Anticipation - Ability ID 107

In-Game Description

"Senses Super-effective moves. Dodges one Super-effective hit."

Extended In-Game Description

For use in Elite Redux extended ability UI (IMPORTANT: exactly 280-300 chars counted WITH spaces)

Anticipation alerts the Pokémon when facing opponents with super-effective moves on switch-in. This heightened awareness grants the ability to automatically dodge the first super-effective hit received in battle. After dodging once, the effect is used up. Works against all damage types.

Character count: 285

Detailed Mechanical Explanation

Anticipation functions as both a detection and defensive ability in Elite Redux:

Detection Phase (On Entry)

• When the Pokémon enters battle, it scans all opposing Pokémon's movesets
• Checks each move for type effectiveness against the user
• If any opponent has a move that would deal 2x or greater damage, triggers an alert
• The alert is displayed as a switch-in message to inform the player

Defensive Phase

• Grants a one-time automatic dodge against the first super-effective move
• This dodge effect persists until used (marked as persistent = TRUE in code)
• Works against both physical and special super-effective moves
• The dodge completely negates all damage from that one attack
• After successfully dodging once, the protective effect is consumed

Technical Implementation Details

• The ability is marked as breakable = TRUE, meaning it can be suppressed by abilities like Mold Breaker
• The detection checks type effectiveness multipliers of 2.0 or greater (using UQ_4_12(2.0) fixed-point math)
• Scans moves from all living opponents on the opposing side
• The switch-in announcement uses the message B_MSG_SWITCHIN_ANTICIPATION

Strategic Implications

• Provides valuable scouting information about opponent movesets
• Offers a safety net against one super-effective hit
• Particularly useful for Pokémon with multiple weaknesses
• The dodge mechanic makes it a hybrid informational/defensive ability
• Unlike vanilla Pokémon's version, Elite Redux's Anticipation provides actual battle protection