Pokémon Gold Version, Silver Version, and Crystal Version - Priority and Turn Order

Tags: pokemon-gold-silver-and-crystal, battle-system, in-depth-guides, priority

After both Pokémon choose an attack the turn order (who gets to use the attack first) is determined. All attacks are categorized in four priority levels:

2: Endure, Protect, Detect -> 1: Quick Attack, Mach Punch, Extremespeed -> 0: All other attacks -> -1: Counter, Mirror Coat, Whirlwind, Roar, Vital Throw

• The attack with the higher priority strikes first.
• If both attacks have the same priority, the holder of Quick Claw has a 23.4% chance of striking first,. If this chance succeeds and both Pokémon hold a Quick Claw, the one who strikes first is randomly determined (in battles in which Exp. Points can be gained, the player’s Pokémon always strikes first in this case).
• Otherwise, the Pokémon with the higher Speed strikes first.
• If both Pokémon have the same Speed, the one who strikes first is randomly determined.

Calculating Speed

This process is followed to calculate a Pokémon’s Speed in battle. These calculations are done in advance rather than when determining turn order.

1. Multiply the Speed by the Speed multiplier derived from the Pokémon’s Speed stat stage .
2. In a battle in which Exp. Points can be gained, if the Pokémon is controlled by the player and the player has earned the Plain Badge, the Speed rises by 1/8 of its previous value.
3. If the Pokémon is paralyzed, divide the Speed by 4.

For the purposes of Detect, Endure, and Protect, Pokémon that chose to switch at the beginning of a turn are ignored when determining whether a particular Pokémon "strikes last" in that turn.