Sheer Cold (move)

Sheer Cold ぜったいれいど Absolute Zero

Battles Type  Ice Category  Special PP  5 (max. 8) Power  — Accuracy  30% Priority  0 Does not make contact Affected by Protect Not affected by Magic Coat Not affected by Snatch Not affected by Mirror Move Not affected by King's Rock

Range Opponent Opponent Opponent Self Ally Ally Normal: May affect anyone adjacent to the user

Availability Introduced  Generation III Not a TM, TR, HM, or Move Tutor move.

Contests Condition  Beauty Appeal  2 ♥♥ Jam  1 ♥ Badly startles all Pokémon that made good appeals.

Super Contests Condition  Beauty Appeal  0   Earn +15 if all the Pokémon choose the same Judge.

Contest Spectaculars Condition  Beautiful Appeal  2 ♥♥ Jamming  1 ♥ Badly startles all Pokémon that successfully showed their appeal.

On Smogon's Movedex: Generation III Generation IV Generation V Generation VI Generation VII Generation VIII Generation IX

Sheer Cold (Japanese: ぜったいれいど Absolute Zero) is an Ice-type one-hit knockout move introduced in Generation III.

Effect

Generations III to VI

If Sheer Cold hits, it will inflict damage equal to the target's current HP. Despite having an accuracy of 30% listed, Sheer Cold's chance of hitting a Pokémon is instead calculated using the following formula:

$HitChance=(Level_{user}-Level_{target}+30)\%$

This formula means that the accuracy starts at 30% when the Pokémon have the same level, and is 1% more likely to hit for every level the user is higher than the target. If the user is at least 70 levels higher than the target, Sheer Cold will always hit. If the user is a lower level than the target, the move always fails.

This chance of hitting is not an accuracy: it is not affected by accuracy and evasion stats, nor is it affected by other accuracy modifiers such as Gravity, Wide Lens, and Compound Eyes. Additionally, Sheer Cold cannot hit a semi-invulnerable Pokémon. However, effects that guarantee moves to hit (such as No Guard and Lock-On) still affect Sheer Cold.

Sheer Cold can be used as part of a Contest Spectacular combination and will give an extra three appeal points if any of the moves Lock-On, Mind Reader and Miracle Eye was used in the prior turn.

Generation VII

Ice-type Pokémon are now immune to Sheer Cold.

Additionally, the move's base chance of hitting is only 20% if the user is not an Ice-type Pokémon:

$HitChance_{nonIce}=(Level_{user}-Level_{target}+20)\%$

Generation VIII

When used in a Max Raid Battle against a Dynamax Pokémon while it is under the effect of a mysterious barrier, Sheer Cold will deplete two bars of the barrier's strength if it hits. Otherwise, Sheer Cold will always fail against Dynamax Pokémon.

Description

Games Description RSEColoXD A chilling attack that causes fainting if it hits. FRLG The foe is attacked with ultimate cold that causes fainting if it hits. DPPtHGSSPBR The foe is attacked with a blast of absolute-zero cold. The foe instantly faints if it hits. BWB2W2 The target is attacked with a blast of absolute-zero cold. The target instantly faints if it hits. XYORAS The target is attacked with a blast of absolute-zero cold. The target faints instantly if this attack hits. SMUSUM SwShBDSP The target faints instantly. It's less likely to hit the target if it's used by Pokémon other than Ice types.

Learnset

By leveling up

#	Pokémon		Types	Egg Groups		Level
						I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX
037A		Vulpix Alolan Form		Field		Field					50SMUSUM	48SwSh
038A		Ninetales Alolan Form		Field		Field						1SwSh
0087		Dewgong		Water 1	Field	34	34	34	34	1, Evo.SMUSUM	1, Evo.BDSP
0131		Lapras		Monster	Water 1	55	55	55	50	50SMUSUM	65
0144		Articuno		No Eggs Discovered		No Eggs Discovered	85	78	78	1, 78	99SMUSUM	70
0245		Suicune		No Eggs Discovered		No Eggs Discovered					1	1
0362		Glalie		Fairy	Mineral	61	59	59	1, 59XY 1, 61ORAS	1, 61	1
0363		Spheal		Water 1	Field	49	49	49	49XY 46ORAS	46	52
0364		Sealeo		Water 1	Field	55	55	55	55XY 52ORAS	52	64
0365		Walrein		Water 1	Field	61	65	65	65XY 60ORAS	60	72
0382		Kyogre		No Eggs Discovered		No Eggs Discovered	60	60DPPt 75HGSS	75	75XY 65ORAS	65	45
0459		Snover		Monster	Grass		46	46	46	46	50
0460		Abomasnow		Monster	Grass		58	58	58	58	56
0582		Vanillite		Mineral		Mineral			53	53	53	48SwSh
0583		Vanillish		Mineral		Mineral			58	58	58	56SwSh
0584		Vanilluxe		Mineral		Mineral			67	1, 67	1, 67	60SwSh
0613		Cubchoo		Field		Field			57	57	57	42SwSh
0614		Beartic		Field		Field			66	1, 66	1, 66	46SwSh
0615		Cryogonal		Mineral		Mineral			61	1, 61	1, 57	60SwSh
0646		Kyurem		No Eggs Discovered		No Eggs Discovered						88SwSh
646B		Kyurem Black Kyurem		No Eggs Discovered		No Eggs Discovered						88SwSh
646W		Kyurem White Kyurem		No Eggs Discovered		No Eggs Discovered						88SwSh
Bold indicates a Pokémon gains STAB from this move. Italics indicates a Pokémon whose evolution or alternate form receives STAB from this move. A dash (−) indicates a Pokémon cannot learn the move by the designated method. An empty cell indicates a Pokémon that is unavailable in that game/generation.

