Chelours attack problem in Pokémon Go has finally disappeared

Pokémon Go developer Niantic has apologized for an error that allowed Chelours to learn a quick attack that ‘he wasn’t supposed to own.

In recent years, the Pokémon video game franchise has been plagued by performance issues, visual glitches, and a litany of things not working properly. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet might be the buggiest entries in the series, with DLC requiring a patch to fix major issues.

Pokémon Go has had problems from day one, but they are more accepted by fans, given that it is an ongoing game that receives new content regularly. Niantic runs a game constantly played by millions of people around the world, so hiccups are to be expected.

Bugs in Pokémon Go usually involve visual glitches, but some have been known to affect the game’s mechanics, as was the case fora version of Chelours that was published with the wrong attack type.

Niantic apologized for a Pokémon Go bug that caused Chelours to learn Vamp Fist as a quick attack

The Niantic Support Twitter/X page posted an apology for a Chelours event that had incorrect movement. In this case, he had Vampy Fist as a quick attack, which has now been changed to Shadow Claw.

Trainers, we have identified an issue with Bewear that learned the Fast Attack, Drain Punch in December. The issue has been resolved, and any affected Bewear will learn Shadow Claw as the Fast Attack instead of Drain Punch.

— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) January 11, 2024

This is a problem because Vamp Fist is meant to be a charged attack, meaning you’re normally supposed to build it up with quick attacks before unleashing it on your enemy to deal lots of damage. Vamp Fist is also Chelours’ signature move in Pokémon Go, giving him exclusive access to this attack.

The fact that Vampire Fist was a fast attack meant that players could cast it much faster than usual, making it much more powerful than it should be. This also skipped the usual charging animation, which meant other players couldn’t block it with shields.

It’s unclear how such an error could have occurred, given that moves are split into two distinct categories in Pokémon Go. Regardless, the error has now been fixed, and Chelours can return to terrorizing people in the Pokémon anime, not other creatures in Pokémon Go.