Status condition

Status ailments affect a Pokémon's ability to battle. There are three kinds of status. The first are non-volatile, the second are volatile, and the third lasts while a Pokémon is in battle.

Non-volatile status

Non-volatile status ailments are status ailments that will remain until a Pokémon is healed at a Pokémon Center, or a specific curative item is used. A Pokémon inflicted with a non-volatile status will still be affected after being pulled out of battle (unless they have the Natural Cure ability), and after a battle is over. It is only possible for a Pokémon to be afflicted by one of these at a time. In Generation III and beyond, certain abilities will cause or prevent them, as well as benefit from them.

Burn

The burn condition reduces a Pokémon's Attack power by half. Additionally, at the end of a turn, the Pokémon loses 1/8 its maximum hit points (in Generation I, the Pokémon loses 1/16 of its maximum hit points). Template:Type2 Pokémon and Pokémon with the Water Veil ability cannot be burned by Fire-type moves, but the former can be burned by Tri Attack. All moves which can cause burn are Fire-type except for Tri Attack and Fling when the Flame Orb is held.

Freeze

File:Freeze Frame.jpg

A frozen Jigglypuff.

The freeze condition causes a Pokémon to be unable to make a move. Most Fire-type moves used on a frozen Pokémon will remove the freeze status. As of Generation II, freeze has a random, ~10% chance to be cured on its own on the frozen Pokémon's turn. Because of this, the frozen Pokémon may thaw out on the very turn of freezing, however, in Generation I, a frozen Pokémon never thaws. Contrary to popular belief, sunny weather does not cause a quicker thawing, but it can prevent a Pokémon from freezing in the first place.

Template:Type2 Pokémon cannot be frozen by Ice-type moves except in Generation I; however, they can be frozen by Tri Attack. A frozen Pokémon can still use the moves Flame Wheel and Sacred Fire; when used while frozen, these moves will thaw the user, thaw the opponent if possible, and deal damage to the opponent. All moves which cause freezing are Ice-type except Tri Attack. It is also the only Non-volatile status which has no attack that will freeze the opponent directly. Also, there is no move that has more than a 10% chance of freezing.

Paralysis

A Pokémon inflicted with paralysis will be unable to attack ("fully paralyzed") a quarter of the time. Additionally, its Speed is reduced to 25% of its previous value. Many moves that cause paralysis are of the Electric type.

Poison

A poisoned Pokémon loses 1/8 of its maximum hit points every turn (in Generation I, it loses 1/16). Template:Type2 Pokémon cannot be poisoned. Template:Type2 Pokémon cannot be poisoned in Generation III and beyond (in Generation II, Template:Type2 moves can't affect Template:Type2s, but they can otherwise be poisoned by Twineedle).

A poisoned Pokémon also loses 1 hit point for every four steps taken while not in battle. In Generation IV, a Pokémon whose HP is reduced to 1 via poison outside of battle will have the poison status removed. All moves that can poison are of the Poison-type except Twineedle and Secret Power.

Badly poisoned

The status ailment caused by Toxic and Poison Fang, as well as by Toxic Spikes after it is used twice, is the same as Poison except its damage begins at 1/16 and grows an additional 1/16 every turn, taking 2/16 max hit points the second turn, then 3/16 the third turn, and 4/16 the fourth, and so on. In Generation I and Generation II, switching a Pokémon out of active battle would change the badly poisoned condition to normal poison. In Generation III and beyond, the "badly poisoned" effect will remain even after switching a Pokémon out of battle and back in. After a battle is over, the "badly poisoned" status will become a normal poison. All moves which can badly poison are of the Poison-type.

Sleep

A Pokémon that is asleep is unable to use any moves (in a situation almost identical to the Freeze condition), except for two special moves which may be used while asleep (Snore and Sleep Talk). Sleep lasts for a randomly chosen duration of 1 to 7 turns (1 to 3 in Stadium). Sleep may be self-induced for 3 turns (inclusive of the initial turn) using the move Rest, which will remove any other non-volatile status ailment. There are currently no moves that cause sleep as well as damage, though Secret Power is capable of doing so if it is used in long grass.

Volatile status

A volatile status will wear off when a Pokémon is taken out of battle or a battle is over. Many of these will also wear off after a number of turns pass. All of these conditions may be passed to another Pokémon by using Baton Pass unless stated otherwise.

