Thunder (Pokémon): Difference between revisions

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When used, the Pokémon yells as a bolt of lightning drops from the sky, damaging opponents in the Thunder's path. Upon hitting the user, a large shockwave is created, which deals more damage and knockback than the regular bolt, along with granting temporary intangibility to the user (as of ''Brawl''). The lightning blast stalls the user in place for a while, so they can act more quickly if they are not stuck.

In ''Super Smash Bros.'', Thunder has infinite vertical range and thus can be often used to score [[KO]]'s when an opponent is near the upper [[blast line]]. This technique is called "[[Thunderspiking]]", and can lead to KO's at much lower percents. As a result, {{SSB|Pikachu}} players try to integrate it into their combos as often as they can, typically after an [[up smash]]. Even though the move is powerful, it has considerable ending lag. Regardless, it is considered one of Pikachu's best moves. The thunderbolt deals 12% damage and  

the shockwave deals 16%. Both hits can connect, making Thunder deal 28% when this occurs. Both the thunderbolt and shockwave have very high base knockback but low knockback scaling, making them very effective at KOing neat blastzones although they are not quite as effective at KOing from far distances. The shockwave is still a strong KO move regardless, being capable of KOing middleweights under 100% from the center of {{SSB|Dream Land}}.  

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In ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', Thunder has seen a few improvements. The thunderbolt has less startup lag and the shockwave now deals 17%, making it stronger than it was in ''Smash 64'' (though still weaker than its PAL incarnation and Pikachu can now no longer connect both the thunderbolt and the shockwave). However, the move has seen some noticeable downgrades, making it less effective than its ''Smash 64'' counterpart. The most noticeable nerf is that the move now strikes from a cloud at a fixed height relative to the user (although this is often not visible unless the stage is rather high). For example, if {{SSBM|Pikachu}} or {{SSBM|Pichu}} is under the upper-middle platform at [[Hyrule Temple]] and uses Thunder, one can see the cloud from where the thunder is generated, but the lightning will not go through the platform, making the attack useless in that particular location. The thunderbolt is considered to be a [[projectile]] and can be [[reflect]]ed back at Pikachu or absorbed for health (which could not be done in ''Smash 64''). The Thunderbolt also now only deals 10% (albeit with increased base knockback) and the move has significantly higher ending lag if Pikachu uses it in the air and the thunder does not hit Pikachu (the shockwave also has slightly higher ending lag). The thunderbolt itself travels much slower and has a limited duration, although the latter point does allow the thunderbolt to hit opponents in the air for a longer time. In general, the move is significantly hindered by ''Melee''{{'}}s universal changes. The introduction of [[DI]], the universal reduction of [[hitstun]] and the universally increased falling speeds have all noticeably hindered Thunder's effectiveness, making the thunderbolt harder to combo into and making it less effective for KO'ing if it does connect. Despite these changes, Thunder still remains a useful move for Pikachu (mainly to score vertical KOes).

Thunder in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' functions similarly to its ''Melee'' counterpart, except it has seen numerous improvements. The thunderbolt has less startup lag, as well as less ending lag when used in the air. It can also go through platforms in the upper portion of the move and it last for a much longer time when it hits Pikachu. The shockwave in particular however has seen numerous improvements. The shockwave have much less ending lag, as well as a bigger hitbox. The thunderbolt is now active for most of the shockwave's animation, so even when the shockwave's hitboxes end, the thunderbolt can still easily hit opponents. Pikachu is now also [[intangible]] for a period of time while performing the shockwave. The only downside the shockwave has comapred to ''Melee'' is its shorter hitbox duration, although its other improvements more than make up for it. Both the thunderbolt and shockwave retain their power from ''Melee'' however, they are noticeably more effective at KOing due to numerous universal changes (including the universally decreased falling speeds, the changes to the [[Sakurai angle]] and the introduction of the [[gravity]] penalty). It can KO middleweight characters as low as 45% if executed near enough to the blastzone. Even the changes to [[air dodge]]s and the introduction of [[hitstun cancelling]] do not effect the move too much as the thunderbolt can easily beat out air dodges. As a result, Thunderspiking has become a more powerful and effective strategy.  

