10 Most Ridiculous Pokémon TCG Pocket Memes

Pokémon is no stranger to memes but Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is in a realm of its own. The digital version of the popular physical card game lets players experience the joy of opening booster packs and battling live opponents with none of the associated spending. This has made the game immensely popular, and the app reached 30 million downloads less than a month after it launched.

Within mere weeks of its release, the digital trading card game gave rise to countless memes and in-jokes. Some of these memes make sense to even the most casual Pokémon fan, while others are of a more “you had to be there” nature. Playing even a little bit of the game makes it abundantly clear that even the most ridiculous TCG Pocket memes are hilarious.

10 Applying Real-World TCG Logic To TCG Pocket

Considering The Resale Value Of Digital Card Packs

TCG Pocket adapts as much of the card game experience to the digital world, but it misses out on one key element: Resale value. Many real-world cards and packs gain value as time passes, and it can sometimes make more sense to keep packs sealed rather than open and risk pulling duds. Collectors often go after one single “chase” card, but if profit is the goal, then keeping packs sealed might be the way to go.

This, of course, doesn’t apply to Pokémon TCG Pocket, where booster packs are opened immediately after they’re selected. When bbressman2 on Reddit realized that event promo card packs are sent to the inbox, they began saving them up. In this meme, they joke “Should I open or save these?“, applying real-world logic to in-game packs. Of course, the digital packs cannot be resold and would actually disappear within a certain time period, but in the physical game, this is a real dilemma that collectors face.

9 The Exodia Of Pokémon TCG Pocket

Constructing TCG Pocket’s Forbidden Snorlax

Sometimes, memes cross the streams between franchises, and this is one of those cases. Exodia is a Yu-Gi-Oh card that’s actually made up of a collection of cards. If a player manages to put together all five parts of Exodia, they win the match by default. Although it’s not an instant-win Pokémon TCG Pocket has its own version of Exodia.

Players noticed that parts of Snorlax appear in the cards for Oddish, Venonat, and Bellsprout. Although they don’t quite line up perfectly, Redditor karlatog managed to accomplish the feat of putting together Snorlax with all its body parts displayed in their proper positions between the benched and active Pokémon. “Exodia, obliterate!” the Redditor says, with fans in the comments admitting that they’d immediately concede if they saw that kind of power move.

8 Weighing Packs To Game The System

Trying To Find A Hit By Weighing The Phone

Fans looking for rare cards in Pokémon TCG booster packs in the real world might want to invest in a small, accurate scale. It’s been a known issue for years that the foil and holographic flair added to rare cards makes them weigh just a tiny bit more than a regular card. It may be the tiniest weight difference, but collectors chasing a rare can theoretically weigh packs to see if they contain any special cards.

This method, of course, doesn’t work with the digital nature of Pokémon TCG Pocket. Or can it? Jonasacc excitedly posted to Reddit with a photo of a phone lying on top of a small scale, displaying an unopened Genetic Apex booster pack on it. “Guys… GUYS… hear me out…” exclaims the Redditor, with others praising them for their ingenuity and others taking to weigh their own phones to determine that their heavier nature means they definitely have a great pick on their hands.

7 Using Koga To “Cooler Concede”

When You Can’t Win, Running Is An Option

There are some fights that just can’t be won, and there’s no shame in that. At the time of this writing, there’s no penalty for losing a Pokémon TCG Pocket battle, so when placing a little Ratatta against a Mewtwo ex deck, it’s best to use the handy “concede” button. Doing so saves everyone time and is thus appreciated by both sides of the Pokécoin flip.

Player Ramify had an even better idea. Instead of conceding, the Redditor used the Koga supporter card, which removes Muk or Wheezing from the Active spot and replaces it in the player’s hand. Usually, this is a way to retreat for free, without using up any of the Benched Pokémon spots. In this case, though, the player had no benched Pokémon. This means that removing their Wheezing from the Active slot leaves their entire play area empty, forfeiting the match in the most ridiculous way.

6 Going First In Any Other Game Vs Going First In TCGP

Going First Is Actually A Bad Thing In TCG Pocket

In most games, the player going first has the advantage. In Pokémon TCG Pocket, going first is dreaded by players because it places them in a worse position. Whoever goes second gets to draw a card, attach an Energy card to a Pokémon, and then either attack or end their turn. On the other hand, whoever goes first can only draw a card and end their turn, without being able to add an Energy card.

