Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Sophia Soul's Comprehensive MoveDex Part 1: Absorb - Barrage

Absorb: A move that deals a wholly insignificant amount of special Grass damage to Pokemon and heals the user a wholly insignificant amount of health back.

Acid: A weak move that does somehow manage a 10% Special Defense drop rate, but still not really worth using.

Acid Armor
The user alters its cellular structure to liquefy itself, which somehow raises its Defense stat two levels.
Distribution: Extremely limited. Only Vaporeon and the Grimer, Slugma, Gulpin, and Manaphy families learn the move.
Utility: Useful enough, but is most notable on its most common (and pretty much only true) user, Vaporeon, who uses the move not only to compensate for its own poor defenses, but also passes said boosts with Baton Pass fairly effectively.

Acupressure
By essentially using acupuncture (except without puncturing, just pressing), the Pokemon raises a random stat by two levels. This includes Accuracy, making the move the only move that can raise Accuracy.
Distribution: Extremely limited. The Doduo and Skorupi families learn it by level up, and the Tentacool and Shuckle families can learn it by breeding.
Utility: Sometimes useful by boosting a good stat, sometimes... not so much. A fun move for sure, though.

Aerial Ace
Also known as the Turning Swallow Cut, named after an infamous technique of a Japanese swordsman. It will always hit the opponent, regardless of accuracy/evasion levels.
Flying, Physical, 60 BP, 20 PP
Power: Fairly meager, unless Technician-boosted.
Distribution: Amazing. So many Pokemon can learn this move, it's not even funny.
Reliability: Well, it always hits. You can't get more reliable than that.
Utility: In-game, against Pokemon known to Double-Team or use accuracy-reducing attacks, this move is useful. Even in competitive battling, though, it appears far more often than you'd think a base 60 power attack would. In some cases, it's the only flying STAB move available. Scyther uses it the most, as Technician boosts its power to a very respectable base 90. Dugtrio (and probably many others) use it to get x4 hits against Heracross and Breloom.

Aeroblast
A giant vortex of air is blasted at the enemy. It has an increased Critical Hit level.
Flying, Special, 100 BP, 95 AC, 5 PP, 95 EP
Power: Fairly strong, especially with its increased critical hit ratio.
Distribution: Lugia's signature attack; only it can learn it.
Reliability: Decent on its own, but its low PP hinders it somewhat.
Utility: Powerful and fun. Have fun with it in-game. Not as common competitively, but still used to some extent.

Agility
The user loosens itself up to allow itself to move faster, and as such raises its Speed 2 levels.
Distribution: Very solid. Despite not being teachable, a large number of Pokemon learn it by level-up, and several more can be bred with the move.
Utility: Many somewhat-slower Pokemon love this move for giving them the Speed kick necessary to outrun faster threats, and overall prepare for a sweep. Another common tactic with this move is to use it on a Baton Passer to throw a Speed boost to a slower teammate without the move.

Air Cutter: Launches blades of wind to hurt foes. Seen on a few Pokemon, like Beautifly and Mantine, who are specially-based and don't really have other special Flying attacks.

Air Slash
A powerful blade of air slices through the sky. The impact has a 30% chance of making the enemy flinch.
Flying, Special, 75 BP, 95 AC, 20 PP, 71.25 EP
Power: Nothing too special, but works for what it's worth; there isn't really anything better other than Aeroblast, at any rate.
Distribution: Pretty good.
Reliability: That 5% miss chance might bite you now and then, but otherwise it's reliable.
Utility: This is where this move shines. 30% flinch rate is quite good on its own, and makes up for the move's somewhat low power. However, the extent to which this move can be abused by a few of its most notable users must be mentioned. On one side is Rotom-S, who, while being the least popular Rotom form by far, can use this move in combination with Thunder Wave/Discharge and Confuse Ray to form a Para-fuse-flinch combo that can annoy enemies endlessly. On the other side is Shaymin-S, who uses Serene Grace to kick the flinch rate up to 60%, which practically defines the term "flinch-hax". And combining both of these strategies together is Togekiss, who can first paralyze the foe and then make them flinch 60% of the time, resulting in something to truly be feared.

Amnesia
The Pokemon forgets some of its worries, increasing its Special Defense 2 levels.
Distribution: Pretty good.
Utility: Most Pokemon will prefer to increase Special Defense with either Calm Mind or Stockpile/Cosmic Power. This move is only really seen on Pokemon with Baton Pass, treating the move less as helping itself and more as helping a teammate without access to any special-defense-boosting move.

AncientPower
The Pokemon draws upon a mysterious power from the prehistoric ages to smack the opponent. It also has a 10% chance of raising all of the user's stats by one level.
Rock, Special, 60 BP, 100 AC, 5 PP
Power: Not much, but it's not like one can do much better.
Distribution: Improved after being made into a Move Tutor move.
Reliability: Accurate, plus it comes with a boatload of Power Points.
Utility: That 10% stat boost is amazing, but trying to rely on it is not a good idea, except maybe if your name is Dunsparce. All-in-all, it's only seen on a few special attackers who want a Rock-type move, particularly Omastar for whom it is its only STAB Rock special move. And possibly Serene Grace abusers.

