oh interesting. I knew about like some of the large amount of water pulse users, for ex. hippowdon, but I didn't realize there were that many like the nidos, hippos are at least watery even if it's...ground. Yeah, I actuallyused a mixed Fire Blast Mega Aggron as a Baton pass target from cm, in battle maison. Long story, but the point is it stuck out more for the pre evo getting it than had it JUST been for aggron.
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Pokémon Movepool Oddities & Explanations
- Thread starter Kurona
- Start date
In Gen 9, Hippowdon and Tyranitar both lost Water Pulse and Tyranitar also lost Whirlpool. The only Water move the latter gets now is Muddy Water
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Scrafty, a pokemon that can spit acidic liquid from its mouth, a pokemon that can be taught Acid Spray and Poison Jab via TM, cannot be taught Gunk Shot. But why?
Scrafty is based on an american delinquent, based on its attire having a hood and its pants, as well as the fact that Unova is based on New York and parts of Jersey, which has gangs. They usually come in gangs where they would use dirty tricks like Beat Up (a move where it involves revealing your entire party to beat up on a single mon) or Tormenting and Taunting them (like the moves Torment and Taunt). So, the animation of Gunk Shot having someone throwing a Trash Can at the enemy doesn't seem a big of a stretch, considering its antics. Plus Scrafty does have ways of using dirty tricks, like breaking Conkeldurr's concrete blocks.
Plus, Pangoro (also a Dark/Fighting type) can also be taught Gunk Shot via TM, and the pokemon is based on a Japanese delinquent. So why not Scrafty?
Also, speaking of Pangoro, it can also learn Surf via TR04 in SWSH lol.
Edit: Garbodor also can't learn Poison Jab, but I'm assuming its right arm doesn't really have functional fingers, just pipes that have been stuck onto it. Poor thing.
Scrafty is based on an american delinquent, based on its attire having a hood and its pants, as well as the fact that Unova is based on New York and parts of Jersey, which has gangs. They usually come in gangs where they would use dirty tricks like Beat Up (a move where it involves revealing your entire party to beat up on a single mon) or Tormenting and Taunting them (like the moves Torment and Taunt). So, the animation of Gunk Shot having someone throwing a Trash Can at the enemy doesn't seem a big of a stretch, considering its antics. Plus Scrafty does have ways of using dirty tricks, like breaking Conkeldurr's concrete blocks.
Plus, Pangoro (also a Dark/Fighting type) can also be taught Gunk Shot via TM, and the pokemon is based on a Japanese delinquent. So why not Scrafty?
Also, speaking of Pangoro, it can also learn Surf via TR04 in SWSH lol.
Edit: Garbodor also can't learn Poison Jab, but I'm assuming its right arm doesn't really have functional fingers, just pipes that have been stuck onto it. Poor thing.
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Trash can Gunk Shot was only a thing in Gen 6. In Gens 4 and 5 it was a spray of poison bubbles and from Gen 7 on it's been a big poison blob. XY's inexplicable trash can has no bearing on if a Pokémon could learn it.
I wouldn't say Gen 6's trash can animation for Gunk Shot is "inexplicable." The move's Japanese name is "Dust Shoot", and in Japanese, "dust" is an unusual loanword in that it usually refers to garbage or trash (Garbodor's Japanese name has the "dust" loanword as well, and Nintendo translator/reporter PushDustIn took his name from a sign on a trash can). Although lobbing a trash can should probably qualify more as a Steel-type attack, its contents certainly make sense. I actually think the trash can animation feels more fitting for the strongest physical Poison attack than a collection of purple bubbles or an amorphous poisonous blob.
(The other half of Gunk Shot's Japanese name, "Shoot," seems to be being used according to its usual English definition and not its unconventional loanword sense of a kick, as it's used in MHA for Deku's kicking-based style and in Wolf's Up Special in Smash.)
Oh cool, this explains why Dust Man in the Mega Man games is basically an industrial trash compactor and has nothing to do with dust. (Outside of dirtiness I guess.)
But uh yeah I got nothing as to why Scraggy and Scrafty cannot use Gunk Shot. Even if you take the trash can part out, gang activity is often associated with the dirty and run down parts of cities. Taking the original name into account, Gunk Shot would still very much be in line with that theming.
It might be a relic of when it released (2016, around the release of SM and thus before a lot of changes from Gen 6->7 were widespread), but PoGo still uses the Trash Can animation, and at this point the animation is pretty distinct as part of the move's image. On top of that, if the animation just being a spray of generic Poison Bubbles and Sludge is what the move is identified by, it goes back to Scrafty not being allowed to have the move despite Acid Spray and Poison Jab, vs Pangoro as a concept and animal basis with significantly less ties to the idea of Poison/Venom.
Shoutouts to Pokken's implementation of Gunk Shot, which is either a chunk of rubble or a blob of ooze determined randomly when it's used.
Though with the move having enough of a "throw things" theme to be learnable by a majority of monkey mons, there's a part of me that thinks scrafty doesn't learn it because its hands are too busy holding its pants up to want to get them dirty handling trash.
