Move-of-the-Week Discussion #2 - Gravity

*winstein* · 28th July 2012, 12:51 AM

In Pokemon, there are a lot of different moves used by different Pokémon. However, there are certain moves we don't normally see being used, heard about, or used in a meaningful manner. In this type of discussion, we shall discuss the ins-and-outs of the move of the topic, and there will be some base questions that will help you. Every Saturday, a different move will be discussed.

Our move for this week is Gravity, a field effect that gravitates anything that levitates or flies, in addition to negating any move that involves flying (like Telekinesis and Sky Drop). Its availability is quite wide too, since it is a Move Tutor, although it's not widely available early in Generation 4 when this move was first introduced. As before, here are some questions to get the ball rolling and your imagination go wild, though you are free to ask other critical questions too:

How does certain Pokémon (who knows it) use this move?
What kind of purpose would this move have for them (in the Pokémon World)?
How could this move be used to aid a profession in the Pokémon World?
Realistically, would there be any advantage or disadvantage associated with using this move? If yes, what kind of advantage/disadvantage would they have when they use it?
Could this move realistically be used by any Pokémon who doesn't learn it normally? If yes, please explain your choices.
How would this move be used in competitive battling, realistically and in video game terms?

Here are the current users of this move (put in Spoiler since there are so many to list):

Thanks for reading, and happy discussing!

~ The Pokemon World Forum Staff

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Previous Move-of-the-Weeks:

Move-of-the-Week Discussion #1 - Quash

*Winterdaze* · 28th July 2012, 01:54 AM

Golurk looks like he could set up and potentially wreck shit with Gravity. Accurate Iron Fist boosted Dynamicpunches and Earthquakes that can hit flyers? Yes please. Of course there's also the "stack Spikes like crazy and phaze until you win" approach. It kind of sucks that there still isn't a held item that makes Gravity last longer, the move's potential is limited by it's short duration.

I'm still holding out for the move to be showcased in the anime. Pretty much every second command Ash makes is "dodge", so I wonder how he'd handle it.

Takaki · 28th July 2012, 03:52 AM

There is a Gravity Landorus-T set that appears to be popularizing at the moment. The general idea is to have a few hazards up, Gravity as your opponent switches to a counter such as bulky Rotom-W and then fire off Earthquakes.

Jdog1020 · 28th July 2012, 02:12 PM

The robotic or non-psychic ones (I am actually counting the Cleffa family in the psychic) somehow pin the target down. I think it should be obvious how psychics do it: They use their psychic powers. It could be used in construction building, I think. Think about steel bars being dropped down for the cranes. This is actually all I can think of for now.

Shiny Shinx · 28th July 2012, 02:38 PM

The Flat Rule in Effect.

But, I could see Magnazone running Zap Cannon sence Gravity also boosts accuassy.

Bluelatios · 28th July 2012, 07:49 PM

Once again I'm going to talk about how this could be used IRL, and once again this move would be useful in war, particularly in the modern age. Ya see that fleet of fighter jets coming to blow us to bits? Yeah, they're comin' down :p. Also, space exploration. You could bring a Pokemon with Gravity to help out when necessary during moon/planet/space station missions.

PKMN Trainer Faye · 28th July 2012, 09:42 PM

Ooh, one of my WonderEye/Tomb experiments was Choice-Scarf-Gravity. It was so much FUN watching the AI knock his own partner out with Earthquake. After enduring so much of that cowardly strategy in Platinum, where they'd ALWAYS knock out my Infernape and Lucario...muhaha...

On a non-hacked set, it can be very useful with the right partners to set up and use it with. Winterdaze mentioned a good one, though... Spikes + T-Spikes + SR + Gravity + Roar/Whirlwind. Against the Flying Type class of the Battle Hall... I'll be right back, let me pick up my PokeSav...

Money Store · 29th July 2012, 02:07 AM

Originally Posted by Takaki

There is a Gravity Landorus-T set that appears to be popularizing at the moment. The general idea is to have a few hazards up, Gravity as your opponent switches to a counter such as bulky Rotom-W and then fire off Earthquakes.

