Pokemon TCG Battle Academy Released To Stores

As of today, the Pokemon TCG Battle Academy board game experience is in stores around the world. This game is a mix of game types – a bit of the board game, a bit of the card game. To more broadly appeal to people of all ages, the company's taken what already works – the Pokemon card game – and re-worked the basics into a board game of sorts.

"For more than 20 years, the beloved Pokémon Trading Card Game has connected people across the globe over their shared love of collecting cool cards, trading them with friends, and playing the official game," said J.C. Smith, senior director of consumer marketing at The Pokémon Company International, making us all feel ancient.

The Pokemon TCG Battle Academy retail box includes a two-player game board, three 60-card decks from which players can choose, tutorial guides, and gameplay accessories. As it is with all modern Pokemon TCG packages, this one also contains one code card for free cards in the Pokemon Trading Card Game Online for Android, iOS, and through the Pokemon official website.

The three decks from which you'll choose focus on a surprising set of hero Pokemon. In the vast majority of "choose one of three" Pokemon game releases, we're choosing between Fire, Water, and Grass type Pokemon. In this case, we've still got the Fire with Charizard, but the other two are Psychic and Electric. Raichu and Mewtwo are the heroes of the other two decks – how about that?

"With Battle Academy," said Smith, "we are excited to give families a fun and accessible way to spend quality time together while bonding over something both kids and longtime fans of the franchise adore: Pokémon TCG cards."

We'll have more information on this board game of sorts as soon as we get our hands on it. We'll be playtesting the decks and bringing you all the information you need on the full package, soon!