Solenoglyphs (Ability #338)

Overview

Solenoglyphs is an offensive ability that adds a powerful status effect to biting moves. When a Pokémon with this ability uses any move flagged as a biting move, there's a 50% chance to inflict the badly poisoned status condition on the target, making it an excellent ability for both offensive pressure and long-term damage accumulation.

Mechanics

Core Implementation

• Location: /Users/joel/Github/eliteredux/eliteredux-source/src/abilities.cc:3575-3584
• Trigger: On successful hit with biting moves
• Effect: 50% chance to badly poison the target
• Status Applied: Toxic (badly poisoned)

Code Analysis

constexpr Ability Solenoglyphs = {
    .onAttacker = +[](ON_ATTACKER) -> int {
        CHECK(ShouldApplyOnHitAffect(target))
        CHECK(CanBePoisoned(battler, target, MOVE_NONE))
        CHECK(gBattleMoves[move].flags & FLAG_STRONG_JAW_BOOST)
        CHECK(Random() % 2)

        return AbilityStatusEffect(MOVE_EFFECT_TOXIC);
    },
};

Trigger Conditions

1. Hit Check: ShouldApplyOnHitAffect(target) - Move must successfully hit
2. Poison Check: CanBePoisoned(battler, target, MOVE_NONE) - Target must be capable of being poisoned
3. Biting Move Check: gBattleMoves[move].flags & FLAG_STRONG_JAW_BOOST - Move must have the Strong Jaw flag
4. Random Check: Random() % 2 - 50% chance activation

Affected Moves

Solenoglyphs affects all moves with the FLAG_STRONG_JAW_BOOST flag. These include:

Physical Biting Moves

• Bite (Dark, 60 power)
• Crunch (Dark, 80 power)
• Hyper Fang (Normal, 80 power)
• Super Fang (Normal, variable power)
• Thunder Fang (Electric, 65 power)
• Ice Fang (Ice, 65 power)
• Fire Fang (Fire, 65 power)
• Poison Fang (Poison, 50 power)

Special Biting Moves

• Leech Life (Bug, 80 power)
• Pluck (Flying, 60 power)

Pokémon with Solenoglyphs

Based on the codebase analysis, Solenoglyphs appears as an innate ability on 6 different Pokémon:

Confirmed Pokémon

1. Ekans (Lines 4153 in SpeciesList.textproto)
   • Innate ability alongside Shed Skin and Coil Up
   • Fits thematically as a venomous snake Pokémon

Note: Additional Pokémon with this ability can be found at lines 4308, 18320, 18426, 45076, and 108063 in the species data.

Strategic Applications

Offensive Usage

• Pressure Tool: Forces switches due to bad poison accumulation
• Chip Damage: Badly poisoned status deals increasing damage over time
• Setup Deterrent: Discourages long setup sequences from opponents

Defensive Considerations

• Type Coverage: Works well on Pokémon that can learn diverse biting moves
• Synergy: Excellent with Merciless ability users on the same team
• Stall Breaking: Helps break through defensive cores

Competitive Analysis

Strengths

• High Activation Rate: 50% chance is reliable enough for consistent pressure
• Severe Status: Badly poisoned is more threatening than regular poison
• Move Diversity: Works with multiple types of biting moves
• Immediate Impact: Can affect the battle from turn one

Weaknesses

• Type Restrictions: Limited to Pokémon that learn biting moves
• Poison Immunity: Completely blocked by Poison-types and Steel-types
• Ability Counters: Poison Heal and Guts can turn the effect beneficial
• Random Factor: 50% chance means inconsistent activation

Tier Placement: B+

Solenoglyphs rates as B+ tier due to its reliable activation rate and severe status effect, but is held back by type immunities and move restrictions.

Synergies and Counters

Synergistic Abilities

• Strong Jaw: Boosts the power of biting moves that can trigger Solenoglyphs
• Merciless: Guarantees critical hits against poisoned targets
• Sheer Force: Removes secondary effects but boosts power (trade-off consideration)

Countering Strategies

• Type Immunity: Poison and Steel types are completely immune
• Poison Heal: Turns the bad poison into a healing effect
• Guts: Provides Attack boost while poisoned
• Aromatherapy/Heal Bell: Clears the poison status from the team

Interactions and Edge Cases

Status Interactions

• Cannot poison Poison-type or Steel-type Pokémon
• Blocked by Poison immunity abilities (Immunity, Poison Heal)
• Overrides existing poison with badly poisoned status
• Affects through Substitute (unlike some other abilities)

Move Interactions

• Works with all biting moves regardless of type
• Activates even if the move has its own secondary effect
• Does not interfere with moves that already have poison effects

Conclusion

Solenoglyphs is a powerful offensive ability that transforms any biting move user into a potent status spreader. Its 50% activation rate provides consistent pressure, and the badly poisoned status can quickly accumulate significant damage. While limited by type immunities and move restrictions, it remains a valuable ability for Pokémon that can effectively utilize biting moves in their movesets.

The ability's design encourages aggressive play while providing long-term damage accumulation, making it particularly effective against bulky defensive Pokémon that would otherwise wall physical attackers. Its presence in the Elite Redux roster adds another layer of strategic depth to team building and battle dynamics.