Burn (status condition)
- Burn redirects here. For the Field Move, see Field Move.
Burn (Japanese: やけど Burn) is one of the five major status ailments in the Pokémon games. Generally, if a Pokémon is burned, it will lose a set amount of HP every turn, and its damage dealt by physical moves will be halved. The burn status is evidently associated closely with the Fire type, since most moves which can burn belong to this type, Pokémon of this type are immune to burns, and the Fire-type Pokémon exclusive Flame Body has a chance to burn on contact.
Effect
In general, a burned Pokémon will lose HP every turn, and its damage dealt with a physical move will be halved. The specifics work differently between generations.
Generation I
Red, Blue, and Yellow
In Red, Blue, and Yellow Versions, a Pokémon loses 1/16 of its total HP every turn, after it attacks. Its attack stat is also halved. If a burned Pokémon causes an opponent to faint, it will not take damage that turn.
There are also two irregularities:
- If a burned Pokémon's Attack stat is modified (either up or down), the game will ignore the attack drop from the burn.
- The decrease in Attack doesn't disappear when the Pokémon is cured of the burn through Rest.
Pokémon Stadium
Pokémon Stadium is the same as Red, Blue, and Yellow Versions, but the irregularities from said handheld games are fixed.
Pokémon Stadium also contains two irregularities:
- If an already-burned Pokémon is switched in, it will not lose HP in that same turn.
- Haze will remove its user's attack decrease even while still burned.
Generation II
Same as Generation I, but a burned Pokémon now loses 1/8 of its total HP each turn, after it attacks. All irregularities from Generation I were fixed.
Generations III and IV
Like in Generation II, a burned Pokémon has its damage dealt with a physical move halved, in addition to losing 1/8 of its total HP each turn, but only until the end of the turn. If a burned Pokémon knocks out an opponent, it now will still take burn damage.
Generation V
Same as Generation III and IV, but when a Pokémon is burnt, it will now glow red in battle.
Appearance
Causes
Moves
A Pokémon can be burned when struck by any of the following moves. There is only one move, Will-O-Wisp, whose primary effect is to burn the opponent; all other moves listed below burn as a secondary effect.
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Other causes
A Pokémon has a 30% chance of being burned after making contact with one with the Flame Body Ability. If a Pokémon holds the Flame Orb, it will be burned at the end of the turn. It can also be burned if it directly burns a Pokémon with Synchronize.
Prevention and curing
A burn can be cured with the use of a Burn Heal, Kuo Berry (Generation III only), or a Rawst Berry (Ice Berry in Generation II). In addition, like all other major status ailments, it can be cured by the items Full Heal, Lava Cookie, Full Restore, Old Gateau, Heal Powder, Lum Berry, Miracle Berry (Generation II only), Casteliacone, and Sacred Ash. Refresh and Rest also remove the burn status ailment from the user, while Heal Bell* and Aromatherapy removes it from all Pokémon in the party, and the move Safeguard will protect the party from status ailments for five turns. A Pokémon with Natural Cure will be cured upon switching out, one with the Hydration Ability will be cured whilst it is raining, one with Shed Skin has a 30% chance of being cured every turn, one with Leaf Guard will be protected from status ailments in intense sunlight and one with Healer has a 30% chance of healing allies of status ailments in double and Triple Battles.
A Pokémon with the Ability Heatproof will only lose 1/16 of its HP each turn, instead of 1/8th. Those with Guts are immune to the damage-reducing side effect (in addition to the regular attack increase), while Pokémon with Magic Guard are immune to the HP loss. Fire-type Pokémon are, for the most part, immune to being burned, although if their type is changed through a move like Soak and they are then burned and switched out (resetting to the Fire-type), the burn status will remain. Inferno will inflict burn before Color Change takes effect, as well. Those with the Water Veil Ability are completely immune.
