Triple Battle

A Triple Battle (Japanese: トリプルバトル Triple Battle) is a type of Pokémon battle featuring up to six Pokémon, with three Pokémon from each side battling at a time. It appears in the Generation V and games. It was introduced in and was predominantly showcased in White.
As the name suggests, Triple Battles are a type of battle where each Trainer sends out three at once. Due to this, they can be considered the successor to Double Battles, with the only difference seemingly being the number of Pokémon. However, there are some additional strategic factors that differentiate the Triple Battle from its predecessor other than the amount of Pokémon, such as the importance of placement.
==In the core series games==
When a Triple Battle begins, Pokémon will be sent out in order. The first Pokémon able to battle in the party becomes the leftmost Pokémon on the field, the second becomes the center Pokémon, and the third becomes the Pokémon on the far right.
In Generation V, on the player's side, the HP bar and the numerical amount of HP are not displayed at the same time; which of the two is displayed can be toggled by pressing the Start button. In Generation VI, the element showing the Pokémon's status is shown side to side, and is shown normally with both the numeric HP and bar.
===Placement===
The placement of the Pokémon is a major attribute of Triple Battles, as a Pokémon's positioning affects how certain moves and Abilities work. Generally, Pokémon on the left side of the field cannot target any Pokémon on the right side (including allies), and vice versa. This also means a Pokémon in the center is free to hit any Pokémon on the field, but at the cost of being vulnerable to every other Pokémon. 
There are some moves, however, that allow non-adjacent Pokémon to attack each other.
===Shifting===
The Pokémon on the left and right have the option to "shift". This option allows the user to switch with the Pokémon currently in the middle. Unlike switching, shifting has no priority, and none of the effects of switching (such as eliminating stat modifiers, , and , triggering or triggering entry hazards) apply to shifting. Like switching, however, shifting consumes no PP or items. A Pokémon can move even if it is the last Pokémon on its team, as long as it is not in the center.
If a Pokémon is readying to use a move on a certain target, but is then shifted before using its move, its attack will fail if the target is then outside of its range. If a Pokémon targeted an ally with a move, but as a result of shifting, the Pokémon is now targeting itself when it would execute the move, the move will fail (even if the move is ).
If there are only two Pokémon left on the field and they are non-adjacent to each other, both Pokémon will automatically be shifted to the center of the field at the end of the turn.
===Effect on moves===
Most moves have the same effect in Triple Battles as with single and Double Battles, except that they can only affect adjacent Pokémon. Moves that hit both opponents or all Pokémon in Double Battles only affect adjacent Pokémon in Triple Battles. Moves that hit multiple Pokémon will have their damage reduced by 25%, unless there is only one target at the time the move is executed.
All single-target damage-dealing Flying-type moves, , and all single-target can hit any Pokémon on the battlefield regardless of adjacency. This property is based on the original type of the move. As a consequence, moves being changed to the Flying type cannot target non-adjacent Pokémon, including . Similarly, a move that is originally Flying-type can target a non-adjacent Pokémon even if its type is changed by an effect.
The moves , , , , , , , and have no effect in Single Battles, but do in Triple Battles.
The moves , , , , , and all can be activated by, and attack, a non-adjacent opponent.
The move takes away 1/16 of the maximum HP of all adjacent allies of the target Pokémon. This damage is not treated as an attack.
The move , while in a Triple Battle, can target an adjacent ally instead of the user.
The following moves act differently when used in a Triple Battle, as opposed to a Single or Double Battle.
Move targets	Move targets	Move targets	Move targets	Move targets	Move targets	Move targets	Move targets	Move targets	Move targets
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===Effect on Abilities===
Most Abilities' effect remain the same and are not affected by the Pokémon's placement. For example, a Pokémon on the left side of the field which used can still damage a Pokémon with on the right side of the field. A Pokémon can still reflect entry hazards even if the user of the entry hazard and itself are at opposite corners of the field, because entry hazards affect the entire team.
However, some Abilities are affected by a Pokémon's placement; for example, will only lower the of opposing, adjacent Pokémon on the field.
===Locations===
====Pokémon Black====
====Pokémon White====
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====Pokémon Black 2 and White 2====
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====Pokémon X and Y====
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====Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire====
==In spin-off games==
===Pokémon Battrio===
Triple Battling as a mechanic was introduced in Pokémon Battrio, an arcade game using three Pokémon pucks on each side.
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
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In The Battle Of The Badge, Jessie and James sent out three Pokémon at once to battle at the Viridian Gym, making this the first unofficial Triple Battle in the .
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In Chim - Charred!, Ash and were seen battling with three Pokémon on each side during a session, although this wasn't an official Triple Battle. The battle took place so Ash could practice with for their upcoming Gym at the Pastoria Gym, and Ash was shown using his , , and while Dawn used Ash's Staravia and and her own . Both s were able to command the three Pokémon at once with relative ease.
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In A Maractus Musical!, the first official Triple Battle was seen, where Ash battled Toby's three with his Pikachu, , and . Ash said it was his first time taking part in a Triple Battle.
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In Battling Into the Hall of Fame!, Ash and Pikachu, and , and and battled and , and , and and in a variant of Triple Battle known as a .
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In Got Meltan?, Ash and had a Triple Battle while training at the Pokémon School, with Ash using Pikachu, , and , and Kiawe using , , and .
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In HZ079, Liko, Roy, and Dot and their , , and , respectively, fought Geeta and her and two in a Triple Battle in order to prove that they were Trainers strong enough to enter Area Zero.
==In the manga==
===Pokémon Adventures===
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In Black's First Trainer Battle, participated in a Triple Battle with a named Andy, using Brav, Musha, and Tep against Andy's , Roggenrola, and .
===Be the Best! Pokémon B+W===
In The Key to Triple Battles, Monta was shown in a Triple Battle with Cheren, using , , and against Cheren's , , and .
==Trivia==
* is the only damage-dealing move that cannot hit a non-adjacent Pokémon.
==In other languages==
==Related articles==
Category:Terminology
Category:Game mechanics
Category:Battle variations
de:Dreierkampf
es:Combate triple
fr:Combat Trio
it:Lotta in Triplo
ja:トリプルバトル
zh:三打对战