Summary
- Grass-type Pokemon moves like Cotton Spore and Spore offer strategic advantages, like reducing speed and putting opponents to sleep.
- Moves like Strength Sap combine healing and weakening effects, making them valuable additions to a team.
- Energy Ball not only deals significant damage but also has a chance to lower the special defense stat of opponents, making it a powerful move for high-level Grass-type Pokemon.
There are a huge number of Pokemon available across the many games that have been released in the Pokemon franchise to date, and with all the varied types available, it is unsurprising that they have a huge variety of moves available for players to utilize while attempting to defeat their enemies.
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Grass-type Pokemon are fascinating and can be tricky to grasp since strategy comes into play a lot more with them than with the basic power attacks that remain the focus of other types of Pokemon. As such, it can be pretty easy to underestimate the usefulness of many grass-type moves that are well worth teaching Pokemon.
7 Cotton Spore
Huge Speed Reduction
- PP: 40
- Accuracy: 100
- Power: N/A
Cotton Spore is one move that many players will dismiss out of hand for being non-damaging, but it can be invaluable. Grass Pokemon usually aren’t the fastest in the games, and for this reason, being able to raise their speed stats or lower the stats of opponents can be a huge addition to any game plan. Cotton Spore gives a free, guaranteed reduction of speed by two stages, hugely hampering opponents.
Though many players will just want to damage opposing Pokemon as quickly as possible, moves like Cotton Spore can help put together a vastly superior move-set that is much more tactically focused and one that many types of Pokemon aren’t as capable of putting together like the best Grass-type Pokemon can. The boost to 100% accuracy in the fifth generation of Pokemon games was the final boost this move needed to be truly great.
6 Spore
Guaranteed Sleep
- PP: 15
- Accuracy: 100
- Power: N/A
Spore is another non-damaging grass maneuver, albeit one that has a much more obviously useful effect. Originally introduced as a special move for Paras and Parasect, Spore has moved on and is now available to many great Pokemon. It is simply a move that puts opponents to sleep, but the kicker is that it comes with 100% accuracy, something that most status-damaging moves don't have. This allows players to practically guarantee that they can knock an opponent out for one to three turns.
Not only is spore one of the most useful and commonly found status effect moves, but it is also a part of some amazing move pairings with Dream Eater, Nightmare, and Wake-Up Slap. Any of these used in conjunction with Spore will be a huge help for players. Alternatively, if players are using moves like absorb and leech seed, then moves like Spore that stall for time are invaluable.
5 Strength Sap
Double Effect
- PP: 10
- Accuracy: 100
- Power: N/A
There are status effect moves seen frequently in Pokemon games, and there are several moves, particularly for grass-type Pokemon, which allow the user to regain some of their HP. However, Strength Sap puts these two effects together, lowering the opponent’s attack stat by one stage and restoring the user’s HP by the same amount as the target’s attack stat.
This move is pretty mind-blowing, as players can sometimes be reluctant to keep moves that only do one of these two effects, but putting them together to heal the user’s Pokemon while weakening the attacking capability of the opponent is a great combination that players should keep whenever they can find it.
4 Horn Leech
Damage & Healing
- PP: 10
- Accuracy: 100
- Power: 75
Another move that wraps different useful effects into a single bundle, Horn Leech, is a rare and fantastic move that players should under no circumstances throw away. Horn Leech is a physical attack move that makes contact with an opponent’s Pokemon and has a base power of 75 with an accuracy of 100%. This is a fantastic attacking grass move. It was originally a signature move for Sawsbuck but is available for more Pokemon today.
However, it gets better. Horn Leech doesn’t just attack the opponent’s Pokemon; it also heals the user by up to 50% of the damage inflicted on the opponent. Veteran players will know this is a similar level of effect to Giga Drain, one of the most popular grass-type moves. Despite the similar effect, Horn Leech isn’t nearly as well-recognized as Giga Drain.
3 Leech Seed
Constant Effect
- PP: 10
- Accuracy: 90
- Power: N/A
Out of the many grass-type moves in Pokemon games that can heal the user, Leech Seed is by far the most incredibly useful. Instead of doing any damage, Leech Seed implants the enemy Pokemon with a constant effect that will drain health each turn and replenish the user’s health accordingly.
Not only is Leech Seed a common grass-type move that many Pokemon can learn and usually learn quite early, but it is also an effect that will continue to exert itself upon the opponent’s Pokemon even if the user’s Pokemon that used the move faints or is switched out of battle. If players are setting up a grass Pokemon with status moves and stalling techniques, Leech Seed is a must-have.
2 Energy Ball
Not Just A Big Attack
- PP: 10
- Accuracy: 100
- Power: 90
Considered a strong grass-type move by many but still somewhat misunderstood because of the true power it contains, Energy Ball is a special attack move that deals 90 base damage. It is a huge attack that is worth keeping wherever players have access to it.
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However, Energy Ball comes with an extra effect that is incredibly helpful. It has a 10% (or 20% in later generations) chance of lowering the special defense stat of an opposing Pokemon. Since Energy Ball is a special-type move, this means that successive hits of the move are likely to just keep increasing in damage, turning it into a destructive force for high-level grass Pokemon.
1 Bullet Seed
Incredible Combo Move
- PP: 30
- Accuracy: 100
- Power: 25 (x2-5)
A move that is easy to overlook, Bullet Seed, is similar to many other types of moves, such as Double Slap, which hits a randomized number of times in the same turn. However, Double Slap hits with 15 power each time for a maximum of 75 in a single turn. Bullet Seed hits with 25 power, meaning that the maximum level of damage it can inflict in a single turn is 125, even more than huge moves like Solar Beam, making it one of the most powerful moves in Pokemon.
Bullet Seed can be found in many Pokemon and at a relatively low level, and it is guaranteed with 100% accuracy to hit at least twice, having a minimum base power level of 50 each turn. The average will be closer to 80 per turn, making Bullet Seed one of the best grass-type attacking moves in any Pokemon game, even though it's somewhat underrated.