In the Fossil expansion set there are going to be a lot of different and
dangerous pokemon powers to contend with, in addition to those of the
Jungle, and those in the Basic sets. So, how is one going to protect himself
or herself? Well since pokemon powers don't work if the pokemon is confused,
paralyzed, or asleep, it seems that the best way to go is to try to make
them asleep, confused, or paralyzed. Let's look at paralysation, paralysis
wears off at the end of your opponents turn, so paralyzing a Muk, or
Aerodactyl would HELP your opponent, paralyzing a Muk would let your
opponent use pokemon powers, and paralyzing an Aerodactyl would let your
opponent evolve, but keep you from evolving. Sleep, there is just too much
of a chance that your opponent will wake up. That leaves confusion. If your
opponent attacks while confused, he/she has a 50% chance of doing 20 damage
to himself/herself and if they retreat, they pay the retreat cost and have a
50% chance of not retreating. (if your opponent's pokemon is weak against
itself, then it will do 40 damage to itself when confused.)
                    Which pokemon to confuse with? My favorite is Koffing,
you either confuse your opponent or poison him/her. Use Gust of Wind to
bring Alakazam out, then use Koffing (even though Koffing is weak against
Psychic) to attack with Foul Gas Attack. Just Gust of Wind the desired
pokemon out and then use foul gas attack. I have taken out many psychic
pokemon out with koffing, and believe me it works.
                    Most Pokemon powers are most useful on your bench, some
pokemon may have great powers but are wimps, so switching them into combat
could be just the thing for an easy kill.

Rory
geoac@msn.com