Freeze (status condition)

The freeze condition (FRZ) (Japanese: Ice), also called ice in the Pokémon Stadium series, causes a Pokémon to be unable to make a move. It is the only status condition that does not have a move that will always cause it or an Ability that can cause it, and because of this, it is arguably the most uncommon.

Freeze redirects here. For the unexpected freezes which prevent the game from continuing, see game freeze. For the Badge given by Brycen, see Badge → Freeze Badge. For the location in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, see Mt. Freeze. For the location in Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, see Frozen Mountain.

Professor Cerise's Yamper frozen in the anime

It is associated with the Ice type, as the majority of moves that can freeze are of this type. Ice-type Pokémon are usually immune to being frozen, except from Tri Attack in Generation II. In Generation V, Pokémon glow blue and stop moving when frozen.

Effect

Freezing causes a Pokémon to be unable to make a move for an indeterminate number of turns. The specifics vary between generations.

Generation I

Once frozen, a Pokémon cannot be thawed out in battle other than via the use of items such as an Ice Heal, being hit by a damaging Fire-type move that can inflict burn (i.e. any Fire-type move except Fire Spin), or the opponent using the move Haze. If a frozen Pokémon uses a move with 0 PP on the same turn that it thaws out, the PP of the move will roll over to 63 PP, and full PP Ups will be applied to it.

Generation II

A frozen Pokémon has a 10% chance of being thawed out each time it attempts to move. On the turn that a Pokémon defrosts, it cannot attack until the next turn, similar to sleep in Generation I.

In Generation II only, Tri Attack has a 1/3 chance of thawing a frozen target.

In addition, some moves can still be used by the frozen Pokémon while frozen (thawing it out in the process). Pokémon cannot be frozen in harsh sunlight, but harsh sunlight does not affect when an already-frozen Pokémon thaws.

Generation III

Same as Generation II, but the thaw chance is now 20% and Pokémon can attack on the turn that they defrost. An animation also shows up whenever a Pokémon is unable to move due to being frozen (in contrast to previous generations, in which it only showed up when freeze was inflicted).

Now all damaging Fire-type moves can thaw a frozen target, regardless of whether or not they have a chance to burn; however, Fire-type Hidden Power cannot thaw a frozen target. Tri Attack can no longer thaw a frozen Pokémon. Freezing also disables the Ability Flash Fire.

Generation IV

Fire-type Hidden Power can now thaw a frozen target.

A frozen Sky Forme Shaymin will revert to its Land Forme.

Generation V

Pokémon glow blue and have their animation stopped when inflicted with freeze.

Freezing no longer stops Flash Fire from working.

Generation VI onward

Frozen Pokémon no longer glow blue.

Scald can also be used to thaw a frozen target.

Core series games

Side series games

Spin-off series games

Causes

Moves

Unlike other major status conditions, the freeze status can only be caused by Pokémon moves (rather than by Abilities or items), with those moves rarely causing it. Currently, no moves have freeze as a primary effect. The following are the moves that can cause the freeze status:

Move Type Category Probability Power Accuracy Notes
Blizzard Ice Special 10% 110 70% When used during hail, bypasses accuracy checks to always hit, unless the target is in the semi-invulnerable turn of a move such as Dig or Fly.
Freeze-Dry Ice Special 10% 70 100% Inflicts super-effective damage against Water types
Freezing Glare Psychic Special 10% 90 100%
Ice Beam Ice Special 10% 90 100%
Ice Fang Ice Physical 10% 65 95% May also cause flinching (10% chance)
Ice Punch Ice Physical 10% 75 100%
Powder Snow Ice Special 10% 40 100%
Secret Power Normal Physical 30% 70 100% May cause freezing only when used in snow or ice
Shadow Chill Shadow Special 10% 75 100%
Tri Attack Normal Special 6.67% 80 100% May also cause burn or paralysis (6.67% chance of each)*

Other causes

Pokémon can be frozen by the Gentleman's Dusclops in the Battle Pike, and by the Battle Arcade.

Curing

In all generations except Generation I, freeze has a chance to be cured on its own on the frozen Pokémon's turn; it has a 10% chance in Generation II, and 20% chance in all subsequent generations. Consequently, the frozen Pokémon may thaw out on the turn of freezing. Pokémon cannot be frozen in harsh sunlight, but harsh sunlight has no effect on Pokémon that are already frozen.

