Special conditions add a layer of ongoing risk to the game beyond straightforward attack damage, and mixing them up can cost a match.
The five conditions
Poisoned deals damage between turns. Burned deals damage between turns and requires a coin flip to shake off. Asleep prevents attacking or retreating until a coin flip succeeds. Paralyzed prevents attacking or retreating for one turn only. Confused requires a coin flip to attack successfully at all.
How they combine
Poisoned and Burned can stack with each other and with anything else. Asleep, Paralyzed and Confused can't combine with one another — applying a new one from that trio simply replaces whichever was already active.
The retreat escape valve
Retreating a Pokémon to the Bench clears all of its special conditions, which is exactly why retreating gets used defensively to shake off a bad Asleep or Confused rather than just riding it out.
Frequently asked questions
How many special conditions exist in the Pokémon TCG?
Five: Poisoned, Burned, Asleep, Paralyzed and Confused.
Can a Pokémon have more than one special condition at once?
Yes, except Asleep, Paralyzed and Confused can't combine with each other.
Does retreating remove a special condition?
Yes, retreating clears all special conditions from a Pokémon.