Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Here's something I thought would be interesting.
I already reviewed all the Pokemon (Gen VII will probably start early next year once I have the chance to digest Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon), so, why not in the meantime, talk about the other big thing that's added each Generation---Moves!
There are over 700 moves in existence, and it seems Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will add a few more as seen by UB-Burst's "Mind Blown", so I thought I'd go through and take a closer look at them. Not really from a competitive standpoint, but more a flavor point of view---why is the move the Type it is? Why do certain Pokemon learn it? What interesting translation issues arise? There's actually some interesting stuff I've found out just from the initial moves.
So, there's no real "order" to the moves, but I'm using the internal numbering and tackling them in that order---it's grouped by Generation though, so it'll be interesting to see how moves evolved over time. I'll do about three to six or so moves in each post, and I hope you'll find this interesting. Feel free to comment about your experience with using the moves in the main game or competitive battling!
I imagine while there are almost as many moves as there are Pokemon, this shouldn't take nearly as long since each write-up is a paragraph or two.
Pound - Normal [Physical]
40/35PP/100%
The target is physically pounded with a long tail, a foreleg, or the like.
Pound is the first move by Index Number and one of the most basic attacks in the series. When it was first introduced Stadium described it as a "more powerful" alternative to Tackle, but that's no longer true since Gen V when Tackle got a boost to 50, and later in Gen VII down to 40. So, now, Pound and Tackle are basically the same. Both function as a "starter move" to give to early game Pokemon and hatched Pokemon, but otherwise have no function beyond that and are usually the first to be overwritten.
When Pound was introduced in Gen I, it was somewhat of a "cute" move and mainly belonged to "feminine" Pokemon such as Clefairy, Jigglypuff, and Chansey, though Grimer and Drowzee were the oddballs who could also learn it. It's since been picked up by a larger variety of Pokemon since Gen III, including Starter Pokemon such as Treecko and Piplup (though oddly Prinplup has Tackle), though it's still less common than the more prolific Tackle.
In the show, Ash's Treecko used Pound as its main offensive attack and used it throughout his evolutions as well---while in the games Pound is weak, I think it's fair to say that the show has the leeway to factor in the physical elements of the Pokemon using the move. So, regardless of how low Pound's BP is in the games, Sceptile whacking people with its big ass, well, ass-tree would definitely hurt!
Pound is one of Jigglypuff's Special Moves in Smash Brothers, his neutral in Smash 64 and his side in Melee, and is a surprisingly useful move due to allowing Jigglypuff to recover horizontally by quite a bit!
Karate Chop - Fighting [Physical]
50/25PP/100%
The target is attacked with a sharp chop. Critical hits land more easily.
When Karate Chop first debuted in Gen I, it was bizarrely a Normal-type. Now sometimes such oddities can be attributed to a translation error, like perhaps the original name of the move wasn't as specific? Nope, even in Japanese it's Karate Chop. Considering it's named after an actual martial arts technique and not a generic verb, and only Fighting-type Pokemon could learn it, I chalk this up as a programming error on Game Freak's part that wasn't fixed in time for release.
In Generation I, only the Machop and Mankey lines could learn Karate Chop, and due to how critical hits were based on Speed it was more useful in the hands of the much faster Mankey family. It's too bad it wasn't a Fighting-type move, because Gen I was sorely lacking in a solid Fighting-type attack without negative drawbacks. After Generation I, Karate Chop virtually disappeared except for Elekid and Magby learning it through Egg Moves, with no new Pokemon picking it up for the longest time. Finally, with the introduction of Sawk, the Karate Pokemon, it returned in Generation V and in Generation VI Pancham and Hawlucha picked it up. Unfortunately it's not really anything more than a basic Fighting-type attack now that you'll quickly replace, though I have to admit in a mono-Fighting Type run I did recently in Pokemon Y it proved to be my bread-and-butter in the early game.
This was basically the Machop line's signature attack in the show early on, but it gained prominence in XY due to Ash's Hawlucha using it. It's worth noting here that most contact moves have been "censored" since the digital era began, given a glow to make the impact less "violent" I guess. Or to make it more obvious it's an actual move and not a basic action.
