In the Pokemon universe, Grass-types seem to forever be seen as the most harmless of the Pokemon. Many of them are flowers, mushrooms, or just a tangle of vines. Also, the power of Grass-type attacks is rather low on average. However, with each new generation of Pokemon games, the Grass typing has gotten new attacks added to its repertoire. After eight generations, Grass-types now have some incredibly strong moves.
The Grass arsenal features many moves that manipulate stats (mostly attack and defense), or add negative status ailments to the opponent and/or positive status effects to the user. The Grass-type is best known for its leeching attacks – attacks that harm the enemy and heal the user simultaneously.
Updated on December 9, 2022, by Jeff Drake: The list of Pokemon moves only gets larger as time moves on. Pokemon: Sword and Shield added quite a few new Grass-type moves; many of them are powerful enough to secure a spot on this list. Grass-type moves have a unique meta-strategy compared to other types. Some move types, like Fire, try to overwhelm the opponent with massive damage. The Grass type is more of a slow burn, with moves like Leech Seed and Bullet Seed that slowly whittle down the opponent's hit points over several turns.
25 Cotton Spore
Moving first in a combat turn is a tremendous advantage. It gives a Pokemon the chance to make the opponent faint before they get a chance to move. It also helps keep a Pokemon in fighting form since it's not taking as much damage as it would if it went last in a combat turn.
Cotton Spore sharply lowers the target's Speed in two stages. This is enough that even the slowest Pokemon will have a decent chance of going first in a turn for the rest of the battle. If not, the effect lasts at least for the rest of the battle, giving any other Pokemon facing the target an immediate advantage. The chance of this working on the target is 100%, and with a PP count of 40, this move can be used liberally.
24 Cotton Guard
There are a ton of defensive moves in Pokemon. Many of them aren't that popular. Why? Here's a familiar scenario: The fight starts and players use a move that raises their Pokemon's Defense rating. Then the opponent hits their Pokemon and takes away about half its hit points. The boost to the Defense rating isn't going to help much at this point. While players can heal their Pokemon, they are probably just going to get hit again next turn.
Cotton Guard is one of the few defensive moves worth taking. It sharply raises the user's Defense. After one use the damage taken from Physical attacks is reduced by half (approximately); after two uses damage is reduced to 1/4.
23 Strength Sap
Strength Sap has two effects when it is used in battle – both of them are extremely beneficial for the user. The first effect is that the Pokemon using Strength Sap is healed by an amount equal to the opposing Pokemon’s attack rating. In other words, the stronger the opponent the more Strength Sap heals.
The secondary effect is that it lowers the opposing Pokemon’s attack rating. This will cause subsequent uses of this move to heal less, but the opponent’s physical attacks will deal less damage. This would have made a great TM (perhaps in the place of a bad one like Nature Power), but sadly, it's a rare move. It was Morelull and Shiinotic's signature move before the current generation, but now a select few Pokemon (such as Polteageist) can also learn it.
22 Leaf Storm
This is the second most damaging Grass attack through Generation 7. Leaf Storm has a power rating of 130, an accuracy rating of 90, and a PP count of 5.
There is almost always a penalty in the Pokemon games for using a move with such a high power rating and Leaf Storm is no different – every use lowers the user’s Special Attack by 2 stages, to a minimum of -6 (this is also the case with several other powerful moves, such as Draco Meteor). This penalty prohibits Leaf Storm from really being used much (except in the case of Contrary Serperior), but the PP count doesn’t allow for many uses anyway. Moves like this are best used for finishing a battle.
21 Grassy Glide
Now, this is where Grass-types really get serious. Grassy Glide doesn’t look particularly impressive with its modest 70 Base Power, but don't be fooled.
The crucial thing here is Grassy Terrain. While this Terrain is on the field, Grassy Glide is boosted by said grass and has +1 priority. Grassy Surge and Grassy Glide alone make Rillaboom an absolute terror. Other Grass-types can make excellent use of Grassy Glide as well, as the priority and 1.3x damage boost combined make it very oppressive.
