This article is about the TCG mechanic. ForPokémon Trading Figure Game equivalent, seeSpecial Condition (TFG).

ASpecial Condition (Japanese:特殊状態(とくしゅじょうたい)Special Condition) in thePokémon Trading Card Game refers to any of five conditions that can negatively affect aPokémon: Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed, and Poisoned.^[1] They are analogous tostatus conditions in thecore series games.

Overview

Special Conditions can be inflicted on an Active Pokémon,^[2] through theeffects of attacks,Pokémon Powers,Abilities, or specific cards. For example, the recurring attackLick causes the Active Pokémon to become Paralyzed if aCoin flip results in head.Abilities like "Poison Point",Item cards likeHypnotoxic Laser,Supporter cards likeKoga's Trap, andPokémon Tool cards likeBurning Scarf can also inflict Special Conditions.

Special Conditions are typically removed when the Pokémon retreats to the Bench,evolves,devolves, or through the use of certain cards.

Asleep, Paralyzed, and Confused are shown by turning the Pokémon card in a specific direction, while Poisoned and Burned are indicated by placing their correspondingSpecial Condition markers on the Pokémon. Since Asleep, Paralyzed, and Confused rotate the affected Pokémon card, they are mutually exclusive and replace each other, while Poisoned and Burned can coexist with any other Special Condition.^[3]

Except for Confused, each Special Condition has at least one effect duringPokémon Checkup (the between turns step). Multiple conditions are resolved in the order: Poisoned, Burned, Asleep, and Paralyzed. If both players' Active Pokémon have Special Conditions, the order they perform effects doesn't matter. Even though Poisoned and Burned place damage counters on Pokémon,Knocked Out Pokémon are only checked at the end.^[4]

Special Conditions can only affectActive Pokémon; Benched Pokémon are immune. A Pokémon recovers from all Special Conditions when it moves to theBench,^[2]evolves,devolves, orLevels Up, or when certain cards such asDouble Full Heal are used.

Certaineffects can prevent Pokémon from gaining Special Conditions and will remove any existing ones. Variations may only affect a single Special Condition. While gaining a Special Condition is considered an effect, the conditions themselves are not, so removing all effects from a Pokémon does not affect existing conditions. Some effects may activate when a Pokémon has a Special Condition, and others may modify how these conditions work, often enhancing their impact.

MostPokémon Powers andPoké-Powers stop working if the Pokémon has a Special Condition, butPoké-Bodies are unaffected.Abilities, which replace Pokémon Powers fromBlack & White onward, are never blocked by Special Conditions.

Asleep

TheAsleep Special Condition (Japanese:ねむりSleeping) is analogous to both theSleep andFreeze status conditions in thecore series games.

If a Pokémon is Asleep, it cannot attack or retreat. It must also be turned sideways (usually counterclockwise). During Pokémon Checkup, if a player's Pokémon is Asleep, the player must flip acoin: if heads, the Asleep Pokémon "wakes up" and is no longer affected by the Special Condition. However, if the coin lands on tails, the Pokémon is still Asleep.

Burned

TheBurned Special Condition (Japanese:やけどBurn) is analogous to theBurn status condition in thecore series games. It is the latest Special Condition to be introduced, officially recognized in 2002 upon the release of theExpedition Base Set.

When a Pokémon is Burned, a Burn marker is placed on the Pokémon to indicate it. As of theSun & Moon Series, Pokémon that are Burned have 2 damage counters placed on them during Pokémon Checkup, though certain effects may increase the amount of damage counters placed. After the counters are placed, the player whose Pokémon is Burned flips a coin; if the result is heads, the Pokémon is cured, while it remains Burned on tails.

Prior to the Sun & Moon Series, if a Pokémon is Burned, the player must flip a coin in-between turns. If the coin lands on tails, two damage counters are placed on the Pokémon. Under some conditions, the burn's damage may be increased by the effect of an attack, an Ability, or a Stadium card (e.g.,Volcarona's Scorching Scales Ability causes the afflicted Pokémon to suffer 40 damage). If the coin landed on heads, the Pokémon does not receive any damage but remains Burned.

The Burned Special Condition is derived fromNeo Genesis'sQuilava, whose Char attack caused a condition exactly like Burned. Char was not recognized as a Special Condition.

Confused

TheConfused Special Condition (Japanese:こんらんConfusion) is analogous to theConfusion status condition in thecore series games.

A Confused Pokémon's card must be turned upside-down. If it tries to attack, the player must flip a coin. If the coin is heads, the attack proceeds as planned. However, if the coin lands on tails, 3 damage counters are placed on the Pokémon and the player's turn ends. Unless replaced by Asleep or Paralyzed, the Pokémon remains Confused unless it retreats to the Bench or another action is taken (such as the use of a Trainer card) to remove the Special Condition.

The current description of Confused was introduced in 2003 with the release ofEX Ruby & Sapphire. Originally, the Confused Pokémon would attack itself for 20 damage on tails. As well as that, if a Pokémon tried to retreat, the required Energy had to be discarded first, before flipping a coin to see if the retreat was successful. If it was not, the Pokémon could not retrieve the Energy cards. As of the current revision of the condition, any Confused Pokémon can retreat without having to take any additional action.

