Status moves and immunities

DMFG

This was something I found kinda odd ever since GSC, and I would have thought GF would have "fixed" this, but it seems not..

Ground types are immune to Electric, and hence they are immune to Thunder Wave. Makes perfect sense, right? We just kinda take it for granted.

Why is this the only kind of status move for which this applies? Hypnosis is a Psychic attack and yet it still works on Dark types. Sing is a Normal attack and it still works on Ghosts. Sweet Kiss and Swagger work on Ghosts and Confuse Ray on Normals.

The reason why Will o wisp and Toxic don't work on Fire and Steel/Poison types is a property of the types themselves being immune to that kind of status.

So then why do we just accept that Thunder Wave doesn't work on Grounds, when everything suggests that it should?
 
Probably because Thunderwave paralyzes by firing a jolt of electricity at the foe which a ground type is immune against, while I don't see any problem with making a dark type sleepy with som Hypnosis for example. Same as Thunderwave with Will o Wisp and Toxic also.
 
Because Sing/Swagger aren't really using 'normal' abilities. Ghosts are only immune to normal because normal goes through them. They aren't immune to sound, though. Thunder Wave, however, uses a jolt of electricity, which ground types are immune to.

Agreeing on Hypnosis, though.
 
Actually with physical/special split I expected certain weakness/resistances/immunities to change such as:

Special Normal attacks do regular damage versus Ghosts.
Physical electric attacks arent resisted by grass.
Flying types and levitators are hit by special ground attacks and bonemerang.
Physical Psychic attacks are resisted (not immune to) by Darks.
 
sanjay120 said:
Because Sing/Swagger aren't really using 'normal' abilities. Ghosts are only immune to normal because normal goes through them. They aren't immune to sound, though. Thunder Wave, however, uses a jolt of electricity, which ground types are immune to.

Agreeing on Hypnosis, though.
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Then why are they immune to Hyper Voice?
 
It's also partly due to balance, I think. Consider for a minute: Stun Spore is 75% accurate. Glare is 75% accurate. Thunder Wave, however, comes with a hefty 100% accuracy. Meanwhile, nothing (bar Limber Pokemon) is immune to the first two, while Ground types can shake off Thunder Waves all day.
 
I suppose the balance thing probably makes the most sense. I was going to say something about availability but then I realised that Thunder Wave is far more widespread than Stun Spore, let alone Glare..
 
The reason why Will o wisp and Toxic don't work on Fire and Steel/Poison types is a property of the types themselves being immune to that kind of status.
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I'm pretty sure that steel isn't immune to the poison status and can be poisoned by Twinneedle. At least this was the case in GSC.
 
I'm pretty sure that Secret Power can poison Steels too.

@Lou Cypher: It's the shock waves from Hyper Voice's sound that do damage.
 
L2m6w5 said:
Actually with physical/special split I expected certain weakness/resistances/immunities to change such as:

Special Normal attacks do regular damage versus Ghosts.
Physical electric attacks arent resisted by grass.
Flying types and levitators are hit by special ground attacks and bonemerang.
Physical Psychic attacks are resisted (not immune to) by Darks.
Click to expand...

according to your logic, ghosts should be immune to ALL physical attacks. I mean for example, getting hit by a rock slide is like getting hit by a tackle from an onix. However, since ghosts are immune to a normal attack like tackle, it should also be immune to rock slide =)

I think since the target audience of pokemon is the younger kids, GF don't want to complicate things further.
 
I think it is based on how Thunder Wave is a direct-damage dealing move in the anime like Thunderbolt, as opposed to Hypnosis, who puts the opponent to sleep.
 
It's probably a bug in Netbattle. Makes sense that it doesn't, as Glare is a normal move and all...
 
mastadi said:
That's strange, cause mud slap/shot doesn't, and they are just basically the same...
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Mud Slap deals damage, and therefore always has a type check. Since nearly all effects are dependent on hits, since Ground moves always miss flyers/levitators, the acc drop can never occur.
 
I don't mean by effects and stuff. I mean what pokemon does, but instead of sand it throws/shoots/slaps/farts with mud :|
 
Mud is denser than sand and therefore can't be carried as far as sand, the latter of which can remain aloft for over thousands of miles. However, being denser, mud is able to cause direct damage like Sludge, for example. At least that's how I interpret it.
 
mastadi said:
I don't mean by effects and stuff. I mean what pokemon does, but instead of sand it throws/shoots/slaps/farts with mud :|
Click to expand...

Pokemon and physics have an on-and-off relationship. (Hiya TR getting blown hundreds of feet away by an electric shock and landing nearly unscathed nearly every time.)

I really try not to think about it too much.
 
Don't mean to deviate from the topic at hand, but speaking of status moves... Am I correct on these?:

Will-o-Wisp = Also causes 50% ATK reduction.
Thunder Wave = Also causes ??% SPEED reduction.

Are there any other similar status moves that have hidden effects like those?
 
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