Pokémon Movepool Oddities & Explanations

[Pikachu315111]

Speaking of Mew, I always wondered why it isn't Normal type. Since it is the original Pokemon, the generic, unspecialized Normal type honestly makes much more sense than the Psychic type, which is a specialized type.

Psychic-types have sort of been used as the "mysticism type" for a long time before Fairy-types came into the picture. Normal-type gives the idea there's no extraordinary power they have or it has some sort of neutrality to them if they were only part Normal-type. Mew is very special and though maybe could have been Normal-type at one time in the past it could be that the Mew living nowadays have themselves evolved to being pure Psychic-type as they no longer need to evolve into other Pokemon thus were able to hone their mystical powers.

 

[Master nicfer]

Speaking of ability, I find it weird how Rotom-fan (electric flying) has Levitate.
It already is a flying Pokemon, it doesn't need Levitate.

That's why I had a fun battle with a friend, and they had a Rotom-fan... with the item air balloon.

Sadly, it doesn't learn Magnet Rise... Quadruple immunity would've fun.

 

[Kurona]

Speaking of Mew, I always wondered why it isn't Normal type. Since it is the original Pokemon, the generic, unspecialized Normal type honestly makes much more sense than the Psychic type, which is a specialized type.

Mew and Porygon; switched at birth

 

[Master nicfer]

Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. It can't learn Earthquake, among other bad things. Or does it mean other kinds of disasters?

 

[Karxrida]

Absol predicts disasters, it doesn't cause them.

 

[JES]

Absol predicts disasters, it doesn't cause them.

And to be fair, it wouldn't really give Absol any coverage that he needs.

 

[Master nicfer]

Mew and Porygon; switched at birth

Then there's the issue called Mewtwo. Being created from Mew, it should also be a Normal-type, but the former is already coherent as a Psychic. Maybe its conversion would be capable of giving him the typing changes?

 

[Kurona]

And to be fair, it wouldn't really give Absol any coverage that he needs.

A very strong move super-effective against steels that comes off of Mega Absol's stronger attack stat and doesn't lower it's stats. Wouldn't want that at all...?

 

[Deck Knight]

A very strong move super-effective against steels that comes off of Mega Absol's stronger attack stat and doesn't lower it's stats. Wouldn't want that at all...?

Knock Off and Sucker Punch do more damage than EQ to Ferrothorn/Metagross/Jirachi/Scizor/Skarmory which basically leaves Heatran, Excadrill (195 BP STAB Knock-Off vs. 200 BP EQ), Bisharp (destroyed by Superpower) and Magnezone.

tl;dr Dark/Fighting coverage is much stronger in OU than Dark/Ground - and Absol actually runs Fire Blast a little more often than Superpower.

 

[pika pal]

Here's a basic one.

What determines if a Pokemon can use Surf? Does the Pokemon have to be able to swim, to float, or just have some way of traveling over the water in general?

If it's swimming, there's cases like Snorlax and Tauros, whose builds would not allow them to perform any stroke to move.

If it's floating, Rhydon is NOT buoyant, I'm sorry. Plus, there's Chuggaaconroy's assessment of Elctrode's density despite no Surf

If it's traveling over water, anything with Levitate or that can learn Fly should be able to use Surf.

What is the move even supposed to be in context of traveling? In battle it's just animated as summoning a giant wave.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Here's a basic one.

What determines if a Pokemon can use Surf? Does the Pokemon have to be able to swim, to float, or just have some way of traveling over the water in general?

If it's swimming, there's cases like Snorlax and Tauros, whose builds would not allow them to perform any stroke to move.

If it's floating, Rhydon is NOT buoyant, I'm sorry. Plus, there's Chuggaaconroy's assessment of Elctrode's density despite no Surf

If it's traveling over water, anything with Levitate or that can learn Fly should be able to use Surf.

What is the move even supposed to be in context of traveling? In battle it's just animated as summoning a giant wave.

Why can't each Pokemon have its own way of swimming?

 

[PkmntrainerPink]

Why can't each Pokemon have its own way of swimming?

Agreed, I think the real question is how do Pokemon like Snorlax and Rhydon generate the massive amounts of water needed to create a wave in battle? I guess anything with Earthquake could be summoning underground water...

 

[Deck Knight]

Agreed, I think the real question is how do Pokemon like Snorlax and Rhydon generate the massive amounts of water needed to create a wave in battle? I guess anything with Earthquake could be summoning underground water...

Pretty much all of the "Kaiju" monsters (Nidos, Rhydon, Tyranitar, Aggron, Rampardos, Garchomp, Druddigon, Hydreigon, Haxorus etc.) get it because they're a slight riff on Godzilla rising from the seas and terrorizing the populace.

 

[Darth Manaphy]

Well, I figured Garchomp gets it because it IS a land shark and land sharks must still know something about the sea.

 

[LightningLord2]

Snorlax can swim because fat is lighter than water. Rhydon's line gets it because the animal it's based on can indeed swim, likewise with Tauros.

Also, Rollout can be learned by Pokémon with a flexible or round body that is highly suitable for rolling around. Sandshrew's line, Donphan, Electrode are all capable of this. Since Miltank is also pretty flexible, it can learn Rollout, too (it even has a unique animation for it in Pokémon Stadium 2).

