Pokémon Movepool Oddities & Explanations

Cresselia~~ said:
Relevant: Found this video today. Found it really funny
Click to expand...

3. Timburr family & Wood Hammer: Once again a case of the move's name not accurately representing what the move's action entails. The idea is that a Pokemon with a wood/rigid plant-like body pretty much goes all in with a fierce attack, hurting itself in the process thus the recoil. Timburr using it doesn't make sense as why would it sustain damage? As for how it's represented in the anime, in the anime Aerial Ace shows the Pokemon flying even though that's not what the move is about. The anime sometimes isn't the best to get an understanding of how a move or Ability would work in real life.

12. Hitmonlee & Stomp: I'd say that's more because Hitmonlee's feet fighting style isn't stomping/trampling but specifically kicking. Also Fighting-types are usually a more honorable type and they wouldn't attack a foe when they've fallen to the ground and essentially defenseless.
 
This has always struck to me as quite odd, for some reason the Psyduck line is able to learn the move Worry Seed, being the only non grass types to do so.

The mighty Cryogonal gets access to the coveted Night Slash, but it appears that Poor Sneasel doesn't get it.

(its ok who even uses night slash anymore when knock off is better)
 
1st gen had a lot of redundant TMs, on top of odd Pokemon that could learn said TMs. Water Gun and Bubblebeam are redundant, especially when the latter is better in every way and the exact same pokemon can learn both. Really odd Pokemon could get it, that notably didn't get Water Pulse in later gens, the closest TM to them thematically(A weak-ish water type TM that many non water types can get). Specifically Rattata/Raticate, Cubone/Marowak, and Rhydon could learn Bubble Beam and Water Gun but not Water Pulse, while Tauros can get Water Pulse but not Bubble Beam and Water Gun. Otherwise among 1st gen Pokemon they have nearly the same distribution.

Overall, Gen I had some pretty funky TMs(Many of which were generic damaging normal type moves that were outclassed as options by Body Slam, Double-Edge, and Hyper Beam), some with stupidly limited distribution, like Egg Bomb and Softboiled, which in 2nd gen onwards all Pokemon besides Mew that could learn these got them via level up(Exeggcute/Exeggutor/Chansey for the former, just Chansey for the latter).

3 I want to point out are Tri Attack, Teleport, Pay Day

Tri Attack is fairly minor. Mostly given to normal and psychic types, the only fully evolved Pokemon to be neither that learned it was Cloyster.

With Teleport, I think game freak wanted all field moves to be either TMs or HMs, but it it is the only one among the 3 TMs(Dig, Softboiled, and itself) that became completely outclassed by an HM later on(fly), even though there were no pokemon that overlapped between the two moves. Naturally all of the Gen I psychic Pokemon can learn it via TM, but they decided to fill it up with other things. While various pink blobs an psychic-ish bugs are fair I feel, odd Pokemon like Arcanine, Magneton, Cloyster, Electrode, Electabuzz, and Magmar all could learn it.

Pay Day is an odd choice for a TM overall, but it was the only way to earn money post-game outside of re-fighting the Elite 4 and selling items once all the overworld trainers were defeated so it at least had some mechanical uses. Outside of the Obvious Persian, we got Raichu, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Golduck, Primeape, Slowbro, Dewgong, Rhydon, Snorlax, and Interestingly Mewtwo, but only in RGB and not Yellow version. Also in the case of Nidoqueen, Nidoking, and Rhydon, their pre-evolved forms could not learn it themselves.
 
Last edited:
Not Moves, this time I got to thinking about odd typing of Pokemon themselves. Some Pokemon either have/lack a type you would think it wouldn't be/have. Here's my list:

