Oak was a Supporter. And he just used a Supporter.
Machoke had 1 attack and it needed 3 Fighting Energy. He already had two, and Jim didn't have anymore in hand. Oh hell. One Oak, and a PlusPower, both useless. He scoffed and skipped. His Machoke stopped mid-flex and glanced back at him as if asking 'What the heck?'
I'll stop it here. Bit bored honestly, it drags. Which I think is an issue with writing out a TCG battle, or perhaps its just how I write it. Could be both!
And if anyone interested, the cards I imagine used:
https://pkmncards.com/card/machop-evolutions-evo-57/
https://pkmncards.com/card/scyther-rebel-clash-rcl-004/
https://pkmncards.com/card/chansey-evolutions-evo-70/
https://pkmncards.com/card/dratini-team-rocket-ro-53/
https://pkmncards.com/card/scizor-crown-zenith-crz-086/
https://pkmncards.com/card/machamp-evolutions-evo-59/
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Cristo: “Try to figure out how to improve your deck.”*** *** *** ***
A rough idea. Trying to figure how to make this... work, I guess.
Looking to see if you could follow the game or any other critique.
*** *** *** ***
They shuffled their decks and slid them into their deck boxes. The PokeGear registered the act, scanned the cards, and a playfield appeared between them. It placed six cards to the side for them.
A window appeared in front of him.
Do you want to play with a physical hand?
“Uhh…. Yes?”
The window disappeared. Another appeared in its place.
BATTLE DISK not detected. Please connect BATTLE DISK.
Goddamnit. He declined the option to play with his actual cards. Seven cards appeared in front of him. Five Trainers, one energy, and one Pokemon. At least it was a basic!
“I’m waiting!” Cristo called out.
“Don’t rush me, I’m thinking!”
He had one Pokemon, what was there to think? He tapped the Pokemon card. It flew from his ‘hand’ to the active spot. Cristo had his active ready and another Pokemon on his Bench. All three cards were facedown, a holdover from the old card game.
A new window appeared.
Ready?
“Yes!” They said.
Music filled their ears. The cards flipped themselves over. Little motes of light spiraled out from the center of the cards and took shape.
His Hitmomchan hit the air one-two-three times and hopped back and forth in place.
On the otherside of the field, a Tauros let out an angry snort as it pawed the ground. Behind it, a Bulbasaur slammed its feet on the floor and screeched.
Jim felt some relief seeing the bull-like Pokemon. Tauros had a double weakness to fighting types like his Hitmonchan. When Cristo finished his turn, he could attach his Fighting Energy to his Pokemon and attack with a Clean Hit for a third of its HP!
“I play Nest Ball, which lets me search my deck for a Basic Pokemon and put it on my Bench! And I select a Magikarp!”
A new card appeared on Cristo’s Bench and a flopping orange fish flopped out.
Jim gave Cristo a look.
“I got a plan, bro. No rush. I attach an Energy to my Tauros and end my turn.”
Jim just rolled his eyes, then focused on his cards.
One Professor’s Research, discard your hand and draw seven new cards. Nah.
Two Potion’s, each healed 30 damage from one of his Pokemon. Not yet.
Poke Friends, draw three cards. Yes.
PlusPower, attach it a Pokemon and it’s attacks will do 30 extra damage. Oh Yes!
A new card was drawn for him, but it was just another Fighting Energy.
“I attach an Energy Card to my Hitmonchan and use Poke Friends to draw three cards-”
Another Professor’s Research, a Fearrow, and another Fighting Energy.
“-and attach a PlusPower to my Hitmonchan!”
A red pill appeared in front of his Pokemon. The fighting boxer swallowed it in a single gulp. The Damage counter for Hitmonchan jumped from 40 to 70.
The look on Cristo’s said made Jim giddy.
“Hitmonchan, use Clean Hit on his Tauros!”
Hitmonchan bellowed out a warcry, leapt off its card and ran at the Tauros. It leveled its horns as if to defend itself but Hitmochan was too fast and landed its hit straight on the bull’s head. Tauros flew back and its HP counter dropped to 40.
“Hah! Take that, bro!”
