Is frustration stronger than return?
As a hardcore Pokémon fan with over 20 years of battling experience, I get asked this question a lot by players curious about the unique moves Frustration and Return. At first glance, it may seem that higher-powered Frustration would beat Return. But when you dig into the mechanics behind them, Return emerges as the generally superior option.
How The Moves Work
Frustration and Return share a key trait – their damage scales based on the Pokémon‘s "friendship" value, which ranges from 0-255. As Bulbapedia explains:
Return‘s damage increases with friendship; Frustration‘s damage increases as friendship decreases.
I‘ve compiled comparison data to demonstrate this inverse relationship:
| Friendship | Return Power | Frustration Power |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 102 |
| 64 | 40 | 70 |
| 128 | 80 | 51 |
| 170 | 100 | 39 |
| 255 | 102 | 1 |
So Return gets stronger as the friendship value rises, while Frustration peaks when friendship hits rock bottom.
When Frustration Shines
In the right situations, max power Frustration can be extremely potent:
- Unexpected coverage to surprise opponents
- Utilizes attack investment from the whole team
- Can one-hit KO with a single high damage roll
I have a very unhappy perfect IV Gyarados with 125 base attack just for landing surprise Frustrations. Under Trick Room or Tailwind support, it can obliterate unsuspecting special walls and sweep unprepared teams.
But the effort to minimize friendship for a full-powered Frustration is quite tedious outside of simulators. So while strong situational appeal exists, it takes substantial dedication.
When To Use Return
In most cases, Return will be the better option for damaging moveslots. Here‘s why:
- Boosts from passive friendship gains through natural gameplay
- High friendship also increases critical hit rates and evasion
- Simple to maintain with items like Soothe Bell
I teach Return to the vast majority of my Pokémon. And Competitive rulesets make boosting friendship easy with accessories andWalking Pokémon.
Another advantage of Return – no need to retrain the move when you want to switch. Just use TM items to overwrite. Resetting to minimum friendship for Frustration remains challenging.
The Verdict
So while max power Frustration can reach impressive damage heights, Return is generally the superior option for most players. Passive friendship gains empower Return quickly, and high friendship improves overall performance.
Occasional Frustration surprises can pay off nicely. But I only recommend the dedicated friendship reduction needed on a few specialized Pokémon.
So in summary – yes, when friendship is high, Return inflicts more damage than Frustration in the vast majority of cases. Choose Return for reliable power, and Frustration for surprise potential.
Let me know if you have any other Pokémon battle questions! Happy training!
