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RTTP: The Pokemon...Moves. All 720, and counting.

CazTGG

Member
Late to the ___ Punch discussion. It really sucks that most Fire and Electric types don't have a viable alternative to Flare Blitz and Wild Charge respectively, especially the latter since it isn't particularly powerful to begin with while causing recoil. Say what you want about Ice types defensively, at least they got Icicle Crash in Gen V which has a nice chance of scoring a critical hit.
 

Syril

Member
The reason for Razor Wind not having combos for instant charge or a damage boost with Tailwind I think is because in legends the kamaitachi don't actually attack with wind but with their sickle-like claws (kamaitachi literally means "sickle weasel"). Victims perceive the attack as a razor sharp wind because they're imperceptibly fast. The reason it's a delayed move is probably because some kamaitachi legends describe victims being cut but not feeling pain or bleeding until some time after the attack.
 
Guillotine

ec1.gif

So many dreams were crushed that day.

#NeverBetOnAsh
 

V-Faction

Member
The Big Anime Move Catalog sends its regards.

Just remember:

- Everything glows now, even for basic moves.
- Can't think of a good name? Just call it "Blank"ing Ball/Beam/Blast/Bomb
- Drake's Dragonite broke the matrix code. It is the One.
- Ignore all status effects, except when convenient.
- Tail Whip, Growl, and Leer, oh my. Tail Whip, Growl, and Leer, oh my. Tail Whip, Growl, and Leer, oh my....
 
Fly has probably the most obvious visual bug of a Pokemon game in Colosseum. Pokemon using the Fly who were normally grounded (like Salamence, Xatu, Noctowl, etc) would just randomly stop looping their Fly animation and stand in midair every so often. Pretty much every time you used Fly, the animation loop wouldn't work and it'd snap right back to the normal idle. And the game hands you Noctowl with Fly, which makes this bug totally obvious for anyone who even casually used it.

I believe XD fixed this.
 

Firemind

Member
Fly gained some competitive viability in gen 7 thanks to Z moves. Before gen 7, Fly and all other charge moves were terrible competitively, because they let your opponent switch into something that could take the hit. You could get around this with a Power Herb, but it only allowed you to do it once and Fly's base power wasn't worth using it over holding something else. In gen 7, Flyinium Z turns Fly into a base 175 power move without a charge time. This gives Pokemon such as Dragonite and Landorus-Therian a powerful Flying nuke that they sorely lacked.
pretty sure bounce was a competitive move back in the day

and solar beam and hyper beam obviously

i used fly on pidgeot to toxic stall in the lower tiers
 

V-Faction

Member
The coolest thing about the Gen I moves is how Game Freak laid the foundation for various moves for Pokemon to know, which can still be pulled from to this day.

Moves like Tackle, Scratch, Horn Attack, or Pound are mechanically identical with minor differences. Why go so far to create all these moves? Because not every Pokemon has claws, or horns, or arms even. Yeah, they suck for the most part, and you'll replace them with Stronger/Better/More Effective attacks eventually, but it lends credence to the realism of fake creatures.
 
pretty sure bounce was a competitive move back in the day

and solar beam and hyper beam obviously

i used fly on pidgeot to toxic stall in the lower tiers

Solar Beam doesn't really count since it's mostly used on Sun teams where it has no charge time. Like Fly though with Grassium Z it's a pretty popular lure on Fire types to kill Water's that switch in. Hyper Beam I guess wasn't terrible in older gens but I only really started watching competitive in gen 7 and a little bit of older gens since. It's an ok Z move on things with very little coverage like Raikou.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
It does make me wonder why Gust is still Normal than Flying. I think Vacuum Wave is also Normal than Fighting?
 

Boogiepop

Member
...I have been playing these game for forever, and logged a stupid massive amount of time in Gens 1-3 on the tune of hundreds of hours (my clock on Blue froze at 300 hours IIRC, and I'm pretty sure I kept going for a good while after that...)

And I somehow never knew about cutting the tall grass. That's kind of blowing my mind, to be honest, much as it sounds like more of a hassle then it'd actually be worth.
 

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Um...whips and stomping this time. Try to not get too excited.

Vine Whip - Grass [Physical]
45/25PP/100%
The target is struck with slender, whiplike vines to inflict damage.