Double Slap - Normal [Physical]
15/10PP/85%
The target is slapped repeatedly, back and forth, two to five times in a row.
So...Double Slap can hit up to five times!? We'll see this happen with additional moves, but sometimes the localization's attempt to translate the original name ends up changing how the move is perceived. In Japanese Double Slap is known as "Oufuku Binta", or "Round Trip Slap". Thus, originally, there was no specific number in the name.
Though I'm not positive on this, I believe Oufuku Binta is probably the "official name" of that classic anime gag where usually the female straight-man slaps the male character when they do something dumb---you know, Misty used to do this a lot. Perhaps this is why, like Pound, most of the Pokemon who learn it tend to be on the feminine side. Most people will probably remember this move thanks to Jigglypuff and Clefairy using it in the show, as it was sort of a "signature" move for them early on.
Double Slap is the first multi-hit move introduced, which many players seem to dislike due to their unreliability, though in recent years they've become a bit more popular due to working around certain Abilities and Items thanks to their unique properties. Among them, however, Double Slap is just too weak to serve any real purpose and as a Normal-type move it's doesn't gain any advantages over certain Pokemon.
Comet Punch - Normal [Physical]
18/15PP/85%
The target is hit with a flurry of punches that strike two to five times in a row.
Now here's another odd translation---the original name, "Renzoku Punch", means "Consecutive Punch" which fits since it's a multi-hit move. I'm not sure how they ended up with "Comet Punch", but ironically that name would later be used as the Japanese name of Meteor Mash.
In Generation 1 it could only be used by Hitmonchan and Kangaskhan. I assume the intent behind Kangaskhan learning it was perhaps suggesting the baby helped with the punches, which Game Freak would later incorporate through the Parental Bond Ability, but that's just my theory. Gen II saw Ledyba and Ledian learn it, and nowadays they're usually the ones associated with it. Though they learn the move due to their multiple arms, in a nice little twist Comet Punch works out quite well since Ledian is implied to have a connection to the stars.
Comet Punch remained a Normal-type move despite the name, perhaps because Game Freak wanted Kangaskhan to keep the STAB? Anyway like Double Slap it's really not all that useful, and basically disappeared from movelists after Gen II till Pancham brought it back. Oh, and Buzzswole. The Ultra Beasts learning all these really weak pedestrian moves almost seems like Game Freak furthering the theory that they're just garden variety Pokemon from where they come from.
Oh, and it's one of the few moves with a base power that doesn't end with 0 or 5. That kind of bugs me.
Mega Punch - Normal [Physical]
80/20PP/85%
The target is slugged by a punch thrown with muscle-packed power.
Mega Punch is another Normal-type move with "Punch" in its name, but in this case I may have an explanation. In Japan the move is known as "Megaton Punch", which seems to be a generic name in quite a bit of Japanese media but seems to have been popularized by the Tokusatsu series "Giant Robo". So, rather than specifically a fighter's punch, it's more of a general heroic "punch".
Like Comet Punch only Hitmonchan and Kangaskhan were originally capable of learning it naturally---oh, and Mew---but it was also TM01 in Generation I and virtually every bipedal Pokemon with hands, no matter how small, could learn it. Like quite a few Generation I moves it disappeared from move lists for awhile, besides Geodude and Magby picking it up through breeding, until Gen IV when Regigigas got it as his basic move. Golett and Golurk also learn it in Gen V, which seems to support my idea it was intended as a reference to Giant Robo since Golurk is, well, a Giant Robo.
No longer a TM, Mega Punch made a return as a Move Tutor move in Generation III and once more every bipedal Pokemon with hands could learn it. But, why would you? Let's be honest, in Gen I Mega Punch was a solid move for the time, but by Gen III there were so many better options that such a plain move with low accuracy (Stadium humorously claims the move is "highly accurate") was pointless. Beyond the nostalgia factor, there's really no reason to use Mega Punch.
