Where To Get TM73 Thunder Wave in Pokémon HGSS

TM73 Thunder Wave is only available for sale at the Battle Frontier. You’ll gain access to this area once you beat the Elite Four the first time.

TM73 will cost 32 Battle Points (BP), and you can get as many copies as you want.

Finding TM73 Thunder Wave

The Battle Frontier is to the left of Olivine City.

If you have never been to the Battle Frontier before, start by taking Olivine City’s west exit. Just go west past Olivine City’s Pokémon Center and onto Route 40.

The player on their way to leaving Olivine City, heading past the local Pokémon Center

Keep walking west and then enter the gate located at the upper left corner of the route.

Reading the sign in front of the gate leading to the Battle Frontier on the upper left of Route 40

If you have already beaten the Pokémon League, the NPC managing the gate will not block your way.

Proceed through the gate and you should find yourself in the Frontier Access area.

The player entering the Frontier Access from the Route 40 entrance

Continue heading north through the Frontier Access area until you come across a sheltered entrance.

This will take you into the Battle Frontier gate, which has several NPCs behind two counters on the sides of the entrance hall.

The player receiving a welcome from the attendants at the Battle Frontier entrance after entering for the first time

Keep walking north and then leave through the opposite end of the entrance hall. This will bring you to the actual Battle Frontier grounds.

Here, you will see a set of stalls not far from the entrance. These stalls carry different kinds of items that you can get by exchanging Battle Points.

The player entering the Battle Frontier grounds, standing close to a pair of BP exchange stalls

The red-striped stall is the one that offers TMs. From the entrance, this would be the closest to your right.

The TM category selection menu at the Battle Frontier’s TM exchange stall, with the Changing Attacks set highlighted in red

Speak to the NPC at this stall and you will be asked to select from 3 different categories of moves.

Choose the Changing Attacks category to find TM73 Thunder Wave.

The set of Changing Attacks TMs in the Battle Frontier’s TM exchange stall, with a red highlight around TM 73 Thunder Wave

Using TM73 Thunder Wave

Thunder Wave Move Details
Type	Electric
Category	Status
Power	– – –
Accuracy	100
PP	20

Thunder Wave is an Electric-type status move that inflicts your opponent with paralysis. Paralysis has a 25% chance of immobilizing an affected Pokémon each turn.

It also cuts down the paralyzed Pokémon’s speed by 75%.

Noteworthy Points:

Pokémon that have Magic Guard cannot be immobilized by paralysis. They will still suffer the Speed decrease, however.
Thunder Wave will fail when used against Ground-type Pokémon, just like any other Electric-type move.
Thunder Wave will also fail against Pokémon with Limber since they cannot be paralyzed.
Pokémon with Quick Feet will not be affected by the Speed reduction from paralysis. They will gain a 50% boost in Speed instead.

A Magneton using Thunder Wave in a battle

Key Takeaways:

Thunder Wave is a reliable choice for the paralysis status. This is thanks to its high accuracy and good PP count. The immobility chance of paralysis can be useful, but the low odds of it happening mean it isn’t something to be depended on.
The guaranteed Speed reduction is what makes paralysis especially valuable. It can help you slow down a strong, speedy attacker that is overwhelming your team. Dealing paralysis will also benefit your team greatly if you have strong attackers that are slow or have average Speed.
It’s recommended to have Thunder Wave on a bulky Pokémon. Preferably one that has a recovery move. They will likely be able to endure hits from fast sweepers then inflict paralysis.

Here’s a quick list of recommended Pokémon worth teaching Thunder Wave to:

Togekiss
Slowbro
Blissey
Magnezone
Clefable
Drifblim
Gardevoir

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J. Cloverfield

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She's a social science major and hobbyist illustrator known for her shyness, temper, and love of pink. Her first try at gaming was with a Pokémon Silver bootleg as a preschooler, and by now she's played nearly all of the Pokémon games—spin-offs included. Zero Escape, Ace Attorney, Danganronpa, Shin Megami Tensei, Fire Emblem, and Story of Seasons are some of her other favorite franchises.

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