Smeargle Lv. 21
40 Hp
Basic
Colorless
Weakness: fighting
Resistance Psychic
Retreat cost: 1

C        Paint        0
Flip a coin.  If heads, choose a type (other than Colorless) and put a Coloring Counter on the
defending Pokémon.  That Pokémon is now the type you chose.  If it already had a Coloring Counter,
remove the old one.  If tails, this attack does nothing.
========================
Now that's an interesting attack.  It's sort or like Porygon's Conversions, but does not change
yours or your opponent's Weakness or Resistance.  If anything, it's Venomoth's Shift power, applied
to the other guy.

Smeargle has some interesting combos :

Smeargle alone : Paint them your resistance and protect against weakness!

Smeargle + Sprout Tower - Paint them colorless and give auto-resist to your team.  This does
backfire if you have C Pokemon on your team, though.

Smeargle + Darkness Pokemon - Paint your foes Psychic. You have resistance and Smeargle will live
longer.

Smeargle + Blaine's Pokemon + Cinnabar Gym - Paint your opponent Water to take away their ability to
hit Weakness.

And finally, the mortal terror of Fire Pokemon:

Smeargle + Misty's Dewgong - Paint your foes Fighting, and here's why :

Misty's Dewgong's attack, Ice Throw, does 20 for WW.  BUT, if the Pokemon is Fighting (which
Smeargle just made it), the BASE DAMAGE doubles to 40!  And, because Painting does not change
weakness or resistance, this doubles to 80! For WW!  PlusPow and Misty to taste and you'll toast
anything.

Of course, Smeargle better hope he doesn't get attacked before he can run, or he'll get thrashed by
the ensuing Fighting attack.

The thing that would make this card totally broken would be if Paint was a Pokemon Power (usable
from the bench).  I bet a lot of people saw this at first and thought it was weak.  But most any
card can trash the opponent in the hands of a skilled player.

My rating : B (Scale - F to A+)

- Only 40 HP
- No attack
- Retreat cost
- Needs flips
+ Great, cheap, stat attack
+ Combos well
+ Scads of strategic possibilities

****

Thought : Why can't there be a Magneton with the Power to influence coin flips (Wow, that would
certainly do some damage!)?

Pokemon Power : Gravity Waves - Once during each player's turn, before a coin flip, the player using
X Magneton may use this power.  Choose the result of the coin flip (Heads or tails).  This Power
stops working if X Magneton is Paralysed, Confused, or Asleep.

****

Coming soon : Gligar vs Scyther, A Weakness/Resistance table, Togetic, and Entei!

Scott Parker
sparker@triad.rr.com