== RARE CANDY (EX:Sandstorm)
Q. Could you Rare Candy a Pokémon and NOT play an evolution on it just to get rid of the Rare Candy?
A. No, you cannot discard a card for free. You must be able to attach the Stage 1 or Stage 2 card, or you cannot use the Rare Candy. (Oct 30, 2003 PUI Rules Team; Dec 4, 2003 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy on the first turn of a game (when Pokémon are not normally allowed to evolve)?
A. Yes, this is now permissible. (Jul 22, 2004 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy on a Pokémon's first turn in play? For example, can I place down a Wurmple and then use Rare Candy on the same turn to evolve it into Dustox or Beautifly?
A. Yes, Rare Candy allows you to evolve a Pokémon the first turn it is in play. (Sep 11, 2003 PUI Rules Team; Jul 22, 2004 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy to place a Stage 2 onto a Basic Pokémon?
A. You can use Rare Candy to evolve a Basic Pokémon into a Stage 1 or Stage 2. This essentially counts as your "Evolution" for that Pokémon that turn, although it's not restricted by the first turn the Pokémon is in play. The Stage 1 reference is because the card works on the turn the Basic is played. (Sep 11, 2003 PUI Rules Team; Jul 22, 2004 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy on a Pokémon that has already evolved normally that turn?
A. No you cannot, because Rare Candy can only evolve Basic Pokémon If you evolved a Pokémon already this turn, it would not be a Basic any more. (Oct 23, 2003 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy on a Pokémon that was devolved on that same turn (i.e. Devolution Spray, Hyper Devolution Spray, etc.)?
A. Yes you can, because Rare Candy ignores normal evolutionary rules. (Jun 3, 2004 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Does Rare Candy override evolution-preventing effects such as Fossil Aerodactyl's "Prehistoric Power"?
A. Yes, you can use Rare Candy when Aerodactyl's Prehistoric Power is in play. (Sep 18, 2003 PUI Rules Team; Jul 22, 2004 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Say I use my Pichu's "Baby Evolution" power to evolve Pichu into Pikachu, which is now an "evolved Basic Pokémon". Can I then play Rare Candy on my Pikachu to evolve it into Raichu or Raichu-EX during the same turn?
A. Since Pikachu would be considered an "Evolved Pokémon" at that point, Rare Candy cannot be used on that Pikachu. Rare Candy can only be used on "non-Evolved" Pokémon. (Apr 14, 2005 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Say I have a Team Aqua's Sealeo (Stage 1) that I Archie'd into play. Can I use a Rare Candy to evolve it to Team Aqua's Walrein on that same turn?
A. Yes, you could. Rare Candy bypasses the normal rules of Evolution, and since you Archie'd it the Team Aqua's Sealeo would count as a Basic Pokémon. (Apr 14, 2005 PUI Rules Team)
Q. If you use Rare Candy to evolve a Pokémon, and the evo card has a "Coming into Play" Pokémon Power (such as Dark Crobat), does that coming into play power get activated?
A. Using Powers, Attacks, or Trainers that let you put a Pokémon in the game from your hand will allow coming into play Powers to activate. This is a reversal from previous rulings. (Oct 23, 2003 PUI Rules Team; Apr 14, 2005 PUI Rules Team)
Q. What does "This counts as evolving that Pokémon" mean, in game terms?
A. It counts towards the one evolution per turn for that Pokémon (with exceptions for Trainers and Pokémon Powers that break that rule) and removes Special Conditions on that Pokémon. (Sep 26, 2003 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can you use Rare Candy to evolve a Mysterious Fossil into an Omastar or Kabutops, or use it on a Root/Claw Fossil to evolve into Cradily/Armaldo?
A. It can. It counts as a basic Pokémon while in play. Omastar, Kabutops, Cradily, and Armaldo are Stage 2 Pokémon; you could use Rare Candy on the Fossil trainer to skip to them. (Oct 16, 2003 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy in conjunction with Buried Fossil to evolve into an Omastar, Kabutops, or Aerodactyl? And how about Aerodactyl-EX and Kabutops-EX too?
A. Rare Candy states if you have a card that "Evolves From" your Pokémon Buried Fossil has special text on it that says, "You may play a Pokémon card that evolves from Mysterious Fossil on top of Buried Fossil". So Rare Candy will work in all these cases. (Jan 29, 2004 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy to evolve a Baby Pokémon into its next stage? What about the newer forms of babies that are considered "Basic Pokémon" but have the "Baby Evolution" Poké-POWER?
A. Rare Candy states if you have a card that "Evolves From" your Pokémon There are currently no cards with text saying "evolves from" its baby form, so Rare Candy will not work on any form of baby Pokémon (Oct 23, 2003 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy to evolve Pichu into Raichu EX?
A. No, Rare Candy states if you have a card that "Evolves From" your Pokémon Pikachu does not say that it "Evolves From" Pichu, so Rare Candy will not work in this situation. (Sep 11, 2003 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy on my Pokémon to go to their evolutions if either Kabutops or Omastar from Skyridge is in play (with the powers/bodies that stop evolution)?
A. You could not use a Pokémon's attack or play a Trainer card to evolve your Benched or Active Pokémon, unless the Evolution card you would be putting into play comes from somewhere other than your hand. So Rare Candy cannot be used, but Wally's Training can (when referring to the Active Pokémon). (Aug 5, 2004 PUI Rules Team; Aug 12, 2004 PUI Rules Team)
Q. I evolved Torchic into Combusken using Rare Candy. Can I then do my "regular" evolution for Combusken into Blaziken?
A. No. "(This counts as evolving that Pokémon)" means that it counts as a normal evolution in this case. (Sep 26, 2003 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can someone play a Retro Energy on an Espeon, discard the Espeon, and then use Rare Candy to evolve the Eevee into a Vaporeon all in the same turn?
A. Since both cards break the standard rules of evolution, this particular combination can be considered legal. (Mar 18, 2004 PUI Rules Team)
Q. Can I evolve Dratini in play to Dark Dragonite by using Rare Candy?
A. Yes. [This is true as long as there is a normal evolutionary path between the basic and the Stage 2 "Dark" Pokémon.] (Feb 10, 2005 PUI Rules Team)
.