Really? I don't follow the competitive scene closely at all anymore, but I thought that this was more so Landorus-I than Lando-T. I guess in Sand, Lando-I's more effective; in other weather, the quadrupedal beast is probably more useful - if you don't mind the speed drop, that is! But it's good that this is taking off - Gravity/Earthquake/Stone Edge/Hidden Power [Ice] seems like a lot of fun.

Spectrum Achromatic · 29th July 2012, 10:20 PM

Can you use Magnet Rise while Gravity is in effect?

PKMN Trainer Faye · 30th July 2012, 03:19 AM

No, Magnet Rise fails if used.

~~Bandit Keith~~ · 30th July 2012, 07:43 AM

How could this move be used to aid a profession in the Pokémon World?

More of Team Rocket/Galactic/PLASMAAAAA! suppressing the masses, but also to crush fruits and vegetables into instant high-quality salsa/destroying kidney stones via precise control and application of the move, so there are chef's staff and urological surgery uses...

Mythicalzoe · 30th July 2012, 06:21 PM

So um anyone realize that this attack defies physics because Magnet Rise literally electromagnetic levitation is deactivated by this but EM is stronger than gravity in real life

*winstein* · 2nd August 2012, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by Winterdaze

Golurk looks like he could set up and potentially wreck shit with Gravity. Accurate Iron Fist boosted Dynamicpunches and Earthquakes that can hit flyers? Yes please. Of course there's also the "stack Spikes like crazy and phaze until you win" approach. It kind of sucks that there still isn't a held item that makes Gravity last longer, the move's potential is limited by it's short duration.

I'm still holding out for the move to be showcased in the anime. Pretty much every second command Ash makes is "dodge", so I wonder how he'd handle it.

If you take into account that Gravity takes up one moveslot, that leaves you with Earthquake, Dynamic Punch and preferably a move that takes on Bug- and Grass-types (only both these types resist Ground). Fire Punch would be the ideal coverage on Golurk because of that. It's too bad Golurk's on the slow side, but if you have Trick Room, it wouldn't be too bad. However, I do agree that there should at least be an item that extends Gravity. You also brought up another good point about how this move is yet to be shown in the anime. Since the Flying birds are rarely shown to not fly (like walking), it would be interesting to see if they still remember how to walk or run.

Originally Posted by Takaki

There is a Gravity Landorus-T set that appears to be popularizing at the moment. The general idea is to have a few hazards up, Gravity as your opponent switches to a counter such as bulky Rotom-W and then fire off Earthquakes.

Interestingly, before Gravity, Smack Down is the move of choice to cripple the Flying-types or Levitators. It should be obvious why: it pins down those types. However, Gravity is a lot more reliable because it also aids Stone Edge's accuracy, whereas Smack Down only helps Earthquake.

Originally Posted by Bluelatios

Once again I'm going to talk about how this could be used IRL, and once again this move would be useful in war, particularly in the modern age. Ya see that fleet of fighter jets coming to blow us to bits? Yeah, they're comin' down :p. Also, space exploration. You could bring a Pokemon with Gravity to help out when necessary during moon/planet/space station missions.

I imagine that they often have a countermeasure if they have fighter jets like that, or they won't be using them if they knows something could use Gravity to ruin their jets. Also, one thing interesting about this move is that space-related Pokemon learns it, so it's only natural that it's used for space exploration. Fun fact: Those who learn Cosmic Power could also learn Gravity.

Thanks for reading.

*Master of Bad Ideas* · 2nd August 2012, 08:00 AM

I've seen some real trolly sets with this. Zap Cannon and DynamicPunch on Deoxys-D. Normal parafusion can suck mine it seems.

And I might consider Gravity Golurk actually, I got a Ghost Gym on our little PO server, it might be interesting, especially with Shadow Punch as a second STAB to hit more neutral maybe. I'll get back to you on that. I'll also try a pseudo-doubledance set with Rock Polish, but I fear it might be a tad short on coverage.