Ruling Haxorus BREAKthrough 111

[Scubasage]

So, how exactly does Haxorus's Dragon Dance attack work now that the official english translation is out?

The initial translation here stated "This effect continues until this Pokemon leaves play", which meant if he was forced to switch out from a Lysandre, the next time he comes to the active, he will still have the Dragon Dance boost, since being switched to the bench isn't leaving play.

Then, a more recent translation states "This effect remains in play so long as this Pokémon is your active Pokémon", which meant that if he was forced out by Lysandre he loses the boost.

Now the actual english translation is "As long as this Haxorus is your Active Pokemon, each of its attacks does 100 more damage (before applying Weakness and Resistance)." (Note: I left out the part about only being able to boost with Dragon Dance once from all the translations since that part is consistent and not relevant to the question.)

So, there's two ways to look at this.
1) If Haxorus switches out, "This Haxorus" is no longer my Active Pokemon and therefore loses the boost.

2) If Haxorus switches back in, "This Haxorus" is now my Active Pokemon, so he still has the boost.

The effect doesn't actually specify when it ends...just when it actually boosts his damage. I know which way I would rule it, but as Pokemon Professor is not on my list of judge qualifications, and I'm biased, I want some more opinions.

 

[Asclepius24]

Do you have a scan of the card? It would eliminate any question about the wording for me and everyone else.

Which way are you thinking the ruling goes, and what makes you think so? That's always the most valuable part of questions like this.

 

[Scubasage]

Haxorus – Dragon – HP160
Stage 2 – Evolves from Fraxure

[C] Dragon Dance: As long as this Haxorus is your Active Pokemon, each of its attacks does 100 more damage (before applying Weakness and Resistance). You can't add more than 100 damage in this way.
[C] Sharp Fang: 60 damage.

[F][M] Dragon Pulse: 130 damage. Discard the top 3 cards from your deck.

Weakness: Fairy (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3

I'm biased, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt, but I would say that since the effect doesn't specify a timeframe (like say, Quaking Punch or Agility, with a "during your opponent's next turn") or an end (like Hex Maniac's "until the end of the opponent's next turn"), the 100 damage boost remains until Haxorus itself is knocked out or returned to the hand/deck. Even if it is switched out, once it comes back in, it'll be "this Haxorus" (as it cannot be any other Haxorus) and it will obviously be the Active Pokemon, satisfying the conditions of Dragon Dance.

 

[Asclepius24]

Dragon Dance places an effect on that Haxorus. Whenever a Pokemon goes to the bench, all effects of attacks are removed. In this case, the effect of Dragon Dance would be removed as soon as it hits the bench and stays gone even if it becomes active again.

Said another way, when it comes active again it's as if the first Dragon Dance didn't happen so Haxorus being active again doesn't satisfy the condition of the effect because the effect isn't there in the first place.

 

[Scubasage]

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Do we have a rules resource on this so we can be 100% sure? This kind of situation isn't described in the rulebook, and an argument can be made that effects being removed when being benched is more because of the pokemon not being an Active anymore and therefore not a valid target for the effects. Like, the most common thing is Status Effects like Confusion or Poison. Benched Pokemon cannot have Status Effects, only Active Pokemon. So is the reason those things are removed when switching out because switching out removes all effects or is it because Benched Pokemon can't be affected by those effects? If it's the first, then Dragon Dance resets each time. If it's the second, then Dragon Dance wouldn't necessarily reset, as it's wording is a little different from previous, similar effects. Then again, the only example remotely close to this that I can think of would be Regice from Ancient Origins, and that effect resets on benching. Sad face.

Ah well. Guess it's time to pat Haxorus on the back and send him on his way.

 

[Asclepius24]

Switching out removes all effects, including things like Plasma Kyurem's Blizzard Burn effect, etc. All effects of attacks are removed except for exceptionally rare circumstances where the card explicitly states it doesn't. This isn't one of those, unfortunately.