NOTE FROM BRIAN: Here is the response I received from Robert Gutschera about the infamous "Agility" question. Robert is Wizards of the Coast's chief rules guru for Pokemon TCG (the guy who wrote the rulebook!) and he was kind enough to really get in-depth here. If you were looking for some detailed explanations about "lingering effects" in Pokemon, this is it... (my original email has the ">" lines) --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Robert Gutschera [@wizards.com] Sent: Monday, January 31, 2000 11:22 AM To: brokaw@.com Cc: @wizards.com; @wizards.com Subject: Re: Pokemon rules question (please :-) Hi Brian, As usual, you have some good questions. I'll give quick yes/no answers and then discuss at the end. > > Will Rapidash's Agility stop Kangaskhan's Fetch from working? No. > Will Rapidash's Agility stop Hitmonlee's Stretch Kick from working? No. > > I know that I had Agility wrong with respect to Moltres' Wildfire. > Apparently Wildfire is an "effect" that affects Rapidash? > Sorry, you were right the first time (my apologies for any confusion on this point). An Eevee Tail Wag effect would stop Wildfire (because it actually prevents the attack, and all attacks are considered to be against the Defending Pokemon, even if they don't affect the Defending Pokemon), but Agility doesn't actually prevent the attack. It lets the attack go through, and just stops the parts that affect Rapidash (in this case, there aren't any such parts, so the whole attack goes through). More on this below. > So, is Fetch and Stretch Kick "effects" that affect Rapidash? No, but they are *attacks* against Rapidash. (more below) > > > A more general question: > > Are "effects" from attacks ever attached to anything but the > 2 active Pokemon? I have some folks suggesting that Magmar's > Smokescreen "effect" is not attached to either Pokemon, but > attached to "the battlefield", so is not removed unless BOTH > of these Pokemon are benched. This is basically right (all "effects" in this sense are on one or both of the Active Pokemon, never on a Benched Pokemon or on some area of the playfield), but be careful about how you use the word "effect". If I use Raichu's Gigashock to do damage to your Benched Pokemon, I have certainly "affected" them, but they haven't received an "effect" in the sense that you mean. (You're using "effect" in the sense I mean "jootai" or "condition" below.) > I have always thought (and suggested to others) that you can > clearly identify which Pokemon an "effect" is attached to > by the wording on the attack. If it only mentions the > "Defending Pokemon" then it only attaches to the defender. > If it only mentions the attacking Pokemon (usually by name-- > "Scyther's Slash attack's base damage is 60 instead of 30") > then the effect is only attached to the attacking Pokemon. > But on cards that mention BOTH active Pokemon, the effect > is attached to BOTH Pokemon and if either is benched, this > effect is cleared (Eevee's Tail Wag for example.) Yes, you've got this right. See below. > > (so, in the above example, i think that Fossil Magmar's > Smokescreen "effect" is attached to the Defending Pokemon > and will only be cleared if the defender is benched/evolved/etc.) Yes. > > Er, that wasn't such a quick question ;-) Let me summarize for > your benefit: > > Will Agility block Kangaskhan's Fetch? > > Will Agility block Hitmonlee's Stretch Kick? > > Will Agility block Self Destruction damage to any other Pokmeon > (other than the Agile Pokemon)? No, no, and no. > How would you explain to Pokemon players how to determine > who "owns" and "effect"? As you say above. This is indeed a tricky subject. You have the basics right: if it says "Defending Pokemon" then the effect is on the defender (and vanishes if the Defending Pokemon evolves or is Benched); if it says the attacking Pokemon's name then the effect is on the attacker (and vanishes if that Pokemon evolves or is Benched); if it has both names then it is a "double effect" and vanishes if *either* one is Benched (and it will always have reminder text to that effect). That's in the English cards; to the best of my knowledge there's no 100% way to tell from the Japanese cards which of these three kinds of effects a given effect is, although the use of the terms "aite" (opponent, which is short for opposing Pokemon, i.e. Defending Pokemon) and "jibun" (self, which is used where the US cards use the Pokemon's name) can help, as can an understanding of the flavour of the attack. The other important rule is that (for rules purposes) an attack is always considered an attack against the Defending Pokemon regardless of what else it might do (or not do). So effects like Eevee's Tail Wag stop attacks like Kangaskhan's Fetch, Squirtle's Withdraw, and Hitmonlee's Stretch Kick. There's actually something about this in the Jungle FAQ, but it got added later (when Fossil came out) so it's easy to miss. Here's the relevant text: Q: If Eevee successfully uses Tail Wag (which says "the Defending Pok mon can't attack Eevee during your opponent's next turn") against Kangaskhan, will that stop Kangaskhan from using Fetch ("Draw a card")? A: Yes, Tail Wag prevents Fetch. Any attack the Active Pokemon makes (and Fetch is an attack, even though it doesn't do any damage; anything written underneath the Pokemon's picture where attacks are is an attack unless it's a Pokemon Power) is an attack against the Defending Pokemon. But what's going on with Rapidash is something different. The problem is that "effect" is being used in two different senses. There's "effect" meaning "anything that happens to a Pokemon" (basically like the English word "effect") and "effect" meaning "conditions Pokemon have on them as results of an attack, which vanish when they evolve or retreat". Let's call these second things jootai (that's the Japanese word). We've avoided making a special technical term for jootai in the English rules; what we say in the rulebook is "anything else that might be the result of an attack some Pokemon made earlier" (not very catchy, I admit, but we wanted to avoid making up technical terms... this keeps the game simpler for most of the kids playing it, but makes it harder for hard-core Pokemon experts such as yourself). When "effect" is used on a card, it means the first (more or less normal English) sense: "prevent whatever stuff would happen to Rapidash". I tend to use the word "jootai" for the second meaning when talking to other rules gurus just to make it clear what exactly I mean. If you feel the need to introduce this concept to the Pokemon playing world at large (not necessarily a bad idea... just because a concept shouldn't get a special term in a rulebook targeted to a younger audience doesn't mean a website for die-hard fans shouldn't have more), you might consider "condition" as a word for this (best, I think, to avoid using "effect"). Summary: the one really counterintuitive rule is that "every attack is an attack against the Defending Pokemon, even if it doesn't look like it". This leads to stuff like the Eevee Tail Wag vs. Withdraw, Strech Kick, or Fetch (or Wildfire, for that matter). Other than that, though, things work more or less the way they are written ("prevent effects done to Rapidash" doesn't stop other stuff the attack might do). How "conditions" lie on the attacking or Defending Pokemon works the way you've understood it to work in the past. I hope this answers your questions! Let me know if there's anything more about all this that I can clarify; I realize this is a messy spot in the Pokemon rules, and I hope what I've said makes sense, but I'm willing to try again if it's not totally clear. thanks, Robert