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Published:  December 20th, 2024


16 pages
Tsubomi is looking for an opponent willing to go up against her and her High Class Pack: Terastal Fest ex set. She challenges Retto and Letto, who she faced during the Shield Matches a while back, and Retto accepts.

Retto vs. Tsubomi

Retto's First Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot	Eevee	Active Spot	Eevee
Bench		Bench	Spin Rotom
Prize Cards	6	Prize Cards	6

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Buddy-Buddy Poffin		Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.	Retto starts his turn by using Buddy-Buddy Puffin to draw two more Eevee cards from his deck and add them to the Bench, bringing the total number of Eevee he has in play up to three.
2	Eevee		Ability: Boosted Evolution As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, it can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it. Reckless Charge (30) This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.	Next, Retto attaches a Basic Fire Energy card to the Eevee in his Active Spot. He then takes advantage of Eevee's "Boosted Evolution" Ability to evolve it into a Booster ex.
3	Booster ex		Burning Charge (130) Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy cards and attach them to 1 of your Pokémon. Then, shuffle your deck. Carnelian (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	Retto ends the turn without attacking.

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Tsubomi's First Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot	Booster ex	Active Spot	Eevee
Bench	Eevee	Bench	Spin Rotom
	Eevee
Prize Cards	6	Prize Cards	6

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Spin Rotom		Ability: Fan Call Once during your first turn, you may search your deck for up to 3 Colorless Pokémon with 100 HP or less, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. You can't use more than 1 Fan Call Ability during your turn. Assault Landing (70) If there is no Stadium in play, this attack does nothing.	Tsubomi starts her turn by using Spin Rotom's "Fan Call" Ability to draw Yorunozuku, Eevee, and Hoho from her deck and place them into her hand.
2	Hoho		Triple Stab (10x) Flip 3 coins. This attack does 10 damage for each heads.	Tsubomi places Hoho on the Bench.
3	Eevee		Ability: Boosted Evolution As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, it can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it. Reckless Charge (30) This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.	She also adds Eevee to the Bench, bringing the total number of Eevee in play up to two.
4	Eevee		Ability: Boosted Evolution As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, it can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it. Reckless Charge (30) This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.	Tsubomi then places a Basic Darkness Energy on the Eevee in the Active Spot.
5	Bracky ex		Moon Mirage (160) Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Confused. Onyx Discard all Energy from this Pokémon, and take a Prize card.	Tsubomi ends the turn by evolving the Eevee in the Active Spot into Bracky ex. The turn ends without an attack.

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Retto's Second Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot	Booster ex	Active Spot	Bracky ex
Bench	Eevee	Bench	Spin Rotom
	Eevee		Hoho
			Eevee
Prize Cards	6	Prize Cards	6

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Terastal Orb		Search your deck for a Terastal Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.	Retto starts his second round by using Terastal Orb to select a Showers ex from his deck.
2	Hyper Ball		You can use this card only if you discard 2 other cards from your hand. Search your deck for a Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.	He then uses a Hyper Ball to draw a Thunders ex from his deck.
3	Eevee		Ability: Boosted Evolution As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, it can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it. Reckless Charge (30) This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.	Retto evolves one of the Eevee on his Bench into...
4	Showers ex		Severe Squall This attack does 60 damage to each of your opponent's Pokémon ex. This attack's damage isn't affected by Weakness or Resistance. Aquamarine (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	...a Showers ex.
5	Eevee		Ability: Boosted Evolution As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, it can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it. Reckless Charge (30) This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.	He then evolves the other Eevee on his Bench into...
6	Thunders ex		Flashing Spear (60+) You may discard up to 2 Basic Energy from your Benched Pokémon. This attack does 90 more damage for each card you discarded in this way. Dravite (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	...a Thunders ex. At this point, Retto has the three Kanto Eevee variations on his team. The number and type of Basic Energy Cards required for each of their special attacks -- Booster ex's Carnelian, Showers ex's Aquamarine, and Thunders ex's Dravite -- are all the same, giving Retto a bit of flexibility.
7	Akamatsu		Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy cards of different types, reveal them, and put 1 of them into your hand. Attach the other to 1 of your Pokémon. Then, shuffle your deck.	Retto decides to use his Akamatsu card to draw two Basic Energy Cards. He places one, a Basic Water Energy card, on the Showers ex on his Bench and then places the other, a Basic Lightning Energy card, onto the Booster ex in the Active Spot.
8	Booster ex		Burning Charge (130) Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy cards and attach them to 1 of your Pokémon. Then, shuffle your deck. Carnelian (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	Retto ends the turn by using Booster ex's "Burning Charge" attack to deal 130 damage to Tsubomi's Bracky ex. He then uses the attack's secondary effect to draw two Basic Energy cards -- a Lightning and Water -- and attaches them to his Thunders ex.

