Question Box

[M&F]

What about a Will-O-Wisp reflected back by Magic Coat/Bounce?

That won't activate Flash Fire either, although in the games it would.

Can Smoke Ball be used instantaneously, as in before a faster pokémon?

This should be the same as attempting to close one eye's, cover one's ears, or drop one's held item before a faster Pokémon can finish their move; I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to whether any of those should work, but hopefully that might help the referee in question make a decision.

I swear that in the last iteration in ASB Contrary was specified to not affect self-debuffs, because it would be horrendously overpowered.
Was this overwritten when it came in anew?

Au Contrary (aren't I a stinker), although it's definitely horrendously overpowered still and I believe I've brought this up a couple times already to not much avail.

 

[Lord of the Fireflies]

That won't activate Flash Fire either, although in the games it would.

Why not, since it works in the game? Seems like a cool way to go around a "Use Magic Coat if they try a status move" command?

This should be the same as attempting to close one eye's, cover one's ears, or drop one's held item before a faster Pokémon can finish their move; I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to whether any of those should work, but hopefully that might help the referee in question make a decision.

Oops, a bit late, I reffed it as being used at the same time as the given move on that action, since it was not specified. Should be made clear in the future for other refs.

 

[Lord of the Fireflies]

Does Pursuit's special effect (double power + priority) activate only when the opponent switches, or whenever the opponent tries to flee in any way?

 

[Meowth]

Its database entry says running away buffs it as well.

 

[Byrus]

Au Contrary (aren't I a stinker), although it's definitely horrendously overpowered still and I believe I've brought this up a couple times already to not much avail.

I was thinking about this too, and I suppose it's another of those things that doesn't translate from the games to ASB very well. It's less over-powered in the games since battles there are much faster. Like, I could just swap in my fast special sweeper to easily outspeed and KO a Malamar attempting to get its boosts up (not taking trick room into account), but since battles in ASB are slower and Pokémon don't go down so quickly, it gives the contrary user plenty of time to build up stat boosts.

(Although I have thought of another way to counter it without using ability changing moves, but it's probably not fair to go into detail, haha)

I think the best solution might be to specify that the stat boosts gained by contrary wear off after a certain period?

 

[Meowth]

What actual effects does freezing have in ASB? Just the inability or increased difficulty of using the affected appendages?

 

[shy ♡]

Kratos has the best scale for reffing freeze atm.

 

[Keldeo]

Can Mean Look's intangibility-prevention effect prevent Shadow/Phantom Force, Feint Attack, Shadow Sneak, teleporting moves like Ally Switch or Teleport, or Transforming oneself into something intangible? Is the last possible?

If a Pokemon transforms into something like a sliced pie/basically anything with disparate, removable parts and another Pokemon takes away a part and moves it a far distance away, what would happen if the Ditto transformed into something that couldn't be separated that way, like another Pokemon? Would the removed part just disappear? Is removing a part even possible?

 

[M&F]

I was thinking about this too, and I suppose it's another of those things that doesn't translate from the games to ASB very well. It's less over-powered in the games since battles there are much faster. Like, I could just swap in my fast special sweeper to easily outspeed and KO a Malamar attempting to get its boosts up (not taking trick room into account), but since battles in ASB are slower and Pokémon don't go down so quickly, it gives the contrary user plenty of time to build up stat boosts.

(Although I have thought of another way to counter it without using ability changing moves, but it's probably not fair to go into detail, haha)

I think the best solution might be to specify that the stat boosts gained by contrary wear off after a certain period?

As a whole I think stat changes should fade with time, although I've not yet worked on a specific scale for this and shouldn't go applying anything like that without some objective reference ready and there.

As far as balancing Contrary goes, I think its conversion of stat changes should cost energy -- and this, regardless of whether it's turning drops into gains or the converse. 1% for each stat change turned upside-down seems about reasonable to me.

What actual effects does freezing have in ASB? Just the inability or increased difficulty of using the affected appendages?

The effects of freezing are most largely held to the referee's discretion at this point. Kratos's scale is one valid way to handle it, as are many others. Myself, I do some rolls in order to determine the areas in the Pokémon's body affected by the freezing, then heavily restrict use of those parts of the body, and from there the severity level of the freezing has a 20% chance of decreasing at the end of each action (similar to the chance of thawing in the games), which causes some but not of all of the afflicted area to thaw, up until the mildest severity level, after which a successful roll will cause the full thawing.

Can Mean Look's intangibility-prevention effect prevent Shadow/Phantom Force, Feint Attack, Shadow Sneak, teleporting moves like Ally Switch or Teleport, or Transforming oneself into something intangible? Is the last possible?