So there's this one Pokémon whose body is almost completely rigid, gets beaten by a fridge in aerodynamics and has a bad central mass for maintaining stability.

How does Corsola use Rollout?

 

[Oriolous]

Snorlax can swim because fat is lighter than water. Rhydon's line gets it because the animal it's based on can indeed swim, likewise with Tauros.

Also, Rollout can be learned by Pokémon with a flexible or round body that is highly suitable for rolling around. Sandshrew's line, Donphan, Electrode are all capable of this. Since Miltank is also pretty flexible, it can learn Rollout, too (it even has a unique animation for it in Pokémon Stadium 2).

So there's this one Pokémon whose body is almost completely rigid, gets beaten by a fridge in aerodynamics and has a bad central mass for maintaining stability.

How does Corsola use Rollout?

Magic, or it rolls out on its side.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Snorlax can swim because fat is lighter than water. Rhydon's line gets it because the animal it's based on can indeed swim, likewise with Tauros.

Also, Rollout can be learned by Pokémon with a flexible or round body that is highly suitable for rolling around. Sandshrew's line, Donphan, Electrode are all capable of this. Since Miltank is also pretty flexible, it can learn Rollout, too (it even has a unique animation for it in Pokémon Stadium 2).

So there's this one Pokémon whose body is almost completely rigid, gets beaten by a fridge in aerodynamics and has a bad central mass for maintaining stability.

How does Corsola use Rollout?

Corsola get Roll Out via Move Tutor and its hardly the oddest Pokemon on the list. Despite the spikes sticking out its body its body is still round. It probably rolls like a spike ball does, it'll maybe a bit bumpy but it still rolls at the spikes sort of pole vault it forward as it gains more and more momentum. And though it goes against the idea of it being coral, being Pokemon it can probably move its spikes a bit so maybe it can move the spikes so they're leaning enough to the side so it can roll.

 

[Phione]

Sadly, it doesn't learn Magnet Rise... Quadruple immunity would've fun.

Baton Pass it Magnet Rise, then. And then get your partner in a Doubles Battle to Telekinesis you so that you are immune to Ground five times over.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Baton Pass it Magnet Rise, then. And then get your partner in a Doubles Battle to Telekinesis you so that you are immune to Ground five times over.

Immuncption. We gotta immune deeper.

 

[Antihaxxer]

and them BAM ! Gravity ! :D

 

[Pikachu315111]

and them BAM ! Gravity ! :D

Or someone using Trick/Switcharoo to give your Pokemon an Iron Ball.

 

[Trainer10913]

Baton Pass it Magnet Rise, then. And then get your partner in a Doubles Battle to Telekinesis you so that you are immune to Ground five times over.

*coughthousandarrowscough*

 

[jordanthejq12]

Now for a positive example. Dragon Dance is another move with some interesting distribution--and after looking at it, I'm very impressed with how thought out it is.

The mons that learn it by level-up are all Dragons or soon-to-be Dragons (Horsea and Seadra). The only other significant distribution method is via breeding. Let's look at the non-Dragons that get it:

Charmander. Well, Charizard is the dragon that wasn't a Dragon, so that makes sense.
Lapras. We're talking Nessie here, so that also fits thematically.
Todotile. Fearligatr is, well, an alligator, which is a bit of a stretch, but we'll go with it. (Side note: how does the Big Jaw Pokemon not have Strong Jaw for an ability?)
Larvitar. Tyranitar is pretty much Godzilla. That works.
Barboach. Whiscash is a namazu, a giant catfish who causes earthquakes. (Cash's actual size: two feet, eleven inches.) Works for me.
Corphish. Crawdaunt is a lobster. I'm trying to imagine a lobster dancing like a dragon, whatever that entails. I definitely wonder about this, but the mental image is quite funny.
Tropius. It's a sauropod, a type of dinosaur, so it works.
Scraggy. Get down, young Hoodlum, get down! I wonder how you get from hip-hop culture to dancing like a dragon.

To sum up, DD actually has a very neat distribution. Though again, one wonders how Crawdaunt and Scrafty get it--but I daresay that if you're the type to use those particular mons, you may not care very much.

 

[Darth Manaphy]

Scrafty is weird. It's in the Dragon egg group. It's interesting that Scrafty is 4x weak to fairy...and in an egg group that also tends to be weak to fairy...

I think it's like the shed skin it wears that is kinda dragon-like.

 

[Pikachu315111]

jordanthejq12:
Totodile family and Scraggy family are not only bipedal reptiles but they do sort of have some relation to dancing or at least quick footwork (at least for some of its stages). Totodile is often seen jumping and dancing around while the Scraggy family are based on hoodlums which are sometimes depicted as break dancing (like the Dancer trainer class in Gen V).
We talked about the Corphish family's dragon relation before and came up with dragon shrimp. Though going along with the dancing relation Corphish is also known to dance about in its own way using its claws like maracas.

Darth Manaphy:
Scraggy family is based on Iguana which are members of the Iguania suborder which fossil records show go way back to the early Jurassic era. Though not "living fossils" they do have prehistoric roots and so using the logic "dinosaurs are dragons" we can shove them into the Dragon Egg Group.