How Screens Work — Reflect, Light Screen & Aurora Veil
How Reflect, Light Screen and Aurora Veil reduce damage, how they interact with critical hits, the moves that remove them, and how to build around them. (updated: 2026-07-24)
What screens are
Moves like Reflect and Light Screen set a field effect that lasts 5 turns, reducing the damage your whole side takes for its duration. Unlike hazards, the effect sits on your own side of the field — it's the backbone of bulky, stall-oriented teams.
The three screens
- Reflect: halves incoming physical damage for 5 turns.
- Light Screen: halves incoming special damage for 5 turns.
- Aurora Veil: halves both physical and special damage for 5 turns, but only works while Snow/Hail is active, so it's usually paired with a Pokémon that sets that weather.
All three can be stacked. Setting both Reflect and Light Screen reproduces the same effect as Aurora Veil, without needing Snow/Hail active.
The item that extends them
Holding Light Clay extends any screen's duration from 5 turns to 8 (matching the mainline series' rules). It's a high-priority item on stall teams planning for a long game.
Critical hits and screens (a difference from the mainline games)
In the mainline Pokémon games, a critical hit ignores screens entirely. In Pokémon Champions, screens still halve the damage even on a critical hit. Check both the "crit" and "screen" boxes on our damage calculator to see how much a screen still cuts down a crit's damage. It's worth reading how critical hits work alongside this for sharper in-battle reads.
Moves that remove screens
There are ways to clear an opponent's screens too.
- Brick Break: deals damage and clears Reflect, Light Screen, and Aurora Veil on the opponent's side at once.
- Psychic Fangs and Raging Bull: also deal damage while clearing screens.
- An attacker with the Infiltrator ability deals its normal damage regardless of any screen in place.
Using screens in a build
Screens are especially valuable insurance against a Pokémon that outpaces yours or hits first with something big. Pair them with a defensive pivot cycle or Protect-based play to hold the initiative during the 5–8 turns they're up. If the opponent sets screens on you instead, look at stat-boosting moves or the removal moves above to break through.