Pound
| Pound | |
|---|---|
 Pound in Brawl. | |
| User | Jigglypuff |
| Universe | Pokémon |
| Article on Bulbapedia | Pound (move) |
| “ | Pound does serious damage, and it can also help as a recovery move. | ” |
| —Jigglypuff's trophy description in Melee | ||
Pound (はたく Strike) is Jigglypuff's neutral special move in Super Smash Bros. and side special move in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is a short-range attack that sends Jigglypuff forward a short distance with its arm out in front of it to punch while exclaiming "Puff!". Pound is very useful when recovering, as it can be used between jumps to give Jigglypuff more horizontal distance. This technique is required to beat Bonus 2 in Super Smash Bros.
In Melee and the original, Pound knocked the opponent up and behind Jigglypuff, while in Brawl, it only has vertical knockback. The move does a maximum of 13% damage in SSB and Melee, and 11% in Brawl.
Although Pound is mostly used for recovery and movement purposes, it can also be utilized as an effective attack. Pound is a useful move that has a hitbox that stays out longer than one would expect, causing opponents to drop their guard too early at times, and in cases where opponents do shield the attack it will take an extra 20 damage. In certain situations, Pound can also serve as a set-up for Jigglypuff's powerful Rest attack.
Rising Pound
As pressing up quickly after using Pound causes Jigglypuff to gain height, and the move does not put it into helpless state, Pound gives Jigglypuff a gigantic horizontal recovery. Quickly performing "upwards" Pounds is called rising pound. Contrary to popular belief, this is not infinite, as the ending lag causes Jigglypuff to end up slightly lower than its original position. However, it still gives it a great advantage in stalling, being able to go under many stages and go to the other side.
In SSB, Pound has more ending lag than in the other two games, making the technique less effective and harder to master. However, as it is Jigglypuff's neutral special in this game, Kirby can copy the move and use this same technique, giving him a better recovery as he can use Final Cutter for additional height. In Brawl, after using all of Jigglypuff's mid-air jumps, CPUs use this move repeatedly until they recover, or eventually are KO'd.
Origin
Pound is based off a move of the same name in the Pokémon RPGs. In the Pokémon games, Pound is a physical Normal-type attack with no additional effects, similar to both Tackle and Scratch, introduced in Generation I. Like both, Pound is either naturally known or learned at a very low-level by many Pokémon. In Gen. I-IV, Pound and Scratch are slightly superior to Tackle though, since their base Power is 40 instead of 35 and have an Accuracy of 100 instead of 95; In Gen. V, Tackle was given 50 Power and 100 Accuracy, making it stronger than either. Due to its very low base power and the existence of superior Normal-type attacks, Pound is completely ignored in competitive play, being an attack for low-level Pokémon to have while being raised, before being taught more powerful moves that can outclass the move. In all generations, Jigglypuff learns Pound as its second move (starting at Level 1), with the first one being Sing.
Gallery
Pound in SSB.
Pound in Melee.