“Tauros is still standing. My turn.” He draw a card. “I attach a Water Energy to my Magikarp and use Switch to switch my Tauros with Bulbasaur.”
On the field, Tauros limped away from the Active spot while Bulbasaur scampered over to its new spot.
“I evolve my Bulbasaur and attach an Energy to it!”
Cristo’ Bulbasaur started glowing. The bulb on its back bloomed open and its body grew larger and stouter. Jim quickly ready the new card details.
“Your attack doesn’t do any damage!”
“I don’t need it to do damage, I just need it to attack. Ivysaur, use Summon Aroma! This attack lets me search for p to 2 Pokemon and put them in my hand. I just gotta show you them.”
He flashed two cards at Jim. His heart dropped. Gyarados and another Magikarp.
His new draw was another Fearrow. Useless. Should he use a Professor’s Research, discard his hand for seven new cards? He’d be throwing away the second research, two Potion’s, an Energy, and two Evolved Pokemon, but what if he needed the Potion’s next turn? What if he need the Fearrow later? Hitmonchan was his only Pokemon on the field. If it fainted it was over. No, he could use the Potion to keep his Hitmonchan battle ready for at least another two turns. And Ivysaur had a three Energy retreat cost. So that was what, another 5 turns? That was plenty of time to deal with that wannabe dragon.
He attached another energy and attacked with Bullet Straight Punch. Ivysaur’s HP dropped to 60.
“Now get ready for my ace Pokemon! I use Switch-”
“Oh c’mon!”
“-to switch my Ivysaur with my Magikarp. And I evolve my Magikarp into Gyarados!”
Mid-flop, the dumb-looking, useless goldfish wannabe exploded outward. A massive serpentine body dominated the battlefield, its coils big enough that Jim couldn’t even see Cristo’s Benched Pokemon, just the info boxes hovering beside them. And the box next to Gyarados snarling face.
Gyarados, a Stage 2 Pokemon. 150 HP, weak to electricity with two attacks. The first of which cost only one Water, but Cristo had to reveal the top 7 cards of his deck and it would 30 damage for each Water Energy there. Jim bit his lip as seven cards appeared in front of Cristo. Two shattered like breaking glass.
“Gyarados, use Distilled Blast!”
“No, not my Hitmonchan!”
Water pooled up in front of Gyarado’s snarling mouth, then it launched it like a cannonball and hit the boxing Pokemon before it could even react. Its HP dropped from 110 to zero. It glowed red and zipped back to Jim in a red beam.
Draw Prize Card.
Oh, to add insult to injury….
It was just a Fighting Energy.
The music change to the Victory Theme, and Gyrados let out a triumphant roar as it and the other Pokemon on Cristo’s side faded.
“That ain’t right,” Jim whined. “Best two out of three!”
Cristo just grinned and walked over to ruff up Jim’s hair. “Not today, little bro! Try and figure out how you can improve your deck, then get back to me!”
A/N: And I'm aware of my prize card mistake. Mea culpa
Also Cristo: *Doesn’t realize you need to play several games with your deck to figure out how to improve it*
Typical arrogant older brother anime character? I do find it funny he’s running PGO Ivysaur in a TEU Gyarados deck, since Grass Energy dilutes the power of distilled blast (You can use that as a plot line later and have distilled blast reveal nothing but Grass Energy after the main character receives some safe advice and upgrades his deck), but it’s a cool callback to the base set theme deck Overgrowth, and I love that you chose an actual Ivysaur and Gyarados for this game!
I will warn you that thirty card formats tend to not be a great place to play Professor, since you might deck out if you draw too many cards (You draw at least a third of your remaining deck when you play it) and also won’t have space to put the recovery cards you’ll need if you play Professor freely. If you want to learn more about the dynamics of half-deck games, Rahul Ready wrote an article about his Local Game Store’s 30-card Black and White on format. https://http://google.com/.com/2011/10/17/the-30-card-bw-on-format/
Excited for the next installment! This looks good so far!
Wooo!
. Its what I told my nephew when he started playing Pokemon. Since then I've never won a battle against his Charizard deck XD. Really too it to heart!