Advantages
While a burn, like all major status ailments, has primarily negative effects, it can be advantageous to have it in certain conditions. Pokémon with Guts, Marvel Scale, Quick Feet, and Flare Boost will have their Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special Attack increased, respectively, when burned (or poisoned or paralyzed for the former three). In addition, the base power of Facade is doubled (from 70 to 140) when inflicted with any of these three status ailments.
The burn status also adds a 1.5× multiplier to the catch rate of any given Pokémon.
Other game effects
Several Abilities can be circumvented when a Pokémon is burnt, including Clear Body, which usually prevents stat reduction but still takes on the drop in attack caused by a burn.
If a burnt Pokémon with the Ability Trace or Role Play gains the Ability Water Veil the burn will be removed, but once the Ability is lost, the burn will return.
In Pokémon Emerald, when the player is inside the Battle Pyramid, the types of Pokémon encountered on each floor follow a set of categories; one of these categories is Pokémon with moves that burn.
In the Generation IV games, Pokémon Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver, at the Battle Arcade, one of the effects caused by the roulette is the burn status (does not affect Fire-type Pokémon and Pokémon with Water Veil). This will last for a single battle.
In the spin-off games
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
The Mystery Dungeon series introduces a new way for Pokémon to be burned, as well as a new way for it to be avoided. The Pokémon will lose 5 HP at the end of its next turn, and every 20 turns after that. Pokémon on water tiles cannot be burnt. Burns can be healed by stepping on water tiles (even by Pokémon for which this would normally cause a warp). In certain dungeons there is a special type of tile called a 'lava tile', which only Fire-type Pokémon, Pokémon who fly or levitate, and Pokémon with the IQ skill All-Terrain Hiker can walk through. However, a Pokémon that is not a Fire-type or that does not have the Lava Walker IQ Skill will be burned when walking through lava. Strangely, those that have the Float terrain Ability are also burned when going over lava tiles.
The effect of Guts also differs slightly, giving a 100% bonus to physical attack, provided that the Pokémon has a major status affliction. Pokémon with Natural Cure will suffer the effects of burn for up to five turns before being cured, whereas those with Self-Curer will only be burnt for ten turns.
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, certain trade items can also cause the burn status to be passed onto an attacking Pokémon, this includes the Fire Collar when held by a Flareon, and the Ember Cap when held by any member of the Chimchar evolution line.
In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky special mission Today's "Oh My Gosh", Sunflora is tasked with the capture of a Haunter who has the Ability to get back up after fainting. The mission is close to the Hot Spring so there will be a lot of fire Pokémon who could burn Sunflora around. Several times during the mission Sunflora does get burnt by two Slugma, as well as by some fire and magma in the cave. Despite this she beats the three Haunter and is given a Sun Scarf by Officer Magnezone to help with her fire weakness.
My Pokémon Ranch
One of the toys the player can place in their Ranch is called the Bonfire. Pokémon, as well as Miis, that get too close to it are at risk of being burned. Fire-type Pokémon cannot be burned.
Pokémon Conquest
As in the main series, burned Pokémon suffer a penalty to their Attack, and take 1/8th their max HP as damage as the end of their army's turn, rounded down. This occurs even if the Pokémon took no action that turn. Pokémon can be burned by attacks, abilities, or the Pyro Nodes in Dragnor. Enemy Warriors who have their Pokémon defeated by burn damage are not treated as being defeated by the player and so cannot be recruited. Burned Pokémon can be cured through certain Warrior Skills, items, or by ending a Pokémon's turn in a hot spring or a water bucket.
In the anime
There have been only a few appearances in the series.
The first appearance was in Going, Going, Yawn where Ash's Treecko is burned by Flannery's Slugma's Flamethrower during a Gym battle.
The next occurrence is during Evolving Strategies!, during a battle in which Ash's Pikachu was burned when using Quick Attack against Paul's Magmortar due to its Flame Body Ability.