In Japan, that description of Confused was only introduced after the release of theLeaders' Stadium expansion, after experimenting withthis rule in tournaments in 1998. Before these rules were simplified, when tails was flipped for an attack of a Pokémon with the Special Condition Confused, the Pokémon used the attack on itself. The behavior was as follows:^[5]

• Any damage normally done to the opponent's Active Pokémon was done to the user. This means that ifChansey chose to use the Double-edge attack, it does 80 damage to itself. Weakness and Resistance apply for this damage.
• Any damage done to the opponent's Bench was redirected to the player's Bench. This means that ifRaichu chose to use the Gigashock attack, it does 10 damage to 3 of the player's own Benched Pokémon. Damage that is already done to the player's Bench is unaffected.
• Any non-damage effects that affect the opponent's Active Pokémon affect the Attacking Pokémon instead. This means that ifGolduck chose to use the Hyper Beam attack, it discards an Energy attached to itself.
• Any effects that affect a player applied to the Attacking Pokémon's player. This means that ifPsyduck chose to use the Headache attack, the player can't play any Trainer cards on their next turn.
• Any effects that affect the Attacking Pokémon are ignored.
• Any effects that targeted the opponent's deck were applied to the player's own deck. This means that ifMoltres chose to use the Wildfire attack, it discards the top card of the player's deck for each Energy discarded from it.

Until the release of theRocket Gang expansion, if a Confused Pokémon were to retreat, the coin flip happens before discarding any Energy; however, it would still be unable to retreat for the rest of the turn on tails.

Paralyzed

TheParalyzed Special Condition (Japanese:マヒParalysis) is analogous to both theParalysis andFreeze status conditions in thecore series games.

If a Pokémon isParalyzed, it will be unable to attack or retreat for one turn after it becomes Paralyzed. At the beginning of the owner's next turn, the Pokémon's condition automatically returns to normal. A Paralyzed Pokémon is turned sideways (usually clockwise).

Poisoned

ThePoisoned Special Condition (Japanese:どくPoison) is analogous to thePoison status condition in thecore series games.

When a Pokémon is Poisoned, a Poison marker is placed on the Pokémon to indicate it. During Pokémon Checkup, 1 damage counter must be placed on Poisoned Pokémon, though certain effects may increase the amount of damage counters placed. Unlike the Burned Special Condition, the player whose Pokémon is Poisoned do not flip coins to check for cures; as such, the only way to cure a Poisoned Pokémon is to use cards that remove the Special Condition or retreat it to the Bench.

Other Conditions

Imprisoned

The Imprisoned Condition is a unique Special Condition that can only be inflicted byGardevoir ex δ from theEX Dragon Frontiers expansion. Like with Poisoned and Burned, amarker is used to denote a Pokémon as Imprisoned. If a Pokémon is Imprisoned, it cannot use its Poké-Power or Poké-Body, if it has any. Unlike the other more common conditions, a Pokémon stays Imprisoned if it Retreats or is Switched Out; thus, the only ways to remove it are by Evolving the Imprisoned Pokémon, using a card effect that removes any condition such as Double Full Heal, or having the afflicted Pokémon leave play, like withSuper Scoop Up.

Shock-wave

The Shock-wave Condition is a unique Special Condition that can only be inflicted byTyranitar ex δ from theEX Dragon Frontiers expansion. It, too, uses a marker to denote a Pokémon as having the Shock-wave condition. By itself, this condition doesn't do anything; however, the aforementioned Tyranitar ex δ has an attack that Knocks Out any one of the opponent's Pokémon in play with this condition. Like with Imprisoned, the Shock-wave condition does not get removed upon Retreating or Switching out, so the afflicted Pokémon has to evolve, leave play, or be manually healed for it to be removed.

In other languages

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Names in other languages the Pokémon TCG has supported (Dutch, Russian)

• In German, the Special Condition names as nouns are only used on some cards, likeVileplume fromUnbroken Bonds, orChaos Tower fromFates Collide.
  • Making a Pokémon Asleep with an attack uses the verbschlafen (sleep) in the active voice:Das Aktive Pokémon deines Gegnersschläft jetzt. →Your opponent's Active Pokémon isnow asleep.
    • Other Special Conditions use the past participle:Das Aktive Pokémon deines Gegnersist jetzt vergiftet. →Your opponent's Active Pokémonhas now been Poisoned.
  • Making a Pokémon Asleep with an Ability that doesn't involve choosing a Special Condition has been worded inconsistently:
    • Hypno fromBREAKpoint (Goodnight, Babies):Einmal während deines Zuges (vor deinem Angriff) kannst dubeide Aktiven Pokémon schlafen lassen. →Once during your turn (before your attack), you canput both Active Pokémon to sleep.
    • Mareep fromLost Thunder (Fluffy Pillow):Einmal während deines Zuges (bevor du angreifst), wenn dieses Pokémon dein Aktives Pokémon ist, kannst duveranlassen, dass das Aktive Pokémon deines Gegners schläft. →Once during your turn (before you attack), if this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon, you canput your opponent's Active Pokémon to sleep.
    • Hypno from151 (Here for Hypnosis):Wenn du dieses Pokémon aus deiner Hand spielst, um 1 deiner Pokémon während deines Zuges zu entwickeln, kannst dudas Aktive Pokémon deines Gegners einschlafen lassen. →When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon during your turn, you canmake your opponent's Active Pokémon fall asleep.
    • Other Special Conditions also use verbs, but those have been consistent:Delphox fromForbidden Light:Einmal während deines Zuges (bevor du angreifst), kannst dudas Aktive Pokémon deines Gegners verbrennen. →Once during your turn (before you attack), you cancause your opponent's Active Pokémon to burn.

Special Condition

Notes

References

This article is part ofProject TCG, aBulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of thePokémon Trading Card Game.

• Articles needing more information
• Pokémon Trading Card Game mechanics