How Each Status Condition Works And How To Cure Them In Pokemon TCG Pocket

If you’re playing Pokemon Pocket, chances are you may know all about status conditions already. After all, they play a big role in the Pokemon video games too. You’ll find all the familiar-sounding suspects in this digital version of the trading card game that can inflict extra damage or even put your Pokemon to sleep.

The cards for the standard versions of Pikachu, Charizard, and Mewtwo in the Genetic Apex expansion, with a blurry background of Charizard's art.

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But this isn’t a one-for-one example as there are a lot of key differences between each of the conditions, how they function, and how you deal with them. This guide will explain each condition in detail, as well as the secondary effects that could target your Pokemon and impact their turn.

The Status Conditions

Rainbow Bordered Wigglytuff ex Pokemon TCG Pocket Card Art.

There are five status conditions Pokemon can inflict on others during the course of any battle. Each of them has different effects, but can all be cured through similar methods. That will be explored further down in this guide.

Status Name	Status Effect
Burn	Take 20 damage each turn. During each of your turns, you will flip a coin. If it lands on heads, the burn condition heals.
Confusion	Pokemon attacks can fail. During each of your turns, you will flip a coin. If it lands on heads, your attack will hit.
Paralysis	Pokemon can’t attack or retreat. The paralyzed condition heals after one turn.
Poison	Take 10 damage each turn.
Sleep	Pokemon can’t attack or retreat. During each of your turns, you will flip a coin. If it lands on heads, your Pokemon wakes up.

These conditions activate both at the end of your turn(s), but, in the case of poison, it also takes effect at the end of your opponent’s turn(s). Many of these conditions can cure themselves on their own, even if it takes being lucky in a coin toss. Poison and Confusion are the outliers. For them, you’ll have to use another way of curing your Pokemon.

Methods For Curing Status Conditions

Budding Expeditioner Mythical Island Pokemon TCG Pocket Full Card Art.

While most of the conditions will cure or end on their own or through a coin flip, there are other ways to heal all of them.

Evolve Your Pokemon
Retreat To The Bench (Only poison and confusion)
Coin Toss (Only sleep and burn)
Use the Lum Berry Pokemon tool
Cause a forced retreat

Evolving Your Pokemon

An image showing the Pokemon cards for Squirlte, Wartortle, and Blastoise, with a blurry Blastoise art in the background.

This is as easy as it sounds. If you have a basic or stage one Pokemon that you can evolve, play the evolution on top of the one with the status condition. Although they retain the damage that was done to them, the status effect will end.

Retreat To The Bench

The Pokemon Pocket card Leaf full art by En Morikure.

If your Pokemon has enough energy on it, or if you can lower their retreat cost, you can swap the affected Pokemon with one that is currently on your Bench.

While this only works on Poison and Confusion, this saves your Pokemon from taking tons of unnecessary damage or repeatedly missing their moves. If you do not remove these two conditions, they will continue until removed or until your Pokemon runs out of HP.

Coin Toss

Zapdos ex and Aerodactyle cards and various coins from Pokemon TCG Pocket.

As listed, Burn and Sleep will allow you to make a coin toss, leaving it up to the digital fates to cure your Pokemon. While this may not be ideal, if you don’t have another way to cure these conditions, there’s at least a way out.

For both of those conditions, you’ll be hoping that the coin lands on heads. As soon as it does, even if it’s on the first turn, your Pokemon will be cured.

Lum Berry

Lum Berry is a card known as a Pokemon Tool. You can attach this to any of your Pokemon. Once attached, it will check at the end of each of your turns for a status condition.

If a condition is present or multiple for that matter, the Lum Berry will be discarded, healing your Pokemon from every condition affecting it.

A Forced Retreat

The Koga Full Art from Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket.

There are Trainer cards that you can use to take some select Pokemon out of battle quickly.

If you have Muk or Wheezing in your Active Spot in a match, you can play the Koga Trainer card. This will put them back into your hand immediately.

Similarly, if you have a Mew ex card in your Active Spot, you can also use the Budding Expeditioner to force it to retreat back to your hand.

Secondary Effects

Blue Mythical Island Pokemon TCG Pocket Full Card Art.

While there are conditions that Pokemon can inflict on each other, there are also some less-standard effects you can cause in battle. There are four in total.

Secondary Effect Name	Secondary Effect Description
Damage Modification	Damage taken is either reduced or increased.
Energy Removal	Energy is removed from target Pokemon.
Move Lock	Pokemon cannot attack until a stated condition is met.
Retreat Lock	Pokemon cannot retreat until a stated condition is met.

Most secondary effects will be inflicted by Pokemon onto Pokemon. However, there are also Trainer cards that can cause damage modification. Unlike conditions, these secondary effects can’t be cured with any of the above methods. As for Move and Retreat Lock, these typically last for a turn.

However, they can be reapplied by the attacking Pokemon. For instance, every time you are attacked by an Arbok, Retreat Lock is applied, keeping you stuck in a loop until it is discarded, does not, or can not attack you.

The icon for trading in Pokemon TCG Pocket.

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