Perish Song Report

Move Name: Perish Song
Battle Classification: Technique
Type: Normal
Total number of affected targets: 2-6
Range: All present Pokémon
Direct contact needed to initiate technique: No
Base Power: -
Accuracy Rate: -
PP: 5 (maximum 8)

Though seemingly useless aside from the purpose of self-sacrifice, the Perish Song technique is a potentially devastating move capable of literally leveling the playing field and defeating any Pokémon that stays around too long after hearing it. Much as its name suggests, the Perish Song technique involves singing a tragic and dreadful melody so depressing that it will effectively render any Pokémon that hears it completely unable to battle after a short amount of time. It may not have the benefit of protecting its user from its own effects, but when a really difficult opponent needs to be defeated and there are no other options, the Perish Song can certainly be among the most powerful and dangerous tools of last-resort available to a Pokémon.

Unlike the Sing and Grass Whistle techniques, which are designed to lull the opposition asleep by relaxing them, the Perish Song technique is designed to instill a sense of absolute dread and fear that few Pokémon can recover from. The exact sound of the song is different for each species able to learn the move, but the saddening and depressing melody involved in the move is supposed to cause anyone that listens to it to remember and fixate upon their greatest fears and most tragic and/or frightening memories. As time goes on, this will eventually weigh down so heavily on a listener's mind that they will experience a temporary mental breakdown and will be completely unable to continue battling in any state. This time usually is equated to about 3 'turns' in combat, which is both a fairly short amount of time to work and far too long to be of consistent use. The effects of the Perish Song technique do not come to full fruition until the very end, so the process can be completely interrupted if the Pokémon that heard the move is switched out in the meantime; if said Pokémon has been prevented from switching, though, the effects are impossible to prevent. Unfortunately, the move also has the exact same effect on the user, so the move is more than capable of defeating the Pokémon that actually executed it. In combination with moves that prevent escape, such as Mean Look or Block, however, the Perish Song technique can prove invaluable as the user can easily be switched out while the opposition takes the full brunt of the technique in the end.

Countering Perish Song: Unless the Pokémon that have heard the Perish Song technique can be switched out or possess the Soundproof Ability, there is little capable of preventing the move's complete effects from taking hold.


Professor Wormwood