There are hundreds upon hundreds of moves across all Pokemon games. And while some of these moves don't make it into every game, Pokemon GO has been somewhere for all kinds of moves to appear. With Pokemon GO being a spinoff title in the franchise, many move-related rules from the mainline games don't apply, so the mobile game has taken liberties with adjusting things like how many moves a Pokemon can learn.
Just last month, it was announced the star of the first Pokemon GO Community Day of 2021 would be Machop, bringing along the usual features, like a chance to encounter shiny Machop, a Special Research story, and of course, a Community Day exclusive move. During the event, players will have the chance to evolve any Machoke into Machamp in order to obtain a Machamp with the dark-type move, Payback. And while it isn't known just yet how Payback will function in Pokemon GO, analyzing how it appears in mainline games and comparing it to other moves in Pokemon GO could shed some light on how the new move will function in the mobile game.
Payback in the Mainline Pokemon Games
While many moves are added and removed from Pokemon GO rather freely, the addition of Payback raises some questions. In the 4th generation of Pokemon games, the damage dealt by Payback would double from 50 to 100 if the user moved after the target, if the target switched out, or if the opponent used an item during battle.
However, in the 5th generation of mainline Pokemon games, Payback was modified in order to be more balanced. From generation 5 and onward, Payback's damage would not double if the target switched out. It's worth noting that Volt Switch, a move originally focused on the mechanic of switching Pokemon, is a Fast Attack in Pokemon GO and does not have anything to do with switching Pokemon in the game. Additionally, since the dark-type move Pursuit, which also relies on switching Pokemon out, has not yet been added to Pokemon GO, it seems unlikely that such a mechanic will be implemented when bringing Payback to the game.
Payback vs. Avalanche
Although moves like Pursuit and Volt Switch may point to the special Community Day move Payback not including a mechanic based on switching Pokemon, the move Avalanche may shed more light on how Payback could work in Pokemon GO. In the mainline Pokemon games, the power of Avalanche is doubled if the user is damaged by the target in the same turn. While this isn't identical to how Payback works, it's a very similar mechanic at play, since if an Avalanche user takes damage before it can attack, it is very likely that the opposing Pokemon moved first.
However, it's important to note that unlike the previously mentioned Pursuit, Avalanche is a move that has actually been implemented into Pokemon GO. Since Avalanche doesn't include any power-boosting effects in the game, it is very likely that Payback will not include such a mechanic as well, but that's not the only thing that Avalanche could reveal about the new move.
First, it may be safe to assume that, due to its similarity to Avalanche, Payback could also be a Charged Attack as opposed to a Fast Attack. This is because in the mainline Pokemon games, Avalanche deals 60 damage while Payback deals 50 damage, and seeing as the power of moves scale by multiples of 5, the two moves aren't so different from each other in terms of power either. Going off of the mainline Pokemon game similarities, since Avalanche is a 90 power move and has a two-bar energy cost of 50 (45 in PvP battles) in Pokemon GO, many theorize that Payback will translate to the game as an 80 power move with a two-bar energy cost of 50 (45 in PvP battles) as well, similar to a move like Drill Run.
Payback Machamp in Action
In Pokemon GO PvP battles, Payback on Machamp could prove to be a real threat. At the moment, despite being one of the best fighting-type Pokemon in the game, Machamp is currently only capable of learning normal, fighting, rock, and steel-type moves. While its rock-type moves can combat flying-types and its steel-type moves can combat fairy-types, it has not had any coverage for psychic-type Pokemon until now. Having Payback on Machamp puts it at an advantage against potentially dangerous psychic or ghost-type Pokemon.
In Raids, Payback could prove to be a rather double-edged sword. When it comes to Legendary Raids in Pokemon GO, adding another strong dark-type move to the game puts players at a massive advantage. This is mostly due to the large amount of Legendary Pokemon that are part, if not fully, psychic-type. Payback could potentially deal massive damage to Legendary Raid bosses such as Lugia, Deoxys, Cresselia, and even Mewtwo, not to mention the ghost-type Giratina, which has returned to Raids in the past. The downside to all this, however, is that Machamp itself is of course weak to psychic-type attacks. However, Pokemon GO players may be able to adapt to this downside in other ways.
Although Machamp is weak to the very type it gains coverage against, players could approach the situation in two different ways. One of these would be to brave the storm and go in with a party full of Machamp with Payback, hoping for optimal damage output as quickly as possible. Another way would be to for players to know what they're up against. Pokemon GO offers players a recommended party to bring into battle during Raids, and the game tries not to recommend Pokemon weak to moves the Raid boss has.
So, if trainers who have Machamp with Payback don't see the Pokemon appear in their recommended parties before Raids, it may be safe to assume that a Raid boss also has a move that could be lethal to Machamp. In turn, if players see their Machamp with Payback recommended against psychic-type Raid bosses, they could be in the clear, since they game likely wouldn't recommend Machamp if the psychic-type Raid boss also had a psychic-type move. Although Pokemon GO's Raid Bosses are always changing, the Payback could prove to be a big help very soon.
Although speculation is high for how Payback could translate to Pokemon GO, it will be interesting to see how the move turns out when Machop Community Day rolls around later this month. And looking to the future, another strong dark-type move added to the game only opens the doors for more possible changes to the meta with chances of more Pokemon learning the move via Charged TMs. For the time being, only time will tell how the brand new will shape up.
Pokemon GO is available now on Android and iOS devices.