Pokemon TCG Pocket is Not Yet Safe From Pokemon TCG's…

Pokemon TCG Pocket is a bright light during dark days with the Pokemon Trading Card Game as a whole. Against scalpers and complaints that the main game is too complicated, Pokemon TCG Pocket is free to play and is a great way to get interested in the game at no charge. For the last several months, TCG Pocket has been in an arms race to keep the game evolving and changing to be on the same standing ground as its tabletop version.

With the recently announced Mega Evolution set, that time might be sooner than fans originally believed. Mega Evolutions in TCG Pocket shakes up the game by offering opponents three points for taking them down, and it only serves to remind Pokemon card game enthusiasts that the funniest counter of all might not be far behind. TCG Pocket is in a prime position to get its own Budew soon.

Why Pokemon TCG Pocket is the Perfect Playground For Another Budew

For those unfamiliar, Budew was given a brand-new card in the recent Prismatic Evolutions, a set that all but officially serves as a real-life counterpart to the Eevee Grove expansion in Pokemon TCG Pocket. On the surface, Budew might not seem like that much of a threat or obnoxious presence in general, much less in a prominent trading card game. That all changes with its Itchy Pollen attack. With no energy cost attached, for 10 damage, Budew can keep opponents from playing any items in their hand. This leaves prominent and powerful TCG staples like rare candies and secret boxes completely unplayable until Budew is knocked out. Budew manages to disrupt the flow of the game in decks like:

Grimmisnarl/Frostlass
Dragapult EX
Charizard EX/Dragapult EX
Typhlosion
Hydregion EX
Garchomp EX
Ceruledge EX
Pidgeot EX
Toedscruel EX

The Bud Pokemon is such a disruptor in the Scarlet and Violet block that Budew was included alongside powerful deck staples like Raging Bolt and Zekrom when advertising the upcoming Mega Evolution sets at Worlds. With the lack of rare candies to help move things along in terms of evolution and other necessary moves that set the game's pace, Budew manages to showcase flaws in cards that aren't designed to remain on the field for that long. Some have enjoyed playing around with the challenge this presents, while others find it terribly slow. If TCG fans also dabble in Pocket on the side, then they might already be wondering when Budew or something like it will hit the mobile version.

Pokemon TCG Pocket's Budew Doesn't Even Need to Be a Budew

As with many ongoing trading card games and their variations, there are bound to be a few changes and adjustments from sets to other platforms of play. With the addition of Baby Pokemon to Pokemon TCG Pocket, there's plenty of room for a Budew-like card to enter the format with the same lack of energy cost attached to it. It would likely be structured in a way similar to the new Mega Charizard X card is to the Reshiram and Zekrom Tag Team card from Cosmic Eclipse. It could be a different type, or there could be multiple variations, like how Pichu and Magby in TCG Pocket function similarly for different decks. At the same time, what makes Budew work is that it can fit into any Pokemon TCG deck regardless of type, thanks to its lack of energy cost.

On the other hand, Budew is fairly iconic as a Baby Pokemon in its own right due to this effect, so it would make perfect sense if DeNA kept this trend going with TCG Pocket's own Budew card. If it brings Itchy Pollen into the game, though, entire decks will be kept at a standstill, as this would mean future Rare Candy decks in Pocket would easily be countered by a card added in a similar timeframe. As hilarious as this addition is to think about, it's also fairly terrifying for the potential ripple effects it would cause across the game.

Pokemon TCG Pocket doesn't work on a rotation cycle, unlike the main tabletop game, so players would likely have to plan for and work around potential Budew decks and plays for a long time after Budew enters the app. The upcoming Mega Evolution expansion synergy seems to suggest that the addition of cards like Budew is on the horizon, so this game-changing addition might not be a matter of if, but a matter of when.

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