Bone Zone

Overview

Bone Zone is a specialized offensive ability that dramatically enhances the effectiveness of bone-based moves. This ability allows Pokémon to use their bone attacks to bypass traditional type matchups, making them incredibly versatile in battle by turning defensive resistances into offensive advantages.

Mechanics

Core Functionality

Bone Zone modifies type effectiveness calculations for bone moves through the onAfterTypeEffectiveness callback:

1. Immunity Bypass: Any move that would normally deal 0 damage (immune) instead deals normal (1x) damage
2. Resistance Reversal: Any move that would deal reduced damage (<1x effectiveness) gets doubled to 2x damage
3. Neutral/Super Effective Unchanged: Moves that would deal 1x or greater damage remain unmodified

Technical Implementation

Located in /Users/joel/Github/eliteredux/eliteredux-source/src/abilities.cc at line 3727:

constexpr Ability BoneZone = {
    .onAfterTypeEffectiveness =
        +[](ON_AFTER_TYPE_EFFECTIVENESS) {
            if (*mod >= UQ_4_12(1.0)) return;
            if (*mod == 0) {
                *mod = UQ_4_12(1.0);
                if (mod1) MulModifier(mod, mod1);
                if (mod2) MulModifier(mod, mod2);
                if (mod3) MulModifier(mod, mod3);
            }
            if (*mod < UQ_4_12(1.0)) MulModifier(mod, UQ_4_12(2.0));
        },
};

Damage Calculation Examples

• Normal Effectiveness (1x): Remains 1x damage
• Super Effective (2x): Remains 2x damage
• Not Very Effective (0.5x): Becomes 1x damage (doubled)
• Double Resistance (0.25x): Becomes 0.5x damage (doubled)
• Immunity (0x): Becomes 1x damage (bypassed)

Bone Moves Affected

The following moves have the bone: true flag and are enhanced by Bone Zone:

Core Bone Moves

1. Bone Club (Ground-type, 80 BP)

   • 30% flinch chance
   • Single-target physical attack

2. Bonemerang (Ground-type, 45 BP)

   • Hits twice per use
   • Ignores levitation effects

3. Bone Rush (Ground-type, 15 BP)

   • Hits 2-5 times with +1 priority
   • Multi-hit move with priority

4. Shadow Bone (Ghost-type, 90 BP)

   • 20% chance to lower Defense
   • Ghost-type bone attack

5. Blazing Bone (Fire-type, 15 BP)

   • Hits 2-5 times with +1 priority
   • Fire-type variant of Bone Rush

Pokémon with Bone Zone

This ability appears as an innate ability on the following Pokémon:

Cubone Line

• Cubone (Species #104)

  • Innate abilities: Bone Zone, Battle Armor, Rock Head
  • Regular abilities: Technician, Stamina, Earthbound

• Marowak (Species #105)

  • Innate abilities: Bone Zone, Battle Armor, Rock Head
  • Regular abilities: Technician, Stamina, Skill Link

• Alolan Marowak (Fire/Ghost)

  • Innate abilities: Bone Zone, Early Grave, Rock Head
  • Regular abilities: Ill Will, Greater Spirit, Skill Link

Strategic Applications

Offensive Utility

• Coverage: Bone moves can hit any type for at least neutral damage
• Immunity Breaking: Bypasses Ghost immunity to Normal/Fighting moves (if bone moves existed in those types)
• Resistance Punishment: Turns opponent's resistances into vulnerabilities

Type Synergy

• Ground-type bones: Excellent coverage against Electric, Fire, Poison, Rock, Steel types
• Ghost-type bones: Shadow Bone becomes incredibly versatile
• Fire-type bones: Blazing Bone gains priority and type coverage

Competitive Viability

• Tier 3+ Threat: All Bone Zone carriers are competitively viable
• Priority Access: Both Bone Rush and Blazing Bone have +1 priority
• Multi-hit Potential: Several bone moves hit multiple times, synergizing with Skill Link

Interactions and Synergies

Ability Synergies

• Skill Link: Guarantees maximum hits from Bone Rush/Blazing Bone (5 hits each)
• Technician: Boosts lower power bone moves by 50%
• Rock Head: Prevents recoil damage from potential bone moves with recoil

Item Synergies

• Thick Club: Doubles Attack when held by Cubone/Marowak for physical bone moves
• Expert Belt: Additional 20% damage when bone moves are super effective

Strategic Counters

• Abilities: Wonder Guard still blocks if the original type effectiveness wasn't super effective
• Speed Control: Priority bone moves can be countered by faster priority moves
• Physical Walls: High Defense stats can still mitigate damage despite type advantage

Competitive Analysis

Strengths:

• Unprecedented type coverage and immunity bypassing
• Strong priority options with Bone Rush/Blazing Bone
• Natural synergy with the Cubone evolutionary line's stat distribution
• Excellent for breaking through defensive cores

Weaknesses:

• Limited to bone-type moves only
• Relatively small movepool compared to other type-enhancing abilities
• Doesn't enhance already super effective matchups
• Physical-based, vulnerable to Intimidate and physical walls

Overall Rating: A-Tier - Highly specialized but extremely effective within its niche, providing unique utility that few other abilities can match.

Related Abilities

• Scrappy: Allows Normal/Fighting moves to hit Ghost types
• Mold Breaker: Ignores ability-based immunities
• Tinted Lens: Doubles damage of not very effective moves (all types)
• Wonder Guard: Opposite effect - only allows super effective damage

Notes

• This ability showcases Elite Redux's philosophy of giving specialized Pokémon unique mechanical niches
• The implementation suggests the ability may apply to all moves rather than just bone moves (potential bug or intentional design choice)
• Bone Zone is exclusively an innate ability, meaning it's always active alongside the Pokémon's regular ability
• The ability name is a play on "bone zone" slang while maintaining the bone theme of the Cubone evolutionary line