Back in the day - like 2 years ago - the first decks I made for my kids were 30-card half decks I based off the Theme Decks (cause they only knew Pokemon by typing so they'd just want a water deck/grass deck/rock deck etc...). This is kind of the inspiration.
And that thread was the basis I used for my own custom format: https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/“my-first-battle”-custom-format.155778/
The above is for a 'simpler' format ala Pocket, but with TCG cards. So it kind of feeds off it XD XD.
Technically uncle:
. Its what I told my nephew when he started playing Pokemon. Since then I've never won a battle against his Charizard deck XD. Really too it to heart!Back in the day - like 2 years ago - the first decks I made for my kids were 30-card half decks I based off the Theme Decks (cause they only knew Pokemon by typing so they'd just want a water deck/grass deck/rock deck etc...). This is kind of the inspiration.
And that thread was the basis I used for my own custom format: https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/“my-first-battle”-custom-format.155778/
The above is for a 'simpler' format ala Pocket, but with TCG cards. So it kind of feeds off it XD XD.
And the next of the assorted TCG Snippits:
Jim swung his arm out, pointed at Joey, and shouted, “I challenge you to a bat-to a duel!”
Joey, midbite through his five-layered ham and cheese sandwich, stuck up his thumb.
Five minutes later, the two snapped on their PokeGear’s and strapped on the Battle Disks to their arms.
Oh heck. Jim fumbled with the wire.
“I did offer to buy you the wireless box,” Joey said.
“But I like it with cable. It’s more reliable!”
“Offer’s still on the table, little man. I’m ready when you are.”
The space between them flashed and changed into a battle mat. Pokemon big and small sat on the sidelines, roaring and cheering for them. They unbuckled their boxes and drew their cards.
Jim heard Joey scoff and watched him pull his deck out and shuffle it. He did this twice. Meanwhile Jim placed his Active down, and a second Pokemon on the Belt. Bench, he meant. Their dad called the ‘Bench’ the ‘Belt’ since “that’s where Trainers put their Pokeballs.”
When Joey finally had a Pokemon in hand, he put in the Active Zone.
Jim and Cristo handed each other their decks. Their dad had bought them each a booster pack, so these weren’t their standard 30-card decks. It was a little exciting to see what Cristo got! And Jim was sure his Machop was going to take the win today!
They laid out their three Prize Cards and drew their hand. Cristo muttered something foul and reshuffled. And again. Meanwhile, Jim placed his Active and a Machop face down on the Bench. He waited while Cristo drew a new hand and put down his Active.
“Ready?”
“Only if you are!”
“Let’s go, I choose you-”
They flipped their Active’s over.
“Seel!”
“Growlithe!”
This was perfect! The 2-Player Starter Deck was split into Fighting and Fire-type decks. As soon as he pulled Seel from the booster pack, Jim knew he had to add it to his deck. Seel was a Water-type, with 80 HP and two attacks. The first just reduced his opponent’s damage by 20 his next turn. The second, Headbutt, needed two Energy’s for 20 damage. But against a Fire deck that Cristo had it would do double the damage. In just two hits he’d be able to knock out any of his Pokemon!
“So, am I going first or you?” Cristo asked.
“Oh!” Jim looked at his hand. “Um, can I go first?”
Cristo shrugged. “Fine by me.”
“Alright then I add an Energy to my Seel, and use Friend’s of Kanto to draw three cards. And I put down Machop and Rattata on my Bench! And then I use Pokedex which lets me look at the top 5 cards of my deck and put them in any order I want!”
Jim checked his deck. Sweetness, he reordered the top of his deck and ended his turn.
Cristo drew and added an Energy to his Growlithe. “And I use Professor Oak to discard my hand and draw seven new cards.”
“What? But its your first turn!”
“And my hand sucked!” His grin turned wicked. “And now it’s not. I put down two Charmander’s, and I use Energy Retrival to take the two Energy’s out of my discard pile back to my hand. Now, my Growlithe attacks with Hind Kick for 10 damage! And this attack’s effect lets me switch my Active Pokemon with one on my Bench – so my Charmander takes its place.”
Jim swung his arm out, pointed at Joey, and shouted, “I challenge you to a bat-to a duel!”
Joey, midbite through his five-layered ham and cheese sandwich, stuck up his thumb.