If a Pokemon transforms into something like a sliced pie/basically anything with disparate, removable parts and another Pokemon takes away a part and moves it a far distance away, what would happen if the Ditto transformed into something that couldn't be separated that way, like another Pokemon? Would the removed part just disappear? Is removing a part even possible?

Mean Look will indeed prevent Shadow/Phantom Force, Shadow Sneak, Teleport, Ally Switch and Feint Attack (loathe as I am to apply the current official flavor of it). Transformation into an intangible object is possible, although not perfectly; the Pokémon would only be able to transform into a tangible form of the object, as if the object itself had been subject to solidification.

That one's a better a question... I'd argue that, as Ditto appear to be able to transform into to objects of about any size, the amount of mass they have doesn't seem to be an upper limit of the form it can take, so losing mass (as it would if a part of it were removed) shouldn't affect its ability to take its original form or transform into something else. Moreover, as Ditto appear to be required to maintain their transformed states actively (since they'll revert if distracted or made to laugh), any piece removed from a Ditto should immediately untransform.

 

[Grass King]

Are Counter and Mirror Coat affected by Reflect and Light Screen respectively?

 

[nastypass]

They're listed as physical and special moves, so I would think so. imo they need a nerf anyway but I don't feel strongly enough to argue about it.

 

[Zhorken]

They're not; their damage can't be affected by anything (unless it's prevented entirely). They're both tagged "exact damage" and they both restate it in their full descriptions. They do kind of need a nerf though...

 

[Lord of the Fireflies]

I agree on the nerf. In ASB, it's just extremely easy when you order second to just let yourself hit with a well-thought move from your opponent and chop away a quarter of their health.

For the moment, in the games, Counter and Mirror Coat deal 2x the damage, while Metal Burst does 1.5x.

As a start, I think it would be beneficial for the balance of ASB to cut that to 1.5x and 1.25x, respectively.

 

[Keldeo]

What would happen if a Pokemon used a Mimicked/Mirror Moved/Copycatted move that it either 1) didn't have the body parts or any analogous part capable of executing the move (e.g. Bronzor using Wing Attack or Mega Punch) or 2) had an analogous body part but not /exactly/ that part? (e.g. something with fins using Wing Attack or Thunder Punch, maybe?) Would the damage be reduced at all? Would it be up to ref discretion? The case in question is a Solrock using Dragon Tail, but I think a general answer would help for future reference.

uv brought this up earlier in the thread but I don't think it was ever answered.

 

[shy ♡]

What would happen if a Pokemon used a Mimicked/Mirror Moved/Copycatted move that it either 1) didn't have the body parts or any analogous part capable of executing the move (e.g. Bronzor using Wing Attack or Mega Punch) or 2) had an analogous body part but not /exactly/ that part? (e.g. something with fins using Wing Attack or Thunder Punch, maybe?) Would the damage be reduced at all? Would it be up to ref discretion? The case in question is a Solrock using Dragon Tail, but I think a general answer would help for future reference.

uv brought this up earlier in the thread but I don't think it was ever answered.

Imo since there's precedent of pokemon being able to learn moves that they don't have the required body parts for, the pokemon would just use some other body part for the mimicked move, or summon energy to do it or something. Ref discretion.

 

[M&F]

What would happen if a Pokemon used a Mimicked/Mirror Moved/Copycatted move that it either 1) didn't have the body parts or any analogous part capable of executing the move (e.g. Bronzor using Wing Attack or Mega Punch) or 2) had an analogous body part but not /exactly/ that part? (e.g. something with fins using Wing Attack or Thunder Punch, maybe?) Would the damage be reduced at all? Would it be up to ref discretion? The case in question is a Solrock using Dragon Tail, but I think a general answer would help for future reference.

uv brought this up earlier in the thread but I don't think it was ever answered.

Since this always happens as a result of a move with the specific effect of causing a move known by the enemy to be used by the user, I'd say that, if there's any need to apply a penalty or cost, it should be applied directly to the move in the middle instead of the one that's being used as an outcome. Also, apologies for missing that question earlier.

 

[Lord of the Fireflies]

When a move is banned by the use of a Red Card, can it still be used by the holder of said Red Card?

Also, all these moves in the «one use per battle » category can be Recycled, right? It would mean they could be used more than once per battle...

 

[Meowth]

Do switching-out moves end the round, or is that only the case with conventional switching out?

 

[Eifie]

Do switching-out moves end the round, or is that only the case with conventional switching out?

I can't look up the reference here at work, but it should end the round. Check the old A&A guide, search for... U-Turn or Baton Pass, I think.

 

[Meowth]

Tried that, none of the switch-out moves say anything about ending the round in there either. I'm tempted to take that to mean they don't but I've a niggling feeling they always used to.