Rpg Maker Developers Group

hi all, as part of a small project i've chosen to try to make a small game with combat that plays like an old zelda game (like the zelda 1, or links awakening, etc)
being pretty early on in the process i haven't gotten much done, but i've begun working on the sword mechanics. getting the sword to swing when i press Z is easy enough, its just some other details i need some assistance with.

firstly, (and the smaller of the two asks) is how to get the player to stop moving for a few frames once Z is pressed. below is a screenshot of the parallell event that allows the player to swing a sword:
View attachment 291793

it plays a sound effect, changes the player image to one of them swinging the sword, and after 5 frames of that, it changes them back to normal.
my question is: is there a way to force the player to stop moving for something like 5 frames? because as it is, the player just keeps moving as the sword is out and i want them to stand still


next, (and likely the more complex of my two questions) is how to get an enemy to take damage if hit with the sword. right now, my idea would be that while the sword is out, a switch would be turned on, and if there's an 'enemy event' directly in front of the direction the player is facing, they'll take a hit and possibly get sent backward a tile.

i guess i want to know if any of this is possible without a plugin? is it worth my time to just get one? im mainly going without right now since a lot of ABS plugins have a lot of other features that i'd just have to axe because i only really want like, a sword and bombs i guess. thanks to any and all who see this!