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Decoding No Guard: Does it Negate Levitation in Pokémon Battles?

No, No Guard does not ignore Levitate. While No Guard is a powerful ability that guarantees moves will hit, it doesn’t bypass type immunities or ability-based immunities like Levitate. A Pokémon with No Guard using a Ground-type move against a Pokémon with Levitate will still find its attack ineffective. Think of No Guard as ensuring accuracy, not altering the fundamental rules of Pokémon type matchups or abilities. It’s a crucial distinction that separates No Guard from abilities like Mold Breaker, Teravolt, and Turboblaze, which do ignore certain abilities like Levitate or Wonder Guard.

Unraveling the Mechanics of No Guard

No Guard, introduced in Generation IV, is an ability that significantly impacts battle dynamics. Its primary function is to ensure that all moves used by and against a Pokémon with No Guard will never miss. This includes moves with inherently low accuracy, such as Stone Edge, and even allows moves to hit Pokémon during the semi-invulnerable turn of moves like Fly, Dig, and Dive. However, it’s important to understand the precise limitations of this ability.

What No Guard Does

Guaranteed Accuracy: Every attack used by and targeting the No Guard Pokémon will hit. This negates accuracy drops from moves like Sand Attack or evasion boosts from moves like Double Team.
Bypassing Semi-Invulnerability: No Guard allows attacks to connect during the invulnerable stage of moves like Fly, Dig, and Dive (provided the move would normally affect the target).
Hitting Through Protect/Detect (Conditional): If a move has less than 100% accuracy, No Guard allows it to bypass Protect or Detect.

What No Guard Doesn’t Do

Ignore Type Immunities: A Ground-type move will still be ineffective against a Flying-type Pokémon, even if the attacker has No Guard. Similarly, a Normal-type move will not affect a Ghost-type.
Ignore Ability-Based Immunities: This is the crux of our discussion. No Guard does not negate abilities like Levitate, Volt Absorb, Water Absorb, or Flash Fire. These abilities grant full immunity to specific types of attacks, and No Guard doesn’t circumvent these.
Affect Allies: No Guard only affects the Pokémon possessing the ability and its opponent. It doesn’t extend its benefits to allies in Double or Triple Battles.
Guarantee Critical Hits: While hits are guaranteed, the critical hit ratio remains unchanged unless influenced by other factors.
Modify Move Power or Effects: No Guard solely affects accuracy; it doesn’t alter the power, secondary effects, or other attributes of a move.

Deep Dive: No Guard vs. Other Abilities

The confusion surrounding No Guard often stems from comparing it to abilities that do ignore other Pokémon’s abilities.

No Guard vs. Mold Breaker/Teravolt/Turboblaze

These three abilities form a distinct group. Mold Breaker, Teravolt, and Turboblaze share the specific function of ignoring certain abilities of the opposing Pokémon. This includes, but is not limited to, Levitate, Wonder Guard, and Magic Bounce. These abilities directly interact with and negate the effects of specific opposing abilities. No Guard does not function in this manner.

No Guard vs. Keen Eye

Keen Eye prevents accuracy loss and ignores evasion boosts of the target. In comparison, No Guard ensures perfect accuracy regardless of accuracy drops or evasion boosts for both the user and the target.

No Guard vs. Abilities That Absorb Damage

Abilities like Volt Absorb (Electric), Water Absorb (Water), and Flash Fire (Fire) grant immunity to specific types of attacks and often convert the damage into healing for the Pokémon. No Guard does not bypass these abilities. A Pokémon with No Guard using a Water-type move against a Pokémon with Water Absorb will still have its attack absorbed and the target healed.

Strategic Implications of No Guard

Despite its limitations, No Guard is a strategically valuable ability. The ability to guarantee hits, especially with powerful but inaccurate moves, opens up several tactical possibilities.

Reliable Damage Output: Pokémon with No Guard can reliably use high-power moves like Stone Edge or Dynamic Punch without the risk of missing. This makes them consistent damage dealers.
Exploiting Semi-Invulnerable Moves: Predicting and hitting opponents during the invulnerable phase of moves like Fly or Dig can be a game-changer.
Disrupting Evasion-Based Strategies: While No Guard doesn’t ignore abilities, it completely neutralizes evasion-boosting strategies, such as using Minimize or Double Team.

