Pokemon cards are a set of collectibles used to play the Pokemon trading card game. The main goal of collecting these cards is to build a deck of 60 powerful decks that will help you win battles. Understanding the cards is easier than it looks. So you would not miss important details, here is how to read the Japanese Pokemon cards
Type of Card
There are three types of Pokemon cards you’ll find in any deck. They are character cards, energy cards, and trainers cards. The top left-hand corner of the card will tell you which it is of these three. Get here for quality Japanese Pokemon Cards.
Level and Name
If the card you got is a Pokemon, right under where the type of card is in the top left-hand corner, the name of the Pokemon will be written there. Also, the level of the card will be written in that same location, whether your Pokemon is a basic, stage 1, or stage 2.
Health
On the right-hand side of your card, the HP will be found. HP is a term used in games to identify health. The number that is there will be how much damage your Pokemon can take before it is destroyed. When the health hits zero, it is moved to the discard pile.
Middle of the card
Right in the middle of the card there would be a portrait illustrating your Pokemon, trainer, or item associated with the card. This picture is exactly what your Pokemon or trainer looks like. Right under it, information like the height and weight will also be found.
Ability
There are Pokemons in the collection that have special abilities that allow them to perform more actions other than an attack. Ensure to read it carefully as abilities differ. Some abilities can even be used if the Pokemon is on the bench.
Energy
There are different energies required to use the attack. This can be found on the left-hand side of the card. For example, if the card has white circle energy, this is known as colorless energy and can use any kind of energy for this slot. Other energies are fire, water, grass, lightning, etc.
Attack
A Pokemon can have one or two attacks or none at all that is used in battle. Right in the middle of the card after the illustration, you’ll find the name of the attack.
Damage
On the right side of the card in front of the attack name is the attack power and damage that it will inflict in battle. It is usually in multiples of 10.
Weakness
Second to the bottom on the left-hand side is a section showing your pokemon’s weakness. Weaknesses are usually in multiples of 2.
Resistance
Right beside the weakness is what your Pokemon is resistant to. If your Pokemon is resistant to a certain element, any incoming attack from such element is divided by 2.
Other Information
At the bottom of the card, you will find other information about the card like your Pokemon’s Pokedex entry, level as well as who created the card.
There are different kinds of cards out there produced every year. A basic card is simply a first evolution card and gets better as it increases to stage 2. To understand all that your card can do, it is important to read it carefully.