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The move returns in ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' albeit with some significant changes. Most of the changes it received were for the worse overall. One positive change is that if Pikachu is hit out of the startup animation (starting from frame 2), the thunderbolt will still come out. While this was technically in the previous two games, this would only occur if Pikachu was hit out of the move the frame before the thunderbolt is supposed to come out but now, it will come out regardless of when Pikachu is hit (except for the first frame). This noticeably improves the move's utility as a combo breaker. Most other changes however are either a mixed bag or purely negative.  

The most notable change is that the Thundercloud is positioned much lower. This gives Thunder much less vertical range and naturally makes Thunderspiking much harder to perform. Thunder now has a meteor smash hitbox as the cloud spawns. This meteor smash can link into the shockwave however, the meteor smash is unreliable as a KO move, and it makes Thunderspiking much harder to perform along with Thunder's reduced height. In addition, the meteor smash does not always lead into the shockwave, making it unreliable (although this can be used for edgeguarding off stage). The thunderbolt is now much weaker which along with the previous two changes, hinders the effectiveness of Thunderspiking. The thunderbolt itself travels faster which enables it to hit Pikachu much sooner (when combined with the cloud's reduced height) but shortens its duration. The shockwave itself has noticeably decreased power, as well as increased ending lag (although it has slightly increased intangibility). In addition to this, the thunderbolt no longer remains active when it hits Pikachu, significantly shortening its duration, and making the shockwave easier to punish.  

Pikachu's thunder in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' remains similar to how it worked in ''Smash 4'', although it has seen two improvements. Firstly, the meteor smash hitbox now has set knockback, which makes it link into the shockwave more reliably. Secondly, the shockwave deals noticeably higher knockback, improving its KO potential. While it is still not as powerful as it was in games prior to ''Smash 4'', it is still a decently powerful KO move overall. As a result of these changes, Pikachu's Thunder is essentially like it was in ''Smash 4'' but it is superior overall due to its greater KO potential.

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{{CustomSet|Pikachu|Down|name1=Thunder|desc1=A lightning strike that deals more damage to opponents if the bolt hits you.|name2=Thunder Burst|desc2=An electrical burst around you that sends opponents flying.|name3=Distant Thunder|desc3=The thundercloud will appear higher up. Deal more damage near the cloud.|altlink1=Thunder (Pikachu)}}

[[File:PikachuThunderRBY.gif|thumb|{{pkmn|Thunder}} being used by [[Pikachu]] in ''{{pkmn|Pokémon Red}}''.]]

Thunder is based on the move of the same name in the [[Pokémon (universe)|''Pokémon'']] games, introduced in the first generation. Thunder is a powerful special Electric-type attack, originally being the strongest Electric-type attack. It has a notable drawback, however: its relatively low accuracy, which causes it to be very unreliable, dealing less damage than Thunderbolt or Discharge on average. It can also hit Pokémon that are preparing to use [[Fly]], while most other attacks fail against them; this is referenced in ''Smash'' through its long vertical hitbox. Certain weather effects can also decrease or increase its accuracy; in rain, Thunder skips accuracy checks entirely and even sometimes hit through {{pkmn|Protect}} in Generation IV.

In every generation, Pikachu is able to learn Thunder though leveling up, usually being one of the last moves it learns that way. Pikachu can also learn the move via {{s|bulbapedia|TM25}} in every generation so far; this TM is also the only way Pichu can learn the move. In {{pkmn|Pokémon Red and Green}}, Pikachu learns Thunder at level 43, which was reduced to 41 in {{pkmn|Pokémon Yellow}}.  

File:Thunder.png|Thunder in Generation VII ''Pokémon'' games.

File:Thunder SSB.png|Pikachu's Thunder in ''Smash 64''.

File:Thunder Melee.jpg|Pikachu's Thunder in ''Melee''.

File:Pichu Thunder.jpg|Pichu's Thunder in ''Melee''.

File:Pikachu Thunder air.png|Pikachu's Thunder in ''Brawl''

File:Pikachu Thunder Combo SSB4.jpg|Meteor smashing with Thunder.