A Bisharp's blade is as sharp as a Pawniard's, but these pokemon have far better control over their movements, and can decide for themselves whether they will deliver a knockout blow or a killing one. Their great speed, combined with their skill at swordplay, allows these pokemon to easily strike even an armored foe's weak spot, and they can attack so quickly that they are yards behind their foe before they realize they have been hit.
This traditional technique carries with it a high probability of missing, and was used on the battlefields of old against samurai, for even should they miss their target, the chaos of war and their enormous speed left them typically free to try again. This was far more difficult in formal duels – and their modern successor, pokemon battles - where Bisharp faced a single foe and could not lose themselves in a crowd of allies and enemies, and racing past their target meant they only faced a turning foe and a blow to the back of the head. Even in warfare, Bisharp who used this movewere eventually stymied by changes in tactics; by the late Ransei era, it had become commonplace to focus on Bisharp's deadly strikes to the exclusion of other foes, for left unchallenged they could assassinate a small army singlehandedly while using their comrades as cannon fodder.
To counter this, Bisharp mastered many other techniques, such as Swords Dance and Night Slash, which typify their battles today. But should any foe let their guard down against these creatures, and any Bisharp trainer think they can get away with it, the ancient technique of Unova's battlefields has not been truly forgotten.