Now here's an example of Game Freak actually paying attention to an old-school move and improving it throughout the years. When Vine Whip first debuted it only had an attack of 35, but at the time once more that wasn't as big of a deal---many Types lacked a solid STAB move with good accuracy and no drawbacks, and Vine Whip was intended to be an early Grass-type attack. The issue with Vine Whip though was its oddly low PP, originally only a mere 10---the more powerful Razor Leaf had 25! Nowadays PP-usage isn't a huge concern as there's usually a lot of checkpoints to take advantage of to refresh your Pokemon, but in Generation I some of the dungeons could get pretty long so you had to be more mindful. I recall playing through Pokemon Blue recently my Bellsprout ran into that issue early on. But Game Freak didn't let Vine Whip fall to the wayside, perhaps because quite a few Grass-type Starters learn it, and slowly increased both its base power and its PP over the years.

The original description for Vine Whip in the English localization (Gen I lacked in-game move descriptions, so it was Stadium which gave us these) says the Pokemon uses its "cruel whips", which is a pretty violent description. Later games dropped this and went with simply "slender, whiplike vines" so I wonder if the cruel bit was an awkward translation? Anyway, originally only the Bulbasaur and Bellsprout lines could learn it---wait a second, isn't there a Generation I Pokemon that's literally a walking pile of vines!? Yep, Tangela infamously could not learn this move till Yellow. My personal theory is, given that Tangela may be one of the last Pokemon the player encounters as it only appears in a patch of grass between Palette and Cinnabar, Game Freak didn't see the need of giving it such a weak attack when you couldn't get it early anyway. Yellow put it a bit earlier and more obviously in the Safari Zone, so maybe they were like "okay, let's give it a good basic STAB move", but even then that's Level 29! As Tangela became a bit more common in later games, Game Freak wisely lowered when it learned Vine Whip and now it has it at Level 7, though you'd think it'd be one of its Level 1 moves at this point.

In the show Vine Whip is largely associated with Ash's Bulbasaur and Ash's Chikorita, but interestingly Chikorita only has it as an Egg Move---the anime as far as I recall never really has paid much attention to the concept of Egg Moves, and have liberally given them to Pokemon as if they were simply natural moves. Chikorita using Vine Whip, and not just Ash's at that, was probably one of the first examples of an Egg Move in the show I imagine. Vine Whip's one of those moves you kind of think a ton of Pokemon would have, but after Gen I it took a long break as a natural move till Gen IV's Carnivine. A bit more Pokemon are starting to learn it again though, which is a nice because it's an iconic move.

Stomp - Normal [Physical]
65/20PP/100%
The target is stomped with a big foot. This may also make the target flinch.

Stomp is a pretty solid Normal-type move for in-game purposes with above average attack, good accuracy, and the chance to flinch the opponent---as mentioned before Krabby and Kingler gained Slam later on, but you might want to stick with Stomp instead for being more reliable. Game Freak hasn't forgotten about it either, Generation II giving it the ability to do double damage against Pokemon who used Minimize. As of Gen VI Stomp, and a few other moves, now have perfect accuracy against Pokemon who used Minimize which is pretty nice, and it seems Chansey + Minimize was an annoying element of Battle Spot so such moves gained a niche there. Of course Minimize is frowned upon on Smogon, and other circles which consider evasive moves too much of a coin-flip element, so Stomp and the like aren't standardized moves now or anything. As one GameFAQs user pointed out when I was looking up Stomp's post-Gen VI effect, you're better off going with far stronger moves and taking the chance of missing.

In Generation VII, Stomp also got a niche as allowing Steenee to evolve into Tsareena. Most Pokemon who learn Stomp seem to be less kick-based, and instead Pokemon with large feet and in many cases quadrupeds, implying they basically trample over the opponent. Tsareena somewhat throws this off as it's more in the former kick-based category, and for some reason it learning Stomp to evolve always makes me picture it as the Pokemon World's version of those women who step on animals on fetish sites. I've never watched those mind you, but sadly I know they're a *thing*. I don't get why Krabby and Kingler learn it though, maybe they use their claws instead because they have pretty stickly feet? Oh, and it's rare for Pokemon to lose access to natural moves, but it happened twice here as Tauros and Regigigas could only learn it in their debut Generation. Technically you can still have access to them with those moves by trading them from those Generations to the modern games, but it's...weird? Why did Game Freak feel the need to take such a simple move away from them?

