Is boosted attack the same as lowered defense?

Question

Say a Pokemon used Leer. Your defense would be lowered. But if the same opponent used Work Up instead of Leer, would it do the same amount as damage as if your defense was lowered?

Answer 1

These are some calculations done for this:

Regular:
0 Atk Rattata Tackle vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pikachu: 55-66 (26 - 31.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
(55, 55, 57, 57, 58, 58, 60, 60, 60, 61, 61, 63, 63, 64, 64, 66)

With lowered Defense:
0 Atk Rattata Tackle vs. -1 0 HP / 0 Def Pikachu: 84-99 (39.8 - 46.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
(84, 84, 85, 87, 87, 88, 90, 90, 91, 93, 93, 94, 96, 96, 97, 99)

With increased Attack:
+1 0 Atk Rattata Tackle vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pikachu: 84-99 (39.8 - 46.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
(84, 84, 85, 87, 87, 88, 90, 90, 91, 93, 93, 94, 96, 96, 97, 99)

So yes, boosted Attack is the same as lowered Defense

Comments

OK, thank you.