Obstruction

A sludge pile in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Obstructions are obstacles found throughout Lumiose City, left behind as a result of Pokémon activity. They were introduced in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and are similar to obstacles from earlier games such as cuttable plants and breakable rocks, which were cleared by using specific field moves.

Various obstructions may block roads or pathways, or may simply act as impediments, getting in the way of travel and potentially blocking moves used during battles. They may appear in isolation, small groups or clusters, or scattered about an area. Some obstructions may have items or TMs inside them, which cannot be accessed without clearing the obstruction. Clearing obstructions is also a common objective for completing side missions.

Certain types of obstructions can be removed by using particular damaging moves on them, typically those of a specific type, though some other moves may also work. The move must make contact with the obstruction to clear it, and multiple obstructions may be cleared at once depending on the range of the move's effects. Likewise, obstructions in range may be inadvertently removed, even if that move is targeting a different Pokémon or object. As a result, moves used by wild Pokémon can also remove obstructions. Most obstructions will be removed permanently when cleared, though certain ones in particular areas will appear again after approximately 10 in-game minutes.

When cleared, ice and web obstructions will form a bridge across gaps or water, allowing the player to cross. These bridges will remain indefinitely once formed. Unlike select obstacles in previous games like breakable rocks or ore deposits, obstructions never spawn wild Pokémon when broken.

Contents

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• (Return to top)
• Types of obstructions
  • Boulders
  • Brambles
  • Sludge piles
  • Ice
  • Webs
• Trivia
• Related articles

Contents

Types of obstructions

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Add other details, such as appearances in specific side missions

Boulders

Boulders

Boulders can be cleared using any of the moves listed below. This includes all damaging Fighting-type moves in the game except Flying Press and all damaging Steel-type moves in the game except Metal Claw. These moves can also destroy boulders when called via Metronome.

Move Type Category Double-Edge  Normal  Physical Hyper Beam  Normal  Special Solar Beam  Grass  Special Earthquake  Ground  Physical Self-Destruct  Normal  Physical Explosion  Normal  Physical Mach Punch  Fighting  Physical Zap Cannon  Electric  Special Outrage  Dragon  Physical Rollout  Rock  Physical Steel Wing  Steel  Physical Dynamic Punch  Fighting  Physical Megahorn  Bug  Physical Iron Tail  Steel  Physical Rock Smash  Fighting  Physical Brick Break  Fighting  Physical Volt Tackle  Electric  Physical Close Combat  Fighting  Physical Flare Blitz  Fire  Physical Aura Sphere  Fighting  Special Dragon Rush  Dragon  Physical Focus Blast  Fighting  Special Brave Bird  Flying  Physical Earth Power  Ground  Special Giga Impact  Normal  Physical Bullet Punch  Steel  Physical Zen Headbutt  Psychic  Physical Flash Cannon  Steel  Special Draco Meteor  Dragon  Special Lava Plume  Fire  Special Power Whip  Grass  Physical Iron Head  Steel  Physical Stone Edge  Rock  Physical Wood Hammer  Grass  Physical Head Smash  Rock  Physical Psyshock  Psychic  Special Heavy Slam  Steel  Physical Drill Run  Ground  Physical Heat Crash  Fire  Physical Psystrike  Psychic  Special Diamond Storm  Rock  Physical Power-Up Punch  Fighting  Physical Oblivion Wing  Flying  Special Thousand Arrows  Ground  Physical Thousand Waves  Ground  Physical Land's Wrath  Ground  Physical Light of Ruin  Fairy  Special Core Enforcer  Dragon  Special Liquidation  Water  Physical Breaking Swipe  Dragon  Physical Nihil Light  Dragon  Special

While most boulders disappear permanently after being cleared, the boulders found in Wild Zone 14 reappear after approximately ten minutes pass in-game.

Brambles

Brambles

Brambles can be cleared using any of the moves listed below. This includes all damaging Fire-type moves in the game, as well as all slicing moves in the game. These moves can also destroy brambles when called via Metronome.

Move Type Category Ember  Fire  Special Flamethrower  Fire  Special Hyper Beam  Normal  Special Razor Leaf  Grass  Physical Fire Spin  Fire  Special Thunder  Electric  Special Self-Destruct  Normal  Physical Fire Blast  Fire  Special Explosion  Normal  Physical Super Fang  Normal  Physical Slash  Normal  Physical Flame Wheel  Fire  Physical Outrage  Dragon  Physical Steel Wing  Steel  Physical Dragon Breath  Dragon  Special Heat Wave  Fire  Special Overheat  Fire  Special Aerial Ace  Flying  Physical Leaf Blade  Grass  Physical Flare Blitz  Fire  Physical Night Slash  Dark  Physical Air Slash  Flying  Special X-Scissor  Bug  Physical Shadow Claw  Ghost  Physical Fire Fang  Fire  Physical Psycho Cut  Psychic  Physical Draco Meteor  Dragon  Special Lava Plume  Fire  Special Leaf Storm  Grass  Special Stone Edge  Rock  Physical Heat Crash  Fire  Physical Water Shuriken  Water  Special Mystical Fire  Fire  Special Oblivion Wing  Flying  Special Thousand Arrows  Ground  Physical Light of Ruin  Fairy  Special Core Enforcer  Dragon  Special Nihil Light  Dragon  Special

While most brambles disappear permanently after being cleared, the brambles found in Wild Zone 19 reappear after approximately ten minutes pass in-game.

Sludge piles

Sludge pile

Sludge piles can be cleared using any of the moves listed below. This includes all damaging Water-type moves available in the game. These moves can also destroy sludge piles when called via Metronome.

Move Type Category Water Gun  Water  Special Hydro Pump  Water  Special Surf  Water  Special Bubble Beam  Water  Special Fire Spin  Fire  Special Confusion  Psychic  Special Psychic  Psychic  Special Waterfall  Water  Physical Whirlpool  Water  Special Sand Tomb  Ground  Physical Water Pulse  Water  Special Aqua Jet  Water  Physical Hurricane  Flying  Special Boomburst  Normal  Special Water Shuriken  Water  Special Liquidation  Water  Physical Flip Turn  Water  Physical

A handful of sludge piles have to be removed to access the section of Wild Zone 5 where the player obtains the Revitalizing Twig.

While most sludge piles disappear permanently after being cleared, the sludge piles found on the rooftops of Wild Zone 10 reappear after approximately ten minutes pass in-game.

Ice

Ice	Ice bridge

Ice expands into a traversable bridge when struck with any damaging Fire-type move or damage-dealing physical move.

Webs

Web ball	Web bridge

Webs expand into a traversable bridge when struck with any damaging ranged move. Some webbed bridges can be found already expanded without needing a move used on them.

Trivia

• While there are several moves that can clear both boulders and brambles, there are only three moves that can clear both sludge piles and another type of obstruction: Liquidation, which can also clear boulders; and Fire Spin and Water Shuriken, which can also clear brambles.
• Ice and Poison are the only types that have no moves that can clear boulders, brambles, or sludge piles.
• Similar in appearance to the ice and web bridges, there are also bridges made of plant growth that can be found in Lumiose City, though these are always traversable and are never encountered as obstructions.
• Some Mega Crystals block ladders or impede paths and must be broken to pass through, similar to obstructions. This is especially apparent in the Mega Dimension DLC, as Mega Crystal clusters often block paths in hyperspace, needing to be cleared in order to fully explore certain distortions.

Related articles

• Category:Obstacles
• Breakable rock
• Cuttable plant
• Mega Crystal

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.