• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Altered Movesets in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl

Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
5,264
Reaction score
5,006
Pronouns
  1. He/Him
An interesting thought came to mind. Seeing how in the trailer when Piplup was attacking Shinx it used Water Gun, a move it's never had before, instead of Bubble means that these games may also have certain moves missing like in Sw/Sh. And since we don't know about how TMs and possibly TRs are going to be implemented due to the whole "faithful" thing flying around, it made me wonder something. What moves will be in the games and what moves will still be axed? And what does that mean for the movepools of the returning Mons in-game? Discuss what you think about the possibility of altered movesets for Mons in the remakes and what moves you think will return or will be axed?
 
The trailer did say "game footage not final", so I'm not too sure about Piplup having Water Gun. Then again, Bubble wasn't coded in to Sw/Sh. I do wonder how Unown will be handled in this game if Hidden Power is not returning. We have had Pokemon using moves in trailers before that they were later revealed not to learn, like Gardevoir with Fairy Wind in the XY trailers.
 
I had forgotten that Bubble got the boot in SWSH. I hope it stays that way and Piplup does get water gun. I remember runs with Piplup were pretty dire for a while because its only STAB move was a base 20 bubble attack until Prinplup gets bubble beam in...the 20s, I think?
 
Last edited:
I had forgotten that Bubble got the boot in SWSH. I hope it stays that way and Piplup does get water gun. I remember runs with Piplup were pretty dire for a while because it's only STAB move was a base 20 bubble attack until Prinplup gets bubble beam in...the 20s, I think?

I really do hope they patch up the Piplup line's level-up moveset, especially in the STAB moves department. Having to be stuck with a 20 base power move for a considerable amount of time is bad, and is why I used Piplup the least when I played a Sinnoh game. Though that's probably because I came to learn just how important Chimchar was due to its better offensive advantages.
 
I do wonder how Unown will be handled in this game if Hidden Power is not returning.
I really hope they give Unown a proper move set to compensate. Here’s how I’d do it (I’ll collapse it under a spoiler tag so what page this is on won’t become too long:

LvMove
Stored Power
Wish
Cosmic Power
Lucky Chant
20Light Screen
20Reflect
20Safeguard
25Protect
25Quick Guard
25Wide Guard
30Power Trick
30Beat Up
30Helping Hand
35Pain Split
35Guard Split
35Power Split
40Skill Swap
40Power Swap
40Guard Swap
40Speed Swap
45Extrasensory
45Copycat
50Disable
50Mean Look
50Hypnosis
50Dream Eater
55Me First
55After You
55Healing Wish
60Psychic Terrain
60Gravity
60Trick Room
60Wonder Room
60Magic Room
65Mimic
70Calm Mind
70Psychic
70Psyshock

The idea behind this comes from the third Pokémon movie: Power of the Unown: it is essentially a support Pokémon, but can grow in power through numbers in regards to what affect it has on the world around it. The chain goes like this: itself --> others --> the environment around it. It slowly gains offensive power as it grows, but is always primarily concentrated on support.
 
I had forgotten that Bubble got the boot in SWSH. I hope it stays that way and Piplup does get water gun. I remember runs with Piplup were pretty dire for a while because its only STAB move was a base 20 bubble attack until Prinplup gets bubble beam in...the 20s, I think?
I really do hope they patch up the Piplup line's level-up moveset, especially in the STAB moves department. Having to be stuck with a 20 base power move for a considerable amount of time is bad, and is why I used Piplup the least when I played a Sinnoh game. Though that's probably because I came to learn just how important Chimchar was due to its better offensive advantages.
As a Piplup user and lover, I can fully relate. However, keep in mind that Bubble's base power was bumped up to 40 in Gen 6, meaning there wouldn't be a problem with it now. Sadly though, SwSh gave it the boot and Piplup will have to get Water Gun in a generic fashion like everyone else. I've strongly associated Bubble and Bubble Beam with the Piplup-line, so it will be a minor nitpick for me to have my buddy use Water Gun. But nothing I'll really complain about.

I do hope they get Bubble Beam earlier though! I know Platinum lowered it from the early 20s to 19, but Starters have been learning stronger or similarly strong moves in their mid-teens.
 