Five minutes later, the two snapped on their PokeGear’s and strapped on the Battle Disks to their arms.
Battle Gear Connected. Confirming User. User Confirmed.
Please connect your DeckBox.
Please connect your DeckBox.
Oh heck. Jim fumbled with the wire.
“I did offer to buy you the wireless box,” Joey said.
“But I like it with cable. It’s more reliable!”
“Offer’s still on the table, little man. I’m ready when you are.”
DeckBox Detected.
Loading data from Bill’s Server.
Loading assets…
Shake hands, and Welcome to the World of Pokemon!
Loading data from Bill’s Server.
Loading assets…
Shake hands, and Welcome to the World of Pokemon!
The space between them flashed and changed into a battle mat. Pokemon big and small sat on the sidelines, roaring and cheering for them. They unbuckled their boxes and drew their cards.
Jim heard Joey scoff and watched him pull his deck out and shuffle it. He did this twice. Meanwhile Jim placed his Active down, and a second Pokemon on the Belt. Bench, he meant. Their dad called the ‘Bench’ the ‘Belt’ since “that’s where Trainers put their Pokeballs.”
When Joey finally had a Pokemon in hand, he put in the Active Zone.
Jim and Cristo handed each other their decks. Their dad had bought them each a booster pack, so these weren’t their standard 30-card decks. It was a little exciting to see what Cristo got! And Jim was sure his Machop was going to take the win today!
They laid out their three Prize Cards and drew their hand. Cristo muttered something foul and reshuffled. And again. Meanwhile, Jim placed his Active and a Machop face down on the Bench. He waited while Cristo drew a new hand and put down his Active.
“Ready?”
“Only if you are!”
“Let’s go, I choose you-”
They flipped their Active’s over.
“Seel!”
“Growlithe!”
This was perfect! The 2-Player Starter Deck was split into Fighting and Fire-type decks. As soon as he pulled Seel from the booster pack, Jim knew he had to add it to his deck. Seel was a Water-type, with 80 HP and two attacks. The first just reduced his opponent’s damage by 20 his next turn. The second, Headbutt, needed two Energy’s for 20 damage. But against a Fire deck that Cristo had it would do double the damage. In just two hits he’d be able to knock out any of his Pokemon!
“So, am I going first or you?” Cristo asked.
“Oh!” Jim looked at his hand. “Um, can I go first?”
Cristo shrugged. “Fine by me.”
“Alright then I add an Energy to my Seel, and use Friend’s of Kanto to draw three cards. And I put down Machop and Rattata on my Bench! And then I use Pokedex which lets me look at the top 5 cards of my deck and put them in any order I want!”
Jim checked his deck. Sweetness, he reordered the top of his deck and ended his turn.
Cristo drew and added an Energy to his Growlithe. “And I use Professor Oak to discard my hand and draw seven new cards.”
“What? But its your first turn!”
“And my hand sucked!” His grin turned wicked. “And now it’s not. I put down two Charmander’s, and I use Energy Retrival to take the two Energy’s out of my discard pile back to my hand. Now, my Growlithe attacks with Hind Kick for 10 damage! And this attack’s effect lets me switch my Active Pokemon with one on my Bench – so my Charmander takes its place.”
And now for the last pieces I'd written for the TCG:
Alan shuffled his deck. He laid out his prize cards and drew his hand.
He asked, “you ready?”
Niko didn’t answer; instead he drew his seven cards and laid out two pokemon facedown.
Alan put one card facedown and grabbed a die from his bag with all the damage counters, coins, more dice, and other stuff.
“Heads or Tails?”
“I say tails,” Niko said.
Alan flipped the coin, “Heads!”
The coin dropped. Nope, tails!
Niko grinned as he drew a card and flipped his Pokemon over. One Nidoran in the Active Spot, and an Inky on the Belt. And he just drew Nidoking. All he needed was a Rare Candy and it’d be game over.
Alan flipped his Active over. Niko’s felt an ugly whine wriggle its way up from deep inside. Lunastone. Was he running a Lunatone Solrock deck? Goddamn it, why did he have to get that deck? Niko hated that deck, it was absolute baloney!