Double Kick - Fighting [Physical]
30/30PP/100%
The target is quickly kicked twice in succession using both feet.

Another multi-hit move, unlike Double Slap this one actually does hit the opponent twice, thus you'll usually being doing 60BP damage against the opponent. In Generation I this was pretty solid, and even today it can still have its uses due to breaking through Sturdy and Substitute. I forgot to mention this with Double Slap, but originally these moves had set damage based on the first hit---if it was critical, the following attacks were. Now each hit can activate a critical independently.

Oddly enough this move is probably most often associated not with Hitmonlee, or another Fighting-type, but rather the Nidoran lines! They learned it quite late in Red and Blue, but Yellow gave it to them at Level 12. This was a pretty potent move that early on in the game, and the line have since kept the move as a low-leveled attack since. I wonder if the intent of them learning it was perhaps using the double literally, as if both male and female worked together to kick the opponent which the anime did do in an Orange Islands episode, which is a clever little bit of flavor. More Fighting-type Pokemon have gained it over the years, but it tends to be associated with quadrupedal Pokemon quite often---I imagine maybe they like do one of those donkey kicks? And, yep, the donkey-based Pokemon did get it.

Mega Kick - Normal [Physical]
120/5PP/75%
The target is attacked by a kick launched with muscle-packed power.

Like Mega Punch, this move has always been a Normal-type move. Its Japanese name, "Megaton Kick", seems to indicate it being more of a "super hero kick" than a martial arts move, though unlike with Megaton Punch and Giant Robo there's no historical Megaton Kick I can find, though it is a term that seems to be popular outside of Pokemon. It's pretty much a counterpart to Mega Punch, though Mega Kick has enough power to somewhat justify the low accuracy. In Generation I it was a TM, and like with Mega Punch a ton of Pokemon could learn it and returned as a Move Tutor in Generation III, but until recently the only Pokemon who could learn it through natural means was Hitmonlee fittingly enough. This changed in Sun and Moon with the introduction of Mudbray and Mudsdale who could now learn it. I think this might've been a bit of a play on the "ton" part of the Japanese name, as Mudsdale is one of the few Pokemon who actually does indeed weight a ton.

Oh, by the way, I thought how they handled Move Tutors in Fire Red and Leaf Green was pretty novel. Now, from a gameplay perspective, the Move Tutor being in one place and teaching you all the moves for a price over and over is preferable, but from a lore standpoint I enjoyed how FRLG had individual characters hidden around Kanto who'd teach you, one time only, one of the moves that was dropped from the TM list post-Gen I. Upon exiting Mt. Moon the first ones you actually met which introduced the concept were a pair of black belts who taught you Mega Punch and Mega Kick. We still have that here and there for certain tutor-specific moves like Draco Meteor and such, but as time has gone on Game Freak has been making such elements more and more accessible and easy to locate. To some a nice QoL-change, to others a casualization of a franchise that once inspired adventuring. Of course what side of the coin you fall on will depend on what you look to Pokemon for.

Jump Kick - Fighting [Physical]
100/10PP/95%
The user jumps up high, then strikes with a kick. If the kick misses, the user hurts itself.

Now here's a move that's changed a lot over the years, though the move itself has been overshadowed by its older brother High Jump Kick. In Generation I this move had a power of 70 and 95% accuracy, which was actually pretty good. But there was a risk involved as a miss would end up damaging your Pokemon---by, uh, 1 HP. Yeah, I'm not sure if this was intentional, but this really isn't much of a risk whatsoever. Luck's pretty much in your favor here. High Jump Kick actually had the same meager recoil drawback, so I'm gonna chalk this up to a programming error. Hitmonlee was the only Pokemon who could learn it till Gen IV where Buneary got it, and now quite a few Pokemon do including Dodrio as of Sun and Moon. This interests me, because I remember a popular rumor that Dodrio was getting an Alola Variant, and I believe it was from that Chinese leaker who ended up being accurate in a lot of cases. Might a Fighting/Flying Dodrio have been in the cards at one point armed with Fighting-type attacks such as Jump Kick, perhaps based on the cassowary which have powerful claws in order to move through jungle brush? That would've been cool.

