Sheer Force

Generation of first appearance: 5

Effect

Sheer Force increases the power of moves with beneficial secondary effects by 30% but removes those additional effects.

Beneficial effects include:

Causing a status condition on the opponent (e.g., Thunderbolt's chance to paralyze)
Reducing the opponent's stats (e.g., Crunch lowering Defense)
Increasing the user's stats (e.g., Ancient Power raising all stats)

Non-beneficial effects, which Sheer Force does not affect, include:

Recoil damage (e.g., Double-Edge)
Lowering the user's own stats (e.g., Superpower reducing Attack and Defense)

If the user holds a Life Orb and uses a move affected by Sheer Force, it will avoid Life Orb's usual recoil damage but still receive both Life Orb and Sheer Force power boosts, totaling a 69% increase in base power.

Example

Flamethrower normally has a 10% chance to burn the opponent. With Sheer Force, Flamethrower's base power is increased from 95 to 124, but it will never cause a burn.

If a move has both advantageous and disadvantageous side effects, Sheer Force boosts the power but only removes the advantageous effect. For example, Flare Blitz’s chance to burn is removed but not its recoil damage.