Buff moves
| All Moves | Legacy Moves | Buff/Debuff |
| Situation | PvP・PvE |
| Move | Charged move |
| Type |                   |
Buff / Debuff moves
| available date | February 16, 2019 |
Until now, all moves in Pokémon GO have only gives damage, but on February 16, 2019 buff moves that increase the attack power and defense power on self and on opponent, debuff moves that decrease are available for the first time. Buff moves are currently only available on charged moves on trainer battle.
What’s “Buff”?
Buff means the effect, the items and moves of temporarily increasing the status on the game.
Also, the effect of temporarily decreasing the status is called Debuff.
Effect power of Buff
There are 4 stages effect power each buff and debuff on both attack and defense. The amount of increasing once depends on move.
| Effect power | Buff | Debuff |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Stage | *1.25 | *0.8 |
| 2nd Stage | *1.5 | *0.66666667 |
| 3rd Stage | *1.75 | *0.5714286 |
| 4th Stage | *2.0 | *0.5 |
Written on game
On actual game, it displays like following by effect power.
| Up 1 stage | Attack/Defense rose! |
| Up 2 stages | Attack/Defense rose sharply! |
| Down 1 stage | Attack/Defense fell! |
| Down 2 stage | Attack/Defense harshly fell! |
Buff effect when changing Pokémon
If a buffed Pokémon is changed once and then re-entered, the buff effect will continue without being lost.
Following video shows that they changed Medicham to Hoppip after Medicham had risen Power-Up Punch 3 stages, then they re-entered Medicham. Opponent’s damage rose than without Buff effect.
Other information that is related to Buff / Debuff
Effective even if blocked
It is effective even if opponent uses shield for moves that have Buff/Debuff effect.
9D