The first widely released Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion was the Base Set. It established the card game’s original visual style, card categories, and familiar early Pokémon roster.
The Base Set launched in Japan in 1996 as the first Pokémon card expansion and later reached English-speaking markets. It included Pokémon, Trainer, and Energy cards, allowing players to build decks and battle under the game’s rules.
Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur became especially famous Base Set cards because they were powerful or visually prominent and appeared on the covers of the original video-game versions. The set also helped make Pokémon a major collectible-card phenomenon alongside the games and anime.
Jungle and Fossil are often named as the first set because they were early expansions. They followed Base Set, adding new cards after the original release rather than beginning the trading-card line.