DP Research Thread #4 ("Newer still")

[Veedrock]

That question probably belongs in simple Q&A, but Bulbapedia says it is Special Attack as well, so it's a Shoddy error.

EDIT: You may want to test Luster Purge to see if that works correctly as well.

 

[SMZ]

I thought we had a comprehensive list on that sort of thing. It seems that it's pretty obvious taht "moves that do damage activate the item", you're not even testing close cases (Avalanche?) so unless you want to test every move like the WOnder Guard test I don't see why you should spend your time on it.

I did test Avalanche...see my list :\.

I didn't just test moves that do damage, I tested moves that I thought might have a chance of failing to activate Shell Bell, and as shown in my list, I tested moves with negative priority, moves that select other moves, moves that double the damage of other moves and moves that take a charging turn.

 

[TheMaskedNitpicker]

I did test Avalanche...see my list :\.

I didn't just test moves that do damage, I tested moves that I thought might have a chance of failing to activate Shell Bell, and as shown in my list, I tested moves with negative priority, moves that select other moves, moves that double the damage of other moves and moves that take a charging turn.

I think they meant that Avalanche isn't a close case. Anyhow, it seems pretty clear from your list that a Pokémon gains HP from Shell Bell anytime it deals direct damage with an attack. I'd be interested in knowing if the following activate Shell Bell:

Future Sight
Struggle
Super Fang (pretty sure this one will)
Pain Split (pretty sure this one won't)

Thanks for the tests.

 

[SMZ]

I think they meant that Avalanche isn't a close case. Anyhow, it seems pretty clear from your list that a Pokémon gains HP from Shell Bell anytime it deals direct damage with an attack. I'd be interested in knowing if the following activate Shell Bell:

Future Sight
Struggle
Super Fang (pretty sure this one will)
Pain Split (pretty sure this one won't)

Thanks for the tests.

Future Sight- Already known [tested it anyway; no]
Struggle- yes
Super Fang- yes
Pain Split- no

EDIT: One-hit KO moves came to my mind, so I tested them and they do activate Shell Bell.

 

[AJC]

That question probably belongs in simple Q&A, but Bulbapedia says it is Special Attack as well, so it's a Shoddy error.

EDIT: You may want to test Luster Purge to see if that works correctly as well.

chances are a certain someone got lazy and CPed the code for luster purge for Mist ball and forgot to change the effect

 

[TheMaskedNitpicker]

I just discovered that single-target Electric moves replicated by Me First bypass your partner's Lightningrod ability when determining a target.

For all you avid researchers out there, here's what I really want to know:

1. Can moves replicated by Me First bypass an opponent's Lightningrod ability when determining a target?

2. Does any other replication move (Mirror Move, Metronome, Assist, etc.) allow you to bypass Lightningrod in this way?

...and most importantly...

3. Do moves replicated by Metronome (or the other replication moves) bypass Follow Me?

Mega kudos points to anyone who can answer these before I get home and have to test them myself.

EDIT: Here's another:

4. If a move is trying to target a Pokémon with Pressure, but gets pulled away by Lightningrod, Storm Drain, or Follow Me, does the move lose one or two PP?

EDIT: No takers? Well, I guess if you want something done, you really do have to do it yourself.

I've run tests to answer question #4.

I've basically determined that Lightningrod pulls Electric-type moves away right before execution, whereas Follow Me immediately retargets moves at the time of its use. Presumably Storm Drain works like Lightningrod, but I haven't tested it yet.

I figured this out by aiming moves at a Spiritomb. The first move (Thunderbolt) was pulled away by my partner's Lightningrod, but it still lost 2 PP (PP loss comes before move execution so that moves like Sleep Talk that call other moves don't use PP from the moves they call). The second move (Ice Fang) was pulled away by Spiritomb's partner, Clefairy, using Follow Me. It only lost 1 PP. Lightningrod probably needs to delay before kicking in because not all Eletric-type moves are Electric-type upon selection (Hidden Power and Natural Gift).

To confirm, I ran a more practical test, whereby I used Roar on Spiritomb with both my Pokémon and had Clefairy use Follow Me. Even after the first Roar made the Clefairy leave play, the other Roar hit its replacement instead of the Spiritomb. This is a shame in some ways, since I was hoping that the two-Roar strategy could beat the Follow Me/Trick Room strategy (since Roar executes before Trick Room).

EDIT: The answer to question #3 certainly seems to be 'no'. 12 single-target moves replicated by Metronome all targeted the Follow Me user. So it appears that not only does Follow Me immediately change the target of planned moves, but it's also a long lasting effect on the Pokémon (or, more likely, the slot the Pokémon occupies).

EDIT: While testing the Metronome bit, I found out some weird stuff. If Bide is called by Metronome (or Assist, as I found out later), the first turn cannot be replicated by Copycat, but the later turns can. That didn't really surprise me. What did surprise me was that when called by another move, all turns of Bide have 0 priority. For those not aware, all three turns of Bide normally have +1 priority in D/P, so I'm a bit blown away that the later turns, no longer shackled to Metronome, would continue to have the 0 priority nonetheless. I'm wondering if this was programmed in intentionally or if it's somehow a natural product of the code. Weird.