Levitate - Ability ID 26

In-Game Description

"Immune to Ground-type moves. Ups own Flying moves by 1.25x."

Extended In-Game Description

For use in Elite Redux extended ability UI (280-300 chars max)

Levitate grants complete immunity to all Ground-type moves and boosts the power of the user's Flying-type moves by 25%. This includes damaging moves like Earthquake and status moves like Sand Attack. The immunity cannot be bypassed by moves like Gravity or Smack Down. Avoids Spikes damage.

Character count: 290

Detailed Mechanical Explanation

For Discord/reference use

LEVITATE is a dual-purpose ability providing both defensive immunity and offensive enhancement for flying-based strategies.

Ground Immunity Mechanics:

• Coverage: Complete immunity to ALL Ground-type moves, both damaging and non-damaging
• Implementation: Uses the .levitate = TRUE flag, processed through CheckLevitatingEffects()
• Affected Moves: Earthquake, Earth Power, Magnitude, Dig, Sand Attack, Mud Shot, Spikes (when switching in), etc.
• Bypass Methods: NONE - Cannot be negated by Gravity, Smack Down, or Thousand Arrows (unlike true Flying-types)
• Message: Shows "{Pokémon} avoided the attack!" when hit by Ground moves

Flying-Type Boost Mechanics:

• Multiplier: 1.25x power boost to ALL Flying-type moves
• Application: Applied during damage calculation via onOffensiveMultiplier hook
• Coverage: Affects all Flying moves regardless of category (Physical, Special, Status that deal damage)

Technical Implementation:

constexpr Ability Levitate = {
    .onOffensiveMultiplier =
        +[](ON_OFFENSIVE_MULTIPLIER) {
            if (moveType == TYPE_FLYING) MUL(1.25);
        },
    .breakable = TRUE,
    .levitate = TRUE,
};

Ground immunity check:

static AbilityEnum CheckLevitatingEffects(u8 battlerId) {
    if (gStatuses3[battlerId] & STATUS3_TELEKINESIS)
        return TRUE;
    else if (gStatuses3[battlerId] & STATUS3_MAGNET_RISE)
        return TRUE;
    else if (GetBattlerHoldEffect(battlerId, TRUE) == HOLD_EFFECT_AIR_BALLOON)
        return TRUE;
    RETURN_ABILITY_IF_FLAG(battlerId, TRUE, levitate)
    return FALSE;
}

Complete List of Affected Ground Moves:

Damaging Moves: Earthquake, Earth Power, Magnitude, Dig, Mud Shot, Mud Bomb, Bulldoze, Drill Run, Bone Club, Bonemerang, Bone Rush, Fissure, etc.

Status Moves: Sand Attack, Mud-Slap, Spikes (entry damage), Toxic Spikes (entry poison), etc.

Interactions with Other Mechanics:

• vs Iron Ball: Levitate immunity overrides Iron Ball's grounding effect
• vs Gravity: Unlike Flying-types, Levitate users remain immune to Ground moves even under Gravity
• vs Smack Down: Cannot be grounded by Smack Down like Flying-types can
• vs Thousand Arrows: Maintains immunity (unlike Flying-types which lose it)
• Mold Breaker: Can be bypassed by Mold Breaker, Teravolt, and Turboblaze
• Ring Target: Immunity is negated if holding Ring Target

Strategic Applications:

1. Defensive Pivot: Safe switch-in against Ground-type attacks
2. Earthquake Immunity: Can use Earthquake alongside teammates without self-damage
3. Flying STAB Enhancement: 25% boost makes Flying moves significantly more threatening
4. Utility Counter: Immune to entry hazard damage from Spikes

Example Damage Calculations:

• Hurricane (110 BP) with Levitate: 110 × 1.25 = 137.5 effective BP
• Air Slash (75 BP) with Levitate: 75 × 1.25 = 93.75 effective BP
• Earthquake vs Levitate user: 0 damage (complete immunity)

Common Users:

• Charizard (innate): Fire/Dragon type with Levitate as innate ability
• Charizard-Mega-X (innate): Fire/Dragon type retains Levitate
• Venomoth (innate): Bug/Poison type with Levitate innate
• Crobat (innate): Poison/Flying type with Levitate innate

Competitive Advantages:

• Earthquake immunity provides excellent defensive utility
• Flying-type boost enhances STAB or coverage moves
• Cannot be grounded by most conventional methods
• Valuable on balanced teams for Ground immunity

Counters and Limitations:

• Mold Breaker family: Completely bypasses both immunity and boost
• Ring Target: Negates Ground immunity if forced to hold it
• Breakable: Can be suppressed by abilities like Neutralizing Gas
• No protection against other move types

Ability Synergies:

• With Flying-type STAB: Double benefit from type matching and ability boost
• With Choice items: Enhanced Flying moves become significantly more powerful
• With Life Orb: Stacks multiplicatively with the 1.25x boost
• Team synergy: Allows safe use of Earthquake by teammates

Version History:

• Gen 3-4: Ground immunity only
• Gen 5+: Various games maintained immunity
• Elite Redux: Added 1.25x Flying-type move boost, making it more offensively viable