User:Salmancer/Switch this Pokémon
|
This article is intended to be moved into one of Bulbapedia's main content spaces. Be mindful that it is still part of a personal userspace. Any content changes should be brought up on the talk page for this article. |
Pokémon do not explicitly change forms in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. However, the "switch" mechanic allows one Pokémon card in play to be swapped for another Pokémon card located in a different zone. It was introduced with Ditto from EX FireRed & LeafGreen, and is assoicated with Ditto as a whole. However, it appears on the cards of other Pokémon species, usually ones with different forms.
This is templated with wording to the effect of "switch this Pokémon with..." Note that the phrase "this Pokémon" is being used differently than normal. In relation to this mechanic, the phrase "this Pokémon" refers to a specific card. (In all other cases, it means every card that is part of the Pokémon, including prior evolutions of it.) This mechanic is also not to be confused with switching an Active Pokémon with a Benched Pokémon,
When switching a Pokémon, the locations of the two affected cards are exchanged. The card that was not in play is placed in the exact same place the other Pokémon was. If the other card was an Evolved Pokémon, then this card is put on top of any of the cards the other card evolved from. That other card is moved to which ever zone the first card came from. If that other card is moved to the deck, the deck is shuffled.
The new card is not considered to have entered play. It keeps all damage counters, Special Conditions, and other assorted effects. Every card that was attached to the older card remains attached to the new card. The new card has been in play for the same number of turns as the older card. For all intents and purposes, it is as if the old Pokémon became the new Pokémon, almost as though it changed forms.
Note that while instructions to switch Pokémon are usually printed as effects on specific cards, there is no rule requiring that the card that is being moved into the in-play zone has to have an effect that allows it to be switched into. It does mean that card cannot then switch again, but doing so is allowed.
Replace
Prior to Ditto from EX FireRed & LeafGreen, Ditto from Laboratory in the Pokémon Trading Card Game video game had the Pokémon Power Morph, where the card was "replaced" by another card. This is likened more to evolution in the game, but is very similar in concept to switching.