20 Petal Blizzard
Petal Blizzard was introduced in Generation 6, so its effect is tailored for the multi-Pokemon battles introduced in Generation 5 (and doubles matches introduced in Generation 3). This attack has a power rating of 90, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 15. In the multi-Pokemon battles, Petal Blizzard also hits all of the Pokemon adjacent to the target, including the player’s Pokemon.
The power rating for this move is fairly high for an attack that damages multiple Pokemon in a formation. An excellent combo with Petal Blizzard is the Sap Sipper ability, which makes a Pokemon’s attack increase when hit by a Grass attack (which also does no damage).
19 Bullet Seed
This can be one of the best standard attacks in the Pokemon series - if players are lucky. Bullet Seed has a power rating of 25, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 30. This attack always hits at least twice, but it can hit up to five times. Since it always hits twice the base minimum power is 50; if five seeds are launched this has a combined power of 125.
This makes Bullet Seed potentially more powerful than a Fire Blast. Each of these is treated as a separate attack – so each seed has a chance for a critical hit. Couple this with Breloom (which has the Technician Ability to boost the power of each hit) or Toucannon (which has the Skill Link Ability to ensure five hits each time) and the true damaging potential of the move is unlocked.
18 Horn Leech
Horn Leech is the perfect move to use on a weakened Pokemon during the middle of a match against another trainer. The reason for this is simple, Horn Leech not only hurts the opponent, but it also heals the user 50% of the damage dealt. This will get the user ready for the next Pokemon the opponent throws into battle.
This physical attack move has a power score of 75, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10. When used while holding Big Root, the user heals 65% of the damage dealt. This move is nearly identical to Giga Drain (#8 on this list) but ranked lower due to Giga Drain being available to more Pokemon.
17 Energy Ball
Energy Ball was introduced in Generation 4, and it's still one of the best Grass-type attack moves in the series. It has a power of 90, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10. A power of 90 is no joke, and its accuracy of 100 means it should always hit. The PP count is a bit low for a move with 90 power, but 10 isn't bad and is the move's only real negative aspect.
This move also has a 10% chance of reducing the target's Special Defense by one stage. A 10% chance is better than not having a secondary effect at all - 10% better, in fact. This move can be learned by a lot of Pokemon and is also a TM (#53). This is actually a pretty good TM to give to weaker Grass-types.
16 Grav Apple
Grav Apple is new to the Pokemon series, having been released in Pokemon: Sword & Shield. This move is a good example of power creep in gaming. This move is exclusive to Flapple, so the developers made it a little stronger than the average move. In future Pokemon games, this move will almost certainly be made available to other Pokemon as new, stronger, PPokemon-exclusive moves are introduced.
Grav Apple has a power of 80, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10. In addition to these great stats, Grav Apple also lowers the target's Defense rating by one stage. This is a Physical attack - that means every use of Grav Apple will cause the next use to do more damage.
15 Apple Acid
Apple Acid is like the Special-type variant of the Grav Apple move. If two moves are similar, but one is a Special move and the other a Physical one, the Special move is generally the better of the two. Special attacks aren't susceptible to defensive abilities like Flame Body and Tangling Hair.
When stuck by this ability the target's Special Defense is lowered one stage; there is a 100% chance of this happening. So, just like Grav Apple, each successive use against the same Pokemon will do more damage. Also, like Grav Apple, this move is only available to one Pokemon at the moment.
14 Drum Beating
Drum Beating is a powerful attack move with which to start a match. It does significant damage and has a 100% chance of lowering the target's Speed one stage. If your Pokemon is a bit on the slow side, this might lower the opponent's Speed enough to allow your Pokemon to act before it for the remainder of the battle.
This physical move has a power of 80, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10. The only real negative aspect of Drum Beating is that it can only be learned by one Pokemon - Rillaboom. It's not a TM or TR either, so getting a Rillaboom is the only way to use this move.
13 Wood Hammer
Generally speaking, recoil moves are some of the strongest in the games. It’s only fair, after all, as the user takes some of the damage dealt as recoil afterward.
