Pokemon Types

When you flip through any pile of Pokémon Trading Cards one thing will be immediately noticeable. They come in different colors. Now, this is not just for aesthetic purposes, although the colors are really vibrant and pretty. There is actually a reason for it.

The first thing you need to know is that Pokémon come in different “types.” The colors help to indicate what types of Pokémon they are. I am going to focus on the card game because that is what this book is about. On TV and in the video game there are many more types of Pokémon than are present in the card game but I will let your children confuse you about that themselves.

The Pokémon Types are as follows:

Electric
Fighting / Ground / Rock
Psychic / Ghost / Poison
Normal or Colorless
Dark
Steel
Water
Grass
Fire

Can you guess which colors go with which type? You probably won't be very surprised when

Electric = Yellow
Fighting /Ground / Rock = Brown or Dark Orange
Psychic = Purple
Colorless = White
Dark = Black
Metal = Silver
Water = Blue
Grass = Green
Fire = Red

So, far so good, this makes sense. Everything matches up. Consistency is a good thing. Color coding is very smart. This way as soon as you see the card you know what type you are dealing with.

Each Pokémon type has a corresponding symbol to go with the color. The different symbols are:

Electric = Yellow w/ a thunderbolt
Fighting/ Ground / Rock = Brown w/ a fist
Psychic / Poison / Ghost = Purple w/ an eye
Colorless = White w/ a star
Dark = Black w/ a crescent moon
Metal = Silver w/ a hazardous materials sign (???)
Water = Blue with a dew drop
Grass = Green w/ a leaf
Fire = Red w/ a flame

That is the first thing you need to know about Pokémon. They have different types that correspond with basic energy cards. The basic energy cards will be the same color and have the same symbol as their corresponding Pokemon.

Colorless Pokemon have no corresponding energy. You can use any energy for them UNLESS there is a type of energy specified on the attack.

It is very easy to match up that way. You could say it's child proof.