"I'd like to challenge the working theory on dodge mechanics"

#PokemonGO: The popular theory seems to be that moves deal damage over time during a damage window (200ms to 2100ms, depending on the move), and dodging creates a 500ms window of invulnerability. If the dodge window coincides with any part of the damage window, that damage will be negated, resulting in either no damage taken or partial damage taken. I've been paying close attention to the application of this idea in training recently, and I personally feel comfortable in saying this isn't how dodge works.My experience is only personal (no supporting quantitative analysis), but it is based on lengthy training sessions using the same attacking Pokemon each session against the same defending Pokemon in the gym. During these sessions I've experimented with all different dodge timings, taking careful notes along the way. Here's what I feel is true, and why:The dodge window doesn't start the moment you dodge and last for 500ms. It would be more accurate to say that the dodge window is an opportunity. From the moment the flashing yellow indicator appears on the player's screen, the player has 500ms to perform a swipe gesture - this window represents the player's opportunity to successfully dodge an attack.A successful dodge will always mitigate a static amount of damage (~75%). My point of reference on this, and the thing that really drove me to believe that the working theory on dodging doesn't work, is my experience with dodging special attacks. I first noticed this when training against an Exeggutor with Solar Beam. When I failed to dodge a Solar Beam, it would deal approximately 80% of my Scyther's health in damage; when I successfully dodged a Solar Beam, regardless of how I timed my dodge, it would only deal approximately 20% of my Scyther's health in damage. The working theory on dodge windows and damage windows suggests that a perfect dodge would only mitigate 500 of 1700ms of damage (~30% damage mitigation), and this is absolutely contrary to my observations. Further observation continues to suggest that a successful dodge will always mitigate a static, fractional amount of damage, regardless of whether the attack is a standard attack or a special attack.It is impossible to dodge a move entirely. The working theory suggests that it really shouldn't be all that hard to fully dodge standard attack; every standard attack has a damage window of 200ms, and defenders attack at a static rate (1 Atk / 2 Sec). It doesn't seem to matter if I prematurely swipe at the yellow flash, swipe in the middle of the yellow flash, or swipe at the end of the dodge opportunity, I always observe damage.Dodging has a cooldown. This is probably the most subjective of my speculations, but I've observed immediately successive dodges to fail. I have the easiest time observing this when dodging special attacks. If I register that the defending Pokemon is performing a special attack and accidentally dodge early, any dodge immediately after will fail and the special move will register full damage, even when the swipe gesture is performed inside the dodge opportunity after the flashing yellow indicator.I hope this helps to forward the discussion on dodging and the gym-battle meta. I think defensive tier lists in particular stand to benefit most from a conclusive understanding of these mechanics, and I hope we can work towards something more concrete going forward. I apologize for my lack of quantitative analysis, and hope you'll accept my speculation as subjective, but potentially valid none-the-less. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2aWMQ3m