Struggle (move)

Struggle わるあがき Vain Struggle

An attack that is used in desperation only if the user has no PP. It also hurts the user slightly.

Battles Type  Normal Category  Physical PP  N/A (max. N/A) Power  50 Accuracy  —% Priority  {{{priority}}} Makes contact Affected by Protect Not affected by Magic Coat Not affected by Snatch Not affected by BrightPowder Affected by King's Rock

Target Foe Foe Self Ally May affect anyone but the user

Availability Introduced  Generation I Not a TM, HM, or move tutor move.

Contests Category  Cool Appeal  4 ♥♥♥♥ Jam  0 A highly appealing move.

Super Contests Category  Cool Appeal  3 ♥♥♥ A basic performance using a move known by the Pokémon.

Struggle on Legendary Pokémon MoveDex Struggle on Eevee's Movedex

Struggle (Japanese: わるあがき Vain Struggle) is the one move that cannot be learned naturally by any Pokémon. However, every single Pokémon can use it, but only if all of their moves cannot be used, usually due to a lack of PP.

Effect

Generation I

Struggle deals damage to the opponent and the user receives recoil damage. The user takes recoil damage equal to 50% of the damage the attack did to the opponent. Struggle will automatically be used by a Pokémon that has no usable moves but is ordered to attack, and has infinite PP in such a situation.

If the user of Struggle attacks first and faints itself 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.

Struggle has 10 base PP, though no PP would ever be deducted from it. 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.

In Stadium, no recoil damage is taken if Struggle knocks out an opponent.

Generations II and III

Same as before, but with a maximum of 1 PP instead of 10-16. Struggle now inflicts normal damage to Steel-type Pokémon, and hits Ghost-type Pokémon even if the user has not previously used Foresight or Odor Sleuth. Pokémon with the Wonder Guard ability are not immune to Struggle. Rock Head does not prevent Struggle's recoil damage.

Generation IV

Same as Generations II and III; however, the user takes ¼ of its maximum HP as recoil damage.

Learnset

All Pokémon can use Struggle, providing the PP for the moves learnt by the Pokémon are all at 0.

Trivia

• Even though Struggle can only be accessed by the loss of all PP, it is somehow able to have contest stats. This is most likely to prevent the game from crashing if it is hacked in since, through normal gameplay, it would be impossible to use Struggle within normal contest rounds. The contest stats seem to be the defaults.
• Struggle is one of two moves that cannot be Sketched by Smeargle. The other is Chatter.
• Struggle takes "typeless damage" - no Pokémon can gain STAB from it and it is unaffected by type matchups.
  • This also makes Struggle the only Normal-type move which can hit a Ghost-type opponent without the aid of Odor Sleuth, Foresight, or Scrappy.

In other languages

• Dutch: Worstel
• Spanish: Combate
• German: Verzweifler
• French: Lutte
• Italian: Scontro

This move article is part of Project MoveDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each move.