Pay Day - Normal [Physical]
40/20PP/100%
Numerous coins are hurled at the target to inflict damage. Money is earned after the battle.
You probably know this already, but Pay Day's Japanese name, "Neko ni Koban", or "Coins for a Cat", refers to a Japanese idiom that basically means "don't waste your time/effort on those who don't value it". Koban is an old-school Japanese coin that is seen on Meowth's head, it being based on the Maneki Neko figure which is pictured holding them, and is also the coins that appear when the move is used.
Currently Meowth, and Alolan Meowth, are the only Pokemon who can naturally learn it. Persian used to be able to learn it itself up till Gen III, but this was dropped as of Gen IV. At the same time it was moved up to Meowth learning it at Level 30, post when it normally evolves at Level 28, thus it seems Game Freak wanted it to exist as Meowth's novelty move exclusively.
Purrloin also can learn it through breeding, which fits since it's based on a cat and a thieving one at that. A special Skitty obtained through Pokemon Box also could have it. In Generation II it was possible to breed it on a Hoppip, and I think this was a pun---Hoppip's Japanese name is Hanenekko. "Nekko" being root, but perhaps that explains why it kind of looks like a cat? Generation I had it as a TM, and the list of Pokemon who could learn it was kind of odd. Psyduck? Primeape? Rhydon? I'm not really sure if there was a reason for this or if they just picked a few at random. The only way to get it on Hoppip by the way was using a Time Travel'd Pikachu or Raichu who learned the move via TM in Gen 1.
Pay Day is a gimmick move that gave you money every time you used it based on the user's level x 2 in Gen I and II, later x 5. It was very useful in Generation I, along with Persian itself who could abuse critical hits with its Speed, as being one of the only ways to obtain money during the post-game but since there are now far more easier ways to make money in Pokemon games it's now nothing more than a novelty move.
In the anime, Team Rocket's Meowth famously is unable to learn Pay Day---apparently learning to talk and walk took away its ability to learn moves beyond Fury Swipes.
I already reviewed all the Pokemon (Gen VII will probably start early next year once I have the chance to digest Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon), so, why not in the meantime, talk about the other big thing that's added each Generation---Moves!
There are over 700 moves in existence, and it seems Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will add a few more as seen by UB-Burst's "Mind Blown", so I thought I'd go through and take a closer look at them. Not really from a competitive standpoint, but more a flavor point of view---why is the move the Type it is? Why do certain Pokemon learn it? What interesting translation issues arise? There's actually some interesting stuff I've found out just from the initial moves.
So, there's no real "order" to the moves, but I'm using the internal numbering and tackling them in that order---it's grouped by Generation though, so it'll be interesting to see how moves evolved over time. I'll do about three to six or so moves in each post, and I hope you'll find this interesting. Feel free to comment about your experience with using the moves in the main game or competitive battling!
I imagine while there are almost as many moves as there are Pokemon, this shouldn't take nearly as long since each write-up is a paragraph or two.
Pound - Normal [Physical]
40/35PP/100%
The target is physically pounded with a long tail, a foreleg, or the like.
Pound is the first move by Index Number and one of the most basic attacks in the series. When it was first introduced Stadium described it as a "more powerful" alternative to Tackle, but that's no longer true since Gen V when Tackle got a boost to 50, and later in Gen VII down to 40. So, now, Pound and Tackle are basically the same. Both function as a "starter move" to give to early game Pokemon and hatched Pokemon, but otherwise have no function beyond that and are usually the first to be overwritten.
When Pound was introduced in Gen I, it was somewhat of a "cute" move and mainly belonged to "feminine" Pokemon such as Clefairy, Jigglypuff, and Chansey, though Grimer and Drowzee were the oddballs who could also learn it. It's since been picked up by a larger variety of Pokemon since Gen III, including Starter Pokemon such as Treecko and Piplup (though oddly Prinplup has Tackle), though it's still less common than the more prolific Tackle.