So Jump Kick has increased in power over the years, but they also nerfed it somewhat by actually giving it a real risk of 1/8 the damage it would've dealt in Gen II and, as of now, half of the user's max HP. Needless to say there's real risk involved here, and the power isn't worth it. So, this move got an increase in BP, but arguably became far worse. When it comes to how this move interacts with Ghost-type Pokemon, that's also changed. Originally the crash damage would happen if used against a Ghost-type Pokemon, but in Gen II they changed it so the user would simply miss a Ghost-type Pokemon, but the crash wouldn't occur. Then they changed it back in Generation IV, but this time the damage calculation was specifically half of the target Ghost-types max HP if the move missed because of Type Immunity. Weird, huh? Gen V standardized it finally where the damage you took was always half of the user's max HP, regardless of how or why the move missed.
 

Boogiepop

Member
Ah, good old "kept going and crashed". That's always felt like one of the more flavorful bits of battle text to me, compared to all those standardized bits about being hit by recoil and flinching and whatnot...
 

Mr-Joker

Banned
The only time I used Jump Kick was on my Hitmonlee on my Red team, most of the time I just tend to avoid moves that causes negative effects on the users, with the exception of BRAVE BIRD...mostly because it's fun to say it.

Tsareena somewhat throws this off as it's more in the former kick-based category, and for some reason it learning Stomp to evolve always makes me picture it as the Pokemon World's version of those women who step on animals on fetish sites. I've never watched those mind you, but sadly I know they're a *thing*.

Oh Birdie you are fun to be around.

So many dreams were crushed that day.

#NeverBetOnAsh

Ha ha, the fallout from that match was so much fun to watch. >:D

I knew from a mile away that Ash was never going to win, even with lameness that is Super Greninja with HM01 Cut.

Honestly, Goodra was such a trash character.

Agreed, I was just pissed off when it ended up being Ash's "sixth" Pokémon.

God, Ash's Kalos team was so pathetically boring and lame.

Fly has probably the most obvious visual bug of a Pokemon game in Colosseum. Pokemon using the Fly who were normally grounded (like Salamence, Xatu, Noctowl, etc) would just randomly stop looping their Fly animation and stand in midair every so often. Pretty much every time you used Fly, the animation loop wouldn't work and it'd snap right back to the normal idle. And the game hands you Noctowl with Fly, which makes this bug totally obvious for anyone who even casually used it.

I believe XD fixed this.

You should see what happens when Charizard uses fly in Colosseum.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Vine Whip is really useful for early physical grass mons, a good replacement for Razor Leaf if your mon can't learn it.
 

WPS

Member
Vine whip is one of the clearest examples of the anime portrayal making its way into the game - the extending vines from the shoulder animation is the default physical attack animation for bulbasaur, chikorita and the entire snivy line.

Weird that even though both are grass type moves, vine whip and power whip have very different distributions. It might be a translation thing, since they don't use the same word for whip.

-

Double Kick is definitely meant to be a two footed donkey kick, while Jump kick is supposedly a drop kick. Weird that High Jump Kick and Jump Kick have such effects and english names, while their flavour text suggests they are very different techniques (High Jump Kick is that knee thing that Captain Falcon does).

Dunno what action Mega Kick is.
 
Bulbapedia said:
Generation II
If Stomp hits a Pokémon that had previously used Minimize, it will now have its power doubled.

Generation III
If Stomp hits a Pokémon that had previously used Minimize, the damage dealt will be doubled instead of its power (resulting in virtually the same effect).

Generation IV
If Stomp hits a Pokémon that had previously used Minimize, its power will be doubled instead of the damage dealt (resulting in virtually the same effect).

Generation V
If Stomp hits a Pokémon that had previously used Minimize, the damage dealt will be doubled instead of its power (resulting in virtually the same effect).

My favorite Game Freak moment.
 
Someone at Game Freak clearly has a sense of humour as I will never forget the troll trade they did in the Sinnoh game.

