>>39770033yes, it's even a game mechanic where they'll have an increased chance to dodge an attack, resist being knocked out, self-cure a condition, or land a critical blow.
Unfortunately that last one can backfire if you're trying to catch a pokemon.
I sort of think the system should be revised to be like a 'bond meter' thing. Over the course of a battle a pokemon builds their 'bond meter' with their trainer. When filled, you can issue special commands to a pokemon in addition to their normal move.
At 0 affection, this meter builds at a crawl and you might not see it filled even against a trainer with 6 pokemon. At max affection you it can fill pretty quickly.
Things that build bond meter in a fight include:
>Normal attacks (small amount)>Fainting an opposing pokemon (moderate amount)>Using an item to help the pokemon recover mid-battle (large amount)Things that don't help build bond meter in a battle include:
>Using not-very effective attacks/immune (it tells your pokemon you're not a good trainer)>Letting not curing status conditionsSpecial commands when the meter is full include:
>Critical hit/100% chance tohit with the next move>Half the damage of the next incoming attack>Self-cure status conditions (including stat debuffs)>Mega Evolve without a stone(? Only at max affection. Once per-battle across the team.)>Use a Z-move without a Z-crystal(? only at max affection. Once per-battle across the team.)The ideas of the special commands are meant to create a bit of forethought on how you might use it though still remain fairly strong. The Mega and Z-move thing I'm not sure on myself, but I do also think it'd open up the possibility to allow a mega evo to fire off a Z-move for the hell of it.
Also, naturally, none of this would be allowed in player vs. player content and might be barred from certain in-game challenges like battle frontiers.
