Counter Shield
Counter Shield (Japanese: カウンターシールド Counter Shield) is a tactic developed by Ash Ketchum in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl. Ash developed this technique while trying to find a way to prevent Fantina's Pokémon from making his Pokémon sleep with Hypnosis. It was eventually used for both offensive and defensive purposes. Ash took inspiration from the Contest Battle between Dawn and Lila in the Celestic Contest in Battling The Generation Gap! to develop this technique.
In Shield with a Twist!, Ash used it in his Gym battle with Fantina. Amazed with the method, Fantina named it the Counter Shield. It eventually helped Ash with his battle, earning him the Relic Badge.
In Evolving Strategies!, it was used again by Ash's Pikachu, Buizel, and Monferno against Paul's Pokémon. This time, however, all three Pokémon were defeated, and Paul didn't seem all that impressed with the technique. However, he later used this technique with his Gastrodon's Muddy Water in Familiarity Breeds Strategy! and his Electivire's Thunder in Battling a Thaw in Relations!, where Buizel used the technique once again.
In Piplup, Pansage, and a Meeting of the Times!, it was used by Dawn's Piplup to counter Cilan's Pansage's Rock Tomb attack.
In When Regions Collide!, Brock commanded his Geodude and Steelix to use Gyro Ball to deflect attacks, and mentioned that "a certain challenger of his" taught him to use a Pokémon's attack as a means of defense.
In Bewitch, Battle, and Bewilder!, Ash used it for the first time since Sinnoh during his battle against Cynthia. Pikachu used Thunderbolt to counter Spiritomb's Hypnosis.
In A Flood of Torrential Gains!, Leon instructed his Inteleon to use a Counter Shield of his own, having seen the technique in the last semifinals battle.
Methods
Pikachu
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Ash's Pikachu | Shield with a Twist! | Thunderbolt | |
Description | |||
Pikachu spins on his back while using Thunderbolt to form an electric barrier in order to protect himself from the opponent's attacks. |
Monferno
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Ash's Chimchar/Monferno | Shield with a Twist! | Flamethrower and Flame Wheel | |
Description | |||
Chimchar/Monferno uses Flamethrower while using Flame Wheel to create flame whips that prevent foes from getting closer while also hitting the opponent. |
Buizel
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Ash's Buizel | Shield with a Twist! | Aqua Jet or Water Gun | |
Description | |||
Buizel spins on his back while using Aqua Jet to create a water tornado or Water Gun to create water whips in order to protect himself from the opponent's attacks. |
Drifblim
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Fantina's Drifblim | Shield with a Twist! | Will-O-Wisp and Psychic | |
Description | |||
Drifblim uses Will-O-Wisp to surround its body in fire wisps. Then it uses Psychic to move the fire in two circles. Drifblim can either shoot the flames as an attack or keep the fire around it as a defense tactic. |
Gastrodon
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Paul's Gastrodon | Familiarity Breeds Strategy! | Muddy Water | |
Description | |||
Gastrodon uses Muddy Water to make a tornado made of water around it to avoid its opponent getting closer to it because it is slower. However, it will purposely leave an opening at the bottom of its body to entice opponents to strike there, so Gastrodon can counterattack in retaliation. |
Electivire
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Paul's Electivire | Battling a Thaw in Relations! | Thunder | |
Description | |||
Electivire shoots Thunder into the air before spreading it out across the battlefield, making movement difficult. |
Piplup
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Dawn's Piplup | Piplup, Pansage, and a Meeting of the Times! | Bubble Beam | |
Description | |||
Piplup jumps in the air and uses Bubble Beam while spinning to create a large ring of bubbles around himself in order to avoid the opponent's attacks. |
Geodude
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Brock's Geodude | When Regions Collide! | Gyro Ball | |
Description | |||
Geodude uses Gyro Ball to deflect the opponent's attacks. |
Steelix
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Brock's Steelix | When Regions Collide! | Gyro Ball | |
Description | |||
Steelix uses Gyro Ball to deflect the opponent's attacks. |
Inteleon
Pokémon | First Used In | Moves Involved | |
---|---|---|---|
Leon's Inteleon | A Flood of Torrential Gains! | Aqua Jet | |
Description | |||
Inteleon uses Aqua Jet while spinning to protect itself in a vortex of water and create water whips that sweep the battlefield in a circular motion and strike the opponent. |
Trivia
- Pikachu and Buizel's Counter Shields are similar to the way Dawn's Ambipom used Swift for her appeal in the Solaceon Town Pokémon Contest in Team Shocker!.
- Piplup's Counter Shield is similar to the technique he perfected in Like It or Lup It! while training for the Jubilife Contest.
- During her battle against Conway in Camping It Up!, Dawn commanded the Grimer she borrowed from the Pokémon Summer Academy to use Poison Gas while spinning to surround its body with smoke in order to avoid the opponent's attacks. This was shown to work the same way as the Counter Shield but was used before the tactic was introduced to the series.
- During Ash's battle against Korrina during the World Coronation Series, his Dragonite used Dragon Dance in a way to not only boost its attack power and speed, but also deflect the opponent's physical attacks, resulting in a counter reminiscent to Counter Shield. This technique is used again in Aim For The Eight!, during Ash's entrance battle against Raihan, and in Toying With Your Motions!, during the finals of the Masters Eight Tournament.
- In Thrash of the Titans!, Dragonite uses a similar style of counter by using Hurricane around itself to deflect a Psycho Cut and a Dragon Pulse from Iris's Haxorus.
- Of all the characters that have taught their Pokémon to use Counter Shield, Leon is the only one that did not appear in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl.
In other languages
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |