You should never have come here...
On this page I only included rulings relevant to the cards I use in my decks for my personal reference.
For the full list, visit the TCG Rules Compendium Wizards of The Coast rulings compilation and Jason Klaczynski's Retro Pokémon TCG blog; specifically, the pages on erratas and botched rulings.
Can you Energy Trans a Rainbow Energy?Sure. (June 22, 2000 WotC Chat, Q228)
When can you remove the coloring counter from Smeargle? Does the Coloring counter remain on the defending Pokemon if it retreats, evolves, etc. (like "Char" counters)?The coloring counter actually isn't on Smeargle, but the only way to remove it from the Pokemon it is attached to is to evolve it or have it leave play. Just like Char counters, benching does not remove it. (Mar 22, 2001 WotC Chat, Q13 & Q40)
Will Full Heal get rid of the Paint counter, or is there another card to do that?No. You'll have to evolve or scoop up to get rid of it. (Mar 22, 2001 WotC Chat, Q113)
If you have Dark Gengar active and attack with "Pull In" against a non-Baby Pokemon, and you choose a Baby Pokemon from their bench to be active and receive the damage, do you have to flip for the Baby Power?NO! (May 16, 2002 WotC Chat, Q121)
If I attempt to play a card that requires a discard cost (Computer Search, Item Finder, etc.) and the opponent has a Slowking, do I have to pay the cost *before* the check for Mind Games?Yes. (Dec 12, 2002 WotC Chat, Q107)
If your Slowking and Chaos Gym are both in play, and your opponent wants to play a trainer card, what flip goes first?It depends on who is the active player and who conrols what effect. If you control both, and it was your turn, you could choose the order they occur. Active players effects go first otherwise; the player who is going must flip for the effects they control (if they have Slowking or they played the Chaos Gym) before the effects of the defending player are done. (Dec 21, 2000 WotC Chat, Q5 & Q22)
If a No Removal Gym is in play and the I have a Slowking and they play a SER, do they have to discard the cards from their hand first and the energy as the gym effects the card before it is played then it is effect by Mind Games?In this case, your opponent WOULD have to discard the 2 cards from their hand due to the No Removal effect to actually PLAY the SER. Then you could check for the Slowking effect, and it might [cause] the SER to have no effect and then it would get placed back on their deck. They would NOT have to discard the energy card for the SER actual effect unless that card actually resolves. (Apr 19, 2001 WotC Chat, Q65)
Would it be safe to generalize that if a non-metal pokemon has a Metal Energy attached to it, any self-inflicted attack damage is reduced by 20 (-10 for each sentence on the card)?Correct. (Feb 1, 2001 WotC Chat, Q73)
Since Murkrow's Feint Attack says to ignore all effects on the Defending Pokemon, if it attacks a benched Pokemon does it ignore the effects such as Metal Energy on that benched Pokemon? Or does it only apply to the one in the opponent's active slot?It will only apply to the one in the active spot. (Feb 8, 2001 WotC Chat, Q61)
If Dark Golbat and Dark Crobat use their Pokemon Powers on a Pokemon that has a Metal Energy on it, does the Metal energy reduce the Damage done to that Pokemon?Yes it does. Metal energy reduces all damage done by 10. (Jul 25, 2002 WotC Chat, Q135)
Another Dark Golbat / Crobat Question. If Zubat has a Metal Energy on then you evolve it to Dark Golbat will the Metal Energy reduce the damage. I would think not.Wrong, it would. Metal energy reduces all damage done by non-metal Pokemon, whether from an attack or power. (Jul 25, 2002 WotC Chat, Q212)
Will a Metal Energy prevent Poison on a non-Metal Pokémon?No. (Dec 21, 2000 WotC Chat, Q118)
Does Metal Energy reduce any damage due to a failed confusion check? And if so, is the damage reduced by 10 if it's steel, but 20 if it's non-steel (-10 for first sentence plus another -10 for second sentence on the Metal Energy card)?Yes it does and correct. (Jan 4, 2001 WotC Chat, Q12)
If a Pokémon that does bench damage like Dark Raichu, and it ends up being 10 damage to the bench, would the Metal energy both reduce the attack to just 20 damage and the bench damage is reduced to zero?Correct. (Jan 11, 2001 WotC Chat, Q133)
Say Mewtwo has 1 Metal Energy on him and is confused. Confusion does 20, but Metal reduces it by 10 (before calculating Weakness & Resistance), then it is doubled to 20 (for self-weakness) and then Metal protects against 10, meaning that Mewtwo does 10 damage to itself (-30 net damage). Right?Correct-o-mundo! (Apr 12, 2001 WotC Chat, Q1)
If Mukrow has 2 Darkness Energy attached, and attacks the Defending Pokémon with Feint Attack, how much damage does the Defending Pokémon receive? And if Mukrow attacks a benched Pokémon with Feint Attack, how much damage does that Pokémon receive?40 HP damage [if attacking a Defending Pokémon]; 20 [if attacking a Benched Pokémon]. Darkness will only add extra if you attack the Defending Pokémon with the attack. (Dec 21, 2000 WotC Chat, Q9 & Q12 & Q101)
Does Metal Energy reduce any self-damage from Darkness Energy if both are attached to the same Pokémon? (I think it should not because the Darkness Energy text says to "put 1 damage counter" which is not the same as "doing damage")It doesn't reduce the self-damage for the very reason you state there. (Jan 4, 2001 WotC Chat, Q13)
If I have more than one Darkness or Metal Energy attached to a pokemon, are the effects cumulative? (i.e. two will cause/prevent 20 extra damage, three will cause/prevent 30, etc.)Yes they are. (Jan 25, 2001 WotC Chat, Q60; Feb 1, 2001 WotC Chat, Q6)