Niko attached an energy to his Nidoran and played a Ultra Ball. He tossed one energy and a Professor’s Research, and riffled through his deck.
Okay, one Nidoking was at the bottom, and the third was in the middle… he didn’t see the fourth, so it was probably Prized, dang it. There were the two other Nidoran’s, his two-two Bibarel and Bidoof’s, and there was his Malamar. He put the Stage 1 Pokemon into his hand and shuffled his deck. He needed to pull a Rare Candy next turn, or at least an Avery to search for it. All 4 Rare Candies were in the deck, thankfully.
“I’m done,” he declared.
“I draw.”
Immediately Alan put down two Nest Balls, and that ugly whine rushed back into his throat.
Another Lunastone and a Solrock appeared on the Bench. He attached an energy to his Active Lunatone and played Professor’s Research. He discarded his hand and drew seven new cards.
“Now I activate Solrock’s Ability, which lets me attach a psychic Energy card from my discard pile to one of my Lunatone’s.”
And he had two, and oh boy, there were three purple Energy cards in his discard pile.
The LunaSol deck was built around using Solrock’s Ability to accelerate psychic energy to Lunatone so it could use its Moon Kinesis attack. For every psychic energy attached to it, it did 30 more damage. The energy cost was three colorless, so technically any energy could be used, but only psychic mattered. Solrock was its perfect partner. And now Alan’s Active Lunatone was primed with three psychic energy cards. Thirty, Sixty, Ninety – and oh, his Nidoran only had 60 HP.
“Now, Lunatone attacks with Moon Kinesis!”
“Yeah, I get it, knock out, great.”
Niko immediately felt but c’mon, the LunaSol deck was absolute baloney!
Alan picked up his first prize card, while Niko moved his Inky to the Active spot. He drew a card, and it was a Bibarel. Which was absolutely useless!
He evolved his Inky into Malamar. It had 90 HP, and an Ability to move psychic energy from the Discard pile to a Benched Pokemon.
Niko ended his turn.
Alan didn’t even bother drawing a card. Niko ended his turn. Dad was right, he should've stuck with his Haymaker. No, wait, Hitmonchan's damage bonus only worked against Evolutions. LunaSol was all Basic Pokemon! Dang it, Dad!
“Now, Lunatone attacks with Moon Kinesis!”
For the first time in this entire game, Niko felt a little hopeful.
Alan was bricking. He’d put down two Solrock’s. His first two turns were just attaching an energy and retreating the two Pokemon back and forth. Meanwhile Niko had drawn a godly hand – two Nidoran’s, and a Kangaskhan. One level ball, and he evolved his Nidoran in a Nidorino. He Ultra Ball’d for a Bidoof, tossing two cards away for the opportunity to check his deck and see what cards were prized. Nothing important, all four king’s were there, and the other two Nidoran’s. Next turn, he would attach a third energy so Nidorino could attack.
Alan drew and immediately slammed down a Lunatone. He attached an energy to his Solrock, retreated it to put Lunatone in the Active spot, and used Solrock’s Ability to attach an energy from his discard pile to Lunatone. That was okay, Lunatone needed three energy’s to attack, it only had two. Next turn he’d attack with Nidorino and send that alien to the graveyard, so it didn’t matter.
“And I attach a Bravery Charm to my Lunatone, which gives it fifty extra HP. Now Lunatone has 140 HP.”
Which was almost as much as his Nidoking, goddamnit. This wasn’t fair, this deck wasn’t fair, why did he stop playing Haymaker?
Niko drew a card. He attached an energy to his Nidorino and attacked. He flipped three coins. Two heads – 60 damage!
“Not even close, Lunatone survives! Ahaha!”
Alan played Shauna, shuffled his hand into his deck and drew five new cards – and immediately put down a second Lunatone and another Solrock. The he played an Ultra Ball, discarded two energy cards, and put down his fourth Solrock. He moved the two energy’s in his discard pile to the second Lunatone, and attached an energy from his hand to his Active Lunatone.
“Lunatone attacks with Moon Kinesis!”
Why didn’t he bring his Buzzap?
Niko played Professor’s Research. He dumped his hand and drew seven new cards.
His heart started thumping. He could work with this.
