Pokemon ScarletandVioletare among the most highly anticipated games of the year, and for good reason, as they are the first new mainlinePokemontitles to come out in three years. IfPokemon Legends: Arceus' salesare an indicator of how popular the franchise is,Pokemon ScarletandVioletcould even end up topping the sales of popular games such asElden Ring. The hype surrounding the upcoming release of Gen 9 is mainly built on the foundations of the three trailers forPokemon ScarletandVioletthat have been released thus far, with the third one revealing more about the region and the games' features than the other ones.
With Gen 9 games, newPokemonmerchandise is already being released online for pre-orders, including theplushies forPokemon ScarletandViolet’s starters. As part of the franchise’s natural progression, fans will likely be able to soon get their hands on a newPokemon Trading Card Gameset that’s all about Gen 9, and The Pokemon Company could make it a very special one thanks to a specific feature - Terastallization. This feature allows Pokemon to change their types to a Tera Type, and thePokemon Trading Card Gamecan use this in creative ways to make rather unique cards for at least the next three years without changing much about how the game is played.
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How the Pokemon Trading Card Game Can Use Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Terastallization
In thePokemon Trading Card Game, cards like V Pokemon and VMax have been a staple for quite some time, and they were made to work with theDynamax and Gigantamax mechanics ofPokemon SwordandShield. V Pokemon or equivalent cards could stay in the game and basically function as they do now, but then they could evolve into Tera V Pokemon that are actually the same critter but with a completely different type that changes both the type of damage inflicted to other Pokemon and the weaknesses the Pokemon has.
Whilethis is probably going to be a seamless experience inPokemon ScarletandVioletbattles and doesn’t require much when it comes to using moves, in thePokemon Trading Card Gameit’s a bit more complicated than that. This is due to moves costing Energy cards that usually belong to a given type from the ones available in the game, or they have special effects that activate when meeting certain requirements. Making a given Pokemon evolve into a different version of it that requires a completely different Energy type could make the game frustrating, but there’s a possible fix in the form of theoretical cards that could be called Tera Energy.
Tera Energy cards could be attached to V Pokemon exclusively, and act as any energy type when they become Tera V Pokemon, which would make sense thematically and also grant players a bit of leeway when building their decks. Having too many Energy card types in a deck can be extremely punishing for the viability of a given list in thePokemon Trading Card Game, and solving the issue with Energy cards dedicated to Tera Pokemon may be the best way to handle the type change mechanic.
This could open endless possibilities for thePokemon Trading Card Gamebecause it could provide a layer of unpredictability with the way the game is played both offensively and defensively, much likePokemon ScarletandViolet’s Terastallization. Another option to handle Tera Pokemon could be using a similar ploy to the hidden Ditto card in thePokemon GOset, which could come as any holographic card, with the Pokemon it transformed into being a peelable sticker. Tera Pokemon cards could be peelable stickers as well, changing into any other type. Overall, this idea would be quite fun to see and provide a bit of variety to the game.
PokemonScarletandVioletrelease on July 18, 2025, for the Nintendo Switch.
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