Move of the Week - Heal Bell

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Hey guys, I'm finally back! Sorry for the lack of MotW articles, but my summer's been kinda hectic. Enough about me tho', let's get to the stuff you're really here for; this week's move is Heal Bell! Woo-hoo, super-exciting, right?

Heal Bell is a Normal-Type Status-Category move with 5 PP (Max 8). Heal Bell removes any of the major status conditions (Burn, Freeze, Paralyze, Poison, and Sleep) from the user. In Double and Triple Battles, it also removes any major status ailment that any of the user's allies may have. 

That's pretty much it for the move, so here's something interesting I found out. In Generations III and IV, Heal Bell did not affect any ally with the Soundproof Ability. It makes sense, seeing as how the "soothing chiming of the bell" is what's supposed to be healing factor. In Generation V however, they removed this, thus allowing Soundproof allies to benefit from it. Kinda neat, huh?

Well, that's it for this edition of Move of the Week. Until next time, stay strong Trainers!

MOTW: Round

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Hiya, Trainers! As always, my name is Kenny and welcome to Move of the Week! Today we're looking at an interesting yet rarely used move; Round! Round is a Normal-Type Special Category move. It sports a Base Power of 60, an Accuracy of 100%, and a PP of 15 (Max 24). Now, you'd think that with a mediocre Base Power of 60 that there would be some secondary effect. Does it have a chance of causing a status effect? Nope. Well maybe it effects a stat like Snarl does? Hmm, sorry but no dice. Well at this point you're probably thinking...
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Move of the Week - Covet

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Heeeyyyy guys, it's me! Kenny! I bet you already knew that! Anyway, I'm here to talk about a move. What, you think you've got a better move to write about? Well hey, if you knew this edition's MOTW, Covet, you might just be able to take this writing position from me! N-no wait, I wasn't serious. Please don't go try and learn that. I would be very sad if you did. So, enough of my joking around, let's get onto the details. Covet is a Normal-Type move in the Physical category, and sports a PP of 40 (Max 64), Base Power of 60, and an Accuracy of 100%. Now if Covet just did damage, it wouldn't really be that great of a move. But, my friends, this Normal-Type attack does more! If the user of Covet is not holding an item, and its target is, the user takes the foe's item! Wow, talk about a potential game-changer! Competitive battlers know that, at times, a held item can make a or break a battle. If that foe's prized item were to be taken away however, it could potentially become quite a bit less threatening (no, I'm definitely not saying that this is always the case). And hey, it's not like most...
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MOTW: Curse

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Heeeyyy Trainers! How are all of you guys and gals doing? Training hard for Nationals, I'm sure. Well this week, I'm gonna cover a move that I'm sure a lot of you have seen in your competitive lives. That's right, we're gonna take a look at Curse! 

I'm sure most of you know what Curse does but hey, a refresher course never hurts! Curse is a Ghost-Type Status-Category move with 10 PP (max 16), and no definied Base Power or Accuracy. Yes folks, as of Generation V, Curse actually has a type! No more of those ???-Type shenanigans. Now, let's get onto what the move actually does. Curse is a funny little move. For every type but Ghost, curse ups the user's Attack and Defense by one stage, but drops the user's Speed stat by one stage. This makes it a great move for those who wish to take advantage of the move Gyro Ball. By increasing Attack AND lowering Speed, you're effectively increasing the power of the move twice in one turn!

Curse does something a bit different with Ghost-Types however. True to its name, when a Ghost-Type uses curse, they actually cut their own HP by 1/2 of their maximum HP (maximum, not current, you'd best remember that!) and lays a curse on the opponent! Spooooky, huh? Now, some of you might be asking what a Curse does exactly. A Pokémon afflicted with a Curse loses 1/4 of their MAXIMUM HP. That's right Trainers, a Cursed Pokémon with full HP with faint in four turns! Yikes, talk about a powerful status effect! The Curse status-effect is an "unlisted" status effect, meaning that, similar to status ailments such as Attract and Leech Seed, it goes away when the afflicted Pokémon is withdrawn. So if one of your Pokémon gets Cursed, make sure to switch out!

Well everyone, I really hope that you all succeed at Nationals. Make sure to let eveyone here at PKMNcast know how you did, we'd love to know! Stay strong, Trainers! I know you'll all make us proud!

MOTW: Yawn

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Heya guys, Kenny here! Sorry for not having an article up last week, I was busy getting stuff ready with NuzleafGreen. Now that things have settled down however, it's time to look at another move! This week: Yawn!

Yawn is a Normal-Type Status-Category move with 10 PP (max 16 PP). Unless specific conditions are met, Yawn will always succeed. This is different from the move Spore. Although Spore has an accuracy of 100%, it may still miss due to accuracy modifications. Basically, it still needs to pass an accuracy check. Yawn bypasses the check, therefore immediately succeeding (under normal circumstances).

Yawn will take two turns the work. If Yawn succeeds, you will be informed that the foe has "grown drowzy". The drowziness itself does not do anything, rather it is informing you that your opponent will fall asleep next turn. Note that drowziness is not a status condition in any form whatsoever.