While Barry's Hitmonlee was fighting Paul's Ursaring during their battle at the Lily of the Valley Conference in the episode Casting a Paul on Barry!, Hitmonlee managed to hit Ursaring with its Blaze Kick causing a burn; however, this also activated Ursaring's Ability, Guts, causing it to swiftly defeat Hitmonlee.
In Familiarity Breeds Strategy!, during the Full Battle between Ash and Paul at the Lily of the Valley Conference, Ash's Infernape managed to burn Paul's Aggron using Flare Blitz.
During the conclusion of the Full Battle between Ash and Paul at the Lily of the Valley Conference in Battling a Thaw in Relations!, Ash's Gliscor managed to burn Paul's Drapion with its Fire Fang, causing it to faint due to the previous damage it had already sustained.
In Cilan Takes Flight!, Skyla's Swanna became burned after being drenched by Cilan's Stunfisk's Scald, causing its entire body to glow with a red hue. Its burn subsided when it used Aqua Ring.
In the manga
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
In VS. Kyogre & Groudon IX Brawly's Machoke is burned by the illusions created by Blaise's Slugma when they are battling.
In VS. Shedinja, Greta's Umbreon is burned by Emerald's Dusclops's Will-O-Wisp.
In the Phantom Thief Pokémon 7 manga
During a battle between Rocco's Magmortar and Hiori's Lucario in Challenge From A Rival, Lucario gets burned by Magmortar's Flame Body Ability, after several strategies to defeat the difficult opponent, Lucario uses the burn it received to its advantage, using the combined abilities of aura-sensing to see through Magmortar's SmokeScreen and the use of the move Facade (which was strengthened due to the burn), Lucario managed to knock out Magmortar using a surprise attack.
In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team manga
In the second chapter of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team, Ginji and Mudkip encounter a Xatu at the Hill of the Ancients which can foresee the future, when they first approach them however, he is in the process of viewing the future, and doesn't respond to their calls. To try to get its attention Ginji launches a Flamethrower, burning Xatu. Mudkip then puts out the flames with Water Gun. When Xatu comes to though, the flames start up again, burning it.
- PS Burn.png
Brawly's Machoke burn in Pokémon Adventures
Lucario's burn in Phantom Thief Pokémon 7
In the TCG
- Main article: Special Conditions
Burning is one of the five special conditions recognized in the TCG. It was officially recognized as a status condition during the 2002 release of the Expedition Base Set. It can be argued that the burning condition started in the Neo Genesis set, where Quilava's Char attack caused exactly the same condition; however, it was not officially recognized as a special condition.
Once burned, a burn marker needs to be placed on the Pokémon and a coin must be flipped between turns. If it lands on heads, no damage occurs to the Pokémon, but if tails, two damage counters are placed on the card. Unlike in the games, special conditions are not necessarily mutually exclusive, allowing Pokémon to experience several special conditions all at once. Burning can also prevent Poké-Powers from working, but leaves most Poké-Bodies unaffected.
In the TCG there are few ways to remove a burn; including evolving a Pokémon, returning a Pokémon to the player's Bench, using specific attacks or using selected Trainer cards on the affected Pokémon.
In the TFG
Burning was never officially introduced in the Trading Figure Game as a status condition due to the cancellation of the project. However, there are references to its future introduction in the Corsola figure and the X Accuracy card from the Riptide Starter Set. The card implies that burn would have had something to do with the miss value.
In information discovered after the cancellation of the Unnamed Third Set, it was heavily implied that the burn status was planned for an official release in this set, as evidenced by three of the unreleased figurines.
Trivia
- In Generation I, blackboard detailing status ailments in Viridian's Pokémon academy implies that burns cut power (Attack) and Speed, which is false. This was changed in Generation II (as well as the remakes), in which the blackboard no longer mentions Speed reduction.
| Status conditions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| BURN | FREEZE | PARALYSIS | POISON |
| SLEEP | CONFUSION | FLINCH | FAINTING |
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This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |
