Cleffa has 30 HP and an attack with no damage number. Put it beside the legends on Pokémon TCG Pocket’s booster packs and it looks like a curious choice for the front of your team. Yet its attack can put another Pokémon into your hand without using any attached Energy. The little creature is there to help the next part of the game happen.
Wisdom of Sea and Sky, released in Europe on 30 July 2025, brought Ho-Oh, Lugia and familiar Johto partners to Pocket. Looking back at the expansion now, its pleasure lies in discovering what those characters actually do on a card. A colourful legend attracts the eye; a small helper can explain how a team gets ready.
Ho-Oh and Lugia introduce a region full of familiar faces
The expansion’s two booster designs feature Ho-Oh and Lugia. Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile also appear, giving fans of Johto’s first partners another way into the collection. The scene on a pack and the cards available inside are different things, so check the particular pack when looking for a card.
That distinction also helps when you recognise a favourite. “I want Lugia” is a collecting wish. “I want a Pokémon that helps this attacker get ready” is a deck-building question. Both can lead you through the same expansion, with different details catching your attention.
The expansion also arrived alongside changes to trading in July 2025, including the removal of trade tokens and the introduction of a wishlist. For an exchange now, use the current app requirements. Pokémon Support’s FAQ, updated in September 2026, sets the wishlist limit at 40 cards; the launch announcement had set it at 20.
For a family, start with the character someone already loves. A child might recognise Chikorita’s leaf or Cyndaquil’s back before reading a line of rules. Keep that enthusiasm, then turn the card over in the conversation: what place does this version have in a match?
Cleffa brings a Pokémon into your hand without Energy
Wisdom of Sea and Sky’s Cleffa has an attack called Twinkly Call. It puts one random Pokémon from your deck into your hand. The attack requires no Energy, and the card has no Retreat Cost. Those three details give the small Basic Pokémon a clear role in getting started.
The word random matters. Cleffa might bring you the Pokémon you were hoping for, but you do not select a particular one. Its effect gives you another possibility to work with. You still have to see what you received and whether the board is ready for it.
Imagine a friendly match in which an Evolution Pokémon is waiting somewhere in your deck. Cleffa uses its attack and a Pokémon reaches your hand. If it is a useful Evolution, you can plan how to bring it into play under the normal rules. If it is another Basic Pokémon, it may offer a different route. Either way, the attack has changed your options rather than dealt damage.
A zero-Energy attack still uses your attack for the turn. Cleffa also has only 30 HP, so leaving it in front gives the opponent a small target. On a later turn, its free retreat can help you move on once another Pokémon is ready. That combination makes the choice interesting: help now, then make room for the teammate you prepared.
Pichu and Magby prepare Energy for the Bench
Other baby Pokémon put their small turn to work in another way. Pokémon’s official Mega Kangaskhan ex strategy, published in February 2026, uses Pichu and Magby from Wisdom of Sea and Sky among the helpers that accelerate Energy onto Benched Pokémon.
That is a different kind of preparation from Cleffa’s. One helps you find a Pokémon; another helps a teammate become ready to attack. Looking at those jobs separately makes a deck easier to understand. An impressive attacker needs to arrive in your hand, enter play and have the Energy required for its attack.
In that later deck example, the baby Pokémon prepare the main attacker and can retreat to give it the Active Spot. It shows how a card from the Johto expansion can find a role alongside a Pokémon released afterwards. A collection is sorted by expansion; a team can mix cards from several.
You can ask a child to explain the handover: “This one helped me get ready; now this one takes over.” The explanation is specific enough to test in a match. Watch whether the attacker was actually ready when the helper moved away.
Eevee shows why the version of a card matters
Wisdom of Sea and Sky’s Eevee offers another route to finding a teammate. Find a Friend puts a random Pokémon from your deck into your hand. The official Espeon ex and Sylveon ex strategy uses that effect to help reach the Evolution Pokémon the deck needs.
Now compare that with Eevee ex from Eevee Grove, which the same strategy also includes. Its Veevee ’volve Ability gives it a different role involving Eevee’s Evolutions. The familiar face on the illustration does not tell you which effect you are holding.
That is a useful collecting detail as well as a playing lesson. When someone says “my Eevee”, ask which set and which version. You can find the reference on the card, compare the text and notice why two apparently similar favourites belong in different places in a deck.
You need not collect every version to enjoy the comparison. Use the ones already available and read the particular effect you want to try. The pleasure is in discovering how your favourite helps, not in chasing an unspecified better card.
A Johto Evolution can help a teammate recover
Espeon ex from Wisdom of Sea and Sky adds another role. Its Psychic Healing Ability can heal one of your Pokémon while Espeon ex is in the Active Spot. That includes a damaged Pokémon waiting on the Bench.
Position is the useful detail here. You must think about where Espeon ex stands as well as who needs help. The official strategy pairs it with cards from other expansions, showing a team in which several versions of Eevee and its Evolutions do different jobs.
Put these examples side by side:
| Card or group | What it prepares | Detail to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Cleffa | Another Pokémon in your hand | The Pokémon is random; Cleffa has 30 HP |
| Pichu or Magby | Energy on a Benched teammate | Which teammate will use it |
| This set’s Eevee | Another Pokémon in your hand | Read this version’s Find a Friend |
| Espeon ex | A damaged Pokémon’s next opportunity | Espeon ex must be in the Active Spot |
The table describes roles to recognise, rather than one complete recommended deck. Choose a single interaction to explore with the cards you already have. A match becomes easier to discuss when everyone knows what the little helper was trying to accomplish.
Give one turn a Johto story worth drawing
For an afternoon together, choose a small goal. Pick one helper and watch one moment: did Cleffa bring another option into your hand, or did a baby Pokémon prepare the attacker waiting behind it? Tell that moment in a sentence before reaching for the colouring pencils.
For a shared picture, choose an outline from the second-generation Pokémon collection and place a small helper beside the favourite it prepared. Add a caption based on the match, or label an invented scene as your own. One remembered action gives the drawing a story.
Ho-Oh and Lugia can keep their place on the packs. On your own team, the Pokémon worth remembering may be the tiny one that made the next turn possible.
