Moves: physical, special and status
The three kinds of move, which stats they use, and how to pick moves that suit your Pokémon.
Three kinds of move
Every move is one of three kinds:
- Physical moves are punches, kicks, bites and other body blows: Tackle, Earthquake, Close Combat. They use the attacker’s Attack against the target’s Defense.
- Special moves are beams, blasts and energy: Flamethrower, Psychic, Shadow Ball. They use Sp. Atk against Sp. Def.
- Status moves do no direct damage. They raise stats, cause conditions or change the battle: Thunder Wave, Swords Dance.
Of the 919 moves in the pokee.si data, 390 are physical, 258 special and 271 status.
Try it: Sort the moves
Is each move physical, special or status? (interactive on pokee.si)
Match the move to the Pokémon
Look at a Pokémon’s stats before you pick its moves.
Alakazam has 135 Sp. Atk but only 50 Attack, so special moves like Psychic suit it. Machamp has 130 Attack and 65 Sp. Atk, so physical moves like Close Combat hit far harder.
Quick check
Is Shadow Ball a physical or a special move?
Answer: Special. Shadow Ball is special: it uses Sp. Atk. Type does not decide it: Shadow Claw is also Ghost-type, and it is physical.
It used to work differently
Before Generation 4, the kind of a move depended only on its type. Every Fire move was special and every Fighting move was physical, whatever it looked like.
Diamond and Pearl, set in Sinnoh, split them move by move. That is why Fire Punch is now physical and Flamethrower is special.
Quiz
The lesson ends with a five-question quiz built from the Pokédex data, and earns the Move Master badge.
Sources
- pokee.si move data (moves.json, from PokeAPI)
- pokee.si guide: Regions (Sinnoh introduced the physical/special split)
- Bulbapedia: Damage category
Related
Next lesson: Dual types and 4× damage