By event

Generation IV

#	Pokémon		Types	Egg Groups		Obtained with
0245		Suicune		No Eggs Discovered		No Eggs Discovered	Shiny Crown Suicune Korean Crown Suicune GameStop Suicune Winter 2011 Suicune
Bold indicates a Pokémon gains STAB from this move. Italics indicates a Pokémon whose evolution or alternate form receives STAB from this move. A dash (−) indicates a Pokémon cannot learn the move by the designated method. An empty cell indicates a Pokémon that is unavailable in that game/generation.

In other games

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: needs Pokemon Rumble

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

In Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, Sheer Cold has 12PP and 35% accuracy. The user attacks enemy in front and makes them faint through "calamitous damage" (internally treated as 9999 damage), regardless of the level.

In Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky, the move's accuracy has been decreased to 20%.

Description

Games Description MDRB Defeats the target in one shot--if it hits. MDTDS Defeats the target in one shot if it hits successfully. BSL てきポケモンを いちげきで たおしてしまうが めいちゅうしにくい MDGtI SMD When the move hits, it knocks out an enemy in a single blow.* The enemy will faint instantly if this attack hits, but it's hard to land this move.*

In the anime

Lapras Beartic Articuno Glalie
The foe is attacked with a blast of absolute-zero cold. The foe instantly faints if it hits.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Used In		Notes
	Lapras's body glows light blue and releases a wave of light blue energy, freezing anything around it.
Solidad's Lapras	May, We Harley Drew'd Ya!		Debut
	Abomasnow raises both of its arms in the air and multiple ice pillars shoot out from around it in a circle. A line of ice pillars then jut out straight at the opponent and hit it, or its body becomes surrounded in a light blue aura. It then opens its mouth and the inside of it starts to glow light blue; firing a white- blue beam towards the opponent.
A wild Abomasnow	Pikachu's Ice Adventure		None
Morana's Abomasnow	Survival of the Striaton Gym!		None
	Beartic's body becomes outlined in light blue aura and it pulls its head back and opens its mouth. When it does, a spinning orb of bright blue energy forms in front of it. Beartic then fires a powerful light blue beam of energy with light blue snowflake-shaped sparkles from the orb at the opponent.
Two wild Beartic	The Beartic Mountain Feud!		None
	Vanillish's body becomes surrounded in a light blue aura. It then opens its mouth and the inside of it starts to glow light blue. A spinning wind then comes out of Vanillish's mouth and it fires a powerful, light blue beam of energy surrounded in light blue sparkles and wind from its mouth at the opponent. As the light blue beam travels at the opponent, large icy pillars jut out of the ground around the beam. The beam then disappears and multiple ice pillars continue to jut out of the ground at the opponent.
Cryogonal Man's Vanillish	The Mighty Accelguard to the Rescue!		None
	Glalie's body becomes surrounded by a blue aura and the inside of its mouth shines white. The ground around Glalie begins to freeze and any opponent standing in its wake are frozen and instantly knocked out.
Morana's Glalie	Survival of the Striaton Gym!		None
	Mega Abomasnow freezes everything around itself.
A Trainer's Abomasnow	Mega Evolution Special I		None
	A light blue field of energy forms around Primal Kyogre. The energy field then grows in size, freezing everything it touches or Kyogre freezes whatever it touches.
Kyogre (XY series)	Mega Evolution Special III		None
	Kyogre freezes everything around itself.
A wild Kyogre	The One That Didn't Get Away!		None
	Articuno's eyes shine light blue, and it releases a powerful blizzard from its body at the opponent, freezing them. The opponent is instantly knocked out if the move hits.
A wild Articuno	Raiding on Thin Ice!		None

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Walrein Glalie Kyurem
The user fires a blast of extremely cold air at the opponent, resulting in an instant knockout.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Chapter Used In		Notes
	Walrein opens its mouth and releases a cold and powerful wind from its mouth at the opponent.
Archie's Walrein	The Beginning of the End with Kyogre & Groudon X		Debut
	Glalie takes a deep breath, sucking in bright energy from all around. It then fires a powerful beam of energy from its mouth at the opponent. If the opponent gets hit by the attack, it is automatically knocked out. If the opponent is on a higher level than the user, the move will fail to work.
The Battle Factory's Glalie	Gotcha Where I Wantcha, Glalie		None
	Kyurem releases a cold and powerful wind from its body at the opponent, freezing them solid.
Zinzolin's Kyurem	The Final Battle: Crushed Ambition		Kyurem could not legally learn Sheer Cold at the time

