In what is essentially a secret feature within the Terastal mechanic of the Generation IX Pokémon games, it seems that ‘weak moves’ get a boost in their base power before the Terastallization boost factors in, that is if the Tera type matches the type of the weak move in question.
This makes it so that weak moves essentially gain two boosts, making them disproportionately stronger when compared to ‘strong’ moves that get boosted through a Tera-type matching the move.
This discovery was initially made by @skittyve, who posted their findings on the Smogon forums, continuing to deep-dive into the hidden mechanic through practical testing and researching into the game’s code, subsequently updating their previous research with new information.
We’ve said it a bunch of times, but what exactly are “weak moves”? Put simply, these are moves that possess a base power below 60, before factoring in any damage multipliers such as STAB (Same-Type-Attack-Bonus). Think moves like Pound, Water Gun, Salt Cure, and the like.
A weak move will get its base power automatically raised to 60 when the Pokémon possessing this move Terastallizes into a type that matches the weak move. Let’s call this the ‘weak move boost.’ After this increase in base power, only then will the Terastallization multiplier (1.5x damage boost) come in.
For example, Azumarill uses Tackle. Tackle has a base power of 40, and Tackle is considered a weak move. We also know that Tackle is a Normal-type move and Azumarill is a Water and Fairy dual-type Pokémon.
If Azumarill possesses the Normal Tera and proceeds to use its Terastallization, Azumarill turns into the Normal type—now matching Tackle’s type—giving the weak move boost via Terastallization to Tackle and raising it to 60 BP. Now, the regular Tera boost is added, which is a 1.5x multiplier, making Tackle a 90 BP move.
Well then, what if the weak move in question already matches the type of Pokémon using it? Let’s continue with our buddy Azumarill, and now take the move Water Gun as an example.
Like Tackle, Water Gun also possesses a base power of 40. Now let’s say that Azumarill has the Water Tera type and decides to utilize it in battle—this will cause Water Gun to receive the weak move boost as expected and have its base power raised to 60.
But in this case, one of Azumarill’s types was already Water, and it has now used its Water Tera as well. As is common knowledge, Terastallizing into a type that your Pokémon already was causes moves of that type to gain a 2x multiplier in damage—due to the Tera boost and STAB boost being combined—instead of 1.5x. This makes Azumarill’s Water Gun have an effective base power of 120 after factoring in the weak move boost.
So why was this even done by Game Freak? Such a vast increase in damage for moves that are supposed to be weak seems a little odd. Well, skittyve theorizes that this was probably done “to make the [Terastallization] mechanic feel more impactful in the early-game.”
Remember your Fuecoco miraculously decimating those annoying Team Star members with Tera Fire and Ember? Suddenly that makes a lot of sense, huh?
Well, the intricacies of this mechanic don’t end here. There are quite a few exceptions to this weak boost availed through Terastallization, probably as a means to balance this feature and prevent it from making certain Pokémon too overpowered.
All of these exceptions were discovered by @Sibuna_Switch through extensive testing and digging into the game’s code.
The first exception that does not receive the weak move boost are priority moves. Quick Attack, Aqua Jet, Bullet Punch—any priority move whose base power is below 60 does not get the weak move boost.
Azumarill can Terrastalize into the Water type but its Aqua Jet which has a base power of 40 will not receive an increase to 60 BP, since it is a priority move.
The second exception comes with the ability Technician. The weak move boost will only be checked after Technician’s damage multiplier is applied.
This means that if a move such as Peck—which possesses a base power of 35—is boosted by Technician (a 1.5x multiplier), which will lead it to have a base power of 52, then the weak move boost will apply and take the Technician-boosted 52 BP Peck and raise it to 60 BP.
However, if the move in question is something like False Swipe, which possesses a base power of 40, Technician will raise this move’s base power to 60 by itself, which means that Technician-boosted False Swipe will not be eligible for the weak move boost.
The third exception is multi-hit moves. Whether you Terastallize into the Water-type to use Water Shuriken or into the Rock-type to use Rock Blast, you will not get the weak move boost on any of the hits, because, well, a move that can hit up to five times with each hit being 60 BP—without even factoring in Tera and STAB boosts—would break the game.
Lastly, there are some moves that simply do not receive the weak move boost even though they can be below 60 base power under the correct conditions while not falling under any of the exceptions listed above, and they are as follows:
- Crush Grip
- The target is crushed with great force. The more HP the target has left, the greater the move’s power.
- Dragon Energy
- Converting its life-force into power, the user attacks opposing Pokémon. The lower the user’s HP, the lower the move’s power.
- Electro Ball
- The user hurls an electric orb at the target. The faster the user is than the target, the greater the move’s power.
- Eruption
- The user attacks opposing Pokémon with explosive fury. The lower the user’s HP, the lower the move’s power.
- Flail
- The user flails about aimlessly to attack. The less HP the user has, the greater the move’s power.
- Fling
- The user flings its held item at the target to attack. This move’s power and effects depend on the item.
- Grass Knot
- The user snares the target with grass and trips it. The heavier the target, the greater the move’s power.
- Gyro Ball
- The user tackles the target with a high-speed spin. The slower the user is than the target, the greater the move’s power.
- Heat Crash
- The user slams into the target with its flame-covered body. The more the user outweighs the target, the greater the move’s power.
- Heavy Slam
- The user slams into the target with its heavy body. The more the user outweighs the target, the greater the move’s power.
- Low Kick
- A powerful low kick that makes the target fall over. The heavier the target, the greater the move’s power.
- Reversal
- An all-out attack that becomes more powerful the less HP the user has.
- Water Spout
- The user spouts water to damage opposing Pokémon. The lower the user’s HP, the lower the move’s power.
We did mention that these moves can come below 60 BP under the right conditions, but how?
Let’s take for example Grass Knot, which deals more damage based on the user’s weight. If a Pokémon were to use it on an opposing light Pokémon, the base power of Grass Knot could be 40, or even 20, which would ordinarily make a move eligible for the weak move boost in case the Pokémon Terastallized into the Grass type.
Even Water Spout, which ordinarily has a base power of 150 when the user is at full health will have its base power continuously decrease the lower its health gets. This could give Water Spout a base power of one if the user was left at one HP, but the user does not benefit from the weak move boost when Terastallized into the Water-type.
The weak move boost was quite evidently put in place by Game Freak to make the early game of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet more impactful with Terrastalization, hence it would make no sense to provide the boost to moves that can be incredibly strong when the conditions are correct.
There were some other miscellaneous key findings about the weak move boost, one being that it does not work around the spread damage modifier. In their testings, skittyve found that “Struggle Bug did as much damage as expected from a 60bp spread move in a Double Battle.”
Another thing to keep in mind is that the boost does not apply to moves that don’t correspond with your Tera type.
“While my Kricketune was Terastallized into Bug type, its Tackle still hit for 40bp damage,” they explained. They continued, noting that their “Tera Poison Goodra did receive boosted damage on Acid Spray,” however.
While Terastallization is the focal point of the Scarlet and Violet games, this feature was left unexplained, not being mentioned or elaborated on by any NPCs or the game itself.
Furthermore, none of the devs decided to explain this feature through their socials or blog posts after the game’s release, even though this hidden feature impacts battling and competitive Pokémon in a major way.
