Moves Explained

Pokemon Moves are an essential part of battles in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on to find out how Moves work and why they are important to understand when playing the new Gen 9 titles!

What Can We Learn From This Article?
Moves that match the user's type do 1.5x more damage
There are two kinds of attacks: Physical and Special
Super-effective moves do 2.0x more damage
Move choices should take into account the move's Accuracy

Properties of Moves

STAB Moves

STAB is an abbreviation for the phrase Same-Type Attack Bonus. When a Pokemon's type matches the type of an attacking move they use, the Pokemon will deal 1.5x the normal amount of damage. We refer to this by saying the Pokemon gets STAB for a given move.

Things to Remember Regarding STAB

• Dual Type Pokemon can get STAB on Moves matching either of their types.
• Moves with fixed damage do not get the STAB boost.
• STAB has no effect on non-damaging Status Moves.
• Pokemon with the ability Adaptability receive a STAB boost of 2x instead of 1.5x.

Physical and Special Moves

Physical moves deal damage based on the Attack stat and goes up against the Defense stat of the opponent. Similarly, Special moves deal damage based on the Special Attack stat and goes up against the opponent's Special Defense stat.

Examples of Physical and Special Moves

Physical Moves	Special Moves
Close Combat Earthquake Outrage	Thunderbolt Ice Beam Surf

Status moves

Status moves don't inflict damage and instead provide a myriad of battle effects, such as raising or lowering stats, inflicting status conditions, and changing weather to name a few.

Moves that inflict status on opponents have varying Accuracy, while Status moves that a Pokemon uses on itself will not fail.

Examples of Status Moves

Status Moves
Swords Dance Thunder Wave Tailwind

List of Moves that Inflict Status Conditions

Super-Effective Moves

Moves, when Super-Effective, gain an additional 2.0x multiplier to their damage, and an additional 4.0x if a Pokemon has typings that share the same Weakness.

You will be able to see if a move is effective or not through the in-game text seen onscreen. Super-effective hits deal significantly more damage to a Pokemon. Inversely, attacks that are 'not very effective' are resisted attacks, which deal less damage.

Type Chart: All Matchups and Effectiveness

Priority Moves

Attacks like Quick Attack and Protect will sometimes come out first before other attacks. The reason for this is their Priority.

Additionally, Abilities can also affect the Priority of moves. These include Abilities like Prankster, Tailwind, and Triage.

List of Priority Moves

Tips For Move Selection

Attacker

Physical Attacker
Tyranitar	・Rock Slide ・Crunch ・Earthquake ・Dragon Dance

The Attacker's role is to deal damage to opposing Pokemon and knock them out. It is ideal to have Pokemon with high Attack or Special Attack stats to fill out this role. A good balance of STAB moves, a coverage move, and an additional status move that can help the Pokemon better fulfil its role make up a solid moveset.

Support

Support
Chansey	・Seismic Toss ・Soft-Boiled ・Thunder Wave ・Stealth Rock

A Support Pokemon should be a nuisance on the field, being difficult to knock out and able to cause significant havoc to the opponent's game state. Chansey is equipped with Thunder Wave and Stealth Rock to inflict paralysis and incremental damage respectively. Soft-Boiled to give it even more survivability. Lastly, it has Seismic Toss so that it can deal consistent damage when it has to.

A strong Support Pokemon can turn the battle's tide in your favor, sometimes even acting as a win condition if you run your opponents out of ways to deal with it.

Tier Lists

Image from Pokemon HOME

It is also recommended to check out the Tier Lists in Pokemon Home when deciding which moves to put onto your Pokemon. A high usage rate almost always translates to the move being a good choice.

Moves Frequently Asked Questions

Why Does Sheer Cold Miss?

Since the 7th generation of Pokemon games, the accuracty of Sheer Cold if used by non-Ice types has been 20%. This means that it will hit 1/5 times, which are terrible odds. We don't recommend you use this move unless your Pokemon is an Ice-type.

Why Can't I Hit Cresselia with Earthquake?

Pokemon with the Ability, Levitate are immune to Ground-type moves. Additionally, Pokemon with Levitate are also unaffected by moves such as Spikes and the effects of Terrains.

Why Did My Move Miss Despite No Changes in My Pokemon's Accuracy?

If your opponent has not used an Evasion raising move like Double Team, it is possible that the opposing Pokemon is holding Bright Powder, which lowers the Accuracy of enemy Pokemon.

Why Does Horn Drill Not Work At All?

Pokemon with the Ability, Sturdy are immune to one-hit KO moves. Use super-effective moves to defeat them instead!

Why Can't I Use Leech Seed Against My Opponent?

Grass-type Pokemon are immune to Leech Seed. Additionally, moves like Spore and Sleep Powder also do not work against Grass-types. Be sure to check the opposing Pokemon's type before using these moves!

Why Can't I Use Thunder Wave Against My Opponent's Substitute?

Substitute protects a Pokemon from Status moves. It is not advisable to use Status moves that target a Pokemon behind a Substitute.

Why Was I Hit By Earthquake After I Used Roost?

A Pokemon loses its Flying typing on the turn that it uses Roost. One of Roost's effects is making its user lose its Ground immunity.

Why Did Protect Fail?

Protect has a chance of failing if used consecutively. This is to prevent players from using it every turn.

How Does Weather Affect Moves?

Weather has a variety of effects that can affect Moves. An example would be, Water-type moves gaining a 50% boost to damage in Rain, and Fire-type moves gaining a 50% boost in Sun. The Accuracy of moves are sometimes also affected, with moves like Thunder and Hurricane being more accurate during Rain.

Are There Types That Are Immune to Status Conditions?

Fire-types are immune to being Burned. Poison and Steel-types are immune to Poison. Ice-types cannot be frozen. Lastly, Electric types are immune to being paralyzed. These Pokemon types are immune to these status conditions unless their type is altered somehow in battle. A move like Soak will allow an Electric-type to be paralyzed.

Interestingly, Fire-types are not immune to being frozen.

How Long Does Destiny Bond Last?

Destiny Bond is only active on the turn that it is used. It has a chance of failing if used consecutively. In order for Destiny Bond to be effective, the user must be able to use it before the opponent and be knocked out by damage from an attack.

Damage from effects like Burn, Poison, or Sandstorm damage will not cause the opponent to be knocked out by Destiny Bond.

If successful, Destiny Bond will knock an opponent out even if the opponent is holding a Focus Sash.

Is It Good to Increase the PP of Moves?

It is not always necessary for you to increase the PP of moves that already have a high number of PP, especially since PP Up and PP Max are hard-to-find items.

However, it is not a bad idea to increase the PP of moves that have a low PP count.

Moves like Hydro Pump and Leaf Storm can benefit from having their PP increased.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Related Guides

All Game Mechanics

List of All Game Mechanics