They must've got it from the British/old American English as "Dustbin" was used to describe what is now "Trashbin/Trashcan"
iirc even in english dust used to mean a lot more than what it does now back when ash and soot would be everywhere, because of factories and mines, in the air and thus make its way into homes
I have older relatives that still refer to the trashcan as a dustbin.
even weirder considering they added Trubbish to where you find Scraggy in Black2/White2
I mean that was more of a reference to the area getting built up into basically a city and becoming polluted than anything.
Pretty sure it's more the fact it would be basically indistinguishable from Sludge and Sludge Bomb given how stripped down move animations in Go are.
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Staraptor can be taught Struggle Bug via TM in Gen 9.
This is funny considering it couldn't be taught that move in earlier generations, so why now?
Struggle bug is a move that is associated with bug type pokemon or at least related to bug types, like how Iron Moth can learn it because it's a future counterpart of Volcarona or how Gligar can learn it because it's part of the bug egg group.
But why Staraptor?
This is funny considering it couldn't be taught that move in earlier generations, so why now?
Struggle bug is a move that is associated with bug type pokemon or at least related to bug types, like how Iron Moth can learn it because it's a future counterpart of Volcarona or how Gligar can learn it because it's part of the bug egg group.
But why Staraptor?
Uh, i think its cause the struggle bug tm number used to be Roost. And raptor used to get roost. They prob just never bothered to fix it.
Disarming Voice is the only move in SV that Alolan Raichu can't learn through TM that Normal Raichu can learn. Pikachu and Pichu can learn it through TM. Also, it's been an Egg Move for Pichu ever since Gen 6 and their Evolution Chain are the only Pokemon who even have it as an Egg move in SV. It's kind of obvious this was a mistake. :P
Oh haha I posted this one before. I wonder how many posts are re dos of ones someone else found xd. Well the roost number thing now makes it make sense. I was clueless as to why before, a few are reaching, but that wasn't even close.
The reasoning falls flat when this can be applied to any other move that were teachable in previous generations, like why can Rayquaza learn U-turn and Wild Charge now but not before?
It's definitely a mistake with the Hyper Beam TM from previous generations. Here's the Struggle Bug learnset. Every mon that learns it is either a bug type or in the bug egg group. The only exceptions are Mew, Iron Moth, and Staraptor. It's a move for bugs and bugs only, so why give it to a single aggressive bird? Not the evolutionary line either, just Staraptor.
Now, in every gen from 1 to 7, Hyper Beam was TM 15. And Staraptor, but neither of it's pre-evos, learned it. In LGPE and SWSH, TM 15 changed, but Staraptor wasn't in those games. In BDSP, again Hyper Beam was TM 15, and Staraptor could learn it. In SV, Staraptor is in and TM 15 is now Struggle Bug, a move which Staraptor has never learned before, but for some reason it gets it now. Definite mistake, though also not a relevant one.
I love how Remoraid and Octillery's gun and tank inspirations, respectively, give Game Freak carte blanche to hand them random projectile moves. Rock Blast as an Egg Move? It's basically a rock cannonball, sure. Bullet Seed in their level-up movepool? The translation from Japanese is Seed Machine Gun – of course a tank would have a machine gun! Beam moves like Aurora Beam and Psybeam? Eh, they work. Flamethrower and Fire Blast? Flamethrowers are weapons that actually exist, let's throw them in. Might be a war crime tho.
Though that does make me wonder why the two never got Mega Launcher or any of the moves boosted by it (other than Water Pulse obvs). Would work quite well thematically.
Though that does make me wonder why the two never got Mega Launcher or any of the moves boosted by it (other than Water Pulse obvs). Would work quite well thematically.
Hyper Beam is TM163 in SV and Staraptor learns it that way, so I don't think it's a mistake
The "mistake" would be forgetting to remove the old TM number from learnset despite adding the new one.
That is why i mentioned Elgyeem Steel Wing, as that is how it learns it, one of the moves it used to learn changed TM number but they forgot to remove the old TM from the moveset
It'd make them more viable
It'd change nothing as both Pokemon have terrible stats and have no serious use outside of "hey this is cute to use for a playthrough".
How come Vivillon doesn't learn Air Slash? The animation for the move shows the pokemon dealing wind damage from its wings.
I would get it if its wings are small and therefore wouldn't be able to deal damage similar to a blade of air, except other similar bug or size creatures like Ledian, Beautifly and Masquerain can learn it. Plus, both of them can learn Hurricane naturally, and they definitely would deal more damage than a blade of the wind.
Could they throw a bone to Vivillon; its only other stab Flying moves are Gust and Hurricane (which it gets really late in an XY playthrough).
Butterfree also only gained Air Slash in Gen 6, but then it lost it again in Gen 9.
Also Rayquaza can learn Air Slash for some reason, even though it doesn't have wings.
I would get it if its wings are small and therefore wouldn't be able to deal damage similar to a blade of air, except other similar bug or size creatures like Ledian, Beautifly and Masquerain can learn it. Plus, both of them can learn Hurricane naturally, and they definitely would deal more damage than a blade of the wind.
Could they throw a bone to Vivillon; its only other stab Flying moves are Gust and Hurricane (which it gets really late in an XY playthrough).
Butterfree also only gained Air Slash in Gen 6, but then it lost it again in Gen 9.
Also Rayquaza can learn Air Slash for some reason, even though it doesn't have wings.