Struggle (move)
| Struggle わるあがき Vain Struggle | ||||||||||||
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Range
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Availability
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Struggle (Japanese: わるあがき Vain Struggle) is a damage-dealing move introduced in Generation I.
It is a move that every Pokémon can use when none of its moves are usable, although no Pokémon can naturally learn it.
Effect
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This move effect may be in need of research. Reason:
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Struggle inflicts damage, and the user takes recoil damage. Struggle is capable of striking a critical hit. In Double Battles, its target is a randomly selected opponent.
Struggle does not spend any PP. This move has a maximum PP value stored in the game data, but this is not shown to the player.
| Gen I | Gen II–III | Gen IV–IX | |
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| Accuracy | 100% | —% | |
| Recoil | ½ of damage dealt | ¼ of damage dealt | ¼ of user's maximum HP |
| Type effectiveness |
Normal-type damage Not very effective against Rock-type Pokémon Ineffective against Ghost-type Pokémon STAB applies when used by a Normal-type Pokémon |
Typeless damage Same damage against all types No STAB | |
| PP | 10 | 1 | |
Struggle cannot be learned like other moves, but it will be automatically used by any Pokémon that is ordered to attack when it has no usable moves. A move may not be currently usable because:
- It ran out of PP.
- It is blocked by the moves Disable, Gravity, Heal Block, Imprison, Taunt, Throat Chop, or Torment, by the Ability Cursed Body, or by the user's held choice item or Assault Vest.
- It has a restriction that prevents it from being selected in the current circumstances, such as with Belch and Blood Moon.
- It is prohibited in the current game mode, such as Sky Battle.
- It is unavailable in the current game.
If a Pokémon is forced to use a single move by Encore but that move runs out of PP, Encore's effect ends; otherwise, if the move affected by Encore is unavailable for other reasons, it will use Struggle.
Struggle can hit through Wonder Guard. Struggle does not gain a boost from Reckless even though the user takes recoil damage. The user still takes recoil damage even if its Ability is Magic Guard or Rock Head.
Struggle cannot be called by Assist, Me First, Metronome, or Sleep Talk, copied by Mimic, Sketch, Transform, or Imposter, repeated by a Pokémon as a result of Encore, Copycat, or a held choice item, or forced by Instruct. It cannot be blocked by means such as Disable, Imprison, or Cursed Body, or prevented from use multiple times in a row by Torment.
Struggle is unaffected by a held Normal Gem, and does not consume it. Even if the user's moves have their types changed (such as from Electrify, Ion Deluge, Normalize, Pixilate, etc.), Struggle still deals typeless damage, and does not use or consume any type of Gem.
Struggle cannot gain or lose PP by any means, being unaffected by moves such as Grudge and Spite, or by items such as Ether or Leppa Berry.
If a Pokémon is forced to use Struggle, it will not be able to Mega Evolve, Ultra Burst, use a Z-Move, Dynamax, or Terastallize on the same turn, as the menu from which this option would be selected never appears. If a Dynamax Pokémon is forced to use Struggle, it will not turn into a Max Move.
Generation I
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This move effect may be in need of research. Reason: In Japanese Pokémon Stadium, does Struggle work like the later Pokémon Stadium? (Does it hit ghosts, and takes no recoil when knocking out an opponent?) You can discuss this on the talk page. |
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If the user of Struggle attacks first and knocks itself out due to recoil damage, the opponent will not attack or be subjected to recurrent damage during that round. If Struggle breaks a substitute, the user will take no recoil damage.
Self-inflicted recoil damage from Struggle from the previous turn can be countered if the opponent did not make a move on the following turn.
Struggle can be copied by Mirror Move.
In this generation, a Pokémon is permanently unable to use Struggle as long as any of its unused move slots has more than 0 PP in the internal game data. For instance, if a transformed Ditto uses Metronome or Mirror Move at least once in the gameplay, and this move is not in the first slot when used, then a glitch will increase the PP of Ditto's unused move slot. In all subsequent battles, if this Ditto is not transformed while Transform has 0 PP or is disabled, it will be unable to use Struggle nonetheless. This is not fixed by healing Ditto, but it can be fixed by using Metronome or Mirror Move a total of 256 times (possibly in multiple battles) in the same move slot while transformed, at which point the PP count will overflow to 0.
In Stadium, Struggle can hit Ghost Pokémon, and no recoil damage is taken if Struggle knocks out an opponent.
Generations II and III
The user will take recoil damage even if Struggle breaks a substitute.
Generation IV
Recoil damage is rounded down, but no less than 1.
Struggle now bypasses accuracy checks to always hit, unless the target is in the semi-invulnerable turn of a move such as Dig or Fly.
Struggle will activate a target's held Chilan Berry.
Struggle can no longer be copied by Mirror Move.
Despite having a base power of 50 in every generation, Struggle's power is not boosted by Technician in Generation IV.
