Counter Shield

Counter Shield (Japanese: カウンターシールド Counter Shield) is a tactic developed by Ash Ketchum in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl. Ash developed this technique while trying to find a way to prevent Fantina's Pokémon from making his Pokémon sleep with Hypnosis. It was eventually used for both offensive and defensive purposes. Ash took inspiration from the Contest Battle between Dawn and Lila in the Celestic Contest in Battling The Generation Gap! to develop this technique.

In Shield with a Twist!, Ash used it in his Gym battle with Fantina. Amazed with the method, Fantina named it the Counter Shield. It eventually helped Ash with his battle, earning him the Relic Badge.

In Evolving Strategies!, it was used again by Ash's Pikachu, Buizel, and Monferno against Paul's Pokémon. This time, however, all three Pokémon were defeated, and Paul didn't seem all that impressed with the technique. However, he later used this technique with his Gastrodon's Muddy Water in Familiarity Breeds Strategy! and his Electivire's Thunder in Battling a Thaw in Relations!, where Buizel used the technique once again.

In Piplup, Pansage, and a Meeting of the Times!, it was used by Dawn's Piplup to counter Cilan's Pansage's Rock Tomb attack.

In When Regions Collide!, Brock commanded his Geodude and Steelix to use Gyro Ball to deflect attacks, and mentioned that "a certain challenger of his" taught him to use a Pokémon's attack as a means of defense.

Methods

Pikachu

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Ash's Pikachu	Shield with a Twist!	Thunderbolt
	Description
	Pikachu spins on his back while using Thunderbolt to form an electric barrier in order to protect himself from the opponent's attacks.

Monferno

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Ash's Chimchar/Monferno	Shield with a Twist!	Flamethrower and Flame Wheel
	Description
	Chimchar/Monferno uses Flamethrower while using Flame Wheel to create flame whips that prevent foes from getting closer while also hitting the opponent.

Buizel

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Ash's Buizel	Shield with a Twist!	Aqua Jet or Water Gun
	Description
	Buizel spins on his back while using Aqua Jet to create a water tornado or Water Gun to create water whips in order to protect himself from the opponent's attacks.

Drifblim

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Fantina's Drifblim	Shield with a Twist!	Will-O-Wisp and Psychic
	Description
	Drifblim uses Will-O-Wisp to surround its body in fire wisps. Then it uses Psychic to move the fire in two circles. Drifblim can either shoot the flames as an attack or keep the fire around it as a defense tactic.

Gastrodon

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Paul's Gastrodon	Familiarity Breeds Strategy!	Muddy Water
	Description
	Gastrodon uses Muddy Water to make a tornado made of water around it to avoid its opponent getting closer to it because it is slower. However, it will purposely leave an opening at the bottom of its body to entice opponents to strike there, so Gastrodon can counterattack in retaliation.

Electivire

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Paul's Electivire	Battling a Thaw in Relations!	Thunder
	Description
	Electivire shoots Thunder into the air before spreading it out across the battlefield, making movement difficult.

Piplup

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Dawn's Piplup	Piplup, Pansage, and a Meeting of the Times!	Bubble Beam
	Description
	Piplup jumps in the air and uses Bubble Beam while spinning to create a large ring of bubbles around himself in order to avoid the opponent's attacks.

Geodude

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Brock's Geodude	When Regions Collide!	Gyro Ball
	Description
	Geodude uses Gyro Ball to deflect the opponent's attacks.

Steelix

	Pokémon	First Used In	Moves Involved
	Brock's Steelix	When Regions Collide!	Gyro Ball
	Description
	Steelix uses Gyro Ball to deflect the opponent's attacks.

Trivia

• Pikachu and Buizel's Counter Shields are similar to the way Dawn's Ambipom used Swift for her appeal in the Solaceon Town Pokémon Contest in Team Shocker!.
• Piplup's Counter Shield is similar to the technique he perfected in Like It or Lup It! while training for the Jubilife Contest.
• During her battle against Conway in Camping It Up!, Dawn commanded the Grimer she borrowed from the Pokémon Summer Academy to use Poison Gas while spinning to surround its body with smoke in order to avoid the opponent's attacks. This was shown to work the same way as the Counter Shield but was used before the tactic was introduced to the series.
• During Ash's battle against Korrina during the World Coronation Series, his Dragonite's usage of Dragon Dance against Korrina's Mienshao's usage of Double Slap resulted in a semi-Counter Shield as Mienshao's Double Slap helped Dragonite's accelerate his Dragon Dance.

In other languages

Language Title Mandarin Chinese 返拳防護罩 Fǎnquán Fánghùzhào Dutch Afweerschild Finnish Vastasuoja French Bouclier Riposte German Konterschild Korean 카운터 실드 Kaunteo Sildeu Polish Kontratarcza European Portuguese Contra-Escudo Romanian Scutul de Contracarare Spanish Latin America Contraescudo Spain Contradefensa

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.