Power

If you were looking for the performance stat, see Performance → Power.

Power (Japanese: 威力 power) is a property of moves that helps determine how much damage they deal. It is seen primarily in the games, but it is touched upon in the Pokémon anime.

Overview

Moves with more power inflict more damage, provided all other circumstances are equal. Many variables besides power can influence the damage a move deals, however.

Statistically speaking, stronger moves often have certain limitations over weaker moves, such as low accuracy, low PP, or a negative effect like recoil damage.

Since Generation II, the power of a move is always displayed in the move section of a Pokémon's summary screen. All status moves in the games display a power of "—"; they do no damage. Most physical and special moves display a numeric value for their power (typically in some multiple of 5), but there are a number of exceptions: Moves that deal direct damage do not rely on the attacker and defender's stats for their damage and display a power of "—", including set-damage moves and one-hit knockout moves (which always do enough damage to make a Pokémon faint if they hit); moves that have variable power also usually display a power of "—".

Power is not shown in-game in the Mystery Dungeon series prior to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. In that game, as well as Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (WiiWare), moves are assigned a number of stars to indicate their power, and more stars indicates more power for that particular move. For example, Scratch has a rating of ★★★★. There exists an actual numerical value for power, however, and it is added to the Pokémon's relevant Attack stat to determine damage dealt. The power of moves in Mystery Dungeon is valued on a smaller scale, that does not necessarily correlate with the power of the move in main series games.

Stars	Power
3	4 or lower
4	5-9
5	10-13
6	14-17
7	18-22
8	23 or higher

Additionally, certain moves double their damage at the end of calculation; these are always rated as 8 star power-wise, regardless of how much their base power actually is.

Power modification

A number of factors can specifically affect a move's power in the games' damage calculation. From Generation V onward, if multiple apply, they are chained together in the order specified below, then applied to the base power:

• Technician boosts a move's power by 1.5× if its unmodified base power is 60 or less.
• Rivalry boosts a move's power by 1.25× if the attacker and target are of the same gender, or reduces it to 0.75× if they are of opposite genders. No effect if either is gender unknown.
• Galvanize, Aerilate, Pixilate, Refrigerate, Normalize, Iron Fist, and Reckless can boost a move's power by 1.2× (4915/4096× from Generation V onward) under certain circumstances (Normalize did not boost power prior to Generation VII, however).
• Battery boosts the power of special moves by 5325/4096× (~1.3×) if, in a Double Battle, the attacker's ally has the Ability.
• Sheer Force, Sand Force, Analytic, Tough Claws, and Punk Rock can boost a move's power by 5235/4096× (~1.3×) under certain circumstances.
• Power Spot boosts a move's power by 5325/4096× (~1.3×) if, in a Double Battle, the attacker's ally has the Ability.
• Fairy Aura and Dark Aura boost the power of Fairy-type and Dark-type moves, respectively, by 5448/4096× (~1.33x). If Aura Break is in effect as well, their power is instead reduced to 0.75×.
• Flare Boost, Toxic Boost, Strong Jaw, Mega Launcher, and Steely Spirit can boost a move's power by 1.5× under certain circumstances.
  • Steely Spirit can apply from both the attacker and their ally in a Double Battle.
• Heatproof reduces the power of Fire-type moves used against a Pokémon with the Ability to 0.5x.
• Dry Skin boosts the power of Fire-type moves used against a Pokémon with the Ability by 1.25x
• The Muscle Band and Wise Glasses boost the power of physical moves and special moves, respectively, by 1.1× (4505/4096× from Generation V onward).
• Plates, type-enhancing items, and type-enhancing Incenses boost the power of moves of the specific type associated with them by 1.2× (4915/4096× from Generation V onward). However:
  • In Generation II, the type-enhancing items instead boosted damage, and did so by 1.1×. In Generation III, they instead boosted Attack and Special Attack by 1.1×.
  • In Generation III, the Sea Incense instead boosted Attack and Special Attack, and only by 1.05×.
• The Adamant Orb, Lustrous Orb, Griseous Orb, and Soul Dew (the lattermost only in Generation VII onward), if held by Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Latias or Latios, respectively, boost the power of their Dragon-type moves, as well as their Steel-type, Water-type, Ghost-type, and Psychic-type moves, respectively.
  • Prior to Generation VII, the Soul Dew instead boosted Latias and Latios's Attack and Special Attack by 1.5×.
• Gems boost the power of moves of their corresponding type by 5325/4096× (~1.3×), or 1.5× in Generation V.
• Solar Beam and Solar Blade will have their power reduced to 0.5× if used during rain, hail, or sandstorm.
  • Prior to Generation V, for Solar Beam, this was instead done by halving the damage it does. In Generation IV, fog also lowered Solar Beam's damage.
• Me First will boost the power of moves stolen with it by 1.5×. In Generation IV, this was instead done by boosting the damage by 1.5×.
• Knock Off (from Generation VI onward), Expanding Force, Misty Explosion, and Grav Apple can have their power boosted by 1.5× under certain circumstances.
• Helping Hand will boost the power of the target's next move by 1.5× for every instance of the move (multiple are possible in Triple Battles or via Instruct). In Generation III, this was done by instead boosting the damage of the move by 1.5×.
• Charge will the power of the attacker's next Electric-type move (though it must be used immediately on the following turn or the effect wears off) by 2×. In Generation III, this was instead accomplished by doubling the damage it dealt.
• Facade, Brine, Venoshock, Retaliate, Fusion Bolt, Fusion Flare, and Lash Out can have their power doubled under certain circumstances.
• Grassy Terrain and Misty Terrain will reduce the power of Earthquake, Magnitude, and Bulldoze, and Dragon-type moves, respectively, to 0.5× if the target is grounded.
• Electric Terrain, Grassy Terrain, and Psychic Terrain will boost the power of Electric-type, Grass-type, and Psychic-type moves, respectively, by 5325/4096× (~1.3x) if the attacker is grounded. (1.5× prior to Generation VIII).
• Mud Sport and Water Sport will reduce the power of Electric-type and Fire-type moves, respectively, to 1352/4096× (~0.33x). Prior to Generation V, they instead reduced their power to 0.5×.

