Lost Zone
The Lost Zone (Japanese: ロストゾーン) is a zone in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, first introduced in the Platinum expansion. It is strongly associated with Giratina. Unlike other game zones, there is only a single Lost Zone, shared by both players. No game rule causes a card to be moved to it; instead, some card effects cause cards to be placed into the Lost Zone.
Much like the discard pile, cards in the Lost Zone are considered public knowledge; there are, however, no effects to retrieve cards from the Lost Zone or effects that trigger when a card is placed there, rendering them unplayable during the rest of the match.
The number of cards in the Lost Zone, as well as the properties of specific cards in the zone, can be referenced by other cards. Such effects are an incentive to put the opponent or one's own cards into the Lost Zone. Many of these effects only care about the cards a specific player has in the Lost Zone, not necessarily every card. (However, some effects do indeed only care about cards in the Lost Zone and not about who owns them.)
Prism Star cards, as per the Prism Star rule, are moved to the Lost Zone if they would be moved to the discard pile.
Location
The place on the playfield where the Lost Zone is placed is often disputed. Rulebooks advise that cards in the Lost Zone should be placed face up outside of the play area. Meanwhile, players in tournaments often tuck cards in the Lost Zone underneath their GX or VSTAR markers. The Play! Pokémon Tournament Rules Handbook enforces players keep their Lost Zone above their Prize cards in a neat stack.[1] While the Lost Zone is a single zone that both players use, players usually keep the cards that they own separate from the opponent's cards while in the Lost Zone. The Tournament Rules Handbook supports this interpretation, notably using the phrase "A player's Lost Zone...".
, and Enamorus
all within the Lost Zone, or at least within the gas that is tied to the dimension.Digital implementations of the Trading Card Game present the Lost Zone in different ways. Pokémon Trading Card Game Online represented the Lost Zone as a single stack next to the Active Spot, with a line separating either player's cards in the Lost Zone while inspecting this stack. Pokémon Trading Card Game Live represents the Lost Zone as a purple void that cards are sucked into, located to the left of the Active Spots. This void only appears after the first time a card enters the Lost Zone. There is one void for both players, but the contents of the Lost Zone can be sorted by each player.
Backstory
In Lost Origin, Giratina tore a hole in the fabric of space that leads to the Lost Zone.[2] Giratina VSTAR is described to have plunged "the world into the abyssal shadow of the Lost Zone!"[3] The Lost Zone is described as having "powerful shadows".[4]
The art of the cards Lost World and Lost City may either show locations with prominent connections to the Lost Zone or be depictions of the Lost Zone.
Sets
Cards with text referring to the Lost Zone are in the following sets:
- Platinum
- Supreme Victors
- Arceus
- Triumphant
- Call of Legends
- Forbidden Light
- Lost Thunder
- Team Up
- Cosmic Eclipse
- Lost Origin
- Crown Zenith
(This list excludes the Prism Star rule. For those cards, see the Prism Star page.)
Artwork
Different sets use different motifs in the art to indicate that the card cares about the Lost Zone.
- HeartGold & SoulSilver Series: Cards have spheres of purple, crackling energy in the artwork.
- Sun & Moon Series: Some cards continue to use energy spheres, but the color range is extended to include blues and blacks. Other cards instead use any kind of purple or blue energy. Full Art cards do not follow this motif.
- Sword & Shield Series: Cards have wisps of purple, pink, and blue gas emanate from the frame of the art. Pokémon V and Pokémon VSTAR do not have frames, but incorporate the gas into the art. Full Art cards do not follow this motif.
Some Item cards use Lost Zone colors in their design, like Lost Remover, Mirage Gate, Lost Vacuum and Lost Blender.
Cards
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. |
The following is a list of all cards which have an effect referring to the Lost Zone.
(This list excludes the Prism Star rule. For those cards, see the Prism Star page.)
Trivia
- In Creating a Strong Stage 2 Pokémon Deck, an episode of Top Deck Academy, an incorrect answer to a trivia question involved sending a player "to the Lost Zone, ending the game".[5]
In other languages
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Thai name |
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See also
References
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This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. |