Being frozen can be cured with the use of an Ice Heal, a Pumkin Berry (Generation III only) and Aspear Berry (Burnt Berry in Generation II). In addition, like all other major status conditions, it can be cured by the items Full Heal, Rage Candy Bar, Lava Cookie, Old Gateau, Casteliacone, Lumiose Galette, Shalour Sable, Big Malasada, Full Restore, Heal Powder, Lum Berry (MiracleBerry in Generation II), and Sacred Ash.

In Generation I and II, if a frozen Pokémon is hit by a damaging Fire-type move that can inflict burn (i.e. every Fire-type move except Fire Spin and Hidden Power), it will be thawed; in Generation II, if a frozen Pokémon is hit by Tri Attack, it has a 1/3 chance of being thawed.

From Generation III onward, if a frozen Pokémon is successfully hit by a damaging Fire-type move, it will be immediately thawed; moves that change type such as Weather Ball can thaw a frozen target if they are Fire-type, except Hidden Power in Generation III. From Generation V onward, Pokémon with the Ability Flash Fire will not be thawed by Fire-type moves, since they will not be damaged by them (prior to Generation V, Flash Fire cannot be activated while the Pokémon is frozen).

Starting in Generation VI, if a frozen Pokémon is successfully hit by Scald, Steam Eruption, or Scorching Sands, it will be immediately thawed. However, if the Pokémon is immune to the move (e.g. due to Water Absorb or Levitate), it cannot be thawed by it.

A frozen Pokémon can still use the moves Flame Wheel, Sacred Fire, Flare Blitz, Fusion Flare, Scald, Steam Eruption, Burn Up, Pyro Ball, and Scorching Sands while frozen; these moves will thaw the user, then execute normally. They will thaw out the user even if they are blocked, miss, deal no damage due an Ability like Flash Fire, or are prevented from being executed by Powder, heavy rain, or extremely harsh sunlight; however, they cannot thaw out the user if they would fail (such as a non-Fire-type Pokémon using Burn Up).

The moves Heal Bell (unless the Pokémon has Soundproof as their Ability in Generation III and IV) and Aromatherapy remove the freeze condition from all Pokémon in the user's party. In Generation I only, using Haze cures the opponent from the freeze condition.

Pokémon with Natural Cure will be cured upon switching out, those with the Hydration Ability will be cured while it is raining. Pokémon with Shed Skin have a 1/3 chance of being cured every turn, and Pokémon with Healer have a 30% chance of curing their allies.

Prevention

Ice-type Pokémon cannot become frozen, except in Generation II by Tri Attack. However, if a Pokémon is frozen while not Ice-type (e.g. due to a type-changing move like Soak), it remains frozen even if it becomes Ice-type later (e.g. due to switching out and in again after its type is changed).

Pokémon that have either Magma Armor, Comatose, or Shield Dust as their Ability cannot be frozen.

Safeguard and Misty Terrain (for grounded Pokémon) prevent any status conditions for five turns.

Pokémon cannot be frozen when harsh sunlight is active. However, it will not thaw Pokémon that are already frozen if it becomes active.

Advantages

The frozen status increases the catch rate of any given Pokémon.

Other game effects

In Pokémon Emerald, when the player is inside the Battle Pyramid, the types of Pokémon encountered on each floor follow a set of categories; one of these categories is Pokémon with moves that freeze.

In the spin-off games

Mystery Dungeon series

Frozen Pokémon cannot take any action and are immune to all damage except Fire-type and Blast Seed. Pokémon will thaw out after a few turns.

Rumble series

Freeze (Frozen when inflicted in-game) is a negative status in the Rumble series. A frozen Pokémon is unable to move or use any moves for roughly five seconds. However, if the affected Pokémon is controlled by a player, inputting movement or button commands will make the effect wear off faster, with a minimum duration of about two seconds. Frozen Pokémon are still, with ice crystals surrounding their body.

No types are immune to freeze, but Pokémon with the Adept, Ice Boost, or Steady Special Traits cannot be frozen, and those with the Reflector Trait will cause the user of the freeze-inducing move to become frozen instead if hit by one.

Pokémon Conquest

In Pokémon Conquest, frozen Pokémon cannot take any action, but their Warrior can still use Warrior Skills or items on their turn. At the start of each turn there is a chance of a frozen Pokémon thawing, and they may act normally during that turn. Freeze can be inflicted by Abilities and by Ice-type attacks, and Ice types are immune to freezing. Freezing can be cured by certain Warrior Skills, items, or by ending a Pokémon's turn on a status condition-curing tile of the battlefield, such as a Hot Spring or a Water Bucket.

