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Lillipup card artwork from BW trainer Kit (Excadrill)

Image courtesy of TCGdex.net

Overview

The Lillipup card from the BW trainer Kit (Excadrill) represents a basic, Colorless-type Pokémon used primarily as a teaching tool within a trainer-focused expansion. Released as part of a 30-card official set embedded in a Trainer Kit, this instance of the species is depicted with its characteristic resilience and adaptability. While not designed for standard tournament play, the card illustrates core mechanics typical of the early black-and-white era, including simple energy costs and straightforward attacks. The flavor text highlights the Pokémon’s courage in the face of stronger opponents and its propensity to retreat when at a disadvantage, a personality trait that aligns with its in-game behavior and evolution lineage in the broader Pokémon IP.

In terms of release context, the BW trainer kit series provided players with introductory cards and a curated subset of mechanics to demonstrate deck-building concepts. This Lillipup is one such instance, featuring a basic stage with two low-cost attacks and a standard Fighting-type weakness. The card’s existence within a trainer kit rather than a standard booster pack contributes to its rarity designation and impacts its availability on the secondary market.

Card Information

Name: Lillipup
Set: BW trainer Kit (Excadrill) — set code TK-BW-E
Rarity: None
Illustrator: Mosakazu Fukuda
Dex Number (National Pokédex): 506
Type: Colorless
HP: 50
Stage: Basic
Evolution: Evolution chain typically progresses from Lillipup → Herdier → Stoutland
Attacks:
- Pickup — Cost: Colorless. Effect: Put an Item card from your discard pile into your hand.
- Bite — Cost: Colorless. Damage: 10
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat Cost: 1
Legal Formats: Standard: No; Expanded: No
Flavor Text: “It faces strong opponents with great courage. But, when at a disadvantage in a fight, this intelligent Pokémon flees.”
Variant Availability: Normal, Holo, and Reverse-Holo variants exist within the set structure; wPromo: False

The card’s exact role within the BW trainer Kit is to demonstrate how Item cards can be retrieved from the discard pile, a mechanic that interacts with deck-building strategies centered on resource recovery. The small HP pool and two uncomplicated attacks underscore its function as an instructional asset rather than a high-powered combatant in competitive play.

Gameplay and Strategy

Within its game context, the Lillipup card emphasizes two fundamental mechanics: the use of Colorless energy and modest attack damage paired with a utility effect. The Pickup attack allows players to recover an Item card from the discard pile, enabling value loops and resource management—concepts that are essential for understanding discard and retrieval strategies in Pokémon TCG history. This mechanic is especially relevant in teaching environments or beginner decks, where demonstrating how to recycle resources can help players grasp broader strategic concepts without requiring specialized energy acceleration or intricate combos.

In terms of practical deck-building, the card’s 50 HP and only two Attacks place it outside the realm of viability for high-level competition in standard formats. Its not-legal status for standard and expanded formats further reinforces its instructional purpose rather than tournament relevance. When considered in a standalone context, players may still explore several conceptual strategies, including:

Build around retrieving discarded Items to maximize effects like Draw Power or utility equipment from earlier turns, using the two-colorless cost to keep energy requirements simple.
The combination of a small attacker with a defensive weakness can be paired with other on-bench or Trainer-focused cards that slow opponents while you rebuild resources, highlighting how basic Pokémon contribute to broader game plans even when individually underpowered.
As a Basic stage, the card serves as the foundational partner in an evolution line that typically culminates in more powerful forms. Understanding when to evolve and how to leverage a lower-HP range in conjunction with other bench-presence strategies is a recurring teaching theme in early-generation sets.

Because the card is not standard-legal, it rarely participates in modern competitive trends. Nevertheless, it remains a useful reference point for discussing core TCG mechanics—specifically the interaction between discard-pile resources and live draws—and for illustrating how trainer-focused sets introduced practical demonstrations of these mechanics to players new to the game.

Collector and Market Information

The rarity designation of None indicates that this Lillipup exists as part of a Trainer Kit rather than as a standalone booster-pull card. Trainer Kits often feature a curated subset of cards intended to teach mechanics or complement specific gameplay themes, rather than to drive high card-value collectibility on their own. Consequently, pricing data for this specific card may be sparse or shown only in the context of the kit as a whole, rather than as an isolated market price for a single card.

Variant presence (Normal, Holo, and Reverse-Holo) within the BW trainer Kit suggests some collector interest among enthusiasts who pursue complete holo or reverse-holo sets from trainer kits. However, the absence of a formal rarity designation and the non-standard legality mean that market demand is typically more modest compared with cornerstone TCG cards released in booster sets. Official pricing from major marketplaces (e.g., CardMarket or TCGPlayer) is not listed for this particular card in the provided data, reflecting its trainer-kit-centric distribution and limited standalone scarcity.

For collectors, the card’s value is more closely tied to its condition, specific variant (normal, holo, reverse-holo), and the completeness of the BW trainer Kit collection within a broader inventory. Grading considerations for trainer-kit cards tend to follow standard guidelines, though the packaging context (kit-based distribution) can influence rarity perception among collectors. The updated timestamp of the card data suggests ongoing cataloging and verification of its attributes in contemporary databases.

Art and Lore

The artwork is credited to Mosakazu Fukuda, a known illustrator within the Pokémon TCG ecosystem. Fukuda’s rendering for this Lillipup emphasizes the creature’s compact, puppy-like design, consistent with the species’ general aesthetic in the franchise. The flavor text accompanies the image with characterful narration that aligns with established lore for Lillipup—a Pokémon noted for its courage in the face of stronger foes and its tendency to retreat when at a disadvantage. This balance between bravery and caution mirrors the broader themes associated with early-stage Lillipup family members in the Pokémon world.

As a card from a trainer-focused set, the artwork also serves a functional role in differentiating variants (Normal, Holo, Reverse-Holo) by slight production nuances and holofoil treatment. Collectors often regard holo variants as more visually striking, contributing to variant-specific interest even when the card’s gameplay value is modest.

Trivia

The card belongs to the BW trainer Kit (Excadrill) collection, a release intended to teach players through a curated assortment of cards rather than a standard booster distribution.
Dex number 506 places this Lillipup within the Gen V roster, aligning with the generation’s broader introduction of Hoenn and Unova-region Pokémon into the trading card game.
The two attacks—Pickup and Bite—highlight a classic blend of utility and straightforward offense common to basic-stage cards, illustrating how even simple creatures can contribute to a deck’s strategy through card selection and resource management.
The card is marked as not legal in standard or expanded formats, reflecting its role as a teaching tool rather than a competitive staple.
Illustrator Mosakazu Fukuda contributes to a line of Pokémon TCG artwork characterized by clean lines and accessible character design, which helps new players quickly recognize and connect with the depicted Pokémon.

References

For broader context on related topics and mechanics, the following external articles provide discussions on deck outcomes, power-toughness considerations, astro-niche metallic clues in distant celestial bodies, set narratives, and video content strategies. These sources offer perspective on card utility, strategic thinking, and community engagement beyond the card itself:

📘 Lillipup (Pokémon TCG Card)