Hey Mathies! What's the % difference between Spark vs Thundershock?
Raichu is stronger with Thundershock and Magneton is stronger with Spark because Thundershock charges Thunder faster whereas charging a fast move for Magneton isn't as important because his charge moves suck.
So % wise...
How much stronger is a Thundershock Thunder Raichu than a Spark Thunder Raichu?
How much stronger is Spark Discharge Magneton than a Thundershock Discharge Magneton?
Answers
A thundershock Raichu isn't stronger than one with spark. Spark has higher dps, as well as builds your charge move slightly quicker, which is what you want. They are close, but thundershock is sub-optimal by comparison (thus why they are usually in the same class on offense, but spark is always above).
Actually according to this site, although Spark on Raichu does slightly higher DPS (about 10% more), both moves generate 8 energy per use, but thundershock has the shorter cooldown (0.6 versus 0.7 seconds), so charges the charge move faster (13.33 energy per sec versus 11.43 for spark). So if you don't dodge at all, you could charge Thunder in 7.5 seconds versus 8.7. Over an infinite length battle and no dodging (i.e. not in the real world), the much higher DPS of more frequently used thunder makes these two move sets pretty much equal. Whether this balances out the difference in average DPS in the real world depends on the battle duration (and thus how many times you can charge and release thunder) and how you dodge: If you are like me and a bit conservative with dodging but trying to dodge everything, thunder shock is probably the higher overall DPS, because its easy to get in 3 thunder shocks between dodges, but I can never seem to get in more than 2 sparks, at least against Gyarados (my prime target for Raichu) because bite is so fast (only 2.4 seconds between Bites on the defense AI. But if you stand and fight (no dodges), Spark may be the better move.
