PokéBase - Pokémon Q&A
Meta Rate My Team

Do moves that have no effect always hit?

0 votes
1,078 views

In Showdown, I know that if you were to use Sheer Cold on an ice type, it hits but has no effect. I want to know if this happens in-game and other instances.

by
I don't think this is answerable. The move doesn't "hit", because then it would actually do something. The game checks for if the move works before checking accuracy, so if you use a move that has no effect, it won't have had accuracy checked. This can be seen on Showdown if you Magic Bounce a move with no effect (like Magic Bouncing Will-o-Wisp on a Fire Type, or Block on an already trapped mon). Instead of "hitting", the animation simply...won't be there. I've decided to flag this for being unanswerable.
by
If the above is accurate, then it is one answer to this question. It's totally fine to just say the premise of the question is wrong.
by
Sorry for lack of clarification, as I have been busy irl. What I mean is if you were to get a move to the lowest accuracy and use it on a Pokemon who normally isn't effect (counting abilities like storm drain or volt absorb), would it hit, or would it still miss. I want to know which moves would still hit regardless of immunities. Sorry if this is unanswerable. I can always hide this question.
by
**It will always hit.**

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1325910358

In this replay I use Incinerate (A 55% accurate move with victory star) eight times on a Heatran, who is immune from it because of an ability and none of them miss. Eight Zap Cannons (Also a 50% accurate move) against Arceus-Ground, who is a ground type and naturally is immune to Electric type moves, and none of them missed. Because of this, I think that a move where the target is immune will always hit.
by
edited by
The question is if it hits in-game
by
Ignis sniped me I was like about to comment the same thing lol
by
The animation doesn't have to play, the move just can't miss.
by
Is just one game example good enough? Because then I can answer. Probably it should
by
Commenting on the info I found:
Moves that have no effect on another Pokemon will not miss.
3 examples I did:
Example 1: Sheer Cold Lapras vs Alolan Vulpix: I used up all of Sheer Cold's PP and the only message I got when I used Sheer Cold was "it doesn't effect the wild Vulpix...". I never got the message "the wild Vulpix avoided the attack!"
Example 2: Fissure Hippowdon vs Oricorio: Same results. I only got the message "it doesn't effect the wild Oricorio..."
Example 3: Toxic Vaporeon vs Ekans: I wanted to see if this happens with moves with a little higher accuracy. (Probably not the best example) Same results as examples 1 and 2. If anyone wants to use any of these examples, go ahead. :P
by

1 Answer

0 votes
 
Best answer

Moves that have no effect will always hit

I did 3 examples for this in Ultra Sun:

Example 1: Sheer Cold Lapras vs Alolan Vulpix: I used up all of Sheer Cold's PP and the only message I got when I used Sheer Cold was "it doesn't effect the wild Vulpix...". I never got the message "the wild Vulpix avoided the attack!"
Example 2: Fissure Hippowdon vs Oricorio: Same results. I only got the message "it doesn't effect the wild Oricorio...". I never got the message "the wild Oricorio avoided the attack!"
Example 3: Toxic Vaporeon vs Ekans: I wanted to see if this happens with moves with a little higher accuracy. (Probably not the best example) Same results as examples 1 and 2. I only got the message "it doesn't effect the wild Ekans...". I never got the message "the wild Ekans avoided the attack!"

Therefore, moves that don't have effect will always hit.

Source: Experience

Hope this helps.

by
selected by
by
Okay thanks. This helps a lot.
by

Related questions

Useful Posts