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Pokémon Movepool Oddities & Explanations
- Thread starter Kurona
- Start date
I return with a new one. Why does Blacephalon get rock blast?
Probably because it's rock blast. The description is just hurling boulders but you can interpret it as the rocks blasting apart on impact, or blowing up the rock and the "multihit" part of it is the debirs.
Basically a pun.
The command you’re looking for is
/nds water, !scald (or /ds water, !scald if you only care about mons in gen 8.)I was thinking, and perhaps it has something to do with it being reminiscent of a clown. Maybe suggesting it's juggling the rocks?
TailGlowVM
Now 100% more demonic
Speaking of Blacephalon, why is it one of only two non-Psychic type Pokemon to learn Expanding Force? It doesn't seem like a move that fits with a clown theme, and sticks out even more considering Blacephalon's extremely shallow movepool.
It's likely due to it being Expanding Force, thus tying into Blacephalon's exploding head. Notably, the other non-Psychic-type to learn it, Wigglytuff, is known for inflating itself like a balloon.
The real question is probably why doesnt Drifloon, the actual much more literal balloon pokemon, doesnt get it.
My thought has to do with this - "If for some reason its body bursts, its soul spills out with a screaming sound." Maybe that means something? But on the other hand, it does still get explosion and self destruct...
Now, once again on the topic of Blacephalon and explosions, it is obviously known for its exploding head. It learns explosion and self-destruct. What it does not learn, however, is misty explosion. Why? It's an explosive move, and that's what Blacephalon is known for.
While it would fit, Misty Explosion is exclusive to Fairy-Type Pokémon right now. If it ever gets expanded distribution, I’m sure Blacephalon will be first in line.
Misty Explosion itself is a weird move that shouldn’t really exist. It feels very disconnected from what the Fairy-Type is supposed to be and represent, and the only Pokémon that ever uses it (Carbink) already used Explosion for the same role. Getting STAB on your suicide lead makes almost no difference when it’s a Carbink; it would frankly rather have a pivoting move than either of them.
The thing is though, the original Japanese name of the move is Wide Force(Literally, it's Japanese name is the English words "Wide Force")
- Terrain Pulse: I've said this before and, sorry, I'm saying it again: This feels like it should be saved as a Signature Move for a Terrain version of Castform. Same with G-Stunfisk's Mimicry Ability. Seriously GF, what are you thinking? "What Move would you have given instead"? That's a tough question, due to Normal-type's "default" nature it's not really missing that much. Maybe a replacement for Return? 100 Power, 100 Accuracy, no secondary effect Move; "Strong Strike".
- Burning Jealousy: Now in a generation where a good chunk of the super mechanic's effects increases your & allies stats, Burning Jealousy isn't bad. But I think it does miss the mark in maybe having also done increased damage + Burning effect cause, correct me if I'm wrong, I'd think most of the time if you want to burn you'd have a Pokemon use Will-O-Wisp otherwise you'd go with the stronger Flamethrower (or higher). "What Move would you have given instead"? While I have ideas for at least more interesting Special moves, if each Type is only getting one move I'd gone with a Physical Move. I'd either do a Quick Attack ("Rocket Boost") copy or a Storm Throw copy ("Combustion Hold").
- Flip Turn: No complaint, Water-type U-turn sounds pretty neat.
- Grassy Glide: Of the Moves they made to work with Terrain, Grassy Glide is probably the best. Sure a batch of Grass-types likely won't be able to take advantage of it being Physical, but for those who can if you can throw up a Grassy Terrain you got a decent Power priority move.
- Rising Voltage: Eh, like the high Power in Electric Terrain is nice, but kind of feel it doesn't really do much that Electric-types don't already get. Since they wanted it to work with Electric Terrain I'll stick to just suggesting an Effect change. Like, maybe make it so it ignores & removes if possible any effect that would decrease damage &/or prevent it from hitting (bypass Evasion increases, Protect variants, Light Screen & Aurora Veil, etc.). Otherwise gone with a Physical move, maybe a Iron Head copy "Circuit Break".
- Coaching: I think it needed to increase 3 stats instead of 2 for it to be worth wild. Also, maybe instead of Attack & Defense have it be the target's 3 highest non-HP stats.
- Scorching Sands: Pretty good, maybe would have been a bit better if it was Physical instead of Special.
- Duel Wingbeat: Ugh, they just had to add that "wing" part, didn't they? Is fine otherwise, just a few choice Flying-types would have liked to have a Flying-type move that didn't require them being a bird or have wings.
- Meteor Beam: Nice it's a Special Move... but I think when players said they wanted a more general Special Rock-type move they were thinking something along the lines of a copy of Shadow Ball ("Litho Sphere"). A Solar Beam copy I don't think anyone wanted, even if on the first turn it increases Special Attack.
- Skitter Smack: What does this do again? Decreases Special Attack. So they took Lunge, made it 10 points weaker & less accurate, and switched which stat decreased. How forgettable. "What Move would you have given instead"? I think this could have been another Status move. How about a Gastro Acid copy, another dust move ("Inhibit Dust").