Nidoqueen & Nidoking: Having Ground. Where did the Ground-type come from? Like I could see them gaining the Fighting-type since they bulk up, but Ground just seems to have been given to them so Giovanni would have more Pokemon to use.
Ninetales: Lacking Psychic or Ghost. Another well known one, its based on a Kitsune and its Pokedex description says it gains psychic/mystical powers and the ability to lay curses.
Rapidash: Lacking Fairy. Based on a unicorn.
Golduck: Lacking Psychic. Has psychic powers and both it and Psyduck's name derive from having psychic powers.
Voltorb family: Lacking Steel or Normal. The Voltorb family has to be made out of something, they're artificial.
Dunsparce: Lacking Ground (and Flying?). It can dig really fast with its drill tail, even making complex underground nests. As for Flying, it can fly a little bit and we have Flying-type Pokemon who don't even fly.
Gligar family: Having Ground, lacking Poison. Nothing about Gligar alludes to it being a Ground-type, meanwhile it produces a poison. It's a flying scorpion, where did Ground come into the mix? If anything it has more reason being Poison/Flying than the Zubat family.
Misdreavus family: Lacking Fairy. Now there's a lot of Pokemon I didn't include which could have gotten types like Fighting, Dark, and Fairy but that was more wishing they would get that type rather than not making sense having/lacking it. However Misdreavus is at least partially based on a banshee, a type of malicious fairy. So I think it being based on a fairy is enough for me to add it to this list.
Lugia: Having Psychic, lacking Water & Dragon. We've been over this before, what about Lugia makes it Psychic? Its a Legendary so doesn't really need a type justification for having a link to the Winged Mirages (not like it can control them anyway). It lives at the bottom of the sea which its considered the guardian of. It's also based on a dragon.
Roselia family: Having Poison. Roses aren't poisonous.
Trapinch & Vibrava: Lacking Bug, for Vibrava having Dragon. Only Flygon looks anything like a dragon, Vibrava and Trapinch look like bugs (because that's what they're based on).
Sableye: Lacking Rock. It eats gems. It'll probably replace the Dark-typing which I think the only reason it got it was because they realized a Ghost/Dark-type would have no weaknesses at the time (though if I were to choose any Gen III Ghost-type to become part Dark I would have gone with Banette; I guess they gave it to Sableye to make it more notable?).
Torkoal: Lacking Ground, Rock, or Steel. Based on a furnace.
Wormadam (Trash Cloak): Having Steel. So it made a cloak out of what looks to be insulation and that makes it part Steel? Don't know what secondary type it would get, maybe remain pure Bug.
Drapion: Lacking Bug. Its a scorpion, and there's a ton of mean Pokemon who aren't Dark-type (though STAB Knock Off, Crunch, and Pursuit is nice).
Bronzor family: Lacking Ghost. The tale the Bronzor family is based on is about a curse. And a spirit or curse possessing them makes more sense than a random mirror/bell having psychic powers, just a bit.
Uxie, Mesprit, & Azelf: Lacking Fairy. They're even named after fairies.
Samurott: Lacking Fighting. Based on a Samurai.
Shelmet: Lacking Steel. So the armor its wearing makes Escavalier part Steel-type, but not itself?
Cofagrigus: Lacking Rock or Steel. Sure, Cofagrigus is probably the Pokemon inside the sarcophagus, but since most if not all attacks will be hitting the sarcophagus what its made of probably should come into play.
Bunnelby: Lacking Ground. Same deal, it's a good digger, its evolution is part Ground-type, why isn't it part Ground-type from th get go? Because its the early Normal-type com mon?
Florges: Lacking Grass. It fused with its flower.
 
A few comments on some of these:

-Ninetales: What's also odd is that it cannot even learn Shadow Ball or Psychic.
-Dunsparce: Definitely Ground, since it's based on the Tsuchinoko (Earth Snake).
-Gligar/Gliscor: The only reasoning I can see for Ground-Type is that scorpions are burrowing animals by nature.
-Roselia: Poison was probably given to it for Poison Point and to allude to the spikiness of roses.
-Sableye: The Dark fits actually better due to its greedy nature, to be honest.
-Torkoal: I guess they really wanted another pure Fire-Type for Hoenn.
-Drapion: It would be better if it were similiar with the other arachnids, since they're not insects.
-Samurott: They made Emboar Fire/Fighting, a type repeat would have been lame I guess.
-Shelmet: Maybe the armor hasn't grown enough to be resilient yet?
 
LightningLord2:
Ninetales: Though it does learn Extrasensory, Psyshock, Dream Eater, Power Swap, Hex, Grudge, and Spite.
Gligar/Gliscor: Bit of a stretch, and that aspect would have been lost since they fly now and make nests on side of cliffs (which I guess is maybe what they were going for but honestly when you're a flying creature your choice or making nests are oddly limited since it'll usually be some place high up).
Drapion: Well arachnids are still bugs.
Samurott: I think people wouldn't mind if Emboar had a different secondary type like Dark. :P
 
I actually thought that Samurott was part Steel...until I actually had one.

Probably a good thing they didn't do another Empoleon?
 
I guess I can see how... With the sword theme and all...
But they mention that the scalchops (and I assume seamitars) are made of keratin, the same material as fingernails, and fingernail is nowhere near steel
 
Pikachu315111 said:
Samurott: Lacking Fighting. Based on a Samurai.
Shelmet: Lacking Steel. So the armor its wearing makes Escavalier part Steel-type, but not itself?
Bunnelby: Lacking Ground. Same deal, it's a good digger, its evolution is part Ground-type, why isn't it part Ground-type from th get go? Because its the early Normal-type com mon?
Click to expand...

I can't really come up with anything for the others, but I think I can explain these ones.

Samurott - Swordplay isn't a martial art. A sport? Yes, but not a martial art in itself, hence why it isn't a fighting type. There is Kendo, but that's a relatively new thing and Samurott seems to be based off a Samurai from medieval times.

Shelmet - The armor simply hasn't fully matured yet. Think of a turtle and how its shell hardens as it grows older, or, in Shelmet's case, when both pokemon evolve.

Bunnelby - This one is a lot more intuitive to me: In a wild rebbit warren, I'd assume that the adults would be the ones digging up stuff. If we put that in perspective, Diggersby would be a fully matured rabbit who's responsible for building nests ( hence the ground-type) whereas Bunnelby would be a kit who's just fooling around while the grown ups do all the hard work ( hence why it isn't a ground-type yet. And even its name is basically a corruption of the word "bunny", which is a cute nickname for baby rabbits ).
 