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team

Articuno
The user causes a pillar of ice to form in front of it.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Chapter Used In		Notes
	Articuno flaps its wings and forms a pillar of ice in front of it.
A wild Articuno	Battle in a Bitter Cold Land!!		Debut

In other generations

Core series games

Generation I	RBY	Generation I (Japanese)	Generation I (international)	Generation II	Generation II (Japanese)	Generation II (international)	Crystal	Generation III	Generation III (Japanese)	Generation III (international)	RS	FRLG	FRLGE	Generation IV	Generation IV (Japanese)	Generation IV (international)	PtHGSS	HGSS	Generation V	BW	B2W2	Generation V (Japanese)	Generation V (international)	Generation VI	XY	ORAS	Generation VII	SMUSUM	LGPE	Generation VIII	SwSh	BDSP	Legends: Arceus	Generation IX	Stadium (JP)	Stadium	Stadium 2	Colosseum	XD	Battle Revolution	Battrio	MD: Red and Blue	MD:Time, Darkness, andSky	MD: Blazing, Stormy, & Light Adventure Squad	MD: GTI	SMD	MD: RTDX	Rumble	Rumble Blast	Masters EX

Generation I	RBY	Generation I (Japanese)	Generation I (international)	Generation II	Generation II (Japanese)	Generation II (international)	Crystal	Generation III	Generation III (Japanese)	Generation III (international)	RS	FRLG	FRLGE	Generation IV	Generation IV (Japanese)	Generation IV (international)	PtHGSS	HGSS	Generation V	BW	B2W2	Generation V (Japanese)	Generation V (international)	Generation VI	XY	ORAS	Generation VII	SMUSUM	LGPE	Generation VIII	SwSh	BDSP	Legends: Arceus	Generation IX	Stadium (JP)	Stadium	Stadium 2	Colosseum	XD	Battle Revolution	Battrio	MD: Red and Blue	MD:Time, Darkness, andSky	MD: Blazing, Stormy, & Light Adventure Squad	MD: GTI	SMD	MD: RTDX	Rumble	Rumble Blast	Masters EX

Side series games

Generation I	RBY	Generation I (Japanese)	Generation I (international)	Generation II	Generation II (Japanese)	Generation II (international)	Crystal	Generation III	Generation III (Japanese)	Generation III (international)	RS	FRLG	FRLGE	Generation IV	Generation IV (Japanese)	Generation IV (international)	PtHGSS	HGSS	Generation V	BW	B2W2	Generation V (Japanese)	Generation V (international)	Generation VI	XY	ORAS	Generation VII	SMUSUM	LGPE	Generation VIII	SwSh	BDSP	Legends: Arceus	Generation IX	Stadium (JP)	Stadium	Stadium 2	Colosseum	XD	Battle Revolution	Battrio	MD: Red and Blue	MD:Time, Darkness, andSky	MD: Blazing, Stormy, & Light Adventure Squad	MD: GTI	SMD	MD: RTDX	Rumble	Rumble Blast	Masters EX

Spin-off series games

Generation I	RBY	Generation I (Japanese)	Generation I (international)	Generation II	Generation II (Japanese)	Generation II (international)	Crystal	Generation III	Generation III (Japanese)	Generation III (international)	RS	FRLG	FRLGE	Generation IV	Generation IV (Japanese)	Generation IV (international)	PtHGSS	HGSS	Generation V	BW	B2W2	Generation V (Japanese)	Generation V (international)	Generation VI	XY	ORAS	Generation VII	SMUSUM	LGPE	Generation VIII	SwSh	BDSP	Legends: Arceus	Generation IX	Stadium (JP)	Stadium	Stadium 2	Colosseum	XD	Battle Revolution	Battrio	MD: Red and Blue	MD:Time, Darkness, andSky	MD: Blazing, Stormy, & Light Adventure Squad	MD: GTI	SMD	MD: RTDX	Rumble	Rumble Blast	Masters EX

Trivia

• Sheer Cold is the only OHKO move introduced outside of Generation I, and the only special OHKO move. Prior to Generation VII, it was the only OHKO move that no Pokémon had a type-based immunity to.

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 絕對零度 Jyuhtdeui Lìhngdouh Mandarin 絕對零度 / 绝对零度 Juéduì Língdù Dutch IJskoud French Glaciation German Eiseskälte Greek Δριμύ Ψύχος Italian Purogelo Korean 절대영도 Jeoldae Yeongdo Polish Polarny Chłód Portuguese Brazil Frio Extremo (Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon-present, TCG, manga) Frio Absoluto Portugal Frio Polar Serbian Potpuno zamrzavanje Spanish Latin America Frío Extremo Spain Frío Polar Vietnamese 0 Độ Tuyệt Đối

One-hit knockout moves
Guillotine • Horn Drill • Fissure Sheer Cold

This article is part of Project Moves and Abilities, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on two related aspects of the Pokémon games.