Brock – Genetic Apex
Date Reviewed: April 18, 2025
Ratings Summary:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Brock (A1 224, 271) is a Trainer Supporter that lets you attach a (F) Energy, from your Energy Zone, to one of your Pokémon named “Golem” or “Onix”. This does not affect any Energy currently in your Energy Zone, nor does it alter what Energy will be provided by your Energy Zone in the future. Brock is available at the ♦♦ and ★★ rarities.
There are currently no card effects in Pocket that apply to Trainer cards in general. You may only play a Supporter once during your turn. Pocket doesn’t have any Supporter “support”, but it does have three counters, all from Genetic Apex: Gengar (A1 122), Gengar ex (A1 123, 261, 277), and Psyduck (A1 057). Gengar and Psyduck have single Energy attacks that do a little damage, while preventing your opponent from using a Supporter during their next turn. Gengar ex has an Ability that, while it is your Active Pokémon, prevents your opponent from playing Supporters.
Being a Supporter doesn’t seem to be as restrictive in Pocket as it tends to be in the full TCG. The same once-per-turn rule applies to Supporters in both games; the difference is that one isn’t as worried about having a turn without a Supporter in Pocket as they would be (or have been) for most of the full TCG’s existence. Perhaps the biggest risk of a Supporter heavy deck, is that the tendency for Supporters to build up in your hand can make you more vulnerable to hand disruption.
Energy acceleration can be a very potent effect, as it allows access to attacks sooner than that attack would normally be available. Which means it can fake being a damage bonus, as more costly attacks tend to hit harder. Brock attaches a single (F) Energy, with not additional costs… but with a fairly strict condition: the Energy can only be attached to Golem or Onix. Brock won’t work with Golem’s lower Stages, nor will it work with Onix’ evolved form, Steelix1. If we were to get a card named “Golem ex”, or “Onix ex”, Brock would not work with them, either.
We only have one Onix card so far, Onix (A1 150; P-A 021). It is a (F) Type, Basic Pokémon with 110 HP, (G) Weakness, (C)(C)(C)(C) Retreat Cost, and the attack “Land Crush”. For (F)(F)(F), Land Crush allows Onix to hit the opponent’s Active for 70 damage. We have two options for Golem: Golem (A1 149) and Golem (A1a 045). Both are Fighting-Type, Stage 2 Pokémon that evolve from Graveler. They both have 160 HP, (G) Weakness, and one attack.
Golem (A1 149) has a Retreat Cost of (C)(C)(C)(C), and for (F)(C)(C)(C) can use “Double-Edge” to hit the opponent’s Active for 150 damage, but also 50 damage to itself. Golem (A1a 045) has a Retreat Cost of (C)(C)(C), and for (F)(F)(F)(C) can use “Guard Press” to do 120 damage to the opponent’s active, while reducing the damage that Golem takes by 30, until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
Going by the results on LimitlessTCG, Onix and Golem (A1 149) were experimented with, but never saw any real success. Golem (A1a 045) decks did see some success, but only for some of the time after Mythical Island released, but before Space-Time Smackdown joined Pocket. Now, if we judged by how well these three have performed, Brock would be a bad card… and it kind of is. What do I mean “kind of”? Let’s look at the poster girl for Supporter-based Energy acceleration: Misty (A1 220, 267).
I originally ranked Misty as the third best Trainer card of Genetic Apex. If you’re new to the game, Misty is arguably a broken Trainer. “Broken” meaning “so good it breaks game balance”. Misty’s effect requires you select one of your (W) Pokémon that are in play. You then flip a coin until you get “tails”; for each “heads”, you attach a (W) Energy to the (W) Pokémon you already selected. Half the time, this attack does nothing, but the other half, it attaches one or more (W) Energy.
While Misty potentially attaching large amounts of Energy is a major part of why it is so good, the other major part – and difference between it and Brock – is what can be targeted. Brock is restricted to a Stage 2 and a Basic, which are not part of the same evolution line. Misty may fail half the time, but she can be used alongside already competitive (W) Pokémon, because any (W) Pokémon is a legal Misty target!
Unlike Misty, Brock is reliable… and that’s actually a great thing, even though Brock can only attach a single Energy. Hypothetically, if Brock worked with all Fighting-Types, he might be broken. All the already competitive, Basic (F) Types who attack for just (C) or (F)? They’d have a chance of attacking Turn 1. Anything Fighting Type that needed (F)(F), (F)(C), or (C)(C) to attack could go from “zero” to “attacking” with relative ease. It’s also help with all the three and four Energy attack costs, as well!
Instead, we’ve got an Onix that, at the earliest, can attack on your second turn. If you go first, that’s Turn 3 if your Turn 1 and 3 Supporters are both Brock, and you use your manual Energy attachment for a third (F) Energy on Turn 3. If you go second, you can bring Land Crush online by Turn 4 with “just” one Brock and both your Turn 2 and 4 manual Energy attachments… or again with two Brock and just one Energy attachment.
With either Golem, you have to go second, manually attach to Geodude Turn 2 (your first turn), Turn 3 you evolve that Geodude into Graveler and attach again (or vice verse), and then on Turn 4, you can finally evolve into Golem, use a Brock, and manually attach the final, fourth Energy. Or manually attach to Graveler and then evolve into Golem and use Brock. If Turn 1 was your first turn, Golem can still hit the field on your third turn (Turn 5), but it won’t be ready to attack until Turn 7, and that’s with Brock!
Yes, a better Onix and/or Golem could face all the same issues, but still prove competitive. Yes, better options for Geodude and Graveler would also help, but probably not enough to make it better to actually have them up front instead of everyone’s favorite non-attacking meatshield, Druddigon (A1a 056). Brock is still horribly restricted in what he can target. Hypothetical number two is just imagining if he could also target Geodude and Graveler; still on theme, but Golem could actually be ready by turn Turn 5 (and would be easier to ready by Turn 4).
Since I brought up Misty, let me also bring up Palkia ex (A2 A2 049, 182, 204, 206). Again, there aren’t any cards named “Onix ex” or “Golem ex”, and if there were, they’d be illegal targets for Brock. However, it’s not the ex status we’re worried about, it’s the single Energy attack. An Onix with a worthwhile attack for (F) or (F)(F) could really help Brock out. Or we we got a Golem with an attack like that of Machamp (A2b 039; P-A 055). This recent Machamp can do 70 damage for (F)(F), but if you have an extra (F)(F) attached, it hits for 120 instead.
While almost all (W) decks run Misty, they also have good enough Pokémon to have a solid chance of winning even if both Misty no-show, or you flip nothing but “tails” for her. With what we’ve got, Brock needs to show up ASAP (for Onix), or by the time a Golem hits the table… and it doesn’t dramatically speed the decks up due to the combination of high Energy costs and Golem being a Stage 2. Brock could be good, if we’d get a better Onix and/or Golem for him to work with. Preferably both, with attack costs that can make do without Brock, but are clearly better with him.
Rating: 2/5
I hate scoring Brock this low. Yeah, some of that is me being a shameless Brock fan when it comes to the ol’ Pokémon cartoon. The rest of it is because he really does a good thing, even only working with two Pokémon… but that didn’t stop Koga (A1 222, 269) from being good. Koga isn’t all that good now, but it was until recently because Weezing (A1 177, 243) was good. So I have hope that Brock will one day get good.
1Steelix has not yet debuted in Pocket.
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