Off the top of my head, I think I can still remember about 50 of the original Pokémon. Show me some pictures as well and that number probably – probably – doubles. But now that there are over 700 different Pokémon, most of which are available to collect in the official Pokémon Trading Card Game…well, I’m as confused as a Slowpoke (one of the few that I can remember).

Released around the same time as the original games (Red and Blue, baby!), over the years, as the Pokémon brand has grown from strength-to-strength, so too has the Trading Card Game, and the latest announcement about the imminent release of a new expansion pack for it - XY – Primal Clash – is sure to have TCG players everywhere more excited than a Squirtle with a new pair of sunglasses.

Available in store February 4th, booster packs and theme decks Earth’s Pulse and Ocean’s Core are set to introduce 160 new cards to collect and play with. Key features of this latest expansion include a TCG debut for Primal Reversion, with Primal Kyogre-EX and Primal Groudon-EX, as well as 12 new Pokémon-EX cards, each with a full-art rare Ultra version, including Sharpedo-EX, Trevenant-EX, Wailord-EX, and Camerupt-EX, plus two new Mega Evolution Pokémon: Mega Aggron-EX and Mega Gardevoir-EX.

Ancient Traits will also appear for the first time, a gameplay aspect that gives certain advantages in battle and will appear on 10% to 20% of Pokémon in XY—Primal Clash. These will accompany 31 Trainer cards – many brand new - four full-art rare Ultra cards, four secret rare cards, and two Special Energy cards to add new depth and tactics to the game.

And if that doesn’t excite you enough, here’s a look at a couple of the new cards, just to whet your appetite:

Pokemon Card 1 Pokemon Card 2

So collectors, polish up those Pokéballs and prepare to embark on a totally new Pokémon adventure!