In the show, Ash's Treecko used Pound as its main offensive attack and used it throughout his evolutions as well---while in the games Pound is weak, I think it's fair to say that the show has the leeway to factor in the physical elements of the Pokemon using the move. So, regardless of how low Pound's BP is in the games, Sceptile whacking people with its big ass, well, ass-tree would definitely hurt!
Pound is one of Jigglypuff's Special Moves in Smash Brothers, his neutral in Smash 64 and his side in Melee, and is a surprisingly useful move due to allowing Jigglypuff to recover horizontally by quite a bit!
Karate Chop - Fighting [Physical]
50/25PP/100%
The target is attacked with a sharp chop. Critical hits land more easily.
When Karate Chop first debuted in Gen I, it was bizarrely a Normal-type. Now sometimes such oddities can be attributed to a translation error, like perhaps the original name of the move wasn't as specific? Nope, even in Japanese it's Karate Chop. Considering it's named after an actual martial arts technique and not a generic verb, and only Fighting-type Pokemon could learn it, I chalk this up as a programming error on Game Freak's part that wasn't fixed in time for release.
In Generation I, only the Machop and Mankey lines could learn Karate Chop, and due to how critical hits were based on Speed it was more useful in the hands of the much faster Mankey family. It's too bad it wasn't a Fighting-type move, because Gen I was sorely lacking in a solid Fighting-type attack without negative drawbacks. After Generation I, Karate Chop virtually disappeared except for Elekid and Magby learning it through Egg Moves, with no new Pokemon picking it up for the longest time. Finally, with the introduction of Sawk, the Karate Pokemon, it returned in Generation V and in Generation VI Pancham and Hawlucha picked it up. Unfortunately it's not really anything more than a basic Fighting-type attack now that you'll quickly replace, though I have to admit in a mono-Fighting Type run I did recently in Pokemon Y it proved to be my bread-and-butter in the early game.
This was basically the Machop line's signature attack in the show early on, but it gained prominence in XY due to Ash's Hawlucha using it. It's worth noting here that most contact moves have been "censored" since the digital era began, given a glow to make the impact less "violent" I guess. Or to make it more obvious it's an actual move and not a basic action.
Double Slap - Normal [Physical]
15/10PP/85%
The target is slapped repeatedly, back and forth, two to five times in a row.
So...Double Slap can hit up to five times!? We'll see this happen with additional moves, but sometimes the localization's attempt to translate the original name ends up changing how the move is perceived. In Japanese Double Slap is known as "Oufuku Binta", or "Round Trip Slap". Thus, originally, there was no specific number in the name.
Though I'm not positive on this, I believe Oufuku Binta is probably the "official name" of that classic anime gag where usually the female straight-man slaps the male character when they do something dumb---you know, Misty used to do this a lot. Perhaps this is why, like Pound, most of the Pokemon who learn it tend to be on the feminine side. Most people will probably remember this move thanks to Jigglypuff and Clefairy using it in the show, as it was sort of a "signature" move for them early on.
Double Slap is the first multi-hit move introduced, which many players seem to dislike due to their unreliability, though in recent years they've become a bit more popular due to working around certain Abilities and Items thanks to their unique properties. Among them, however, Double Slap is just too weak to serve any real purpose and as a Normal-type move it's doesn't gain any advantages over certain Pokemon.
Comet Punch - Normal [Physical]
18/15PP/85%
The target is hit with a flurry of punches that strike two to five times in a row.
Now here's another odd translation---the original name, "Renzoku Punch", means "Consecutive Punch" which fits since it's a multi-hit move. I'm not sure how they ended up with "Comet Punch", but ironically that name would later be used as the Japanese name of Meteor Mash.
In Generation 1 it could only be used by Hitmonchan and Kangaskhan. I assume the intent behind Kangaskhan learning it was perhaps suggesting the baby helped with the punches, which Game Freak would later incorporate through the Parental Bond Ability, but that's just my theory. Gen II saw Ledyba and Ledian learn it, and nowadays they're usually the ones associated with it. Though they learn the move due to their multiple arms, in a nice little twist Comet Punch works out quite well since Ledian is implied to have a connection to the stars.