Wood Hammer has 120 base Power, as do other recoil moves like Double Edge (Normal) and the deadly Flying-type attack Brave Bird. Exchanging HP for raw damage output isn’t always the best idea, so Wood Hammer might be knocked down a peg or two for that, but it’s very, very strong.
12 Synthesis
Synthesis is a very different kind of Grass move. Status moves can be a bit of a mixed bag, but this one will be a perfect fit for the array of bulky Grass-types in the series.
Like Recover, Roost, and other similar moves, Synthesis restores the user’s HP by half. There’s an additional complicating factor, though. In harsh sunlight, this move instead restores two-thirds of the user’s HP, while other weather conditions cut the healing to one-quarter. It’s situational, and it won’t suit every Grass-type, but Synthesis is still a fantastic asset.
11 Solar Beam
Solar Beam has been around since Generation 1. It is an extremely potent attack - with one serious drawback. It has a power of 120, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10. Ten is a lot of uses for a move with power over 100 and an accuracy of 100.
Now the drawback - this move requires powering up on the first turn. A lot can happen in one turn in the Pokemon games. The player's Pokemon might be put to sleep, confused, paralyzed, frozen, or faint before it can unleash the Solar Beam. This wait can be avoided if the move Sunny Day is used in battle first.
10 Solar Blade
Solar Blade is similar to Solar Beam. It does comparable damage, after having to charge on the first turn. There are a few differences between the two, though. Solar Beam is a Special attack, whereas Sola Blade is a Physical one. Both moves are also weakened in weather conditions that diminish sunlight, like a sandstorm or rain.
This move does a little more damage than Solar Beam, having a power of 125. The accuracy rating is 100, and it has a PP count of 10; which is a lot for such a high power score. Use this move during times of bright sunlight to have it activate in one turn rather than two.
9 Spore
This is another of the most useful non-attacking moves for Grass Pokemon. Spore only has one power – it puts the opposing Pokemon to sleep. There isn’t a chance of missing either; barring extenuating circumstances Spore is going to work. The opposing Pokemon is put to sleep for 1-3 turns.
During this time, the player can continue to attack unimpeded, heal wounded Pokemon without the active one being attacked, or switch to a different Pokemon without retaliation. If a Pokemon knows Spore, they are great choices for the Dream Eater TM (#85). It's certainly not one of the most practical TMs in series history (there are other TMs that are far better), but Dream Eater has a high (100) power and heals the user by an amount equal to half the damage dealt.
8 Giga Drain
The secondary effect of this move makes it superb for come-from-behind victories. Giga Drain has a power rating of 75, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 10. The secondary effect is that the user is healed by an amount equal to half the damage dealt.
Unless the opponent uses extremely damaging moves, Giga Drain will allow a Pokemon to be victorious without much damage being taken in return. If the Pokemon using this move is holding the Big Root item, the amount of draining increases from 50% to 65%. As a result of the healing effect, this makes an excellent finishing move.
7 Seed Flare
Seed Flare is easily one of the best Grass-type attack moves. It has a power of 120, an accuracy of 85, and a PP count of 5. The accuracy isn't low enough that the user is going to be missing all the time, and the damage is high enough that it can cause a one-turn faint - or at the least drop the opponent's hit points to critically low values.
This move also has a 40% chance of lowering the target's Special Defense by two stages. A move this powerful almost always has a negative side effect when used. Seed Flare's only negative is its 85 accuracy. Players will want to raise the PP count though so they don't have to ration its use.
6 Power Whip
Power Whip is an excellent high-damage Grass move with only a minor consequence for its use. This move has a power rating of 120, an accuracy rating of 85, and a PP count of 10. The accuracy rating of 85 is the only real negative to Power Whip; the base 15% chance to miss is enough to be a bit of a nuisance at times.
A PP count of 10 for an attack with a power of 120+ is fairly uncommon, as most similar moves have a PP count of 5. Power Whip doesn’t have a secondary effect, but ultimately battles are won by dealing more damage than the opponent.