- Triple Axel: An odd choice but I think it's alright. Though I would have more gone with a Slash copy, or better yet Leaf Blade copy ("Ice Pick").
- Corrosive Gas: Can't complain too much about an Item remover.
- Expanding Force: Another Terrain-enhanced move, and I feel about it as I feel about Rising Voltage. Suggesting the same effect as Rising Voltage would be boring (even though that's what they sort of did),
so how about letting it hit both targets instead of one. Or, if they want an effect that works in single battles, maybe have it force switch the target. EDIT: So I'm a dummy, Expanding Force does hit both opponents under Psychic Terrain. Already, that does make it better so I'll change it from a red to a blue. - Poltergeist: I know this was a very liked Move so ain't gonna touch it. It's a clever way to punish a Pokemon for having a hold item aside from making them lose it.
- Scale Shot: Eh, I guess alright, though honestly I think a biting move Crunch copy ("Dragon Gnash") would fit better.
- Lash Out: Pretty much the opposite effect of Burning Jealousy: instead of the target getting a stat increase it's the user getting a stat decrease. Alright for this gen, though honestly I would just rather have a high Power Dark-type move without a gimmick attached to it, like a Thrash copy ("Wild Rebel").
- Steel Roller: I also feel it should have affected Entry Hazards, but I guess is fine, at least for this gen. Though, thinking about it, if they had this for Terrain maybe they should of had one for Weather too.
- Misty Explosion: Another missed change for a Physical Fairy move. Forget this Explosion copy, instead do a Phantom Force copy and if Misty Terrain is up, instead of waiting next turn to do damage, have the damage happen the turn the move is used (user still vanishes from battle on the next turn).
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Funnily enough, Terrain Pulse is a signature move of sorts, or at least it was. Terrain Pulse is basically just "Nature Power but less interesting" and Nature Power was the signature move of Hoenn's early Grass duo: Seedot and Lotad.
It's also a high BP physical Ghost move, which is something physical Ghost types such as Dusknoir have been begging for since Gen 4 tbh.
Too bad physical Electric-types haven't had that same fortune yet.
Is this not what the move already does under terrain in doubles?
Also, Skitter Smack has gotta be the greatest waste of space move added to Pokemon in a while. It's a physical, contact-making Bug move that sits at 70 BP, very close to a whole bunch of common moves such as X-Scissor, Leech Life, Lunge, Pin Missile*, Bug Bite, and of course U-turn. In terms of effect, it has incredible overlap with both Lunge AND Struggle Bug, and is often less useful that either of those as a support move due to its' 90 accuracy. It has only one saving grace, and that's the flavor of the move being unique enough among Bug moves to put it on a pretty wide group of Pokemon. The problem? While a fairly decent amount of Pokemon actually have it as their best physical Bug coverage (Grapploct, Goodra, Krookodile, Sandaconda, Dusknoir, etc), it's still a Bug move. Not useful as coverage in competitive singles or doubles, not usable during the main story without an incredible amount of foresight that's better spent elsewhere, and relegated to the sole corner of 'very niche draft league option'.
*Pin Missile on average hits nearly 80 BP (79.2 to be exact)
Playing Black 2, I'm going to Mistralton Cave in order to find the Rock Slide TM. Since it's kind of annoying without Flash, I go to my PC and withdraw my Magmar.
Turns out Magmar can't learn Flash. But there was a Pokémon in my team that could learn Flash.
(Technically there was also Shuckle, but I swapped it for Magmar for this botched Flash attempt, and also for Strength)
What is more strange to me is that Skarmory (as well as bunch of other Pokémon) couldn't learn Flash while it was still an HM, but suddenly could once it became a TM.
Turns out Magmar can't learn Flash. But there was a Pokémon in my team that could learn Flash.
(Technically there was also Shuckle, but I swapped it for Magmar for this botched Flash attempt, and also for Strength)
What is more strange to me is that Skarmory (as well as bunch of other Pokémon) couldn't learn Flash while it was still an HM, but suddenly could once it became a TM.
Yeah, fun fact, the only Fire-types com mons to learn Flash is the Litwik family, and that's probably more because they're based on objects that are used to give off light than because they're Fire-types. The other Fire-types are Legendaries: Entei, Ho-oh, & Victini, all of whom may have a secondary reasoning other than "fire creates light".Turns out Magmar can't learn Flash. But there was a Pokémon in my team that could learn Flash.
(Technically there was also Shuckle, but I swapped it for Magmar for this botched Flash attempt, and also for Strength)
Flash is really weird in that regard. You'd think most if not all Fire- and Electric-types would learn it with any other Pokemon being a special inclusion to just give it a wider distribution... but the opposite is more true. Honestly, with the way they handled Flash's distribution, they might as well have made it like Toxic and allowed every Pokemon to learn it. Heck, I find it more believable in some shape or form a Pokemon can harness their elemental power to create even a small bit of light than every Pokemon having the ability to create a poison that's even more dangerous than the poison that Poison-type Moves and Abilities produce (YES, I know Lockstin just made a video about that, but even in that video he struggles to justify it by stretching the terms of poison & toxin to very base definitions that at the end he even considered an infection caused by a human bite a type of poisoning).
QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
Perhaps Skarmory uses its metal body to reflect whatever light is in the area and dazzle the opponent...? In a similar vein, Meowth presumably shines the coin on its head and uses that to create a bright glare.
Idk, Flash is a weird one. It's one that it seems like lots of Pokemon should learn but I would often receive the HM during a playthrough and realise nothing on my team could learn it. Creating a brilliant flash of light is something you'd expect Electric-types to be good at, but it's learned by many Grass- and Bug-types. Fine, that makes sense when you consider most Grass-types use moves like Solarbeam and Moonlight - they're using light here too, just in a different way. Many Psychic-types have an affinity with light, too, so a lot of those get it - even honorary Psychic-types Psyduck and Golduck. Blissey can use Dazzling Gleam and Wish - which is depicted in-game as a shower of twinkling stars - so it follows that it can generate a burst of light relatively easily.
A handful of other Pokemon which have some sort of thematic association with light - Hoothoot, Quagsire, Dusclops, Banette, Absol, Cofagrigus - also get it.
The only Pokemon that really strikes me as odd is Weezing. Why does Weezing get Flash? In the anime, 99% of the time Weezing was used to fill a room with smoke and obscure everyone's sight so Team Rocket could get away. Same effect as Flash, I suppose, but a completely different method. But it learns Smokescreen anyway, so...?
Idk, Flash is a weird one. It's one that it seems like lots of Pokemon should learn but I would often receive the HM during a playthrough and realise nothing on my team could learn it. Creating a brilliant flash of light is something you'd expect Electric-types to be good at, but it's learned by many Grass- and Bug-types. Fine, that makes sense when you consider most Grass-types use moves like Solarbeam and Moonlight - they're using light here too, just in a different way. Many Psychic-types have an affinity with light, too, so a lot of those get it - even honorary Psychic-types Psyduck and Golduck. Blissey can use Dazzling Gleam and Wish - which is depicted in-game as a shower of twinkling stars - so it follows that it can generate a burst of light relatively easily.
A handful of other Pokemon which have some sort of thematic association with light - Hoothoot, Quagsire, Dusclops, Banette, Absol, Cofagrigus - also get it.
The only Pokemon that really strikes me as odd is Weezing. Why does Weezing get Flash? In the anime, 99% of the time Weezing was used to fill a room with smoke and obscure everyone's sight so Team Rocket could get away. Same effect as Flash, I suppose, but a completely different method. But it learns Smokescreen anyway, so...?
I'm just going to assume that the only reason that Jynx and Gardevoir get flash is because they're psychic types...
I think all psychic types get flash, except for the ones released after gen VI, because flash just isn't available as a TM anymore. The only other exceptions I noticed are gimmick Pokemon like Unown, Wobbuffet and Darminatan zen mode.
I think all psychic types get flash, except for the ones released after gen VI, because flash just isn't available as a TM anymore. The only other exceptions I noticed are gimmick Pokemon like Unown, Wobbuffet and Darminatan zen mode.
What really surprises me is, as I had said before, the Pokémon that couldn't learn Flash while it was an HM, but could when it became a TM. Namely, Beedrill, Skarmory, Lugia, and the Lileep line.
And then there's Hoothoot and Noctowl who could learn Flash while it was an HM but suddenly stopped being able to learn the move once it became a TM.
And then there's Hoothoot and Noctowl who could learn Flash while it was an HM but suddenly stopped being able to learn the move once it became a TM.
That being said, Jynx had to wait until Gen III to learn Flash.
So we have Umbreon, the "Moonlight Pokémon". Yet it doesn't get Moonblast, which has the description of "Borrowing the power of the moon, the user attacks the target. This may also lower the target’s Sp. Atk stat." The other moon-based move it learns, Moonlight, is presumably doing the same sort of thing, but to heal itself. Please explain.
Can't have (too much) overlap between Eeveelution move types. Obviously, Umbreon has been able to learn Psychic since its introduction, and Sylveon gets it as well (but Psychic as a move has consistently had... an oddly wide distribution. Magmar? Snorlax?? Corsola??? Garbodor????). The only other major overlap is Vaporeon getting Ice moves, but it's had them since it was added, as is par for the course for Water Pokémon, and Glaceon was only introduced 3 generations later.
There's also the odd case of every Eeveelution in Gen 2 with the exception of Vaporeon getting Zap Cannon.
Shadow Ball and Weather Ball are both Eevee moves, which is also odd. It's not unheard of in either case, but when the best coverage options are also available to the normal-type pre-evo, it feels weird.
Sylveon does not get Psychic, actually, which is another oddity, the move is common on fairy types.
Sylveon does not get Psychic, actually, which is another oddity, the move is common on fairy types.
It does get Psyshock though, which has significantly narrower distribution outside of the Psychic type. It's also one of only three Pokemon to learn Psyshock but not Psychic, the other two being Ninetales and Alolan Ninetales.