-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Pokémon Movepool Oddities & Explanations
- Thread starter Kurona
- Start date
(I'm not sure this counts as a movepool oddity but it's definitely an explanation)
The reason Extreme Speed's distribution might seem inconsistent and weird at first is (like many other moves) due to a misleading translation
Extreme Speed is "God Speed" in japanese which is why the move is given to pokemon that are revered or believed to be sacred in-universe instead of just really fast pokemon
(I also remember seing somewhere that Sucker Punch is "sneak attack" or something similar in japanese but google translate doesn't seem to agree)
The reason Extreme Speed's distribution might seem inconsistent and weird at first is (like many other moves) due to a misleading translation
Extreme Speed is "God Speed" in japanese which is why the move is given to pokemon that are revered or believed to be sacred in-universe instead of just really fast pokemon
(I also remember seing somewhere that Sucker Punch is "sneak attack" or something similar in japanese but google translate doesn't seem to agree)
Last edited:
I think it's closer to surprise attack than sneak attack but yeah. Hence why people like Geodude and Diglett could get it as tutor moves.
I personally like to think Lucario specifically learns Extreme Speed because it gives off major DBZ vibes and the move just kind of works with that.
Bulbapedia has Extreme Speed in Japanese as Shinsoku/Swiftness. Is there an alternate reading or pun not mentioned? Also, Deoxy-S, Togekiss, and Zygarde are never mentioned to be tied to some sacred belief.
shinsokus kanji, 神速, is god(ly) + fast.
QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
Why did so many Pokemon lose Reflect after Gen I? About to transfer some Pokemon from the VC titles, took a moment to check if there were any useful TMs I should teach them before they go, and noticed that a large amount of species only get Reflect in Gen I even though it's been a TM more or less constantly since Gen III. EDIT: Stranger still is that Tangela, of all things, doesn't get it in Gen I!
May very well be due to the change in what Reflect does.
In gen 1 and 2 it was just a 2x defense for the pokemon that uses it (and Haze would clear it even), however in gen 3 it became a field condition that affects the entire field of the user, so they opted to have it on a distribution that reflects (hehe) more the "psychic barrier" effect.
(Unsurprisingly, large majority of the learners are psychic types)
I mentioned it in another thread days ago, but why the heck could Fennekin learn Power-Up Punch in Generation VI?
Its evolutions aren't exactly a great fit either, being wand-using magicians, but Fennekin in particular? You know, a quadruped with skinny legs?
Shaymin-S should have been able to learn this move, that's what I'm saying.
Its evolutions aren't exactly a great fit either, being wand-using magicians, but Fennekin in particular? You know, a quadruped with skinny legs?
For me, this is less "divine power of speed" and more "super duper fast movement", i.e., gotta go fast.
One of two reason:
1. they probably just gave it to it while giving it to the entire line, then forgot to remove it like they did with Poliwag or Mareep or whatever
2. All the Kalos starters learn it, at all 3 stages. So they probably gave it to Fennekin for similar reasons, the wanted the full set to have it even if it's never going to use it evolved, much less unevolved.
Also, I noticed that because Dusclops is compatible with Mega Kick, so is Dusknoir. Considering that Dusclops ditches its legs during evolution, I'm confused as to how Dusknoir can kick without any legs to kick with.
Something I've always wondered: Why can Rhydon and Rhyperior learn Ice Punch, when Golem can't?
Ice Punch is explicitly given to very few Ground-Type Pokémon, presumably because turning your fist into ice in order to punch something would cause freeze-thaw. Rhydon and the Nidos get an exemption of this thanks to being based on kaiju, especially based on kaiju in an early gen where kaiju = huge movepools.
In fact, the only other Ground-Type Pokémon to learn Ice Punch are Diggersby, the water/ground Pokémon, Ursaluna (pre-evos always learned it), and— Golurk. Y’know, the other Ground-Type Pokémon based on a golem. This can be explained by Ice Punch being very common on Ghost-Type Pokémon, much like Icy Wind, because it fits thematically with being dead and all, but it is funny that you pointed to Rhydon instead of the other golem as the bar for Golem.
