This page is in need ofspading. See its section on the spading page for more information, and how you can help. Reason: Any messages that have priority over moves - basically, anything that was overlooked; verify Quick Claw's and Custap Berry messages' priority in Generation IV

Priority (Japanese:先制preemption) is a characteristic ofmoves, such that any move with a higher priority than another will always be performed first. When two moves have the same priority, the users'Speed statistics will determine which one is performed first in abattle.

Mechanics

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Do all changes to move priority take effect immediately in gen 8 onward?

Starting inGeneration III, each move has a hidden priority value in the game data, with values ranging from+5 to-7. The vast majority of moves have the standard priority value of0. A move with a positive priority is apriority move (Japanese:先制攻撃preemptive attack). Moves with a positive priority may also be referred to as having an increased priority^[1] and moves with a negative priority a decreased priority. In the fandom, moves that have the same priority are said to be in the same priority bracket.

Prior toGeneration VIII, in-battle changes to a move's priority did not start affecting turn order until the following turn; however, inGeneration VII, ifMega Evolution orUltra Burst caused changes to anAbility that affected priority, those changes took effect immediately for the upcoming turn.

Some Abilities increase the priority of certain moves.Some moves and Abilities can prevent priority moves from being used;Dark-type Pokémon are also immune toPrankster-promoted priority moves.

Move priority is not affected byTrick Room, which only reverses the Speed-resolved order of moves within a priority bracket; moves with higher priority are still performed before ones with lower priority.Some held items and Abilities also affect a move's resolution within its priority bracket (ignoring Trick Room), but not the priority itself.

Special priority

Certain events will always occur before any moves (besidesPursuit) can be performed. The messages for the activation ofQuick Claw,Custap Berry,O-Powers, andQuick Draw are always shown before anything else.Switching out,rotating, usingitems,escaping, and the charging messages forFocus Punch,Beak Blast, andShell Trap are displayed or performed next.Terastallizing happens immediately afterwards. InGeneration I only, NPC Trainers do not have priority when using items or switching, while in battles against other players, switching can be performed even if the other player hasn't made their move yet. InGeneration II, awild Pokémon fleeing does not have its own priority and will instead use the priority of the move the Pokémon would have used had it chosen not to flee. In Generations II andIII, players always switch before NPCs do. In Generation III, if two players switch in the same turn, then 'player 1' will always switch before 'player 2' does.Mega Evolution andDynamaxing generally occur at the beginning of a turn but after any switching has occurred; however, if a Pokémon is Mega Evolving or rotating in and then usingPursuit on a Pokémon that is switching out, the Mega Evolution or rotation always happens before the Pokémon uses Pursuit (and therefore before the other Pokémon's switch).

Pursuit is a special exception to the general rules of priority, due to its effect.Switching fundamentally happens before any moves can be performed, but when Pursuit is targeting a Pokémon that switches out, it will hit the Pokémon before it can switch, meaning that it will go before any other move, no matter its priority. If multiple Pursuits are targeting the same Pokémon and the Pokémon switches out, if the Pokémonfaints before all of the Pursuits have executed, the remaining Pursuits will execute at their normal priority.

Additionally,a few moves and Abilities can cause a Pokémon to act outside of its normal priority.

Abilities that increase priority

These Abilities increase the priority of certain moves used by a Pokémon that has one of these Abilities.

Effects that block priority moves

These effects prevent the use of priority moves.

Effects that can break priority

These effects can make a Pokémon act at a different priority than it normally would.

Effects that dictate precedence within a priority bracket

These effects can force a move to go first or last within a priority bracket regardless of its user's Speed (unless multiple Pokémon are forced into the same "spot") orTrick Room.

Effects that depend on move order

These are effects that have conditions based on going before or after others.

Move priority

Generation IX

Generation VIII

Generation VII

Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

Sun, Moon,Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon

Generation VI

Generation V

Generation IV

Generation III

Generation II

Generation I

In animation

Pokémon the Series

InPokémon the Series, priority is rarely mentioned, though priority moves such asQuick Attack are frequently used.

Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

The concept of priority moves was first mentioned out loud inA Grand Fight for Winning!, whereBrock commented on the subject while watching theContest Battle betweenDawn andZoey in the final round of theSinnoh Grand Festival, during whichZoey's Glameow usedFake Out and causedDawn's Piplup toflinch, making him unable to useHydro Pump.

Pokémon the Series: XY

InAll Eyes on the Future!,Professor Sycamore explained howOlympia's maleMeowstic'sPranksterAbility allows his support moves likeLight Screen to always go first.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

Priority was demonstrated a couple of times during theMasters Eight Tournament inPokémon Journeys: The Series. InPride of a Champion!,Diantha'sGourgeist outspedLance's Gyarados'sDragon Pulse withShadow Sneak; inBattling as Hard as Stone!,Ash's Pikachu's Quick Attack went ahead ofSteven'sCradily'sRock Blast; and inBewitch, Battle, and Bewilder!,Cynthia used herSpiritomb'sSucker Punch to land hits onAsh's Pokémon before they could attack.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Gold, Silver & Crystal arc

The concept of priority was mentioned inEntranced by Entei. After hisRhydon had been hit by aVital Throw fromChuck'sMachamp,Blue acknowledged that Vital Throw is a move that lets the opponent attack first in exchange fornever missing.

Trivia

• Hitmontop can learn more moves with non-zero priority than any other Pokémon, with 14increased priority moves and 2 decreased priority moves.
• All moves that have ever had -7 priority have the word "Room" in their names.
• No move has ever been assigned -2 priority despite higher priorities having been assigned.
• Endure,Roar, andWhirlwind are the only moves to have their priority changed twice.
• BecauseFocus Punch has a higher priority thanAvalanche,Revenge,Dragon Tail,Circle Throw, andCounter, they are unable to break the focus of a Pokémon using Focus Punch. They and Focus Punch are therefore the only six attacks that can strike a Pokémon in the same turn as it successfully uses Focus Punch, without the use ofQuash orAfter You.
  • Because charging Focus Punch had a higher priority than switching in Generation III, if the player selected Focus Punch in aDouble Battle then cancelled the selection, then switched that Pokémon out, it would still begin charging Focus Punch before switching. Its high priority also gave it the odd effect of occurring before the opponent used their items or other Pokémon were switched out.
• In thePokémon Mystery Dungeon series, due to the different gameplay mechanics, damaging moves with increased priority in the core series games become moves that have a range of 2 tiles.

In other languages

Priority move

Notes

References

This game mechanic article is part ofProject Games, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on thePokémon games.

• Game articles needing more information
• Articles needing more information
• Game mechanics