I don't know if this has been discussed before, but I had an idea for a tactic in double battles, which I call 'pseudo-boosting'. This is all hypothetical at the moment, I haven't playtested it (seeing as how double battle isn't on current Shoddy and I don't battle WiFi)
The idea is simple - you attack your own Pokemon to activate their abilities, or gain some other advantage.
The obvious example is something like Thunderbolting your own Electivire. Of course if you have a known T-bolter (say Gengar) and an Electivire in, your opponent might expect this, and attack the Electivire to try and kill it before it's a threat. But if you have Gengar and something else, you could switch in your Electivire into your own Thunderbolt.
Other examples spring to mind. Poisoning your own guts Machamp - you not only activate Guts, but protect Machamp from other status like burn (and if you use a regular poison move, you block toxic poison). You could even use an attack that will damage your own Pokemon to put it in pinch berry or ability range.
Pseudo-boosting has the advantage over regular boosting and baton passing that you don't have to give up attacking move slots.
The examples are pretty situational, and so may not come up a lot. But the options are there.
Have people tried things like this? Can you think of anything else that works or might work? Or conversely, can you explain why it doesn't really work all that well?
The idea is simple - you attack your own Pokemon to activate their abilities, or gain some other advantage.
The obvious example is something like Thunderbolting your own Electivire. Of course if you have a known T-bolter (say Gengar) and an Electivire in, your opponent might expect this, and attack the Electivire to try and kill it before it's a threat. But if you have Gengar and something else, you could switch in your Electivire into your own Thunderbolt.
Other examples spring to mind. Poisoning your own guts Machamp - you not only activate Guts, but protect Machamp from other status like burn (and if you use a regular poison move, you block toxic poison). You could even use an attack that will damage your own Pokemon to put it in pinch berry or ability range.
Pseudo-boosting has the advantage over regular boosting and baton passing that you don't have to give up attacking move slots.
The examples are pretty situational, and so may not come up a lot. But the options are there.
Have people tried things like this? Can you think of anything else that works or might work? Or conversely, can you explain why it doesn't really work all that well?