Prior to Generation V, there were also some base power modifiers that now modify other things, namely:

• The Abilities Overgrow, Blaze, Torrent, and Swarm, if the attacker's current HP was less than or equal to a third of their max HP (rounded down), boosted the power of their Grass-type, Fire-type, Water-type, and Bug-type moves, respectively, by 1.5×. In Generation V onward, this is instead achieved by boosting their Attack and Special Attack by 1.5×.
• The Ability Thick Fat, in Generation IV, reduced the power of Fire-type and Ice-type moves targeting the Pokémon with the Ability to 0.5×. In both Generation III and Generation V onward, this is instead achieved by reducing their Attack and Special Attack to 0.5×.

In the anime

In the anime, moves don't seem to have a set power, and can be affected through various factors, such as the Pokémon having received a power boost of some sort, or even through conscious choice. Examples of the former can be seen in White—Victini and Zekrom and Black—Victini and Reshiram, where Ash's Tepig and Scraggy were able to defeat fully evolved opponents with moves that had previously done almost no damage to them after receiving a power boost from Victini, while examples of the latter can be seen in The Problem with Paras and Hocus Pokémon, where Ash's Pikachu purposefully weakened the power of his own Electric moves against opponents that Ash wanted to avoid hurting too much.

In addition, some moves have been shown to have much higher power in the anime than in the games, such as in Choose It or Lose It!, where Ash's Corphish's Bubble Beam was able to match Morrison's Swampert's Hydro Pump in power. There are also examples of status moves being capable of having the equivalent of a base power in the anime, like how Brandon's Dusclops's Will-O-Wisp was shown to be equal in power compared to Ash's Charizard's Flamethrower in Gathering the Gang of Four!.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

FireRed & LeafGreen arc

In Don't Doubt Deoxys, Carr mentioned that Psycho Boost has a power of 140.

Trivia

• Explosion is the strongest move in the series among those with a set power (250). It has been the sole holder of that title since its inception, even when including Z-Moves.
  • When counting moves that power up and those with variable power, the strongest moves can become Rollout and Ice Ball, both reaching 960 power on their fifth hit if the user has previously used Defense Curl.
• In Generation I only, there is no way to see a move's power on-screen.
• In both Generations I and II, there is no way to see a move's power while in battle through the battle summary.
• As of Generation VII, the average move power of all moves with a set power (for example, excluding Magnitude) is 79.09; excluding Z-Moves gives an average of 76.52. The most frequent move power is 80.

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 威力 Wāilihk Mandarin 威力 Wēilì French Puissance German Stärke Italian Potenza Korean 위력 Wiryeok Brazilian Portuguese Potência (PS240-present) Força (PS107-PS193) Spanish Potencia

See also

• Accuracy
• Move
• List of moves

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.