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Tsubomi's Second Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot	Booster ex	Active Spot	Bracky ex (130 damage)
Bench	Showers ex	Bench	Spin Rotom
	Thunders ex		Hoho
			Eevee
Prize Cards	6	Prize Cards	6

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Hoho		Triple Stab (10x) Flip 3 coins. This attack does 10 damage for each heads.	Tsubomi starts her second round by evolving the Hoho on her Bench into Yorunozuku.
2	Yorunozuku		Ability:  Jewel Seeker Once during your turn, when you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, if you have any Terastal Pokémon in play, you may search your deck for up to 2 Trainer cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. Speed Wing (60)	Since Tsubomi has a Terastal Pokémon (Bracky ex) in play, she's able to use Yorunozuku's "Jewel Seeker" Ability to draw two Trainer cards. She chooses a Terastal Orb and a Buddy-Buddy Poffin.
3	Area Zero Underdepths		Each player who has any Tera Pokémon in play can have up to 8 Pokémon on their Bench. If a player no longer has any Tera Pokémon in play, that player discards Pokémon from their Bench until they have 5. When this card leaves play, both players discard Pokémon from their Bench until they have 5, and the player who played this card discards first.	It's also thanks to the use of the aforementioned Bracky ex that Tsubomi's able to play Area Zero Underdepths.
4	Buddy-Buddy Poffin		Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.	She then uses the Buddy-Buddy Poffin card she just drew to pick two more Basic Pokémon -- an Eevee and a Hoho.
5	Eevee		Ability: Boosted Evolution As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, it can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it. Reckless Charge (30) This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.	A second Eevee is added to the Bench.
6	Hoho		Triple Stab (10x) Flip 3 coins. This attack does 10 damage for each heads.	A second Hoho is added as well.
7	Terastal Orb		Search your deck for a Terastal Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.	Next, Terastal Orb is used to summon a Terapagos ex.
8	Terapagos ex		Unified Beatdown (30x) If you go second, you can't use this attack during your first turn. This attack does 30 damage for each of your Benched Pokémon. Crown Opal (180) During your opponent's next turn, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks from Basic non-Colorless Pokémon.	Tsubomi places Terapagos ex on the Bench.
9	Double Turbo Energy		As long as this card is attached to a Pokémon, it provides two Colorless Energies. The attacks of the Pokémon this card is attached to do 20 less damage to your opponent's Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).	She places Double Turbo Energy on her Bracky ex...
10	Bracky ex		Moon Mirage (160) Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Confused. Onyx Discard all Energy from this Pokémon, and take a Prize card.	...and has the Pokémon end the turn by using its "Moon Mirage" attack on Retto's Booster ex. Due to the effects of Double Turbo Energy, however, the attack only ends up dealing 140 damage instead of the usual 160. The attack's secondary effect of putting Booster ex into a Confused state remains.

