Competitive Pokémon players are known to utilize specific moves, abilities, and strategies to gain the upper hand in battles, and some of these are showcased in the anime.
Ash uses plenty of his own strategies in the anime, but most of these defy the logistics from the games and are often impossible to replicate, with examples of this including his Thunder Armor and Counter Shield strategies.
While the classic strategy from the anime of trainers telling their Pokémon to dodge moves isn’t truly accurate to the games, there are plenty of well-devised plans and strategies that utilize moves and abilities, that are ever-present in both the anime and the games.
10 Guzma Uses A U-Turn Strategy To Avoid Super-Effective Moves
Team Skull’s leader Guzma gives a taste of what can be expected from a U-Turn strategy in the Pokémon Sun & Moon anime in his Semi-Final bout against Ash at the Alolan Pokémon League. He has his Scizor use U-turn just as a super-effective Fire attack is approaching, switching out into a Golisopod, which is not affected by the move.
He doesn’t get to use the strategy further as it ultimately backfires on him when Golisopod’s ability Emergency Exit, brings Scizor out unprepared and it immediately gets defeated. Emergency Exit is an ability form of U-turn but it is triggered when the Golisopod takes a certain amount of damage. Both can be used in the games but there has to be a game plan around it.
9 Guts Can Turn A Status Infliction Into A Terrifying Power Boost
When Ash faces off against Paul at Lake Acuity in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Paul’s Ursaring showcases the devastating Guts ability when it is paralyzed by Pikachu. Guts is an ability that increases a Pokémon’s attack by 50% if it is inflicted with a status condition.
Some competitive Pokémon players have been known to use a Flame Orb or something to inflict status conditions on their own Pokémon in order to trigger Guts or to use Facade.
8 Drought Allows For Fire-Type Moves To Burn More Fiercely
Trevor and Alain face-off in the first round of the Kalos Pokémon League and start with Charizard versus Charizard. Trevor quickly mega-evolves his Charizard and announces that its ability is Drought. Drought causes the sun to burn brightly and boosts the power of Fire-type moves.
In competitive Pokémon, Drought is often used at the start of a battle when using a sun team. It saves using Sunny Day and allows for powerful Fire-type moves from the start.
7 Katie Utilizes Destiny Bond For An Easy Elimination
Ash’s bout with Katie at the Hoenn Pokémon League was a perfect showcase of strategies and exploiting weaknesses. One example of this is when Ash’s Glalie appears to be turning the tide of the battle and is on the verge of easily defeating Katie’s Misdreavus. Just as Misdreavus is being knocked out, however, Katie has it use Destiny Bond to make sure that Glalie gets wiped out as well.
Destiny Bond essentially creates a bond between both Pokémon so that when one faints, the other follows. It can be seen as a somewhat unfair tactic, but in situations such as this one, where you need to get an opponent’s strong Pokémon off the field, it makes perfect sense.
6 Tierno’s Ludicolo Showcases The Potential Of Swift Swim
In the Quarter-finals of the Kalos Pokémon League, Sawyer faces off against Tierno. Despite eventually losing to Sawyer, Tierno shows off a strategy that involves his Ludicolo using Rain Dance, which in turn activates its Swift Swim ability and powers up any future Water-type moves. Swift Swim greatly increases a Pokémon’s speed while battling in the rain.
In competitive Pokémon double-battles, this can be taken one step further by not only having a Swift Swim Pokémon but also having a Pokémon with the Drizzle ability. Drizzle makes it rain upon entry, saving a turn being wasted using Rain Dance.
5 Inflicting Status Conditions Gives Time For Recuperation
A strategy that is on display on two occasions during the Battle Frontier series from the Ruby and Sapphire adventures, is using Rest to heal and recharge while one of the participants is frozen solid.
Ash uses this with his Snorlax while facing Greta, when it is frozen by Medicham’s Ice Punch and uses Rest to restore energy and effectively use the time while frozen. Brandon also applies a similar approach when facing Ash later in the series. His Regice freezes Pikachu and uses this time to Rest and regain health. It’s a widely-utilized strategy in single battles, using a status-effecting move on a Pokémon and capitalizing on the temporary rest-bite.
4 Toxic Spikes Can Change The Tide Of A Battle
In the Sinnoh League Quarter-final between Ash and Paul, Paul has his Drapion use the nasty trap move, Toxic Spikes. Once Toxic Spikes are placed on the battlefield, any new Pokémon introduced to the battle will be poisoned, unless they are immune.
It is a useful tactic to use in competitive Pokémon battling, with alternatives being Spikes and Stealth Rock, which will see entering opponents take damage rather than a status condition.
3 Sand Stream Can Impair Vision And Help Dictate A Battle
In the Final of the Kalos Pokémon League, Ash faces off against Alain, who starts off with a Sand Stream Tyranitar. Sand Stream is an ability that generates a sandstorm on entry. While Ash’s Pikachu quickly quells the Sandstorm, splashing water at it with an Iron Tail, there are many ways that Sand Stream can be used in competitive Pokémon battling.
Using Sand Stream in double battles can activate other Pokémon’s abilities like Sand Force and Sand Rush which up a Pokémon’s attack power and speed respectively, while also inflicting damage on non-Ground, Steel and Rock types.
2 Pokémon With Bulky Defense Can Stall And Frustrate Opponents
The Stall strategy is about using bulky Pokémon to frustrate opponents. Not only will their significant defense make it difficult to defeat but these Pokémon usually have other moves to prolong the battle.
In the Diamond and Pearl series, there is an example of this in action when Nurse Joy faces off against Brock with her Chansey. In This case, it uses Minimize and Attract to prevent it from being hit, before dealing a finishing blow with an Egg Bomb. Other moves that could be used include Light Screen and Reflect to boost Defense, Sing to put opponents to sleep and Softboiled to heal the user’s Pokémon. Other Pokémon using this strategy could use Leech Seed or Toxic to inflict damage while continuing to heal.
1 Conway’s Trick Room Tactics Counter Ash’s Speedy Team
Conway’s battle with Ash in the third-round of the Sinnoh Pokémon League is a perfect showcase of intriguing strategies. In this 3 on 3 bout, Conway watches on and once he knows which Pokémon Ash is using, he counters all of Ash’s quick Pokémon by having his Dusknoir use Trick Room.
This changes the dimensions of the battlefield, allowing slower Pokémon to move first, therefore Dusknoir in this case, allowing it to easily dispatch the majority of Ash’s team. Trick Room tactics are often used in competitive Pokémon battles, as it can make slower, powerful Pokémon truly dangerous.
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