Ability Analysis: Cursed Body

Basic Information

• Ability ID: 130 (ABILITY_CURSED_BODY)
• Name: Cursed Body
• Original Description: "30% chance to disable moves if enemy makes contact."

Detailed Mechanics

Activation Conditions

1. Trigger: When the Pokémon with Cursed Body is hit by a move
2. Contact Requirement: The attacking move must make contact
3. Probability: 30% chance to activate
4. Target: The attacker's move that just hit

Effect Details

• Disable Duration: 4 turns
• Move Disabled: The move that triggered Cursed Body
• PP Requirement: The attacker must have PP remaining for the move
• Protection Check: Respects abilities that protect from restricting effects

Technical Implementation

From src/abilities.cc:

constexpr Ability CursedBody = {
    .onDefender = +[](ON_DEFENDER) -> int {
        CHECK(ShouldApplyOnHitAffect(attacker))
        CHECK_NOT(gVolatileStructs[attacker].disabledMove)
        CHECK(IsMoveMakingContact(move, attacker))
        CHECK_NOT(IsAbilityStatusProtected(attacker, CHECK_RESTRICTING))
        CHECK(gBattleMons[attacker].pp[gChosenMovePos])
        CHECK(Random() % 100 < 30)

        gVolatileStructs[attacker].disabledMove = gChosenMove;
        gVolatileStructs[attacker].disableTimer = 4;
        PREPARE_MOVE_BUFFER(gBattleTextBuff1, gChosenMove);
        BattleScriptCall(BattleScript_CursedBodyActivates);
        return TRUE;
    },
};

Battle Message

When Cursed Body activates:

• "{Attacker}'s {Move} was disabled by {Defender}'s Cursed Body!"

Strategic Analysis

Strengths

1. Defensive Disruption: Can shut down key offensive moves
2. Contact Punishment: Deters physical attackers
3. No Setup Required: Works passively without any action needed
4. Stacking Pressure: Multiple chances throughout battle

Weaknesses

1. RNG Dependent: Only 30% chance limits reliability
2. Contact Only: Doesn't work against special moves or non-contact moves
3. Single Move: Only disables one move, not the entire moveset
4. Temporary: 4 turns is relatively short

Synergies

• Bulky Pokémon: More chances to trigger with higher survivability
• Stall Teams: Adds another layer of disruption
• Substitute: Forces contact moves to break Sub, increasing trigger chances
• Protect/Detect: Wastes disable turns while staying safe

Competitive Usage

Ideal Pokémon Characteristics

• High defensive stats to survive multiple hits
• Access to recovery moves
• Alternative defensive abilities to consider

Common Strategies

1. Lead Disruption: Use on leads to potentially disable setup moves
2. Physical Wall: Combine with high Defense to punish physical attackers
3. Pivot Mon: Switch in on predicted contact moves for disable chance

Counters

• Special attackers with non-contact moves
• Multi-hit moves (only first hit can be disabled)
• Pokémon with multiple coverage options
• Taunt to prevent recovery stalling

Notable Pokémon

Pokémon that typically have access to Cursed Body often include Ghost-types and defensive Pokémon that benefit from move disruption.

Extended In-Game Description

Character count: 290

"Cursed Body has a 30% chance to disable the attacker's move for 4 turns when hit by a contact move. The disabled move cannot be selected until the effect wears off. Works against physical and special contact moves but not status moves. Particularly effective on defensive Pokémon that can survive multiple hits."