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Retto's Third Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot	Booster ex (140 damage, Confused)	Active Spot	Bracky ex (130 damage) Area Zero Underdepths
Bench	Showers ex	Bench	Spin Rotom
	Thunders ex		Yorunozuku
			Eevee
			Eevee
			Hoho
			Terapagos ex
Prize Cards	6	Prize Cards	6

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Suguri		Choose 1: ◆ Switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon. ◆During this turn, attacks used by your Pokémon do 30 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon ex and Active Pokémon V (before applying Weakness and Resistance).	Retto starts the round by playing a Suguri card and choosing to use the first option, "Switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon." He swaps out the Booster ex in the Active Spot with the Thunders ex in the Bench, healing Booster ex of its Confusion status in the process.
2	Showers ex		Severe Squall This attack does 60 damage to each of your opponent's Pokémon ex. This attack's damage isn't affected by Weakness or Resistance. Aquamarine (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	He then attaches a Basic Fire Energy card to the Showers ex on his Bench.
3	Thunders ex		Flashing Spear (60+) You may discard up to 2 Basic Energy from your Benched Pokémon. This attack does 90 more damage for each card you discarded in this way. Dravite (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	Now let's go back to the Thunders ex that's now in the Active Spot. Retto ends the turn by having it use its "Flashing Spear" attack. He takes the Basic Fire Energy card from the Booster ex on the Bench and sends it to the Discard pile, causing Thunder ex's attack to do 150 damage altogether (60 + 90). This is enough to Knock Out Tsubomi's Bracky ex. The Pokémon ex rule means that defeating Bracky ex earns Retto two Prize Cards for his victory, not just one.

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Tsubomi's Third Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot	Thunders ex	Active Spot	Area Zero Underdepths
Bench	Showers ex	Bench	Spin Rotom
	Booster ex (140 damage)		Yorunozuku
			Eevee
			Eevee
			Hoho
			Terapagos ex
Prize Cards	4	Prize Cards	6

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Terapagos ex		Unified Beatdown (30x) If you go second, you can't use this attack during your first turn. This attack does 30 damage for each of your Benched Pokémon. Crown Opal (180) During your opponent's next turn, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks from Basic non-Colorless Pokémon.	Tsubomi starts the turn by moving Terapagos ex from the Bench to the Active Spot.
2	Hyper Ball		You can use this card only if you discard 2 other cards from your hand. Search your deck for a Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.	Tsubomi is now on a mission to add as many Pokémon to her Bench as possible to power up Terapagos ex's "Unified Beatdown" attack. She starts by using a Hyper Ball to draw a Yorunozuku card.
3	Hoho		Triple Stab (10x) Flip 3 coins. This attack does 10 damage for each heads.	Tsubomi evolves the Hoho on her Bench into Yorunozuku, bringing the number of Yorunozoku on her Bench to two.
4	Yorunozuku		Ability:  Jewel Seeker Once during your turn, when you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, if you have any Terastal Pokémon in play, you may search your deck for up to 2 Trainer cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. Speed Wing (60)	She then uses Yorunozuku's "Jewel Seeker" Ability to add a Buddy-Buddy Poffin and a Suguri card to her hand.
5	Eevee ex		Ability: Rainbow DNA This Pokémon can evolve into any Pokémon ex that evolves from Eevee if you play it from your hand onto this Pokémon. (This Pokémon can't evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it.) Coruscating Quartz (200)	She draws an Eevee ex and adds it to her Bench.
6	Buddy-Buddy Poffin		Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.	She then uses the Buddy-Buddy Poffin card she just drew to add a second Hoho and a second Spin Rotom card.
7	Hoho		Triple Stab (10x) Flip 3 coins. This attack does 10 damage for each heads.	Hoho is added to the Bench.
8	Spin Rotom		Ability: Fan Call Once during your first turn, you may search your deck for up to 3 Colorless Pokémon with 100 HP or less, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. You can't use more than 1 Fan Call Ability during your turn. Assault Landing (70) If there is no Stadium in play, this attack does nothing.	So is Spin Rotom.
9	Glass Trumpet		You can use this card only if you have any Terastal Pokémon in play. Choose up to 2 of your Benched Colorless Pokémon and attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to each of them.	Next, Tsubomi uses Glass Trumpet to attach a Basic Darkness Energy to one of her Eevee and a Basic Psychic Energy to her other Eevee.
10	Terapagos ex		Unified Beatdown (30x) If you go second, you can't use this attack during your first turn. This attack does 30 damage for each of your Benched Pokémon. Crown Opal (180) During your opponent's next turn, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks from Basic non-Colorless Pokémon.	She then attaches a Basic Psychic Energy card to her Terapagos ex.
11	Sparkling Crystal		When the Terastal Pokémon this card is attached to uses an attack, that attack costs 1 Energy less. (The Energy can be of any type.)	Tsubomi uses Sparkling Crystal on her Terapagos ex so that its "Unified Beatdown" attack now only requires one Energy card instead of two.
12	Suguri		Choose 1: ◆ Switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon. ◆During this turn, attacks used by your Pokémon do 30 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon ex and Active Pokémon V (before applying Weakness and Resistance).	Tsubomi then chooses the second option of Suguri's card to boost the strength of Terapagos ex's attack.
13	Terapagos ex		Unified Beatdown (30x) If you go second, you can't use this attack during your first turn. This attack does 30 damage for each of your Benched Pokémon. Crown Opal (180) During your opponent's next turn, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks from Basic non-Colorless Pokémon.	It's now time for Terapagos ex's "Unified Breakdown" attack! Tsubomi has eight Benched Pokémon, so 8 x 30 = 240, and then add in the effect from Suguri's card (+30) and you get a total of 270 damage. This enables her to Knock Out Retto's Thunders ex. The Pokémon ex rule means that defeating Thunders ex earns Tsubomi two Prize Cards for her victory, not just one.

