Certain moves are considered to make contact with the target Pokémon. This will often be referred to as direct contact or contact moves and this can trigger or activate certain effects that activate when contact is made.
While most moves that make contact are Physical-based moves, not every Physical-based move is a direct contact move. For instance, moves like Earthquake or Petal Blizzard, despite being Physical moves, do not make contact.
When moves make contact, it’s usually implied by the name or the description of the move. For instance, Fire Punch makes contact because it punches the foe. Horn Attack makes contact because the user strikes the foe with their horn or other appendage.
Some Effects Activated By Contact Moves
The following is just a selection of a few different effects that take place when a contact move is received or delivered. It is not a complete list.
- Abilities like Static, Poison Point, Effect Spore, Cute Charm, and Flame Body all have a 30% chance of affecting the attacker with a different status condition if the attacker damages the Pokémon with a contact move.