In the past few games, the strength of the Pokémon's attack is dependent on either its Physical Attack or Special Attack and their defense against attacks with Physical Defense and Special Defense. The Physical and Special aspects were determined by type. Physical being Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Ghost, Bug & Steel and Special being Water, Fire, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Ice, Dragon & Dark.
In Diamond & Pearl however...this changes
Physical/Special Split

In Diamond & Pearl, the Physical & Special Attacks are not done solely on type. This time, the classification of each attack and what stats it affects on both your Pokémon and the opponent Pokémon, is determined from the attack itself. Now unlike what most people think, this is not determined through the Physical Contact aspect of the attacks created in Ruby & Sapphire. The way they are decided is if the attacks are done with Physical Stuff such as Punches, Rocks, Stingers etc. or Elements and other special stuff. However, the full extent of this is not yet known


Checking the Classification

Previously, there was no actual way to tell if the attacks were Physical or if they were Special, except through the use of Guides and Websites. However with this massive change, now when you check the Pokémon's attack in the Status Screen, it will give you the classification including an icon to help determine this. The icons are as follows:

Physical
Special
Other

The Category called Other is where the attacks that do not actually cause damage based on any of the stats (such as Spikes, SonicBoom etc.) or that do any damage at all (such as Tail Whip, Covet etc.)


Below is a list of the attacks that we have the new categories for. When the game is released Lists of Physical, Special & Other will appear here:

Name PP Att. Acc. Type Effect Nature
Thunderpunch 15 75 100 An electrified punch that may paralyze the foe.
Fire Punch 15 75 100 A fiery punch that may burn the foe.
Ice Punch 15 75 100 An icy punch that may freeze the foe.
Hyper Beam 5 150 90 Powerful, but leaves the user immobile the next turn.
Swift 20 60 -- Sprays star-shaped rays that never miss.
Charm 20 -- 100 Charms the foe and sharply reduces its ATTACK.
Sweet Kiss 10 -- 75 Demands a kiss with a cute look. May cause confusion.
Mimic 10 -- 100 Copies a move used by the foe during one battle.
Bone Rush 10 25 80 Strikes the foe with a bone in hand 2 to 5 times.
Grasswhistle 15 -- 55 Lulls the foe into sleep with a pleasant melody.
Leech Seed 10 -- 90 Plants a seed on the foe to steal HP on every turn.
Magical Leaf 20 60 -- Attacks with a strange leaf that cannot be evaded.
Poison Sting 35 15 100 A toxic attack with barbs, etc., that may poison.
Spark 20 65 100 An electrified tackle that may paralyze the foe.
Psybeam 20 65 100 Fires a peculiar ray that may confuse the foe.
Reflect 20 -- -- Creates a wall of light that weakens physical attacks.
Heart Swap ? ? ? ? Stat Effects are swapped between all Pokémon on the field
Nature Spurt ? ? ? Uses a Berry to change the type and strength of another attack
Freeze ? ? ? ? Disables Foe's Hold Item
Trouble Seed ? ? ? Changes Foe's Ability to Insomnia temporarily
Discharge 15 80 100% Hits Everyone on the Field
Shadow Claw ? ? ? ?
Force Exert 10 60 100% 30% Chance Of Paralysis
Anticipate 20 -- 100% When the opponent uses an offensive move. User attacks first at 1.5 times main power
Manekko ? -- ? Mimic's opponent's attack at a weaker strength
Poison Barb 20 -- -- Lays Barbs that afflicts opponent Pokémon with Poison when called out into battles
Ice Fang 15 65 95% May Cause Freezing & Flinch
Thunder Fang 15 65 95% May Cause Paralysis & Flinch
Fire Fang 15 65 95% May Cause Burn & Flinch
Scheme ? -- -- Greatly Increases User's Special Attack
Feint Attack ? ? ? ? Attacks even if the opponent has used Protect or Detect
Blabber ? -- -- Confuses the opponent. Allows player to record voice for use in this attack