Last edited:
Corrin said:
I can't really come up with anything for the others, but I think I can explain these ones.

Samurott - Swordplay isn't a martial art. A sport? Yes, but not a martial art in itself, hence why it isn't a fighting type. There is Kendo, but that's a relatively new thing and Samurott seems to be based off a Samurai from medieval times.
Click to expand...

300px-Swords_of_Justice.png


Shelmet - The armor simply hasn't fully matured yet. Think of a turtle and how its shell hardens as it grows older, or, in Shelmet's case, when both pokemon evolve.
Click to expand...

Alright, I'll give you that one.

Bunnelby - This one is a lot more intuitive to me: In a wild rebbit warren, I'd assume that the adults would be the ones digging up stuff. If we put that in perspective, Diggersby would be a fully matured rabbit who's responsible for building nests ( hence the ground-type) whereas Bunnelby would be a kit who's just fooling around while the grown ups do all the hard work ( hence why it isn't a ground-type yet. And even its name is basically a corruption of the word "bunny", which is a cute nickname for baby rabbits ).
Click to expand...

But it's name also comes from "tunnel". Also here are its dex descriptions:

Bunnelby Dex said:
X/Omega Ruby: They use their large ears to dig burrows. They will dig the whole night through.
Y/Alpha Sapphire: It has ears like shovels. Digging holes strengthens its ears so much that they can sever thick roots effortlessly.
Click to expand...

And it learns plenty of Ground-type moves, including Dig and Earthquake naturally.
 
Corrin said:
I can't really come up with anything for the others, but I think I can explain these ones.

Samurott - Swordplay isn't a martial art. A sport? Yes, but not a martial art in itself, hence why it isn't a fighting type. There is Kendo, but that's a relatively new thing and Samurott seems to be based off a Samurai from medieval times.
Click to expand...
... From wikipedia
Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in the art of the sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallswordfencing, but by extension it can also be applied to any martial art involving the use of a sword. The formation of the English word "swordsman" is parallel to the Latin word gladiator, a term for the professional fighters who fought against each other and a variety of other foes for the entertainment of spectators in the Roman Empire. The word gladiator itself comes from the Latin word gladius, meaning "sword"
Click to expand...
Also all other Pokémon that are based on swordfighting are fighting types as well so that still doesn't explain why Samurott isn't.
 
Welp guys, I tried.

Also, in itself it's weird how something as small as Bunnelby (0.4m is really, really, small if it is taking its ears into account) can learn Earthquake, I had no idea.

And while we're at it, I sort of get why Gyarados can learn Flamethrower/Fire Blast and other fire-type moves, but... why does it also learn Thunderbolt?? If it were Thunder Fang only then I could stretch it a little bit and let it slide, but straight up Thunder? What?

Emboar being capable of learning Scald is something I fail to comprehend. It manages 'heat up' water due its natural fire-typing, I get that and it does make sense to some extent, but where is it getting all that water from? Is Emboar literally taking a piss on his opponents? I mean, it IS a boar so I wouldn't be even surprised if really did something so abhorrently disgusting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JES
Recently played Black 2 again and I found out solosis can learn Rock slide. I guess it kinda makes sense given that solosis can use its psychic powers to lift up rocks, but why can't other psychic types like Alakazam use it then?
 
  • Like
Reactions: JES
Alli M said:
One could argue that the fighting type comes from the "justice" part and not the sword part. Fighting type can be interpreted to include noble fighting or standing up for the little guy as a counterpart to the Dark (Evil) type.
Click to expand...
But Sacred Sword is a Fighting type move.
 
Talpr0ne said:
But Sacred Sword is a Fighting type move.
Click to expand...
To the japanese the fighting-type is more like the "Hero" type, exactly in juxtaposition to the Evil ( dark ) type hence why it is super effective against it. Ergo, the 'Sacred' in its name is what makes it a fighting-type move, not 'sword'. Otherwise, Swords Dance would be a fighting-type move as well.
 
Corrin said:
To the japanese the fighting-type is more like the "Hero" type, exactly in juxtaposition to the Evil ( dark ) type hence why it is super effective against it. Ergo, the 'Sacred' in its name is what makes it a fighting-type move, not 'sword'. Otherwise, Swords Dance would be a fighting-type move as well.
Click to expand...
I would classify a Samurai as a hero. The Fighting type is also about honor which is a virtue/quality upheld by the Samurai.
 
Tazonite said:
I'm not sure if this has been brought up yet, but how in the actual hell does Dugtrio use Aerial Ace?
Click to expand...

Bulbapedia said:
This move is based on and named after Sasaki Kojiro's "Turning Swallow Cut" sword technique, so named due to its resemblance to the motion of a swallow's tail in flight, and is usually construed as a quick upward slash followed by a second one down the same direction, same as the move's animation.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top