Ruling Conflicting retreat cost effects

[banuffin]

Hi there,

This is probably a basic question, and I apologize if this has been previously answered (did a search and checked a few pages' worth of thread returns and haven't gotten the answer I'm looking for yet).

Basically, if you've got two cards in play that contradict each other as far as retreat cost is concerned, how do you calculate retreat cost?

For example, say I have a Wailmer (EX LM) in play with a React energy attached to it, making the retreat cost for all of my water-types 0. Then my opponent uses Wynaut's baby evolution to play the basic Wobuffet (EX LM), whose pokebody increases my opponent's retreat costs since Wynaut is beneath it. How do I calculate retreat cost?

I've also noticed some cards (can't think of any off the top of my head) whose effect is that certain pokemon 'have no retreat cost'. Do these interact differently with the Wynaut/Wobbuffet combo than pokemon whose retreat cost is simply 0?

Many thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

 

[Chanman]

When something is set at 0, you can not increase it.

 

[The Reaver]

When something is set at 0, you can not increase it.

Where is the evidence for this? I'm curious.

 

[PMJ]

This is a meta-rule:

If a Retreat Cost is set to zero by an effect, it cannot be increased. Note this is different than a Retreat Cost that was reduced to zero by subtraction. (Jan 31, 2008 PUI Rules Team)

To clarify this:

Rattata TRR has a Poké-Body that says if your opponent's Active Pokemon is Pokemon-ex, Rattata's Retreat Cost is 0. This is an example of a Retreat Cost being set to 0. If a Retreat Cost is set to 0, it cannot be increased by any other effect.

Dodrio FRLG has a Poké-Body that reduces the Retreat Cost of your Active Pokemon by two. While this will make most Retreat Costs 0, the Retreat Cost was not actually set to 0 - it was reduced by two. If either player had an opponent had a card in play that increased (or decreased) the Retreat Cost of a Pokémon in play, you would apply the proper addition or subtraction when paying the Retreat Cost.

In the topic creator's example, Wobbuffet's Poke-Body would have no effect on his opponent's Water Pokemon, since their Retreat Costs have been set to 0.

Regarding Pokemon that have a natural Retreat Cost of 0: this is not the same as a Retreat Cost that has been set to 0. For the Pokemon with no Retreat Cost, their base Retreat Cost is 0. This number can be added to (if the Wailmer player had a Pokemon that was not Water-type that had a Retreat Cost of 0, Wobbuffet's Poke-Body would increase it to 1), but remember that no matter what the Pokemon is, you can't have a Retreat Cost of less than zero.