Aqua Jet
The Pokemon blazes towards the enemy in a stream of water. With an increased level of priority, it strikes first against any Pokemon not using a priority attack.
Water, Physical, 40 BP, 100 AC, 30 PP
Power: Weak, as most priority attacks are. Stronger in Rain, though, to the point where if stats are high enough, it can still hurt badly.
Distribution: Not too much, but distributed enough to make a fair number of Pokemon potent threats.
Utility: Priority attacks are extremely useful. They pick off weakened Pokemon, greatly surprise Pokemon trying to abuse low-HP strategies, and otherwise make life difficult for anyone trying to speed their way through you. Not only that, but this move in particular enjoys having Rain behind it, boosting its power to decent levels that can oftentimes be sufficient for sweeping (Rain-boosted Aqua Jet = Technician-boosted Bullet Punch). Particularly notorious users include Azumarill, whose Huge Power ability gives it a ridiculous amount of Attack to back up the move, and Kabutops, who combines it with Swords Dance for immense power and makes sure that any Pokemon it can't out-Swift Swim, it can still out-speed them.

Aqua Ring: A veil of water envelops the user and replenishes 1/16th HP every turn. A rarely seen move, though it is found on a handful of defensive Pokemon as well as Baton Passers, for whom the move is passable.

Aqua Tail
The Pokemon slams the opponent with a drenched tail.
Water, Physical, 90 BP, 90 AC, 10 PP, 81 EP
Power: Quite strong, really.
Reliability: This is where this move falls a bit short compared to the always-accurate Waterfall; that 10% miss rate can hurt sometimes.
Distribution: Decent, but notable in that several non-Water-types get the move and can use it for additional type coverage.
Utility: This move will normally be seen on non-Water-types for additional coverage, particularly if said Pokemon is weak to Ground-types. Despite weaker power, most Water-types prefer Waterfall for better reliability and that 20% flinch rate.

Arm Thrust: Hariyama's signature move, it hits multiple times, but it's really rather useless.

Aromatherapy
A soothing scent fills the air, healing all Pokemon in the party of status conditions.
Distribution: Limited. Find it on Vileplume, Shaymin, and the Paras, Chikorita, Roselia, Chansey, Cleffa, Hoppip, and Cherubi families.
Utility: So, so useful. While Heal Bell gets better distribution, Aromatherapy's advantage is that it is not blocked by Soundproof. All-in-all, you're looking at a move that can instantly free your entire team of crippling status conditions. No matter how you look at it, that is awesome.

Assist
A move is randomly chosen from its teammate's set of moves, and used on the opponent.
Distribution: Limited. Skitty, Glameow, Meowth, Drowzee, Sentret, Spinda, and Chimchar families can learn the move.
Utility: Like a mini-Metronome, albeit more predictable. Knowing the moves in your team's arsenal is important if you want to get any true utility from this move. All-in-all, it's definitely a fun move, if a bit limited in actual utility.

Assurance: Inflicts double-damage on a Pokemon who already took damage that turn. "It's the only way to make sure" the opponent goes down. Not used much in Single-battles, but can be used in conjunction with entry hazards, or can be used in Double Battles by the slower Pokemon.

Astonish: Surprises the opponent with a weak attack that nevertheless has a 30% flinch rate.

Attack Order
The user orders an army of Combee to sting down the opponent. Has an increased Critical Hit level.
Bug, Physical, 90 BP, 100 AC, 15 PP
Power: The second-most-powerful physical Bug move out there, including Technician-boosted Bug Bite (taking into account the increased critical hit ratio).
Reliability: Definitely the best physical Bug attack in terms of balance of power and accuracy.
Distribution: If only it was distributed more... alas, it simply remains Vespiquen's signature move.
Utility: If Vespiquen were more useful, it would see more use. That said, you won't find many Vespiquen who don't use this powerful move.

Attract: Inflicts Infatuation on an opposite-gendered Pokemon. Very situational, unfortunately, and infatuation wears off upon switching, making it an iffy proposition at best.

Aura Sphere
Using the Pokemon's inner Aura, it fires a sphere of power that will not miss its target.
Fighting, Special, 90 BP, 20 PP
Power: Quite powerful; it is the most powerful always-hit attacks not weather-reliant.
Reliability: A major plus for this move, considering the only other special Fighting move has horrible reliability.
Distribution: Extremely limited, unfortunately. So many Pokemon would love this move but just don't receive it. The ones that do, though, make good use of it: Lucario, Togekiss, and the legendaries Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Mewtwo, and Mew.

Aurora Beam: A rainbow-colored beam is fired at the foe, possibly lowering its Attack. Due to the availability of more powerful special Ice attacks, though, it is fairly rare.

Avalanche
The user waits for an attack before making a giant snowfall fall on the opponent. Like a real avalanche, if the user is hit beforehand, the snowfall doubles, doubling the damage done.
Ice, Physical, 60 BP, 100 AC, 20 PP
Power: While meager if the Pokemon is not hit, if the Pokemon is hit, this move quickly becomes the single deadliest physical Ice attack in the game.
Reliability: On one hand, you never have to worry about anything like Blizzard's 70% accuracy. On the other hand, remember that the move has negative priority and will make you go last under normal conditions. With that in mind, it's pretty clear that this move works best on slow Pokemon, either those that are naturally slow or have Cursed themselves to be that way.
Distribution: Quite good, actually. In particular, expect to find this move on a number of non-Ice-types, who definitely enjoy the massive coverage afforded by an Ice attack.
Utility: As mentioned before, this move works best on slow Pokemon, such as the naturally-slow Rhyperior, or Curse variants of Mamoswine and Swampert.

Barrage: A weak multi-hit move that is somehow the signature move of Exeggcute. Somehow.

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