Protect vs Detect

[Hahex and Oshawott]

Other than the obvious of PP, what exactly is the difference between these two moves? I've read that in 2nd  and 3rd gen you could alternate between those moves for tons of invincibility, but that seems to have changed in the 4th gen. Is there a difference in priority or something?

[Richard and Blaziken]

You couldn't alternate between the 2 in 3rd gen for sure. I don't know about 2nd gen, but it sounds unlikely, given how the metagame is all about stall; that'd surely be a more popular strategy.

Anyway, Protect is almost always better. There is room for Detect, however, in Doubles competitive. See, Protect strategies are very common in Doubles, and people know this, so they try to lock the opponent out of protecting at all with Imprison. If you're running Detect, there's much less of a chance that the opponent can lock you out of your protecting move.

Outside of that, Protect is just superior, never use Detect. Any Pokemon that can learn TMs learns Protect.

[Volkner]

There's no difference between Protect and Detect. They have the same priority and work the same way. The only difference is the amount of PP, which places Protect as the better option.

[Wolstenholme]

The protect graphic annoys me though, so where possible I go for detect.


I don't generally use these moves though... they just feel too much like cheating.

[Hahex and Oshawott]

You couldn't alternate between the 2 in 3rd gen for sure. I don't know about 2nd gen, but it sounds unlikely, given how the metagame is all about stall; that'd surely be a more popular strategy.

Anyway, Protect is almost always better. There is room for Detect, however, in Doubles competitive. See, Protect strategies are very common in Doubles, and people know this, so they try to lock the opponent out of protecting at all with Imprison. If you're running Detect, there's much less of a chance that the opponent can lock you out of your protecting move.

Outside of that, Protect is just superior, never use Detect. Any Pokemon that can learn TMs learns Protect.

All right, I'm trying to breed a lucario for a double's team so I might end up using detect. Thanks for the help!