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Retto's Fourth Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot		Active Spot	Terapagos ex Area Zero Underdepths
Bench	Showers ex	Bench	Spin Rotom
	Booster ex (140 damage)		Yorunozuku
			Eevee
			Eevee
			Yorunozuku
			Hoho
			Spin Rotom
			Eevee ex
Prize Cards	4	Prize Cards	4

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Showers ex		Severe Squall This attack does 60 damage to each of your opponent's Pokémon ex. This attack's damage isn't affected by Weakness or Resistance. Aquamarine (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	Retto starts his next turn by moving Showers ex from the Bench to the Active Spot.
2	Energy Switch		Move a Basic Energy from 1 of your Pokémon to another of your Pokémon.	He then uses Energy Switch to move the Basic Lightning Energy card attached to Booster ex over to Showers ex.
3	Showers ex		Severe Squall This attack does 60 damage to each of your opponent's Pokémon ex. This attack's damage isn't affected by Weakness or Resistance. Aquamarine (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	Retto ends the turn by using Showers ex's "Aquamarine," dealing 280 damage to Tsubomi's Terapagos ex and earning a Knock Out. Once again the Pokémon ex rule comes into play, allowing Retto to take two Prize Cards for his victory.

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Tsubomi's Fourth Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot	Showers ex	Active Spot	Area Zero Underdepths
Bench	Booster ex (140 damage)	Bench	Spin Rotom
			Yorunozuku
			Eevee
			Eevee
			Yorunozuku
			Hoho
			Spin Rotom
			Eevee ex
Prize Cards	2	Prize Cards	4