You know, I thought it was funny even while I was still upset when that happened to me. But, now that I think about it, she gave us exactly what she said she would. I have no doubt that Gamefreak was taking advantage of an experienced players knowledge, but for newcomers it was a chance to get a Haunter they may have seen but ignored and then learn how it would evolve. If anyone was trying to scam the other, it was the player who knew Haunter evolves by trade, taking advantage of someones lack of knowledge. We really had little right to be upset.

TsWfGQA.jpg
 

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Kind of a boring batch this time...

Rolling Kick - Fighting [Physical]
60/15PP/85%

The Japanese name of this attack is "Mawashigeri", which specifically refers to the technique known as the "Roundhouse Kick". I think due to character limits, they went with "Rolling Kick", or they didn't realize it was a specific technique and translated the individual Japanese words that make up the name and ended up with "Rolling Kick"? Personally it's not too bad of a name, but I think "Round Kick" would've worked had the character limit been the main issue. The French version just straight up went with "Mawashi Geri", and I guess hoped kids would realize what the heck that meant? Even more vital in Generation I where the lack of in-game move descriptions meant the name of the attack was what you ultimately had to go off of when you first encountered a new attack.

This move isn't anything special, and should probably have its accuracy raised to 100% at this point. But it wasn't the worst move either, as the accuracy wasn't too bad for Gen I, the attack was pretty nice, and there was the additional flinch effect. Considering only Hitmonlee and Hitmontop learned it naturally till Marshadow came along, and it basically became Hitmontop's signature move, it's easy to see why Game Freak has overlooked buffing it after all these years. You know, this gets me thinking---do Game Freak like the Hitmons? I mean most fans would consider them classic Pokemon, but Game Freak really doesn't do much with them anymore. And I don't really recall them popping up under the control of any major characters either in the games. Just something that kind of hit me right now. Oh, and because I don't have much to add about Rolling Kick.

Sand Attack - Ground [Status]
15PP/100%
Sand is hurled in the target's face, reducing the target's accuracy.
If powered up by a Groundium Z into Z-Sand Attack, the user's evasiveness raises one stage.

Less of an "attack" despite the name, this is one of the first status moves you'll encounter in many adventures and designed specifically to annoy you by prolonging the battle. Quite a few early game Pokemon learn it, Gen III perhaps the worst as the super common Zigzagoon and Poochyena lines use it, and the computer will use this against you even if it'd be better to simply attack you because it likes to annoy you. It sees no real usage in the competitive scene as far as I'm aware, either because such moves are frowned upon, or their are better accuracy lowering options available with better effects that don't waste an important move slot. Most people who play through the adventure probably use attack moves more or less exclusively instead of bothering with "gimmicks", so I doubt any human really uses this move except maybe at the very beginning of the game where you don't have any other options available.

Bulbapedia translates the Japanese name, "Sunakake", as "Sand Attack", but I think the "Sand Scrape" name I've seen used elsewhere sounds a bit more fitting given its non-damaging nature. It was a Normal-type move in Generation I but changed to a Ground-type move in Generation II, though this didn't do anything as Flying-type Pokemon are still effected by it. I don't really see the need to change this either because while quite a few Ground-type Pokemon learn it, many other Pokemon do too and it seems to be merely kicking up sand off the ground instead of actually manipulating the very earth itself.

Headbutt - Normal [Physical]
70/15PP/100%
The user sticks out its head and attacks by charging straight into the target. This may also make the target flinch.

A solid move at the time of its introduction with 70 Power, perfect accuracy, and the ability to cause flinching to this day it remains a solid in-game move. Not a lot of Pokemon learned it though, but those who did had a solid physical attack to rely on. But hey, here's another instance of a Pokemon randomly losing a rather innocuous move from its movelist---starting with Generation IV, Snorlax could no longer naturally learn it. Huh? They didn't shuffle it onto Munchlax or anything either, it just disappeared. It could learn it via Move Tutor in HGSS, but has yet to return otherwise.