“I attach a Double Colorless Energy to my Khan, and then I evolve my Bidoof into a Bibarel. Then I use Mysterious Treasure to discard one card to search for a Pokemon.”
Niko started to rifle. Huh.
He looked through it again. That was weird.
Nidoran, Nidoking, Bidoof, no Bibarel, no second Kangaskhan, and no Malamarr.
Oh No. Oh No, no, no, no.
Okay, this was okay. He could work with this. Khan was a beast. He could tank whatever Lunatone threw at it.
“My Kangaskhan attacks with Triple Draw, which lets me draw 3 cards. I end my turn.”
Alan drew, attached an energy, and attacked.
Immediately Niko put down Fog Crystal to search for a psychic energy and attached it to Khan. Kangaskan’s attacks were all colorless, so the energy type didn’t matter. Incessant Punching was a flip attack – four-coin flips, and for every head, it did 100 damage.
Niko felt giddy. He might have a chance!
Alan moved his second Lunatone to the Active Spot, used Solrock’s ability to move four energy’s to it, and knocked out the Khan.
That flicker of hope vanished. He moved his Inkay to the Active Spt. He drew. He put down a Nidoran.
“Lunatone attacks.”
Alan wasn’t even trying anymore. They both knew the game was over.
“Wanna concede?”
“Yeah, I’m over it. Good game!”
“Good game! You really have to stop playing that Nidoking deck.”
“I know! But my Dad made it and he was really proud of it.”
“But it sucks.”
“But my dad made it!”
“No offense, but your dad made a sucky deck!”
"And LunaSol is a buncha baloney deck!"
"Only cause your deck sucks!"
Alan shuffled his deck. He laid out his prize cards and drew his hand.
He asked, “you ready?”
Niko didn’t answer; instead he drew his seven cards and laid out two pokemon facedown.
Alan put one card facedown and grabbed a die from his bag with all the damage counters, coins, more dice, and other stuff.
“Heads or Tails?”
“I say tails,” Niko said.
Alan flipped the coin, “Heads!”
The coin dropped. Nope, tails!
Niko grinned as he drew a card and flipped his Pokemon over. One Nidoran in the Active Spot, and an Inky on the Belt. And he just drew Nidoking. All he needed was a Rare Candy and it’d be game over.
Alan flipped his Active over. Niko’s felt an ugly whine wriggle its way up from deep inside. Lunastone. Was he running a Lunatone Solrock deck? Goddamn it, why did he have to get that deck? Niko hated that deck, it was absolute baloney!
Niko attached an energy to his Nidoran and played a Ultra Ball. He tossed one energy and a Professor’s Research, and riffled through his deck.
Okay, one Nidoking was at the bottom, and the third was in the middle… he didn’t see the fourth, so it was probably Prized, dang it. There were the two other Nidoran’s, his two-two Bibarel and Bidoof’s, and there was his Malamar. He put the Stage 1 Pokemon into his hand and shuffled his deck. He needed to pull a Rare Candy next turn, or at least an Avery to search for it. All 4 Rare Candies were in the deck, thankfully.
“I’m done,” he declared.
“I draw.”
Immediately Alan put down two Nest Balls, and that ugly whine rushed back into his throat.
Another Lunastone and a Solrock appeared on the Bench. He attached an energy to his Active Lunatone and played Professor’s Research. He discarded his hand and drew seven new cards.
“Now I activate Solrock’s Ability, which lets me attach a psychic Energy card from my discard pile to one of my Lunatone’s.”
And he had two, and oh boy, there were three purple Energy cards in his discard pile.
The LunaSol deck was built around using Solrock’s Ability to accelerate psychic energy to Lunatone so it could use its Moon Kinesis attack. For every psychic energy attached to it, it did 30 more damage. The energy cost was three colorless, so technically any energy could be used, but only psychic mattered. Solrock was its perfect partner. And now Alan’s Active Lunatone was primed with three psychic energy cards. Thirty, Sixty, Ninety – and oh, his Nidoran only had 60 HP.
“Now, Lunatone attacks with Moon Kinesis!”
“Yeah, I get it, knock out, great.”
Niko immediately felt but c’mon, the LunaSol deck was absolute baloney!
