How did confusion deal 1/2 damage?

Question

I was just battling with my lvl 100 Samurott a lvl 48 Tranqill. I used Hydro Cannon but it missed and then Tranquill used Swagger. Samurott hurt itself in its confusion and the damage dealt the 1/2 of my Samurott's HP. Is it a glitch or something ??? Please help !!

Answer 1

That's probably because Samurott's Attack was risen.

If the move you used when you hurt yourself in confusion was Physical, that means due to Swagger Sharply raising Samurott's Attack, it gave itself more damage when it hurt itself in Confusion. Confusion damage takes raises/decreases to your stats into full account.

Comments

Thanks Fizzy

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No worries, glad to help!

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One time this zangoose used swords dance twice and then got confused and hit himself OHKOing him in the process

Answer 2

It isn't a glitch.

Swagger raises the target's Attack two stages and confuses it. Should the target already be confused, or be protected by confusion due to Safeguard, Swagger will still raise its Attack. Pokémon with the Ability Own Tempo are immune to both effects. Because the target's Attack increases, they will receive more damage if they hurt themselves.

Source