Ruling Caterpie Line Poké Powers (GE)

[Sesari]

Hello hello, all!

I have a quick question about Caterpie and Metapod from the new Great Encounters set in the states.

Caterpie's Pupate Power says that (with a coin flip) you can search through your deck for a card that evolves from Caterpie, and then place it on top of Caterpie. (This counts as evolving your Pokemon) Metapod has pretty much the same Power, except that it's called Emerge.

What I'm confused about is whether or not these Powers supersede the usual "once per turn" rule for Evolution. Also, can these powers both be used (if the coin flips are successful, of course) on the first turn? I'm also confused about if these powers, like Rare Candy, would override the usual rule where you cannot evolve a Pokemon that you just put into play. So, for example, could I put Caterpie into play on my bench, retreat my active Pokemon and switch Caterpie in, and then have Caterpie attempt its Pupate Power? Also... could I then attempt Emerge, too?

I understand that I could not, for example, use Caterpie's Pupate to search for Metapod, place it on Caterpie, and then immediately evolve Metapod into Butterfree. (This would conflict with the "once per turn" evolution rule) However, if I'm using a Poke Power... that's where I get confused.

Thanks ahead for your time and patience! I apologize sincerely if this is a silly question.

 

[Lou Cypher]

Well, look at Dustox Ex decks. You could evolve Wurmple into its Cocoon (Whatever of the two it was), and said Cocoon could immediately evolve into Dustox Ex.

I'm not too certain if you can do Power Caterpie-Regular Evolve Metapod though. Got to look into that.

And since nowhere it states you can't use it multiple times, you can use both powers immediately.

And you can use those powers immediately. That's what its a power for.

 

[Sesari]

Well, look at Dustox Ex decks. You could evolve Wurmple into its Cocoon (Whatever of the two it was), and said Cocoon could immediately evolve into Dustox Ex.

I'm not too certain if you can do Power Caterpie-Regular Evolve Metapod though. Got to look into that.

And since nowhere it states you can't use it multiple times, you can use both powers immediately.

And you can use those powers immediately. That's what its a power for.

It would help me out a lot if you could please tell me which sets the Pokemon you're talking about come from. I've been away from the game for about six years, and haven't caught up on everything that happened betwen Fossil and Diamond and Pearl.

Thanks for the info, though!

 

[Psychic Pokemon Master]

Well, look at Dustox Ex decks. You could evolve Wurmple into its Cocoon (Whatever of the two it was), and said Cocoon could immediately evolve into Dustox Ex.

I'm not too certain if you can do Power Caterpie-Regular Evolve Metapod though. Got to look into that.

And since nowhere it states you can't use it multiple times, you can use both powers immediately.

And you can use those powers immediately. That's what its a power for.

It would help me out a lot if you could please tell me which sets the Pokemon you're talking about come from. I've been away from the game for about six years, and haven't caught up on everything that happened betwen Fossil and Diamond and Pearl.

Thanks for the info, though!

The cards that LC mentioned, Dustox ex & Cascoon are from EX Legend Maker...

 

[Sesari]

The cards that LC mentioned, Dustox ex & Cascoon are from EX Legend Maker...

Awesome, thanks much! It looks like Cascoon from Legend Maker had pretty much the same Power as Metapod from Great Encounters. (Their Powers even have the same name!)

I guess the definite downside is not only the coin flip, but also the fact that you've gotta keep these guys active to use the power. They're pretty vulnerable out there all alone...

Thanks again for the info!

 

[Chairman Kaga]

Powers and Trainers supersede the normal evolution rules (think Baby Evolution, you can use it on your first turn -- same with Rare Candy, if you go second).

The restrictions on using Powers (such as "once during your turn") only apply to that specific instance of that Pokemon (unless otherwise specified, such as "you can only use one [name] Poke-Power each turn"). So, once you evolve, it's no longer considered the same Pokemon, and all the restrictions reset.

So you can use Caterpie's Power, flip heads and evolve to Metapod, then use Metapod's Power, flip heads, and evolve again. You can even do this on your first turn.

I'm not too certain if you can do Power Caterpie-Regular Evolve Metapod though. Got to look into that.

Now this you can't do, because the Power reads "This counts as evolving Caterpie." That means it counts as your normal one evolution per turn for that Pokemon, so you can't then play a card from your hand to further evolve.

 

[Sesari]

Ah, thank you Chairman Kaga! I've heard about you before, but didn't realize that you answered questions like mine about the Caterpie directly!