Alan picked up his first prize card, while Niko moved his Inky to the Active spot. He drew a card, and it was a Bibarel. Which was absolutely useless!
He evolved his Inky into Malamar. It had 90 HP, and an Ability to move psychic energy from the Discard pile to a Benched Pokemon.
Niko ended his turn.
Alan didn’t even bother drawing a card. Niko ended his turn. Dad was right, he should've stuck with his Haymaker. No, wait, Hitmonchan's damage bonus only worked against Evolutions. LunaSol was all Basic Pokemon! Dang it, Dad!
“Now, Lunatone attacks with Moon Kinesis!”
... ...
... ...
... ...
For the first time in this entire game, Niko felt a little hopeful.
Alan was bricking. He’d put down two Solrock’s. His first two turns were just attaching an energy and retreating the two Pokemon back and forth. Meanwhile Niko had drawn a godly hand – two Nidoran’s, and a Kangaskhan. One level ball, and he evolved his Nidoran in a Nidorino. He Ultra Ball’d for a Bidoof, tossing two cards away for the opportunity to check his deck and see what cards were prized. Nothing important, all four king’s were there, and the other two Nidoran’s. Next turn, he would attach a third energy so Nidorino could attack.
Alan drew and immediately slammed down a Lunatone. He attached an energy to his Solrock, retreated it to put Lunatone in the Active spot, and used Solrock’s Ability to attach an energy from his discard pile to Lunatone. That was okay, Lunatone needed three energy’s to attack, it only had two. Next turn he’d attack with Nidorino and send that alien to the graveyard, so it didn’t matter.
“And I attach a Bravery Charm to my Lunatone, which gives it fifty extra HP. Now Lunatone has 140 HP.”
Which was almost as much as his Nidoking, goddamnit. This wasn’t fair, this deck wasn’t fair, why did he stop playing Haymaker?
Niko drew a card. He attached an energy to his Nidorino and attacked. He flipped three coins. Two heads – 60 damage!
“Not even close, Lunatone survives! Ahaha!”
Alan played Shauna, shuffled his hand into his deck and drew five new cards – and immediately put down a second Lunatone and another Solrock. The he played an Ultra Ball, discarded two energy cards, and put down his fourth Solrock. He moved the two energy’s in his discard pile to the second Lunatone, and attached an energy from his hand to his Active Lunatone.
“Lunatone attacks with Moon Kinesis!”
Why didn’t he bring his Buzzap?
Niko played Professor’s Research. He dumped his hand and drew seven new cards.
His heart started thumping. He could work with this.
“I attach a Double Colorless Energy to my Khan, and then I evolve my Bidoof into a Bibarel. Then I use Mysterious Treasure to discard one card to search for a Pokemon.”
Niko started to rifle. Huh.
He looked through it again. That was weird.
Nidoran, Nidoking, Bidoof, no Bibarel, no second Kangaskhan, and no Malamarr.
Oh No. Oh No, no, no, no.
Okay, this was okay. He could work with this. Khan was a beast. He could tank whatever Lunatone threw at it.
“My Kangaskhan attacks with Triple Draw, which lets me draw 3 cards. I end my turn.”
Alan drew, attached an energy, and attacked.
Immediately Niko put down Fog Crystal to search for a psychic energy and attached it to Khan. Kangaskan’s attacks were all colorless, so the energy type didn’t matter. Incessant Punching was a flip attack – four-coin flips, and for every head, it did 100 damage.
Niko felt giddy. He might have a chance!
Alan moved his second Lunatone to the Active Spot, used Solrock’s ability to move four energy’s to it, and knocked out the Khan.
That flicker of hope vanished. He moved his Inkay to the Active Spt. He drew. He put down a Nidoran.
“Lunatone attacks.”
Alan wasn’t even trying anymore. They both knew the game was over.
“Wanna concede?”
“Yeah, I’m over it. Good game!”
“Good game! You really have to stop playing that Nidoking deck.”
“I know! But my Dad made it and he was really proud of it.”
“But it sucks.”
“But my dad made it!”
“No offense, but your dad made a sucky deck!”
"And LunaSol is a buncha baloney deck!"
"Only cause your deck sucks!"