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Memento is a Dark-type move introduced in generation III. It causes the user to faint and harshly reduces the oponent's Attack and Special Attack. To me, this seems like a very bad tradeoff. When I compare it with Explosion which has an effective power of 500 (officially 250, combined with halving the opponent's defense) or with Belly Drum which cuts HP in half and maximizes Attack, I can't help but feel like Memento is a completely useless move. Maybe it would be useful if it minimized Attack and Special Attack instead of just reducing both by two stages, but it doesn't do that.

What is the strategic value of Memento? In what situations is it genuinely useful?

forest
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1 Answers1

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In competitive Pokémon, the value of Memento is in providing virtually any Pokémon with a free turn of set up, especially fragile Pokémon who would otherwise be at risk of taking a strong hit.

After using Memento, the next Pokémon will be switched in at the start of a new turn, instead of switching into an opponent's move. With the opponent's offensive stats halved, the new Pokémon can feel free to use moves like Substitute, Dragon Dance, Swords Dance, Agility, Calm Mind, and so on, maybe even Baton Passing the buffs to a stronger Pokémon waiting to sweep the enemy team. Substitute is especially strong in this scenario, since it blocks non-offensive moves and is unlikely to break with the opponent's lowered stats.

Memento remains mostly gimmicky, but it can provide a bit of breathing room that can prove invaluable in giving you the edge over the opponent.

Wrigglenite
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