Question about the new Fairy Charm UB

[RobRatt]

Hope this isn't an obvious question, but does anyone know why the new Item Card (a Pokémon Tool), called Fairy Charm UB is worded to include EX's?

 

"Prevent all damage done to the Fairy Pokémon this card is attached to by attacks from your opponent's Ultra Beast Pokémon-GX and Ultra Beast Pokémon-EX."

 

It's my impression that Ultra Beast Pokémon are relatively new classification, and have that banner which says so.  I'm not aware of any EX with this title.  Am I missing something?

[Sakura150612]

I don't think you're missing anything. To me it just looks like they auto-piloted and included the "EX" classification like they've done to every other anti-EX/GX card, and forgot to consider that there aren't any EX Ultra Beast cards.

 

That, or they're foreshadowing the return of EX cards (99.999% sure that this isn't the case xd). 

[Felidae_]

That's quite peculiar indeed. The only thing I can think of is that they'll re-introduce Pokemon EX to the game with an upcoming expansion (maybe even starting with GG End which should be release in April).

 

Looking at the trainer and supporter cards in Night Unison and Full Metal we can see a renewed focus on EX cards (i.e. with Startling Box) as well as several cards that focus on Ultra Beasts (i.e. Ultra Forest Kartenvoy and Beast Bringer.

While the wording of the former has been a standard for the majority of cards from the S&M era, I see no reason why they wouldn't re-introduce EX cards in an upcoming expansion.

 

Still odd that a card mentions a type that isn't around yet, but then again if you stick to the theme its better to print the fairy charm now and complete the set, rather than having it stick out like a sore thumb later on.

[Sakura150612]

I suppose they could, but it would be unprecedented in the current game (HGSS and on). Unless I'm forgetting something, an old mechanic has never been reintroduced into the game after being dropped with the exact same name and functioning (Prism Stars are sort of like Ace Specs but with different restrictions, GX cards are similar to EX cards in a lot of ways but they do have differences, cards such as Primes, Legends, BREAKs and others never returned, etc).

 

It isn't impossible, for sure. It's just unlikely based on the fact that there is no precedent for it to happen.

[Otakutron]

Sakura150612, the Lost Zone returned after having been abandoned just before the Black & White era began, but that is a mechanic that wasn't expressed through a specialized class of card.  Oh, Dark Pokémon were introduced in Team Rocket (April 2000), returned six sets later in Neo Destiny (February 2002), then showed up one final time 10 sets in EX - Team Rocket Returns (November 2004).  Of course, that still isn't a massive gap, but it sure seemed like it to players at the time.

 

Anyway, you're right that it was probably just some laziness on the designers' part.  All the "Fairy Charm" cards have the exact same effect text except for where the Energy symbols that reference what Pokémon's damage is being blocked and where it mentions Ultra Beasts... which is the same place all the other cards have Energy symbols.  When we put two and two together, we get four.

 

There is one thing that could lead Pokémon-EX to return; a mandate that Mega Evolutions must return.  Even that requires the powers-that-be decide it is just easier to handle them "the old way" instead of coming up with something new.  Since we have the Restored Pokémon mechanic for the BW and XY sets but the "Evolves Trainer played as an Item" mechanic for the SM-era, I don't think they'll feel all that constrained by older Mega Evolutions floating around Expanded.