See also: Togekiss with punching moves
Golurk probably gets to bypass any type stuff just because it's
Kind of weird the flying punching robot doesnt get Sky Uppercut, actually.
Golem is also based on a kaiju from Ultraman.
The boring answer is that Ice Punch was given to pretty much every Gen 1 Pokemon with arms that could learn Ice Beam in Gen 1, except Marowak for some reason. Rhydon had to wait till Platinum to get it, though. I believe this is also true for Thunderbolt/Thunder Punch and Fire Blast/Fire Punch (Flamethrower not being a TM in Gen 1). The Geodude line has never had the same crazy special movepool that a lot of physical Gen 1 mons got, but it did get Fire Blast in Gen 1 and then Fire Punch/Flamethrower when they became teachable in Gen 2.
Of course, this just pushes the question back a step: why doesn't Golem learn Ice Beam? I don't have a more interesting explanation than 'Gen 1 movepool choices were all over the place'. It does seem to me that a lot of the Pokemon that learned the trio of elemental special attacks in Gen 1 were characterised as rare Pokemon (Safari Zone exclusives, mons favoured by Poke Maniacs, Moon Stone evolutionary lines, etc.).
Last edited:
I hadn't noticed that before but yeah, damn. The version of Takkong from Return of Ultraman especially.
gallade got shadow claw in gen9 despite not being a slash move (why?) And gallade barely having hands. stone edge Also isn't a slicing move, somewhy. Giving slicing category to kowtow cleave, behemotg blade and aura cutter was Also strange, since none of the sharpness users can learn it. And population bomb, Also. Did gamefreak targetted skill swap gallade on friend guard maushold for duels? seems p fait to me. Also, crabhammer being given to gliscor despite not being a crab seems odd to me, scorpions live in deserts lol. At least garchomp liquidation makes sense. Then, why, WHY did gardevoir got vacuum Wave this late? always have been said that gardevoir would go up to create a void to protect its trainer. it's more of a flavor move, and Also, why tf does ursaluna bm have harden? Why doesnt it have dark pulse and shadow ball, shiftry having wind rider makes no sense since shiftry creates.wind, is heavy and slow and has a bad shiny.
Having other moves boosted by Sharpness that can't be leaned by regular users is consistent with other Abilities that boost particular subsets of moves. For example, Mega Launcher is capable of boosting Origin Pulse and Iron Fist is capable of boosting Meteor Mash.
Why are Ludicolo and Slowking the only Water types that are able to learn all the elementary punches ?
Also, I do have an explanation about why Rhydon can learn Surf (I even have two ones): Rhinos can swim (yeah, that seems weird but they can), and it references the natural disasters and damages that kaijus are able to cause (since a Pokemon using Surf is literally causing a tsunami)
Also, I do have an explanation about why Rhydon can learn Surf (I even have two ones): Rhinos can swim (yeah, that seems weird but they can), and it references the natural disasters and damages that kaijus are able to cause (since a Pokemon using Surf is literally causing a tsunami)
So first off and I'm sorry for this but this post shows an glaring lack of very basic research in some areas, a few of these of these can be answered by simply looking at the ingame animations (stone edge) or reading the pokedex entry (bloodmoon ursaluna) but as for the others:
- Unlike other "claw" moves Shadow Claw is not depicted as the pokemon itself using its claws to attack but rather "slashing the opponent with a sharp shadow"
- See Ironmage's post
- (I can't argue against this but living in arid environments is not a valid argument: look at Klawf for example)
- Why would it have Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball in the first place? (sorry for answering with this but seriously why would it?)
I'm sorry if this feels harsh but i was just baffled by the lack of basic research in your post but i hope you will learn from this and do a bit more research on your own before you make posts like this from now on!
(i didn't realize how mostly unhelpful this post was until i wrote this, I'm sorry) (please don't like this, it's not a good post)Like, it's a scary pokemon that lives in the Woods and appear at night. Also see the list of pokemon With both these moves that fille one of these two categories.