PP
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This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Info for the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series |
PP (Japanese: PP), short for Power Point (Japanese: パワーポイント Power Point), is the energy that a Pokémon requires in order to perform a move.
In the core series games
Power Points have existed in every generation. It costs 1 PP to use a move (barring the influence of the Pressure Ability), so the PP a move has remaining is essentially equivalent to the number of times that move can be used. Each move is assigned a base Power Point value that is either 1 or a positive multiple of 5, up to 40. In general, weaker moves learned at lower levels will have higher PP, while more powerful moves or moves learned at higher levels will have lower PP. PP can be fully restored by healing one's Pokémon at a Pokémon Center, and effectively act as a method to encourage players to heal often even if they take little or no damage.
When a move is learned, including through methods such as using TMs or HMs, its PP will automatically be set to the base PP value, allowing it to be used immediately. However, in Generation V only, when a move is replaced with a TM or HM move, the new move's remaining PP will be set to the remaining PP of the replaced move (unless the new move's base PP is lower). This was to prevent TMs and HMs from being a method to repeatedly replenish PP at no cost, as TMs were first made reusable in that generation. In Generation VI, this behavior was reverted, and using a TM or HM to overwrite a move will set the newly learned move to its usual base PP though TMs and HMs are still reusable.
When the PP of a move has been depleted, the Pokémon will no longer be able to use that move until PP is restored. When all of a Pokémon's moves' PP have been depleted, ordering it to attack will result in the Pokémon using Struggle, a move that deals great damage to itself and minimal damage to the opponent.
All moves that target a Pokémon with Pressure use an additional PP, causing them to deplete their PP faster. A move that has only 1 PP remaining will execute as normal in these situations, i.e. the PP count will not become negative. Moves that do not target the Pokémon with Pressure, such as status moves which target the user, deplete as normal. Pressure will also not activate if the Pokémon with Pressure targets itself.
A move that can be used outside of battle, such as Dig or one of the many HM moves, will be able to be used outside of battle regardless of its PP on the field, and will not subtract PP for its overworld uses.
Upon using Transform, all copied moves will have 5 PP (unless the maximum PP is less than 5, in which case the PP will be that lower maximum).
Some moves, especially the Shadow moves of Pokémon Colosseum and XD, have no PP value, giving them effectively infinite PP.
Some opponents have unlimited PP for all their moves:
- In Generation I, all AI trainers and wild Pokémon
- In Generation VIII, the bosses of all Max Raid Battles
- In Generation IX, the bosses of all Tera Raid Battles, as well as Team Star's Starmobiles, and the battle against Stellar Form Terapagos in Area Zero Underdepths
Increasing PP
All moves, except those which have a base PP of 1, can have their usability increased using a PP Up or PP Max. PP Ups boost the move's PP by 20% of the original value per PP Up, and can be used up to three times on the same move. PP Maxes, introduced in Generation III, cause a move's PP to increase to the maximum value equivalent to three PP Ups, 60% more than the base value (so the PP Max will be worth less than its full value if it's used on a move that already had one or two PP Ups).
Restoration
PP can be restored using several items. An Ether restores 10 PP for one move, a Max Ether fully restores PP for one move, an Elixir restores 10 PP for all of a Pokémon's moves, and a Max Elixir fully restores PP for all of a Pokémon's moves. Additionally, the Leppa Berry restores 10 PP for one move and can be used as a held item after the PP of any move has run out. In Generation II, Sacred Ash fully restores the PP of all Pokémon in the party, while the Leppa Berry's predecessor, MysteryBerry, restores only 5 PP.
Healing at a Pokémon Center (or any similar party-healing service) fully restores the PP of all party Pokémon's moves; from Generation II through VII, any Pokémon deposited in the PC has the PP of all of its moves fully restored.
If a Pokémon uses Lunar Dance, the next Pokémon sent in to replace it will have its PP fully restored.
Base value alteration
In Generations I and II, the maximum PP of a move that began at 40 PP would be 61, likely due to a lack of data space; this is fixed from Generation III onward, increasing the maximum to its 'proper' value of 64.
Between generations, the base PP of several moves, such as Recover and Giga Drain, was altered. If PP Ups had been used on one of these moves in a previous, this is carried over to later Generation, with the PP Ups now boosting based on the new value, rather than the old. For example, a Pokémon with Giga Drain with 2 PP Ups used on it in Generation III, having 7 PP for that move, would have 14 PP when transferred to Generation IV.
Wild Pokémon
In Generation I, since all AI opponents do not use up any PP, wild Pokémon are always caught with full PP for all of their moves.
From Generation II onwards, wild Pokémon have their PP deducted normally, according to the moves used in battle; the deducted PP value remains even after the wild Pokémon is caught. However, in Generation II, if a wild Pokémon successfully uses Transform and is caught by the player, that Pokémon will have Transform with full PP (10 out of 10).
Glitches
In Generation I, there is a glitch that allows a Pokémon to use a move even if it has 0 PP. If a move is used while it has 0 PP in these games, the Pokémon's PP underflows to 63.
List of moves and Abilities affecting PP
PP can be affected by the following moves and Abilities.
Moves
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Abilities
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In animation
Unlike other stats, PP has not been directly referenced in the anime. However, many Pokémon have been seen to have trouble using a specific move repeatedly, such as Ash's Pikachu's increasing weakness using Thunderbolt on Mewtwo's Poké Balls as they chased him down in Mewtwo Strikes Back.
Additionally, Pokémon get visibly exhausted over the course of a battle, even if they don't take any hits. In Promoting Healthy Tangrowth!, Brock explicitly states that there is a limit to how many times Ash's Grotle would be able to use Synthesis.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
While PP is almost never mentioned by name in Pokémon Adventures, the effect of losing all PP of a move has been displayed a number of times.
Gold, Silver & Crystal arc
In Magnificent Magnemite, Morty was able to stop Lt. Surge's Electabuzz from using Thunder by having his Gastly use Spite on him. Erika and Brock acknowledged the fact that Thunder is a powerful move that takes a lot out of the Pokémon using it, thus limiting the number of times it can be used within a certain period of time.
Ruby & Sapphire arc
In The Beginning of the End with Kyogre & Groudon XII, Flannery managed to prevent Shelly's Ludicolo from using Nature Power by having her Vulpix use Grudge before it was defeated.
FireRed & LeafGreen arc
In Don't Doubt Deoxys, Red's Pikachu, Pika, became unable to use Thunder while battling a Deoxys known as Organism No. 2, due to the DNA Pokémon's Pressure Ability.
Emerald arc
In Chipping Away at Regirock, a wild Misdreavus rendered Emerald's borrowed Shedinja unable to use Shadow Ball during his Battle Pyramid challenge by reducing its PP to zero with Grudge. Emerald later used an Ether on Shedinja to restore it.
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!
In Win with Teamwork!!, Hareta was able to make Gardenia's Roserade run out of power for Magical Leaf faster than usual thanks to his Misdreavus's Spite.
Trivia
- As shown in several Capsule Monsters sketches, Pokémon were originally planned to have a stat called TP, presumably short for Technique Points, with each move requiring a certain amount of TP to use.
In other languages
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This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |