Pokemon players reveal moves that have hidden extra functions everyone missed

Scott Baird
Aboliva Pokemon

Pokemon players have revealed the moves with secret attributes that only emerge during certain unique circumstances.

A common complaint about the modern Pokemon games is that you don’t need to learn the battle system to complete them. All you need to do is spam your strongest moves and avoid using Pokemon that are weak to the enemy’s type, and you should beat the Champion with ease.

This is why a lot of research is needed before you start breeding for competitive battling, as the games do a poor job of explaining how stats (and especially IVs/EVs) are important. Fortunately, there are plenty of online resources that can help you prepare for competitive battles.

There are also moves that don’t react in the way players might expect. This is due to them possessing hidden attributes that most people will never see, as the fanbase is unaware of their secret capabilities and doesn’t use them as a result.

Pokemon moves have hidden extra functions

A user on the Pokemon Reddit has created a thread discussing how the move Defense Curl has a hidden secondary effect. Usually, this move increases the Defense stat, but most fans don’t realize that it also increases the damage of Rollout and Ice Ball, prompting users to reveal other moves with similar quirks.

“Switching in a Poison type will remove Toxic Spikes from the field unless it’s a dual Poison/Flying type, has Levitate as its ability, or is holding an Air Balloon,” one user wrote, while another said, “Splash cannot be used if Gravity is in effect.”

“Moves like Gust, Twister, and Hurricane can hit a Pokémon while it is in the middle of Fly and deal double the damage,” one user revealed, “Same with Magnitude and Earthquake with a Pokémon in the middle of Dig. Same with Surf and Muddy Water with a Pokémon in the middle of Dive.”

“There is a whole category of moves that deal double damage and become guaranteed to hit if the opponent has used Minimize,” another user wrote, “I knew Stomp had this property, but it is also a feature of Body Slam, Heavy Slam, Heat Crash, Phantom Force, and some others.”

“Thunder and Hurricane have perfect accuracy during Rain and Blizzard has perfect accuracy during Hail.” one user mentioned, talking about the untapped power of Pokemon’s weather effects.

The fact that these Pokemon moves have these hidden traits is great for people who discover them, as it gives a feeling akin to the anime, where Ash uses a surprise tactic to win a battle. It’s just a shame that so many people have played the games for so long and not realized the potential of their Pokemon arsenal.

About The Author

Scott has been writing for Dexerto since 2023, having been a former contributor to websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, Screen Rant, The Gamer, and TopTenz. A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started as a film student before moving into journalism. Scott specializes in Pokemon, Nintendo, DnD, Final Fantasy, and MTG. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.