Generation V onwards
Struggle's recoil calculation is now subject to standard rounding; for example, a Pokémon with 201 maximum HP using Struggle will have its recoil round down to 50, but 202 or 203 HP will round up to 51 recoil damage.
Struggle no longer activates the Chilan Berry.
Struggle's power is now boosted by Technician.
Generation VIII
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
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Struggle cannot be mastered.
Description
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Learnset
Struggle cannot be learned like other moves, but it will be automatically used by any Pokémon that is ordered to attack when it has no usable moves.
In other games
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series
Struggle cannot be learned like other moves, but it will be automatically used when the Pokémon runs out of PP for its moves and the Pokémon attempts to use one of its moves. In the Rescue Team and Explorers series, the user receives recoil damage equal to ¼ of their maximum HP. It deals Normal-type damage, much like in Generation I core series games.
In Gates to Infinity recoil damage is 20% of max HP instead. When used by a Gigantic Pokémon, the move can damage nearby enemies in a 1 tile range around the user if used by a mobile Gigantic Pokémon, or enemies in the same room if used by stationary Gigantic Pokémon (such as Lugia and Ho-Oh).
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Pokémon GO
 Struggle
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Updates
- Gyms & Raids
- July 30, 2016
- Energy cost: 20 → 0
- February 16, 2017
- Power: 15 → 35
- Energy cost: 0 → 33
- Duration: 1.695 → 2.2 seconds
- Damage window: 0.8 - 1.5 → 1.2 - 2 seconds
- February 21, 2017
- Energy cost: 33 → 0
Pokémon Rumble Rush
Struggle| ★★ | |
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| Attack power | 34.5061 |
| Charge time | 0.66 seconds |
| Range type | Circular (self) |
| Number of hits | 1 |
| Number of projectiles | 1 |
| Critical hit rate | 1.5% |
| Additional effect | Causes recoil |
Description
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In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
 Graveler, Omanyte, and Caterpie  Recoil | |||
| The user tackles the opponent. | |||
| Pokémon | Method | ||
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| User | First Chapter Used In | Notes | |
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Graveler tackles the opponent. After the attack, it takes recoil damage. | ||
| Yellow's Gravvy | Eradicate Raticate! | Debut | |
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Omanyte tackles the opponent. After the attack, it takes recoil damage. | ||
| Yellow's Omny | Eradicate Raticate! | Debut | |
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Caterpie tackles the opponent. After the attack, it takes recoil damage. | ||
| Yellow's Kitty | Eradicate Raticate! | Debut | |
In other generations
Core series games
Side series games
Spin-off series games
Trivia
- Struggle is the last Generation I move in index number order.
- Even though Struggle can only be accessed by the loss of all PP, it was given Contest, Super Contest, and Contest Spectacular stats.
- Struggle is one of two non-Shadow moves that cannot be copied by Sketch in any generation, the other being Sketch itself.
- In Generation I, Struggle was the only move that could not be called via Metronome, besides Metronome itself.
- Struggle has the lowest base power of all recoil-causing moves.
- Because it deals typeless damage, Struggle is the only damaging Normal-type move which can hit a Ghost-type opponent under normal circumstances, except in Generation I, where it deals Normal-type damage instead.
- Along with Barrage and Kinesis, Struggle is one of three moves introduced in Generation I that have not been featured in the animated series.
- Of these moves, it was the only one to exist in Pokémon Sword and Shield prior to v1.2.0.
- Certain glitch Pokémon, including Generation IV hybrids, 'Ng'Mp, 'ゥ., and 4, ゥァ (DD), can learn Struggle by level up.
- Should a player hack Struggle onto a Pokémon, it will not be displayed correctly in Pokémon Stadium 2's lab (not the case for the previous game) and will be highlighted, as if it was a Generation II move. This does not happen when selecting a team for battle.
- In Pokémon Stadium, the move description erroneously states that Struggle inflicts recoil to the user equal to ¼ of the damage inflicted; the correct number in Generation I is ½.
- In Generation I, a glitch can occur making it impossible for a Pokémon to use Struggle if it has previously used Transform followed by either Metronome or Mirror Move. This renders the Pokémon completely unable to battle until its PP is restored.[1]
- In the Raid Format of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, there is an optional rule called the Struggle Rule. If the Raid Boss Pokémon is unable to attack for two consecutive turns, this rule causes the Pokémon to select a random attack it has and use it even if the Pokémon does not have Energy attached to it that matches the cost of the attack.
In other languages
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References
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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. |
- Moves
- Moves that target a random opponent
- Normal-type moves
- Cool moves
- Physical moves
- Generation I moves
- Moves in need of research
- Moves in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
- Moves in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
- Charged Attacks in Pokémon GO
- Moves in Pokémon Rumble Rush
- Moves that cannot miss
- Moves that have recoil
- Moves usable in Pokémon Sword and Shield
- Moves in Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Moves usable in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