I suspect Spiritomb will be given a Poison type move of some kind (maybe something like Sludge Bomb or Sludge Wave) to give it something to counter Fairies. They seem to like giving the Elite 4 Pokemon moves that can counter their weaknesses, but Spiritomb has nothing SE against Fairies. Some type of Poison move via TM/TR, Move Tutor, or Egg move would do the trick.
 
I was talking with my brother about movepool updates for the Starters, and we thought it would be cool if the three of them received an additional move to their level-up movepools, akin to what the Alolan Starters got in USUM:
  • For Turtwig, Stomping Tantrum. All three stages of the line would learn it, but Turtwig and Grotle would get it late teens and early twenties, respectively. This way, they have coverage for Fire (and Steel, subsequently) before the Torterra stage, the move fits the line thematically, and it compliments their Attack stat. As of now, Turtwig and Grotle cannot learn it all while it is a tutor move for Torterra (who would now get the single-target Ground STAB naturally).
  • For Chimchar, Power-Up Punch. This one was hard, because the line has a very diverse move-pool and we wanted to add something that would fit thematically. Power-Up Punch makes sense with Monferno and Infernape. But what about Chimchar? Well, we wanted to envision the move as a gateway of sorts into Chimchar's secondary typing. The more it strikes with its fists, the more damage it does and the more adept it becomes with the Fighting-type...leading to its evolution into Monferno. This also gives the Monferno line two Fighting-STAB to work with until Close Combat, rather than just Mach Punch. While Power-Up Punch doesn't give Chimchar coverage against Piplup like Turtwig and Piplup get with their moves, it does allow it to physically destroy other opponents even better than it currently can; it has nice synergy with Flame Wheel and Mach Punch. Chimchar would get this fairly early, such as level 12 or 13; no more having to breed with a Lucario either.
  • For Piplup, Icy Wind. Strange, no? That the arctic penguin Pokémon gets no damaging Ice-type moves upon level-up while the sea lion one did, as well as the alligator for that matter. As such, Icy Wind felt appropriate as for the same coverage reasons Popplio got it. It runs well of the line's high Special Attack, helps with their low speed, and gives them an edge against Grass-types. It also fits thematically, as we felt the Piplup-line should be able to manipulate the Ice-type offensively to some degree, naturally. The move would become available in the late teens.
 
I had completely forgotten about how satisfying it was when my Prinplup learned Bubblebeam until you guys just reminded me.
I'll take a 40 base power Bubble please.
 
After looking over the trailer some more I noticed that Turtwig now gets Leafage instead of Absorb as it's first elemental attack before eventually getting Razor Leaf. This means, alongside Chimchar's Ember and Piplup's Water Gun, we now have all three Sinnoh starters with a 40 BP elemental move as their first move of their type. This definitely helps balance them out more, as Chimmy was the only one to get a decent move early compared to Turtwig and Piplup, who's starting elemental moves had a measly 20 BP (and feed off of an inferior stat in Turtwig's case) in DPPt. And the fact that Return makes its grand... return, as evident by the Pikachu in a contest, does mean that other cut moves could be added back in. And I wonder if we'll get move tutors that'll teach the moves introduced in the Isle of Armor? Seems like a waste to leave those moves exclusive to Galar and not give the Mons that didn't make it into Sword/Shield access to some new tools. It would certainly spice things up a bit.
 
As a Piplup user and lover, I can fully relate. However, keep in mind that Bubble's base power was bumped up to 40 in Gen 6, meaning there wouldn't be a problem with it now. Sadly though, SwSh gave it the boot and Piplup will have to get Water Gun in a generic fashion like everyone else. I've strongly associated Bubble and Bubble Beam with the Piplup-line, so it will be a minor nitpick for me to have my buddy use Water Gun. But nothing I'll really complain about.

I do hope they get Bubble Beam earlier though! I know Platinum lowered it from the early 20s to 19, but Starters have been learning stronger or similarly strong moves in their mid-teens.
Personally, I still want Piplup's starting STAB move to be Bubble. I just can't imagine it using Water Gun even after seeing it. That said, Bubble Beam definitely should be learned much earlier. Looking at how it learned moves by level in Gen 7, I think it'd be fitting to rearrange things so it learns Peck at level 11, then Bubble Beam at level 15, and then Water Sport at level 18, since the last one is not something most people would hold evolution back for just to learn earlier.
 
Please note: The thread is from 2 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom