Stellar
of the Distant Past
Hoenn 2.0
Three generations of Pokémon games separate XY from RSE—three generations of new moves, new types, new abilities, and new mechanics. When we return to Hoenn this November, we will likely encounter a region that is startlingly different from the one we first experienced in 2003. One of the most interesting conversations I've had with friends during the few months since ORAS' announcement was how these movepool and mechanics updates will change the games we played in the past. Now I'm bringing that discussion to you!
Question: How will movepool/ability/mechanics updates improve/impair the performance of Hoenn Pokémon (player-owned or otherwise)?
Guidelines
- Use XY movepools and abilities as the basis for discussion.
- Movepool update speculation is fine as long as you keep it in the realm of the probable.
- You may discuss the inclusion of later-gen evolutions of Hoenn Dex Pokémon like Dusknoir.
To begin discussion, I'll bring up two of the most notable changes.
The Fairy Type
Many past-gen Pokémon found themselves with a shiny new typing with the introduction of the Fairy type in Pokémon XY. Four of these Pokémon—Ralts, Marill, Mawile, and Jigglypuff—are available in RSE (and the first three are available very early at that!). Ralts, Marill, and Mawile can be found before the second gym battle. Now trainers have an extra type with which to hit Brawly's Pokémon for super-effective damage, as well as more Pokémon to resist Makuhita's Bulk Up-boosted Arm Thrusts.
The most disappointing aspect of Fairy-types is their lack of early-game STAB moves. Ralts does not learn an offensive Fairy-type move until it evolves into Gardevoir and learns Moonblast at Lv85 or by move relearner. Marill doesn't learn Play Rough until Lv45 (Lv50 as an Azumarill), and Jigglypuff doesn't learn the disappointingly weak Disarming Voice until Lv50. In BW2, we saw many Pokémon receive movepool updates that allowed them to perform better early in the game (take the Eeveelutions for example). Maybe we'll see the same thing in ORAS?
Gym Leaders
In RSE, trainers were able to take advantage of certain Pokémon's lack of coverage to easily manhandle gym leaders. Brawly was completely incapable of touching Ghost-types like Sableye and Wattson had little means of dealing with Ground-types like Geodude. This will likely change a bit in ORAS where Pokémon now have exponentially larger movepools. Assuming gym leaders maintain their Pokémon's levels from Emerald, Brawly's Makuhita can now slap your Sableye around with Knock Off and Wattson's Magneton can make short work of your Geodude with Magnet Bomb or (potentially) Mirror Shot. Oh, and good luck OHKOing Magneton through a possible Sturdy!
We've also seen certain gym leaders with updated TM access—take Norman for example. We see his Slaking using Retaliate during battle, making it pretty clear that he now gives victorious trainers TM67 Retaliate. Despite Retaliate having the same base power as boosted Facade, its power boost is much more likely to be activated in battle, making it that much easier for Norman to OHKO your Combusken or Blaziken (for reference, Combusken only has a chance of survival beginning at Lv36 with max IVs in HP and Defense).
A list of potential gym leader changes can be found here.