Triple Battle

This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Black 2/White 2 locations

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File:Triple battle.png

A Triple Battle

A Triple Battle (Japanese: トリプルバトル Triple Battle) is a type of Pokémon battle featuring up to six Pokémon, with three Pokémon from each side battling at a time. It was introduced in Pokémon Black and White and was predominately showcased in White.

As the name suggests, Triple Battles are a type of battle where each Trainer sends out three Pokémon at once. Due to this, they can be considered the successor to Double Battles, with the only difference seemingly being the number of Pokémon. However, there are some restrictions that differentiate the Triple Battle from its predecessor other than the amount of Pokémon, such as placement.

In the games

When a Triple Battle begins, Pokémon will be sent out in order. The first Pokémon able to battle in the party becomes the leftmost Pokémon on the field, the second becomes the center Pokémon, and the third becomes the Pokémon on the far right.

Placement

The placement of the Pokémon is a major attribute of Triple Battles, as a Pokémon's positioning affects how certain moves and Abilities work. Generally, Pokémon on the left-side of the field cannot attack any one on the right-side (including allies), and vice versa. This also means a Pokémon in the center is free to hit any Pokémon on the field, but at a cost of being vulnerable to every other Pokémon.

There are some moves, however, that allow non-adjacent Pokémon to attack each other.

Shifting

The Pokémon on the left and right have the option to 'shift'. This option allows the user to switch with the Pokémon currently in the middle. Shifting has no priority and none of the effects of switching apply to shifting. A Pokémon can move even if it is the last Pokémon on its team, but once in the center, it cannot move anywhere else. If the center Pokémon is readying to use a move on a certain target, but is then shifted before using its move, its attack will fail if the target is then outside of its range. When there are only two Pokémon left on the field and they are non-adjacent to each other, both Pokémon will automatically be shifted to the center of the field.

Effect on moves

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Generation VI moves are missing in the chart

Most moves have the same effect in Triple Battles as with single and Double Battles, except that they can only affect adjacent Pokémon. Moves that hit both opponents or all Pokémon in Double Battles only affect adjacent Pokémon in Triple Battles. All damage-dealing Flying-type moves (except Air Cutter) and all aura and pulse moves can hit any Pokémon on the battlefield. Moves that hit multiple Pokémon will have their damage reduced by 25%, unless all other Pokémon have fainted at that point, just like in a Double Battle.

The moves After You, Quash, Helping Hand, Ally Switch, Follow Me, and Rage Powder will have no effect if not used in a Double or Triple Battle.

The moves Bide, Counter, Mirror Coat, Metal Burst, Destiny Bond, and Grudge all can be activated by, and attack, a non-adjacent opponent.

The move Flame Burst takes away 1/16 of the maximum HP of all adjacent allies of the target Pokémon. This damage is not treated as an attack.

The move Acupressure, while in a Triple Battle, can target an adjacent ally instead of the user.

The following moves act differently when used in a Triple Battle, as opposed to a single or Double Battle.

Move targets
Any adjacent foe	All adjacent foes	All foes	Any Pokémon	All adjacent Pokémon	All Pokémon	Self	Self or adjacent ally	Adjacent ally	Whole team
Me First	Acid	Heal Block	Acrobatics	Bulldoze	Gravity	Ally Switch	Acupressure	Helping Hand	Aromatherapy
Outrage	Air Cutter	Imprison	Aerial Ace	Discharge	Hail	Follow Me			Heal Bell
Petal Dance	Blizzard	Spikes	Aeroblast	Earthquake	Haze	Rage Powder			Light Screen
Thrash	Bubble	Stealth Rock	Air Slash	Explosion	Magic Room				Lucky Chant
Uproar	Dark Void	Toxic Spikes	Aura Sphere	Lava Plume	Mud Sport				Mist
	Electroweb		Bounce	Magnitude	Perish Song				Quick Guard
	Eruption		Brave Bird	Searing Shot	Rain Dance				Reflect
	Glaciate		Chatter	Selfdestruct	Sandstorm				Safeguard
	Growl		Dark Pulse	Sludge Wave	Sunny Day				Tailwind
	Heat Wave		Dragon Pulse	Surf	Trick Room				Wide Guard
	Hyper Voice		Drill Peck	Synchronoise	Water Sport
	Icy Wind		Fly	Teeter Dance	Wonder Room
	Incinerate		Gust
	Leer		Heal Pulse
	Muddy Water		Hurricane
	Poison Gas		Peck
	Powder Snow		Pluck
	Razor Leaf		Sky Attack
	Razor Wind		Sky Drop
	Relic Song		Water Pulse
	Rock Slide		Wing Attack
	Snarl
	String Shot
	Struggle Bug
	Sweet Scent
	Swift
	Tail Whip
	Twister
	Water Spout
Aside from moves which only affect the user, all other attacks only target one adjacent Pokémon.

Effect on Abilities

Most Abilities' effect remain the same and are not affected by the Pokémon's placement. For example, a Mold Breaker Pokémon on the left-side of the field which used Water Pulse can still damage a Pokémon with Wonder Guard on the right-side of the field. A Magic Bounce Pokémon can still reflect entry hazards even if the user of the entry hazard and itself are at opposite corners of the field because entry hazards affect the entire team.

However, some Abilities are affected by a Pokémon's placement, for example, Intimidate will only lower the Attack of opposing, adjacent Pokémon on the field.

Locations

In Pokémon Black

This type of battle can be found in the following locations:

• An Ace Trainer in the gate between Marvelous Bridge and Route 15

In Pokémon White

This type of battle can be found in the following locations:

• Charles in Driftveil City
• An Ace Trainer on Route 7
• Two Ace Trainers in Opelucid City
• A Nursery Aide and a School Kid in White Forest

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

This type of battle can be found in the following locations:

• Charles on Route 5^W2/in Driftveil City^B2
• Chargestone Cave
• Route 7
• Reversal Mountain
• Route 14
• Route 13
• Opelucid Gym
• Twist Mountain
• Route 8
• Route 3
• Route 18
• Pokémon World Tournament

In Pokémon X and Y

This type of battle can be found in the following locations:

• Restaurant Le Yeah
• Restaurant Le Wow
• Sushi High Roller

In Pokémon Battrio

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

Triple Battling as a mechanic was introduced in Pokémon Battrio, an arcade game using three Pokémon pucks on each side.

In the anime

Triple Battle in the anime

The first official Triple Battle was seen in the anime in episode A Maractus Musical!, where Ash battled against Toby's three Maractus with his Pikachu, Tepig and Snivy.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

In Black's First Trainer Battle, Black participates in a Triple Battle with a Hiker named Andy.

Pokémon Master Black and White

In the second chapter, Monta was shown in a Triple Battle with Cheren, using Snivy, Panpour, and Roggenrola. Cheren used Basculin, Tepig, and Pansage.

Trivia

• The introduction of this form of battling keeps the pattern of every odd generation, since the first, adding one more Pokémon to the maximum amount to be sent out at one time in a battle.
• Air Cutter is the only Flying-type damage-dealing move that cannot hit a non-adjacent Pokémon.
• In The Battle of the Badge, Jessie and James send out three Pokémon at once to battle Ash, the first unofficial Triple Battle in the anime series.

In other languages

Language Title French Combat Trio German Dreierkampf Italian Lotta in Triplo Korean 트리플배틀 Triple Battle Spanish Combate Triple

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