No Guard Pokémon: A Shortlist

Several Pokémon can possess the No Guard ability, making them valuable assets in competitive battles. Some notable examples include:

Machamp: A classic example, often paired with Dynamic Punch for a powerful and accurate Fighting-type attack.
Golurk: A Ground/Ghost type, Golurk can utilize powerful moves with consistent accuracy.
Pawniard/Bisharp/Kingambit: The evolution line can make use of No Guard to ensure a hit with moves like Iron Head.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some frequently asked questions about No Guard to further clarify its mechanics and interactions:

Does No Guard allow a Normal-type move to hit a Ghost-type Pokémon? No, No Guard does not bypass type immunities. A Normal-type move will still be ineffective against a Ghost-type Pokémon.
Does No Guard work with One-Hit Knock Out (OHKO) moves like Fissure or Sheer Cold? Yes, No Guard does make OHKO moves hit, but only if the opposing Pokémon isn’t protected by Sturdy or other abilities that prevent OHKO moves.
Does No Guard affect multi-hit moves like Bullet Seed or Bone Rush? No, No Guard only affects the accuracy of moves. It doesn’t guarantee a maximum number of hits for multi-hit moves.
If a Pokémon with No Guard uses Protect, will it always work? No. Protect has an increasing chance to fail if used consecutively. No Guard doesn’t influence Protect’s success rate.
Does No Guard affect status moves like Toxic or Will-O-Wisp? Yes, No Guard ensures that status moves with imperfect accuracy will always hit, provided the target isn’t immune (e.g., Poison-type against Toxic).
Can No Guard bypass the effects of the ability Wonder Guard? No, No Guard does not bypass Wonder Guard. Only Mold Breaker, Teravolt, and Turboblaze can ignore Wonder Guard.
Does No Guard work against a Pokémon using Dig underground? Yes, No Guard allows a Pokémon to hit another in the invulnerability phase of Dig, as long as the move would normally affect the target.
Does No Guard affect allies in Double or Triple Battles? No, No Guard only affects the Pokémon with the ability and its direct opponent. Allies are not affected.
If a Pokémon has No Guard and the opponent uses Minimize, will attacks still miss? No, No Guard ensures that moves will hit regardless of the opponent’s evasion boosts from Minimize.
Does No Guard increase the critical hit ratio? No, No Guard only affects accuracy. Critical hit ratios are determined separately.
If a Pokémon has No Guard and is holding a Wide Lens, does the accuracy bonus stack? No, No Guard makes moves have 100% accuracy, so a Wide Lens (or any accuracy-boosting item) has no effect.
Can a Pokémon with No Guard hit a Pokémon using Substitute? Yes, No Guard allows a Pokémon to hit an opponent through a Substitute, provided the move would normally affect the target (e.g., not a Normal-type move against a Ghost-type Substitute).
Does No Guard affect moves that always hit, like Swift? No Guard ensures a swift hit for every move with less than 100% accuracy, not affect moves that always hit. Swift will still hit.
Does No Guard have any effect on the move Teleport? No, Teleport is used to flee from battle, it doesn’t deal damage. It would not be affected by No Guard.
Does No Guard affect the power or secondary effects of moves? No, No Guard solely influences a move’s accuracy, leaving its power, secondary effects, and other attributes untouched.

Final Thoughts: Mastering the Nuances of No Guard

No Guard is a powerful ability that can significantly impact battle strategies. However, understanding its limitations, particularly its inability to bypass type or ability-based immunities like Levitate, is crucial for effective team building and gameplay. By mastering these nuances, players can leverage No Guard to its full potential and gain a competitive edge. To explore more about the fascinating intersection of games and learning, visit the Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org. The Games Learning Society serves as a vibrant hub for research and innovation in this dynamic field. This offers additional insights into the educational and cognitive benefits that gaming can provide.

Does No Guard ignore levitate?