Reddit user dsanfran pokes fun at this mechanic in their meme, which shows the steps players can take when going first in TCG Pocket as opposed to in its predecessor, Pokémon Trading Card Game Online. Some fans point out that, unlike in the real game, players can still use a trainer or supporter card on their first turn, so there are options for making the most of the situation. But to most players, the fact remains that going first follows the nonsensical rule pictured in the meme: “I draw a card. Your turn.“

5 The Waiting Game Is Strong

Waiting For A Chance To Open A Booster Pack

Many mobile games are glorified waiting games, thanks to mechanics like energy that delay gratification and encourage players to spend real money. Pokémon TCG Pocket is a free game, so it uses a similar waiting system to pace players. The game gives free players the chance to open a booster pack twice a day, every 12 hours.

This has given rise to many memes making fun of the “waiting simulator” aspect of the title. In a cute meme shared on Reddit by Meiri10969, Gengar is shown waiting patiently for the stamina meter to fill back up so they can have another go at opening a booster pack.

4 The Average PVP Experience

Pokémon TCG Pocket Ex Decks Have An Unfair Advantages

Pokémon TCG Pocket has battles against AI if players want to practice before going up against a real person. No amount of practice can prepare the casual player for their first encounter with a serious opponent. Super-powerful ex decks have become the norm in the battle system, making it difficult for beginners and casual players to get into battle. The issue is so prevalent that some players have started naming them “no ex,” although even these aren’t guaranteed to be a fair fight.

Redditor SinigangKiller captures the pain of getting matched to an ex deck as a beginner. The image shows the “average pvp experience so far,” with a crying Pepe the frog getting bullied by overpowered ex cards. It’s a fairly accurate rendition of what it’s like to head into battle with non-ex cards, and something that players hope will be updated. Until then, they’ll continue to poke fun at it through memes.

3 TCG Pocket God Packs

God Packs Exist, And They’re Magical

Once in a while, a player will open a particularly lucky booster pack in TCG Pocket. These packs have been dubbed by the community as “God Packs.” They have a higher probability of getting rare Pokéomn cards, and some of them can be quite impressive to behold. These are incredibly rare events, though, with only a 0.05% chance of getting a rare pack on every booster pack opening.

Fans are taking the God Pack idea to an extreme, posting increasingly ridiculous God Pack pulls that dive headfirst into the nonsensical. LadiesMan-2I7 on Reddit, for instance, shares one such pack with the title “FINALLY got a God pack,” with an image that becomes more absurd the closer it’s examined. Instead of powerful Pokémon cards, the “God Pack” reveals four cards from completely different games and a Monopoly $100 bill. The header says, fittingly, “Wake up.“

2 The Dragonite Apocalypse

Dragonite Is A Powerful Card, Eventually

One card that quickly emerged as a fan-favorite among TCG Pocket players who enjoy battling is the Dragonite. This card has the extremely useful Draco Meteor attack, which does 50 damage to four opposing Pokémon chosen at random, giving players the chance to knock out more than one card in one turn. The catch? Dragonite needs one Water and one Electric Energy, along with two other Energy cards of any type to pull off this attack.

Which Energy card shows up next is random, and many players find themselves losing this game of chance. As a result, Dragonite is one of the most memed cards from Pokémon TCG Pocket, from the apocalyptic image shared by enchanted-glimmer-4 of Dragonite hovering menacingly over a Mewtwo ex team to many Dragonite stall deck builds like the one by clydestrife. The consensus is that playing a Dragonite deck is either devastating to the player’s opponent, or just as devastating to the player.

1 Misty’s “Flip A Coin: It’s Always Tails” Curse

Luck Is Never On TCG Pocket Players’ Side

The Misty card in TCG Pocket is, in theory, a very useful one. It allows players to keep adding Water-type energy cards to a Pokémon as they continue landing on heads in a coin flip. The issue is that no one seems to ever land on heads, except for a few extremely lucky TCGP players.

Reddit user purekimwater is one of many fans making fun of this unlucky card. “New Misty card just dropped,” they write, sharing an image of a card featuring Misty and several other characters laughing uproariously at a coin that’s flipped to heads. The card reads:

“Choose one of your water Pokémon, and flip a coin until you get tails. For each heads… It’s tails. It’s always tails. Were you expecting something else? haha.”

This issue is so prevalent that players have even started recording their coin flip results in an attempt to make sure the odds are really 50-50. The results of these tests are inconclusive, but regardless, Misty might be one of the most memed aspects of Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket.

Source: bbressman2/Reddit, karlatog/Reddit, jonasacc/Reddit, Ramify/Reddit, dsanfran/Reddit, Meiri10969/Reddit, SinigangKiller/Reddit, enchanted-glimmer-4/Reddit, clydestrife/Reddit, LadiesMan-2I7/Reddit, purekimwater/Reddit