Pokémon Shuffle

In Pokémon Shuffle, a frozen Pokémon cannot use any disruptions, its disruption countdown is paused, and it takes 20% more damage from Ice-type Pokémon.

Freezing can be inflicted by Pokémon with the Freeze and Freeze+ Skills.

Fighting, Poison, Ghost, Steel, Fire, Electric, Psychic, Ice, and Fairy-type Pokémon are immune to being frozen.

In the anime

Buizel is frozen

In the anime, the frozen status is literally the same as in the games; once a Pokémon is frozen, it can't move and is open to attacks. In some cases, a referee may call a frozen Pokémon unable to battle. When a frozen Pokémon is returned to its Poké Ball, the ice encasing the Pokémon is left behind while the Pokémon is recalled.

Freezing is one of the most common status conditions featured in the anime, resulting often when a Pokémon gets hit by an Ice-type attack like Ice Beam or Blizzard.

Original series

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

  • In Jirachi: Wish Maker, Brendan's Aggron froze a Lady's Solrock with an Ice Beam.
  • In Delcatty Got Your Tongue, Jessie's Seviper and James's Cacnea were both frozen by a joint Blizzard from Dr. Abby's Delcatty named Johnny and May's Skitty. The force of the combined Blizzard sent them into Team Rocket, breaking them out of the ice.
  • In The Bicker the Better, May's Skitty froze multiple people and Pokémon with Blizzard on three separate occasions, with the first victim being Ash's Corphish. May tried to have Skitty thaw it out by summoning Ember via Assist, with the former move finally being summoned on the third try and freeing Corphish from the ice, but also leaving it injured from the Ember. The second instance occurred when Skitty tried to freeze Jessie for stepping on its tail but froze James instead; Skitty freed and damaged him along with Jessie with an Ember summoned by Assist. The third and final instance occurred when Skitty froze the Team Rocket trio and their Pokémon before they were simultaneously freed from the ice and sent blasting off by a Tackle from Skitty and a Crabhammer attack from Corphish.
  • In Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snorunt!, a then-wild Snorunt used Icy Wind* to freeze different people and Pokémon on six separate occasions throughout the episode, with Brock, Team Rocket, and Ash being frozen in the first, second and third instances, respectively, with all of them thawing out shortly after being frozen. The fourth instance occurred when Snorunt froze Team Rocket, Jessie's Wobbuffet, and their Meowth Balloon, sending the balloon crashing to the ground and freeing the group from the ice. The fifth time happened when Snorunt froze Jessie's Seviper and James's Cacnea before the latter two were broken out of the ice by a Thunderbolt from Ash's Pikachu, in turn sending them flying at Team Rocket and causing them to blast off. The sixth and final instance occurred at the near-end of the episode, when Snorunt, now under Ash's ownership, briefly froze Corphish before May had her Combusken thaw it out with Fire Spin.
  • In Date Expectations, Ash's Snorunt froze Team Rocket with its newly learned, although unmastered, Ice Beam.
  • In Berry, Berry Interesting, while Ash was teaching Snorunt how to use Ice Beam, it accidentally fired one at Ash, briefly freezing him.
  • In Rhapsody in Drew, Ash's newly-evolved Glalie simultaneously froze Team Rocket and sent them blasting off with its newly-mastered Ice Beam.
  • In Like a Meowth to a Flame, in an attempt to stop Team Rocket from escaping with the flame of Moltres, Tyson had his Metagross stop their balloon with Confusion and Ash's Glalie froze Team Rocket with an Ice Beam, allowing Ash to jump up to their Meowth Balloon and retake the Moltres flame. However, just before he can get down, Team Rocket broke out of the ice and tried to steal the torch back.
  • In From Brags to Riches, during the second round of the Ever Grande Conference, the right hind leg of Morrison's Growlithe was briefly frozen by an Ice Beam from Gavin's Marowak before the latter simultaneously broke the ice and damaged Growlithe with a Bone Club.
  • In The Symbol Life, an Articuno that Noland befriended froze Team Rocket with an Ice Beam before getting and thawed out by a Flamethrower from Ash's Charizard. Later on in the episode, Charizard got his wing frozen by an Ice Beam from Articuno, thereby hindering his flying abilities. However, he managed to thaw his wing out with the heat generated from preparing to use Overheat.
  • In The Saffron Con, May's Squirtle used its newly-learned Ice Beam to simultaneously freeze James and Meowth and send them blasting off.
  • In A Hurdle for Squirtle, during the Saffron City Pokémon Contest, Squirtle used Ice Beam to not only free itself from a Spider Web that Harley's Ariados had set up, but to also freeze the Long Leg Pokémon and its web.
  • In Wheel of Frontier, during Ash's match against Greta in the Battle Arena, Greta's Hariyama was simultaneously frozen and knocked out by an Ice Punch from Ash's Snorlax. Later on in the match, Snorlax was frozen by an Ice Punch from Greta's Medicham, to which Ash responded by having Snorlax use Rest to recover its stamina. Snorlax was eventually broken out of the ice with multiple Focus Punches and a High Jump Kick from Medicham.
  • In Pace - The Final Frontier!, Ash's Pikachu was frozen by an Ice Beam from Brandon's Regice. However, thanks to Ash's encouragement, Pikachu was able to break free from the ice with a Thunderbolt.

Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Pokémon the Series: XY

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In the manga

Sceptile being frozen in Pokémon Adventures

Red, Green & Blue chapter

In Onix is On!, Red's Poliwhirl, Poli, froze and defeated a Pewter Gym Trainer's Graveler with an Ice Beam.

In ...But Fearow Itself!, Red had Poli freeze a then-wild Fearow with Ice Beam after distracting the Beak Pokémon with a Double Team afterimage.

In The Jynx Jinx, Red's Poliwrath, Poli, was frozen by an Ice Punch from Ken's Jynx.

In Make Way for Magmar!, Giovanni used his Cloyster to freeze and subsequently kill two wild Magmar.

In You Know... Articuno!, Articuno used Blizzard to freeze Team Rocket's Muk that was attacking Red and his Pokémon. This, however, forced Articuno to spend so much energy that Team Rocket was able to capture it soon after. When Koga later used Articuno against Red and Blue during the Silph Co. showdown, he had it use Blizzard to freeze the two Trainers solid. However, they were freed from the ice when Blue's Charizard used Flamethrower on the room from outside of the building.

In Golly, Golem!, Red's Poliwrath, Poli, was frozen by Giovanni's Cloyster in a battle at Viridian Gym.

Yellow chapter

In Ekans the Ecstasy, Yellow had her Omanyte, Omny, use Ice Beam to freeze the legs of the Team Rocket Elite Trio, including the legs of a Hypno belonging to Al, one the trio's members.

Gold, Silver & Crystal chapter

In Tyranitar War, Silver's Sneasel froze Gold's Sunkern, Sunbo, with Blizzard.

In Savvy Swinub, Pryce used his Swinub's Blizzard to freeze Suicune, although it was afterward revealed that the "Suicune" was actually a moving ice statue created by Pryce and moved by his Ice Pokémon.

FireRed & LeafGreen chapter

In A Well-Journeyed Jumpluff, Orm's Jumpluff got frozen after Yellow had her Omastar, Omny, use Blizzard on it.

Emerald chapter

In Moving Past Milotic, a Dusclops froze Emerald's borrowed Rapidash during his Battle Pike challenge. It was able to thaw itself out by using Flame Wheel.

In Susceptible to Sceptile, Emerald's Sceptile was frozen by a Blizzard from Ruby's Milotic, Feefee, during their Battle Dome match. However, after unlocking his lost memories, Sceptile managed to break free from the ice and defeat Feefee, giving Emerald the victory.

Diamond & Pearl chapter

In Shorting out Electivire, Volkner's Raichu was frozen by a Blizzard from Platinum's Empoleon. It managed to break out of the ice after eating an Aspear Berry.

In Shunning Spiritomb, Cyrus's Weavile froze Cynthia's Spiritomb. Cynthia tried to heal Spiritomb with an Aspear Berry, but Cyrus prevented this by having Weavile use Embargo. This forced the Sinnoh Champion to recall Spiritomb and send her Milotic out in her place.

Black & White chapter

In One Way or Another, during the Pokémon League semifinals, Black's Carracosta, Costa, froze and defeated Iris's Haxorus with a close-range Ice Beam.

Pokémon Pocket Monsters

In To the Pokémon League!!, Red's Clefairy was frozen by Lorelei's Dewgong, forcing Red to use an Ice Heal on him.

In other languages

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 冰凍 Bīngdung
Mandarin 冰凍 / 冰冻 Bīngdòng
French Canada Engelure*
Europe Gel
German Gefroren
Italian Congelato
Korean 얼음 Eoreum
Portuguese Brazil Congelado
Portugal Congelado
Russian Замороженный Zamorozhenniy
Spanish Congelado
Vietnamese Đóng băng



Status conditions
BURNED FROZEN PARALYSIS POISONED
ASLEEP CONFUSION FLINCHING FAINTED


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