Flamethrower Report

Move Name: Flamethrower
Battle Classification: Special Attack
Type: Fire
Total number of affected targets: 1
Range: 1 adjacent target other than user
Direct contact needed to initiate attack: No
Base Power: 90
Accuracy Rate: 100%
PP: 15 (maximum 24)

Considered to be among the bread-and-butter of most Fire-type specialists, the Flamethrower attack is a powerful move among Fire-types that enables them to utilize their natural fire-producing abilities to scorch opponents in battle. The Flamethrower attack itself involves striking the opposition with a potent stream of continuous fire to inflict damage. It might not take much more energy to deliver than a basic Ember attack, but trainers and Pokémon alike in battle will quickly find out that this move more than brings plenty of punishment to anyone unlucky enough to get in its way.

Nearly all Fire-type Pokémon are assigned as such because they possess combustion organs of some sort that allow them to produce brilliant external flames without causing damage to themselves in the process; the Flamethrower attack is just one example of how these combustion organs can then be used to inflict damage on others in battle. The Flamethrower attack is in effect a sustained burst of fire that can continuously strike an opponent multiple times a second, in turn scorching anything that manages to get in its path. The move is generally among the first if not the first Fire-type attack that many Fire-types learn as soon as they become strong enough to use their combustion organs continuously for moderate periods of time; as a result, the damage actually done is far greater than that done by the simple Ember attack and the flames can damage opponents efficiently enough to have a 10% chance of Burning anything that they touch. It might not be acquired by most Fire-types until later in their life, but the sheer damage the attack is capable of dealing makes it a great move to rely on for just about any type of battle. It was this feature (in addition to the popular success of the Thunderbolt and Ice Beam TMs) that eventually led Silph Co. to release the move as TM35 within their 3rd generation line of TMs, from which immediate and continuous popularity has allowed the move to retain its status through most successive generations of TMs, including their recent Sinnoh Special Edition Set, until it was converted into TR02 for the company's first set of TRs and finally into TM125 for their 9th generation line of TMs.

Countering Flamethrower: Due to its use of pure fire to inflict damage, the only way to directly counter or dodge the Flamethrower attack is to extinguish the flames used in it before they can inflict damage, as it is exceptionally difficult to dodge otherwise. Strong rocky armor can also help reduce or negate the damage dealt by this attack, but weaker rocky armor is unlikely to perform as well and metallic armor is likely to take exceptional damage from it in most situations. The Flamethrower attack is universal enough among Fire-types to be a major concern when facing any strong creature of the type and is able to be taken advantage of by a large number of different types via TM, so it is certainly a likely move to be seen in battle; strong defenses and perhaps a bit of Water-type power are therefore highly recommended for reducing whatever impact the attack may be capable of making.

Professor Wormwood