Now I did say that there are some ways to counter this move, didn't I? Well, let's get onto those! Abilities that prevent sleep such as Vital Spirit or Insomnia render the move useless. As previously stated, the "drowsiness" from Yawn is not a status effect. This does not mean, however, that Yawn will work if the opponent is affected by another status condition. If your opponent is Paralyzed, Asleep, Burned, Frozen, or Poisoned, Yawn will fail. Yawn is also blocked by moves such as Safeguard, Magic Coat, and Uproar. The easiest way to prevent Pokémon from falling asleep however is to switch out! Like with conditions such as Confusion and Attract, switching out will completely nullify the "drowsiness". 

Well, that's it for this edition of MOTW! Stay strong, Trainers!

MOTW: Dark Void

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Woo-hoo, it's time for another MOTW! Sorry about last week, but I'm totally back and ready to talk about a move that is a bit ridiculous due to how good it is: Dark Void! Dark Void is a Status-Category Dark-Type move with 10 PP (16 max) and an accuracy of 80%. This move is also the signature move of none other than the Pokémon that is currently being distributed (that event's still active, right?): Darkrai! Now, I know some of you may be saying "80% isn't that great, Kenny. Why are you saying it's so good?" Well, let's take a closer look.

Although this move doesn't have the accuracy that moves like Spore and Yawn do, it can hit both opponents (unless, of course, the Sleep Clause is active). Imagine winning a Double Battle and then - BAM - both of your Pokémon are put to sleep in the same turn. That's enough to make anyone mad. On top of that, most of you might remember that Darkrai has an Ability called Bad Dreams, which reduces the HP of any sleeping opponent by 1/8th. This Ability can also be paired with the move Nightmare, which reduces the HP of a sleeping opponent by 1/4th! Seriously, anyone in that situation is pretty much a gonner. Even if you take away both Bad Dreams and/or Nightmare, Dark Void is seriously a crippling move (It may be Darkrai's signature move but remember, Smeargle can learn it too via Sketch!). So crippling in fact, that it's been banned from officially sanctioned tournaments. I personally feel that if they took the accuracy down a bit then it might be a fair move. The 80% it's at now however, makes it way too good.

Well, that's it for this edition of Move of the Week. Stay strong, Trainers!

MOTW - Me First

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Guess how this article's gonna start out? I'll give you a second to think. Okay, ready? Hey guys, Kenny here with another edition of MOTW (surprise)! This week we're going to take a look at how it could just very well be in a Pokémon's best interest to be selfish. That's right, we're talking about the move Me First! Me First is a Normal-Type Status-Category move with 20 PP (max 32). It probably goes without saying but, like many other Status-Category moves, it does not have a base power or base accuracy. When a Pokémon uses Me First, it attempts to steal the target's move and use it as its own. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well friends, I must tell you that it's a bit more complicated than it sounds. I'll cover everything though, and soon, you'll be a pro at using this move! First, and most importantly...
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MOTW - Nature Power

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Hiya guys, how are you all doing? This is your friend Kenny here coming to you from PKMNcast Headquarters coming at you with another Move of the Week! I figured that today, rather than talking about some boring competitive move, I'd go over a more unique and, let's be honest here, fun move. Today we are taking a look at Nature Power!

To explain it in a unique way, I would say that Nature Power is kinda like the middle school kid who doesn't exactly know where they belong so, rather than trying to find out who they are, they try to fit in EVERYWHERE. Nature Power is a move that varies based upon the terrain that you are currently using as a battleground. When used, you will be informed that "Nature Power turned into ____!" meaning that Nature Power actually transforms into a different move.  The types of terrain change from game to game, but we will be taking a look at the Gen V games as they are the current standard.

 

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MOTW: Hurricane

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Hey guys, Kenny here! I know I just posted last week's MOTW yesterday, but I figured no one would mind if I still went ahead and wrote another one this week. This time, we will be looking at a powerful Flying-Type move; Hurricane!

Hurricane is a Special-Category Flying-Type move, with a natural PP count of 10 that can be bumped up to a maxumum of 16, 120 Power, and 70% accuracy, and has a 30% chance of confusing the foe (essentially making it a Flying-Type variant of Thunder, but with a chance of inflicting Confusion rather than Paralysis). In one turn, you could potentially severly damage your opponent, confuse them, and then sit back and relax as they end up taking the rest of their own HP out by hitting themselves. Talk about a powerful move!

Now, now, I know what you're thinking; it's a strong move, but...

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MOTW: Simple Beam

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Hey guys, Kenny here. I'm still not feeling my best, but I figured that I'd still do my duty and write a MOTW article (especially since I didn't write one last week). This week's move... Simple Beam! Kind of a weird move, huh? Anyway, let's get down to business.

Simple Beam is a Normal-Type status-inducing move with 100% accuracy, and 15 PP (which can be maxed out to 24). When used, the target of the attack has their Ability temporarily changed to the "Simple" Ability. A Pokémon with the "Simple" Ability is doubly affected by any stat change. This means that, for example, the move Harden would increase the user's Defense by 2 stages rather than 1, if that same Pokémon were to have the "Simple" Ability.

How can this be put to use? Can it even be put to use at all? Well, of course it can! In Double Battles, you can attack your own Pokémon, right? Say one of your Pokémon were to know Simple Beam, and another Curse and Gyro Ball. By using Simple Beam on your Curse / Gyro Ball Pokémon, you could set up for a killer combo in one turn! That's twice the Attack and Defense boost, and twice the Speed loss. You could also just use it to get rid of an opponent's unwanted Ability. While there aren't a ton of uses for this move, Simple Beam is definitely more than just a throw-away move. Next time you're looking for a unique way to spice up a battle, give this move a try!