Shadow Ball
| Shadow Ball | |
|---|---|
 Shadow Ball. | |
| User | Mewtwo |
| Universe | Pokémon |
Shadow Ball is Mewtwo's neutral special move in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The move itself consists of Mewtwo concentrating shadow energy into a round ball to toss at opponents. It is its strongest attack. In order to use it, press the B to charge the attack, and B again to release the attack. The player can save the charge by pushing the shield button or left or right on the control stick. Mewtwo can even charge this in the air, and even when it's fully charged, Mewtwo will still continue to 'charge' it until the player releases it or moves. The charge does electric damage an traps an opponent upon contact. Once fired, the ball will travel in an erratic fashion, which may cause it to miss its target entirely. A fully charged Shadow Ball does 25% damage, deals great knockback, and it explodes on contact with a surface.
The move has a considerable amount of recoil, especially when used in mid-air, so one must be careful not to use it too close to the edge. The recoil causes Mewtwo to slide back about half the length of Flat Zone when it performs this move in midair but lands before the animation is complete.
Forward Throw
Mewtwo's forward throw also involves Shadow Balls. Mewtwo will telekinetically Throw its opponent forward, then hit them with multiple small Shadow Balls. This throw will at minimum deal 9% damage, but in certain situations, the move can deal up to 18% damage. These Shadow Balls can be SDI'd., reflected or absorbed.
Origin
Shadow Ball is a Ghost-type attack in the Pokémon games first introduced in Mewtwo Strikes Back, and introduced as a usable attack in the Generation II video games. It is learned by many Ghost-type Pokémon at somewhat high levels. Since it is also a TM, many Pokémon of other types can also learn Shadow Ball. In battle, Shadow Ball is a strong attack with a base power of 80, 100% accurcy and 0 priority. It has 15 PP, so it can be used 15 times before becoming unavailable. It also has a 20% chance of lowering the opponent's Special Defense by one stage. Shadow Ball is known for being the second strongest Ghost-type attack in the games, surpassed only by Shadow Force, an attack with 120 power that only Giratina can learn. While Mewtwo is not capable of learning it naturally, it can learn it via a Technical Machine.
Trivia
- Lucario's Aura Sphere is very similar to Mewtwo's Shadow Ball with the difference is that the Aura Sphere grows stronger with the more damage Lucario has and has a straight flight path when fully charged.
- It is also interesting to note that when playing in Tiny Melee, Mewtwo's Shadow Ball will completely cover its body, making a sort electric force-field that can only be broken through via an attack that has greater reach than that of the Shadow Ball.
Gallery
Mewtwo dashing with a charged Shadow Ball.
Mewtwo charging a Shadow Ball.
