| | Details: Neo Discovery is the ninth set of cards from the Pokémon Trading Card Game. It comes after Neo Genesis and before Southern Islands. Its symbol is a Mayan temple. The Neo part of its name is Greek for "new," since this set features Pokémon considered new during its release. The Discovery part probably implies the discovery of the mysterious Unown in the Ruins of Alph in Johto. While the architectural structure of the ruins is ambiguous in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal, in Pokémon 3: The Movie, they seem to be of Central or South American origin. The Unown are a Pokémon themed on the English alphabet. At the time of Neo Discovery's release, there were 26 types, one for each letter. (Later, Unown ? and Unown ! would be introduced, bringing the total to 28.) Neo Discovery introduced these Pokémon into the card game with nine letters: A, D, E, F, I, M, N, O, and U. Each could affect the game in different ways related to a word starting with the letter the Unown represents. Unown "O" is associated with the word observe, and this application in the card game is done through "observing" the opponent's deck. Neo Discovery also premieres many second-generation Pokémon into the card game, such as Smeargle, Politoed, and Wobbuffet. In a way, this makes it a counterpart to the Jungle set (which introduced another third of the original 150 Pokémon).
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