Forest

The 1999 Starter Forest card was released as part of the inaugural Pokémon Trading Game set, serving as a fundamental component of the Grass-type energy system. Designed by Media Factory for Wizards of the Coast, this card was created to provide players with the resources necessary to power Grass-type attacks, reflecting the game's core mechanic of matching energy types to specific elemental creatures. The minimalist design, featuring a central forest icon against a green field, was intended to prioritize functional clarity for new players learning the complexities of the burgeoning trading card game.

The art and layout of the Starter set were heavily influenced by the established aesthetic of the original Japanese Pocket Monsters card game. By maintaining a clean, easily recognizable visual style, the illustrators ensured that the game remained accessible to a wide audience during its rapid international expansion in the late 1990s. While basic energy cards are often overlooked by casual observers, this specific 1999 printing remains a historically significant artifact of the franchise's launch, representing the bedrock upon which the entire competitive Pokémon ecosystem was built.