You may have noticed that Rainbow Energy in Aquapolis is slightly different as it says place a damage counter instead of do 10 damage. That is now how Rainbow energy is to be played. This matches up with the Japanese rules as well. The only effect I know that may change is attaching Rainbow energy to a Pokemon that already had a Metal Energy on it. Now the Metal WILL NOT prevent that damage counter placement. (Jan 30, 2003 WotC Chat Announcements)
When Neo comes out, will Rainbow Energy count as Darkness and Metal energy???For the purposes of paying the cost of an attack, yes. Though the additional effects will not be provided. (Nov 9, 2000 WotC Chat, Q669)
Does "Recycle Energy" go back into your hand if you discard it as part of a retreat cost? Does it go back into your hand if it's attached to a Pokémon that gets knocked out?Yes in both cases. Don't be discarding it for Item Finder and expecting to get it back though... (Dec 21, 2000 WotC Chat, Q16)
Describe "In Play" (as in Recycle Energy) for all the Trainers out there.Easiest way to describe that would be any card that has been placed on the table for use in game. In other words, cards in your hand and cards in your discard pile or library are *not* in play. (Dec 21, 2000 WotC Chat, Q79)
Focus Band only prevents a Pokemon from being Knocked out if any effect or damage from an attack would Knock it out during that turn. This means that if Mew's Devolution Beam would Knock out the Defending Pokemon, Focus Band would trigger (this effect takes place during the attack). Any effect caused by an attack that would Knock out the Defending Pokemon AFTER the attack such as Poison or Char would NOT trigger Focus Band. (Feb 14, 2002 WotC Chat, Q18)
Remember, Focus Band only works if your opponent attacks your pokemon with it attached, not if your Chansey would KO itself. And only from attacks. (Jul 26, 2001 WotC Chat, Q26)
Would an attack that "places damage counters" trigger Focus Band if the defender was KO'ed from it?Yes, because it doesn't matter how the damage counters landed on it; if it was an attack and it would be KO'ed, then you check the band. (Sep 13, 2001 WotC Chat, Q118)
My Opponent's Pokemon has a Focus Band attached. I use an Attack that has the potential to Paralyze with a coin flip, but the Attack Damage is enough to Knock Out the Pokemon. If the Focus Band saves the Pokemon, do I then flip for Paralysis?Yes you would. (Jul 19, 2001 WotC Chat, Q20)
What about putting a Ditto with 7 Damage Counters to sleep, would that trigger a Band?It is a current rules clarification. So yes, the sleep attack against Ditto in that case would trigger the focus band. (Nov 29, 2001 WotC Chat, Q169)
If an attack discards Rocket's Hideout causing a KO, is that an "attack causing the KO" for Focus Band purposes?No it is not. The Pokemon was knocked out due to a game state effect (more damage than HP), not from damage done by the attack. (Oct 18, 2001 WotC Chat, Q9)
Does Prof-Elming with 0 cards in your hand allow you to shuffle before drawing 7 cards?Yes. [ED.NOTE: In fact, it *REQUIRES* it to be shuffled before drawing 7 cards, even with a hand of zero]. (Nov 14, 2002 WotC Chat, Q31)
If Chaos Gym is active and I try to play Prof. Elm but flip tails, if the opponent chooses to use it can I continue to play trainers during my turn? And will the opponent be allowed to play trainers when their turn comes around?You could still try and play trainers. Your opponent would NOT be able to play any more trainers on your turn (meaning if you fail a Chaos flip again, they would NOT be able to use them). He or she could use them normally on their next turn. (Jan 11, 2001 WotC Chat, Q21 & Q90)
Does the new Pokemon Tower promo card prevent Recycle Energy from going back into the hand when it gets discarded or removed?Yes, it stops Recycle. (Jan 10, 2002 WotC Chat, Q1129)
Does Muk prevent Come into Play Pokemon Powers [Ed.Note: like Dark Golbat's "Sneak Attack", or Typhlosion's "Fire Boost"]? Magby? Goop Gas?It does not. (May 2, 2002 WotC Chat, Q168)
In 2002, Wizards cited a concept from their flagship game, Magic: The Gathering, in explaining a bizarre ruling for Pokémon. The borrowed concept was called the stack, which in Magic: The Gathering referred to cards resolving (completing their effects) in reverse order of being played. Taking this concept into Pokémon meant that a card with a Pokémon Power that was activated when it came into play would always “resolve” before Muk's Toxic Gas had a chance to prevent it. Make sense? Of course it didn't, but this unusual ruling remained in place until Wizards' final days of the Pokémon TCG. Oddly enough, this ruling didn't come out of thin air. Both Goop Gas Attack and Magby's Sputter had poor translations that didn't specify they only block Pokémon Powers that were in play at the time of these effects being used. This meant any Pokémon that was played from your hand after Goop Gas Attack or Sputter was used would not be affected by these effects. Oddly, though, Muk's Toxic Gas did not have this limitation, and should have always stopped all Pokémon Powers.
If Magby Sputters on my opponent's turn, and I Knock Out Magby or Gust of Wind it out, does the effect end?Yes, if the Magby is Knocked Out the effect ends; it left play. Magby is the originator of the effect... in other words the effect of the attack 'resides' on Magby. If Magby leaves play or is benched or evolved, Pokemon Powers turn back on. Similar to Dark Arbok's Stare. (Jun 21, 2001 WotC Chat, after-Q29; Jun 28, 2001 WotC Chat, Q13)
Another odd and botched ruling occurred in 2001, when Wizards decided that all effects of attacks were either on the Defending Pokémon or the attacking Pokémon. In other words, you could end the effect of any attack by switching one of these two Pokémon. Today of course we realize there are attacks that are on a player and not a Pokémon.