Comet Punch remained a Normal-type move despite the name, perhaps because Game Freak wanted Kangaskhan to keep the STAB? Anyway like Double Slap it's really not all that useful, and basically disappeared from movelists after Gen II till Pancham brought it back. Oh, and Buzzswole. The Ultra Beasts learning all these really weak pedestrian moves almost seems like Game Freak furthering the theory that they're just garden variety Pokemon from where they come from.
Oh, and it's one of the few moves with a base power that doesn't end with 0 or 5. That kind of bugs me.
Mega Punch - Normal [Physical]
80/20PP/85%
The target is slugged by a punch thrown with muscle-packed power.
Mega Punch is another Normal-type move with "Punch" in its name, but in this case I may have an explanation. In Japan the move is known as "Megaton Punch", which seems to be a generic name in quite a bit of Japanese media but seems to have been popularized by the Tokusatsu series "Giant Robo". So, rather than specifically a fighter's punch, it's more of a general heroic "punch".
Like Comet Punch only Hitmonchan and Kangaskhan were originally capable of learning it naturally---oh, and Mew---but it was also TM01 in Generation I and virtually every bipedal Pokemon with hands, no matter how small, could learn it. Like quite a few Generation I moves it disappeared from move lists for awhile, besides Geodude and Magby picking it up through breeding, until Gen IV when Regigigas got it as his basic move. Golett and Golurk also learn it in Gen V, which seems to support my idea it was intended as a reference to Giant Robo since Golurk is, well, a Giant Robo.
No longer a TM, Mega Punch made a return as a Move Tutor move in Generation III and once more every bipedal Pokemon with hands could learn it. But, why would you? Let's be honest, in Gen I Mega Punch was a solid move for the time, but by Gen III there were so many better options that such a plain move with low accuracy (Stadium humorously claims the move is "highly accurate") was pointless. Beyond the nostalgia factor, there's really no reason to use Mega Punch.
Pay Day - Normal [Physical]
40/20PP/100%
Numerous coins are hurled at the target to inflict damage. Money is earned after the battle.
You probably know this already, but Pay Day's Japanese name, "Neko ni Koban", or "Coins for a Cat", refers to a Japanese idiom that basically means "don't waste your time/effort on those who don't value it". Koban is an old-school Japanese coin that is seen on Meowth's head, it being based on the Maneki Neko figure which is pictured holding them, and is also the coins that appear when the move is used.
Currently Meowth, and Alolan Meowth, are the only Pokemon who can naturally learn it. Persian used to be able to learn it itself up till Gen III, but this was dropped as of Gen IV. At the same time it was moved up to Meowth learning it at Level 30, post when it normally evolves at Level 28, thus it seems Game Freak wanted it to exist as Meowth's novelty move exclusively.
Purrloin also can learn it through breeding, which fits since it's based on a cat and a thieving one at that. A special Skitty obtained through Pokemon Box also could have it. In Generation II it was possible to breed it on a Hoppip, and I think this was a pun---Hoppip's Japanese name is Hanenekko. "Nekko" being root, but perhaps that explains why it kind of looks like a cat? Generation I had it as a TM, and the list of Pokemon who could learn it was kind of odd. Psyduck? Primeape? Rhydon? I'm not really sure if there was a reason for this or if they just picked a few at random. The only way to get it on Hoppip by the way was using a Time Travel'd Pikachu or Raichu who learned the move via TM in Gen 1.
Pay Day is a gimmick move that gave you money every time you used it based on the user's level x 2 in Gen I and II, later x 5. It was very useful in Generation I, along with Persian itself who could abuse critical hits with its Speed, as being one of the only ways to obtain money during the post-game but since there are now far more easier ways to make money in Pokemon games it's now nothing more than a novelty move.
In the anime, Team Rocket's Meowth famously is unable to learn Pay Day---apparently learning to talk and walk took away its ability to learn moves beyond Fury Swipes.
