Triple Battle
Triple battles is the newest form of Pokémon battling, introduced in Pokémon Black and White, the first Generation V games. As the name suggests, triple battles are a type of battle where each Trainer sends out three Pokémon at once. However, there are some restrictions, such as Pokémon on the left of the field cannot attack one on the right side, and vice-versa. A Pokémon in the center, however, is free to hit any Pokémon on the field, be it on the left side, the right side, or in the center. In addition, the Pokémon in the center also receives an attack boost. It has been confirmed that certain abilities and moves can affect moves in triple or double battles. One example is Telepathy, which protects a Pokémon from receiving damage from its own teammates in triple or double battles when they use moves which cause teammates to also get damages, such as Earthquake. Another is a so-far unnamed move, which protects both of a Pokémon's teammates from receiving damage when it uses a move that causes damage to them, similarly to the aforementioned Telepathy ability.
Trivia
- Triple battling as a mechanic was introduced in Pokémon Battrio, an arcade games using three Pokémon pucks on each side.
- Interestingly, the introduction of this form of battling keeps the pattern of an odd generation has added one more Pokémon to the maximum amount to be sent out at one time in a battle. However, this is only true if standard battles were counted as adding one more Pokémon to the maximum amount.