Attract

A Pokémon that is attracted to its foe cannot attack it 50% of the time. A Pokémon can only successfully use Attract on opponents of the opposite gender; genderless Pokémon are both immune to this condition and unable to inflict it on others. Pokémon with the Oblivious ability are also immune to this. Attract status cannot be passed with Baton Pass. Attraction will end as soon as the Pokémon that used it or the Pokémon that it is used on leaves the battle.

Confusion

A Pokémon will hurt itself in its confusion 50% of the time. The damage is done as if the Pokémon attacked itself with a 40-power typeless attack.

Confusion wears off after 1-4 attacking turns. This means that turns recharging, such as after using Hyper Beam, and turns unable to attack, such as from paralysis, will not lower the remaining number of turns of confusion. However, a sleeping Pokémon may hurt itself in confusion if using a move such as Snore or Sleep Talk.

Multi-turn attacks such as Fly and Dive require that confusion be checked both turns, further reducing the chance of successful attack. Pokémon with the Own Tempo ability are also immune to moves that cause confusion.

Curse

If a Template:Type2 Pokémon uses Curse, the Pokémon it is used on loses 1/4 its maximum hit points every turn, and the user immedeately loses half of their hit points in exchange. If any non-Ghost type Pokémon uses Curse, their Attack and Defense go up one stage, and their Speed drops one stage.

Flinch

The flinch status is a one-turn status that prevents a Pokémon from attacking. A Pokémon can only be flinched if the opponent attacks first. Pokémon with the Inner Focus ability are also immune to this. Most moves that cause flinching are physical moves.

It is known as cringing in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.

Foresight/Odor Sleuth/Miracle Eye

The opponent's evasion modification will not affect the accuracy of a Pokémon that uses Foresight, Odor Sleuth, or Miracle Eye. In addition, a Normal- or Template:Type2 move used by a Pokémon that has used Foresight or Odor Sleuth will affect Template:Type2 Pokémon, and Template:Type2 moves used by a Pokémon that has used Miracle Eye will affect Template:Type2 Pokémon.

Leech Seed

Each turn, a Pokémon hit by Leech Seed loses 1/8 (1/16 in Generation I) of its maximum hit points. The opponent is healed by the same amount. Template:Type2 Pokémon are immune to Leech Seed. Though if the previous Pokémon Baton Passes out into a Grass type, the Grass-type Pokémon will be seeded.

Mind Reader/Lock-On

When a Pokémon uses Mind Reader or Lock-On, the next damage-dealing move will hit the opponent without fail, even if the opponent uses a move that offers a turn of invulnerability, such as Fly.

Nightmare

Nightmare only affects a sleeping Pokémon. The sleeping Pokémon loses 1/4 of its maximum hit points every turn. If the sleeping Pokémon awakens, then the nightmare will no longer be in effect. If Baton Pass switches out a Pokémon that is not asleep, then the nightmare will no longer be in effect.

Perish Song

After three turns, all Pokémon who heard the Perish Song will faint, excluding Pokémon with the Soundproof ability. Any Pokémon who heard it can avoid the effect of fainting if it's switched out before the 3 turns counts finishes.

Non-volatile battle status

Defense Curl

Using Defense Curl causes the power of Rollout and Ice Ball to double for the Pokémon.

Focus Energy

When a Pokémon uses Focus Energy, its critical hit rate increases.

Mean Look/Spider Web/Block

A Pokémon trapped by Mean Look, Spider Web or Block cannot switch until the Pokémon that used the move is defeated or switches. The trapped Pokémon can also escape if it is holding the Shed Shell. If a trapped Pokémon uses Baton Pass, the Pokémon brought out will be trapped instead.

Minimize

A Pokémon having used Minimize will take double damage if hit by the move Stomp (though this behavior is not present in Generation I).

Mist

Mist prevents a Pokémon's stats from being lowered by the opponent's attacks. The user may still lower its own stats with moves like Superpower. The move Defog cancels out Mist.

Substitute

The Pokémon that uses Substitute loses 1/4 of its total HP (rounded down) to make a Substitute which will absorb hits until it "breaks" (damage the Substitute has taken is greater than the HP used to make it). From Generation II onward, Substitutes block all status ailments and will immediately break if a one-hit knockout attack connects with them. In Generation I, however, a substitute only blocks primary status ailments; attacks like Thunder Wave and Spore completely circumvent the Substitute.

Reflect and Light Screen

Reflect and Light Screen last for five turns (eight with Light Clay) and heighten the user's entire team's Defense or Special Defense, respectively. Either of them can be broken by Brick Break or Defog. Light Screen is very useful in Generation I, as it heightens the user's team's Special, which governed both the attack and defense power against special moves, unlike later generations.