Generation II made it a TM that virtually every Pokemon could learn and gave it an additional field effect allowing you to headbutt certain trees in order to find rare Pokemon. "Field moves" are moves that you can use in the field, but aren't necessarily HMs---these moves often have a bonus effect but aren't required to progress. This was a neat little way to interact with the environment, though sometimes finding that rare Pokemon like Heracross could be tedious. There's actually a formula involved determining which trees you could headbutt or something like that. Heart Gold and Soul Silver brought it back as a Move Tutor, borrowing the idea of having an NPC in Ilex Forest teach it to you, though unlimited uses this time around, and now you could headbutt any tree though not all contained Pokemon---there are even certain single trees around that allow you to catch a non-Johto native Pokemon exclusively. Gen V dropped this mechanic once again, rendering Headbutt once more a move limited to those who learned it naturally, and haven't brought back the mechanic sense. Now that Ride Pokemon appear to mostly fill in that gap, I don't expect them to.

Horn Attack - Normal [Physical]
65/25PP/100%
The target is jabbed with a sharply pointed horn to inflict damage.

We'll get to some more exciting moves eventually, but we're going to run into a few rather plain ones especially early on. Horn Attack is one such move that most people likely never really think about. Once more this was a decent Gen I attack, and still remains usable around the mid-game, but Game Freak haven't done anything with it for better or worse since then beyond distributing it to more Pokemon. Its only claim to fame is the first move to appear in the anime being used by the Nidorino Ash was watching on television.

This attack is learned by Pokemon with horns as you'd expect---and Omanyte. This is probably because Omastar does grow those little horns on its shell, but I guess Game Freak realized it didn't quite deserve this as it was removed from both of their movesets following Gen I. Piloswine also oddly enough lost it in Generation IV, despite the fact that Generation it receive an evolution with even more notable tusks in which to use Horn Attack with.

Fury Attack - Normal [Physical]
15/20PP/85%
The target is jabbed repeatedly with a horn or beak two to five times in a row.

Our next "horn attack", the localized name is kind of generic---the Japanese name, "Disturbed Stab", makes it a bit more clear what type of attack it actually is. Well, a stabbing attack. Due to the original move animation I used to think the Pokemon was literally firing off their horns like missiles at the opponent which was cool, but instead it's just a rapid barrage of stabby-stabby. It's another multi-hit move like Double Slap, and pretty weak all things considered. Waiting for this move to finish its animation in the older games was the worst.

As the description implies this move is learned by Pokemon with horns, many of which also learn Horn Attack (poor Piloswine lost that but kept this!?), and those with beaks. Though Farfetch'd can learn this likely because it's simply a bird with a beak, the anime had it uses its leek as part of the attack which was nice.
 

Mr-Joker

Banned
Heck yeah Sand Attack it can either be a OP move early game or the bane of your existence when the foe use it on your Pokémon and a 100% accurate moves misses all the freaking time.

You know, I thought it was funny even while I was still upset when that happened to me. But, now that I think about it, she gave us exactly what she said she would. I have no doubt that Gamefreak was taking advantage of an experienced players knowledge, but for newcomers it was a chance to get a Haunter they may have seen but ignored and then learn how it would evolve. If anyone was trying to scam the other, it was the player who knew Haunter evolves by trade, taking advantage of someones lack of knowledge. We really had little right to be upset.

TsWfGQA.jpg

Personally I found it funny, mostly because I fell for it twice once when I first played the game and second time when I needed an everstone for breeding and I remembered that the Haunter had one so I went looking for a Medicham did the trade took the everstone off the Haunter only to discover that I actually had an everstone already.

My other favorite in-game trade is in gen 5 games with the hiker that wanted a Boldore for his Emolga but in Black and White 2 he clearly regrets the trade and offers the Gigalith in exchange for a Emolga.

Plus I also liked the trade battle with the trainer using the Pokémon that you traded away.
 
You have "hit something with appendage/shoot something from mouth" which is like 75% of Gen I moves and then you have stuff like Substitute which is a weird move that feels like a Gen 4 or 5 move that's just randomly in Gen I. Future gens had no real reason to make generic low power moves (for the most part, they still add them occasionally), so they could go all out with crazy stuff.

And a ton of Gen I moves are still very useful moves, like Waterfall, Surf, Substitute, Swords Dance, Thunderbolt, Fire Blast and Explosion.

Maybe it's just because the early index moves are just generic attacks. We haven't really gotten into anything elemental, which tends to be the more interesting Gen I moves. Like Hyper Beam is super iconic for the Gen.
 
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