Struggle (move)

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Struggle
わるあがき Vain Struggle
[[File:|center]]
Type  Normal
Category  Physical
PP  1 (max. N/A)
Power  50
Accuracy  %
Priority  {{{priority}}}
Target
Foe Foe Foe
Self Ally Ally
May affect anyone adjacent to the user
Availability
Introduced  Generation I
Condition  Cool
Appeal  4 ♥♥♥♥
Jam  0  
A highly appealing move.
Condition  Cool
Appeal  3 ♥♥♥
A basic performance using a move known by the Pokémon.
Condition  Cool
Appeal  0  
Jamming  0  

Struggle (Japanese: わるあがき Vain Struggle) is a move that cannot be learned naturally by any Pokémon. However, every 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.

Struggle deals Normal-type damage in this Generation, meaning Rock-type takes half damage and it doesn't hit Ghost-type at all. If the only usable move was disabled by Disable, the target will start to use Struggle.

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

Generation II

Struggle now has a maximum of 1 PP instead of 10-16. Struggle now inflicts normal damage to Steel-type Pokémon as well as Rock-type, and hits Ghost-type Pokémon even if the user has not previously used Foresight.

Generation III

Pokémon with the Wonder Guard Ability are not immune to Struggle. Rock Head does not prevent Struggle's recoil damage.

Struggle can now be forced by Taunt, Torment or Imprison. If it was disabled by Torment, Struggle will be used every second turn.

Generation IV and on

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: What's actually new and what was already earlier (reword if needed)

The user now takes ¼ of its maximum HP as recoil damage. Also, if the user is holding a Choice item, and is triggered by Disable, Taunt, Torment, Imprison or Cursed Body, it will always use Struggle as long as the item and the move both remain active; if the move is Torment, the Pokémon will only use Struggle every second turn. Struggle is now unaffected by modifications to the accuracy stat and evasion stat.

Description

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: XD description
Games Description
Used only if the user runs totally out of PP. The user is hit with 1/4 of the damage it inflicts.
Used only if the user is totally out of PP. The user is hit with 1/4 the damage it inflicts.
Used only if all PP are exhausted.
RSE Used only if all PP are gone. Also hurts the user a little.
FRLG An attack that is used only if there is no PP. It also hurts the user.
Used when all PP are gone. Also hurts the user a bit.
An attack that is used in desperation only if the user has no PP. It also hurts the user slightly.


Learnset

All Pokémon can use Struggle when the PP for all moves they know are at 0 or the moves are somehow incapacitated such as through Disable, Taunt, Torment, Imprison, or Choice items.

In other generations

Trivia

  • Even though Struggle can only be accessed by the loss of all PP, it was given Contest and Super Contest stats. This is most likely to prevent the game from crashing if a Pokémon is hacked to have Struggle as one of their four moves. The contest stats seem to be the defaults.
  • Struggle is the last non-glitch move in index number order in Generation I, and the last Generation I move in index number lists since then.
  • Struggle is one of two moves that cannot be Sketched. The other is Chatter.
  • Struggle deals typeless damage - no Pokémon can gain STAB from it and it is unaffected by type matchups, despite being nominally Normal-type if it is hacked onto a Pokémon's movelist.
  • Struggle is one of four moves originating from Generation I that has not been used in the anime (the others being Barrage, Leech Life and Kinesis).
  • Generation IV hybrids are the only Pokémon, normal or glitched, to attempt to learn Struggle without cheating.
  • Should a player hack Struggle into Pokémon's moveset, it won't be displayed correctly in Pokémon Stadium 2's lab (not the case for original Pokémon Stadium) and will be highlighted, as if it was a Generation II move. This doesn't happen when selecting a team for battle.

In other languages

Language Title
Mandarin Chinese 掙扎 Zhēngzhá
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Spartel
France Flag.png European French Lutte
Germany Flag.png German Verzweifler
Greece Flag.png Greek Αγώνας
Italy Flag.png Italian Scontro
South Korea Flag.png Korean 발버둥 Balbeodung
Brazil Flag.png Brazilian Portuguese Combate
Serbia Flag.png Serbian Opstanak
Spain Flag.png European Spanish Combate


Project Moves and Abilities logo.png 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.