I pretty much ignored all status moves in Pokemon Red/Blue back in the day. I also “ruined” a lot of Pokemon by loading them with HMs. So I’d have one poor thing that was useless in battle all the time, but could get me places outside.
Honestly, most status moves aren’t worth it in normal, AI battles because the pokemon AI is so bad.
Sword dance and nasty plot are the exception. Use that once or twice and you can usually sweep the entire opponent team with one hits. They’re also fantastic in the raid features that the last 2 generations have had. A big meta in SV raids was belly drum + drain punch (which would easily heal the damage belly drum dealt). It’s practically impossible to win 6+ star raids without status moves. Some of them are so brutally hard that you have to go for cheese strategies.
Sleep Powder is the only one IMO. 75% hit rate and an expected 2+ turns of effect means it’s a good gamble vs a stronger opponent, plus it’s practical for catching Pokemon.
Well, that and Gen 1 Toxic + Leech Seed is pretty fun…
I forced my way through that cave in Blue/Red that was completely pitch black. I don’t know why I didn’t get HM Flash (I was a dumb kid). I remember listening intenselywith headphones to the noises that would be made from running into walls, along with counting each press of the d-pad so I could sorta figure out where I was. Still got lost often. I don’t know how many poor Zubats I murdered in that cave trying to get through it. Nor do I remember how long it took me to get to the other side.
Ha! I probably did the same thing. I certainly remember stumbling upon all the “hidden” trainers constantly.
I’m surprised I even managed to finish the game. I barely knew English when I got it. In fact, I learned a lot of words thanks to it. And to this day, whenever I stumble upon the word “swift”, I think of stars.
I played Pokemon games against other kids in battles, and I also never saw merit in the status effects. If it didn’t deal damage, it was just a waste of a move.
Now, my experience is solely from the original Red/Blue generation so maybe they’ve gotten a bit more complex, but the first games were shallow af.
I think it’s definitely a 1st-gen thing. I played up to Black/White and it felt like the game progressed much faster and using stat moves mattered more as the generations advanced.
I pretty much ignored all status moves in Pokemon Red/Blue back in the day. I also “ruined” a lot of Pokemon by loading them with HMs. So I’d have one poor thing that was useless in battle all the time, but could get me places outside.
Honestly, most status moves aren’t worth it in normal, AI battles because the pokemon AI is so bad.
Sword dance and nasty plot are the exception. Use that once or twice and you can usually sweep the entire opponent team with one hits. They’re also fantastic in the raid features that the last 2 generations have had. A big meta in SV raids was belly drum + drain punch (which would easily heal the damage belly drum dealt). It’s practically impossible to win 6+ star raids without status moves. Some of them are so brutally hard that you have to go for cheese strategies.
Sleep Powder is the only one IMO. 75% hit rate and an expected 2+ turns of effect means it’s a good gamble vs a stronger opponent, plus it’s practical for catching Pokemon.
Well, that and Gen 1 Toxic + Leech Seed is pretty fun…
I forced my way through that cave in Blue/Red that was completely pitch black. I don’t know why I didn’t get HM Flash (I was a dumb kid). I remember listening intenselywith headphones to the noises that would be made from running into walls, along with counting each press of the d-pad so I could sorta figure out where I was. Still got lost often. I don’t know how many poor Zubats I murdered in that cave trying to get through it. Nor do I remember how long it took me to get to the other side.
Ha! I probably did the same thing. I certainly remember stumbling upon all the “hidden” trainers constantly.
I’m surprised I even managed to finish the game. I barely knew English when I got it. In fact, I learned a lot of words thanks to it. And to this day, whenever I stumble upon the word “swift”, I think of stars.
I played Pokemon games against other kids in battles, and I also never saw merit in the status effects. If it didn’t deal damage, it was just a waste of a move.
Now, my experience is solely from the original Red/Blue generation so maybe they’ve gotten a bit more complex, but the first games were shallow af.
I think it’s definitely a 1st-gen thing. I played up to Black/White and it felt like the game progressed much faster and using stat moves mattered more as the generations advanced.