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Eevee		Ability: Boosted Evolution As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, it can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it. Reckless Charge (30) This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.	Tsubomi starts the turn by placing one of her regular Eevee in the Active Spot.
2	Terastal Orb		Search your deck for a Terastal Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.	Next, she uses Terastal Orb to add Bracky ex to her hand.
3	Eevee		Ability: Boosted Evolution As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, it can evolve during your first turn or the turn you play it. Reckless Charge (30) This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.	Tsubomi evolves the Eevee in the Active Spot to Bracky ex.
4	Double Turbo Energy		As long as this card is attached to a Pokémon, it provides two Colorless Energies. The attacks of the Pokémon this card is attached to do 20 less damage to your opponent's Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).	She then places Double Turbo Energy on her Bracky ex.
5	Crushing Hammer		Flip a coin. If heads, discard an Energy from 1 of your opponent's Pokémon.	Tsubomi takes out her Crushing Hammer card next. She flips a coin and gets heads, allowing her to discard the Basic Lightning Energy card attached to Retto's Showers ex.
6	Pokémon Catcher		Flip a coin. If heads, switch in 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot.	Tsubomi's lucky streak continues when the coin toss she does for Pokémon Catcher comes up in her favor. She uses the card's effect to swap out the Showers ex in Retto's Active Spot with the Booster ex on his Bench. Booster ex still has the 140 damage it was dealt from a previous round.
7	Briar		You can use this card only if your opponent has exactly 2 Prize cards remaining. During this turn, if your opponent's Active Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from an attack used by your Terastal Pokémon, take 1 more Prize card.	Next, Tsubomi takes out her Briar card. Now all Tsubomi has to do is knock out Retto's Booster ex with her own Bracky ex and she'll be able to claim an extra Prize Card.
8	Bracky ex		Moon Mirage (160) Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Confused. Onyx Discard all Energy from this Pokémon, and take a Prize card.	And so, Tsubomi does just that! She has Bracky ex use "Moon Mirage," dealing 140 damage (20 gets subtracted due to Double Turbo Energy) and causing a Knock Out for Booster ex. She gets two Prize Cards due to the Pokémon ex rule and then a third Prize Card thanks to her Briar card, for a total of three Prize Cards.

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Retto's Fifth Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot		Active Spot	Bracky ex Area Zero Underdepths
Bench	Showers ex	Bench	Spin Rotom
			Yorunozuku
			Eevee
			Yorunozuku
			Hoho
			Spin Rotom
			Eevee ex
Prize Cards	2	Prize Cards	1

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Showers ex		Severe Squall This attack does 60 damage to each of your opponent's Pokémon ex. This attack's damage isn't affected by Weakness or Resistance. Aquamarine (280) During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack.	Retto moves Showers ex to the Active Spot. It doesn't have enough Basic Energy cards to use its "Aquamarine" attack, thanks to the Crushing Hammer card Tsubomi used in the previous round, so he has no choice but to end the round without doing anything.

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Tsubomi's Fifth Turn

Retto		Tsubomi
Active Spot	Showers ex	Active Spot	Bracky ex Area Zero Underdepths
Bench		Bench	Spin Rotom
			Yorunozuku
			Eevee
			Yorunozuku
			Hoho
			Spin Rotom
			Eevee ex
Prize Cards	2	Prize Cards	1

#	Card	Art	Card Text	Effect
1	Akamatsu		Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy cards of different types, reveal them, and put 1 of them into your hand. Attach the other to 1 of your Pokémon. Then, shuffle your deck.	It is now Tsubomi's turn to use an Akamatsu card. She uses this to add a Basic Psychic Energy card to her hand.
2	Bracky ex		Moon Mirage (160) Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Confused. Onyx Discard all Energy from this Pokémon, and take a Prize card.	She then attaches the Basic Psychic Energy card she just drew, as well as a Basic Lightning Energy card she already had in her hand, and attaches them both to Bracky ex.
3	Bracky ex		Moon Mirage (160) Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Confused. Onyx Discard all Energy from this Pokémon, and take a Prize card.	She ends the turn by using Bracky ex's "Onyx" attack. The attack enables Tsubomi to claim her final Prize Card, winning her the match!

Retto is upset to have lost in such an anti-climatic way but Tsubomi doesn't mind as she happily skips away.

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Notes
The appearance of the rival character in this chapter is based on a similar character from the Pocket Monsters Scarlet & Violet video games.

Tsubomi (つぼみ)	Botan (ボタン)