Moves You Don't Get

[Jersey Jimmy]

Are there any moves in the Pokemon series that you just... don't understand how they'd work? Like, for me, it's Encore. Okay, great, you got your opponent to use the same move again. HOW?! Does it involve some sort of hypnosis? Is the opposing Pokemon just that stupid? I don't know, and I probably shouldn't be questioning it, but... whatever.

What about the rest of you? Are there any moves you can't understand?

 

[Icy Wind]

Are there any moves in the Pokemon series that you just... don't understand how they'd work? Like, for me, it's Encore. Okay, great, you got your opponent to use the same move again. HOW?! Does it involve some sort of hypnosis? Is the opposing Pokemon just that stupid? I don't know, and I probably shouldn't be questioning it, but... whatever.

What about the rest of you? Are there any moves you can't understand?

Encore works like if you were on stage and the crowd demands you still perform

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

Encore works like if you were on stage and the crowd demands you still perform

What if your performance sucked, though? What if they don't want an encore?

...maybe that's the move missing, actually.

 

[Tusken Raider]

Sand Attack. I do know that the move is just a Pokémon throwing sand at another Pokémon's face but what if they are fighting in a place that doesn't have sand? That just totally doesn't make sense (to me at least).
Cosmic Power. Just the name of this move reminds me of the Power Cosmic, the source of power of Galactus and his Heralds. And I do not understand it's description:

Raises Defense and Sp. Def (Special Defense) with a mystic power.

When I read that part ("mystic power"), my mind thinks of magic not psychic powers. Both of these things (magic and psychic powers) are totally different, unrelated to each other. [size=-4]The reason I'm stating the obvious: It's a mystery.[/size]

 

[Krash]

Tail Whip. Why does it lower defense while Tail Slap inflicts damage? I'd rather be slapped than whipped...

 

[Lysson]

I don't understand how Earthquake is a special move. It would be special otherwise I just imagine a Pokemon violently shaking the opponent by the shoulders yelling 'EARTHQUAKE!'

 

[Osprey]

I don't understand how Earthquake is a special move. It would be special otherwise I just imagine a Pokemon violently shaking the opponent by the shoulders yelling 'EARTHQUAKE!'

I think Earthquake one of those weird ones that's affected by Attack and Defense, but won't trigger contact-based abilities like Static or Iron Barbs.

I figure that doing something like shaking the earth requires brute physical strength to pull off.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I don't understand how Earthquake is a special move. It would be special otherwise I just imagine a Pokemon violently shaking the opponent by the shoulders yelling 'EARTHQUAKE!'

It's interesting how writing fanfic really makes you have to think about stuff like this. Earthquake is an odd one, because it's not really the earthquake itself that's dangerous, it's what happens to the environment. If you're standing in the middle of a cornfield when an earthquake hits, the worst that can happen is that you fall over.

 

[Misfit Angel]

It's interesting how writing fanfic really makes you have to think about stuff like this. Earthquake is an odd one, because it's not really the earthquake itself that's dangerous, it's what happens to the environment. If you're standing in the middle of a cornfield when an earthquake hits, the worst that can happen is that you fall over.

Or, worst case scenario, a fissure opens up below your cornfield and you get crunched up.

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

Or, worst case scenario, a fissure opens up below your cornfield and you get crunched up.

But are we talking about Fissure? Didn't think so.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

It's interesting how writing fanfic really makes you have to think about stuff like this. Earthquake is an odd one, because it's not really the earthquake itself that's dangerous, it's what happens to the environment. If you're standing in the middle of a cornfield when an earthquake hits, the worst that can happen is that you fall over.

Or, worst case scenario, a fissure opens up below your cornfield and you get crunched up.

That would be quite bad, yes.

Thing is, at least the way the games portray it, it is supposedly the quakes themselves doing the damage. If it relied on falling objects, I presume the accuracy would be a lot worse, seeing as you can't rely on things falling in the right direction to hit the enemy - then there's also the chance they could move out the way. Or the arena you're fighting in might not have anything to fall over anyway. But yeah, as Pavell pointed out, the quakes themselves aren't actually that dangerous to living things so much, which is why it makes no sense for this move to be so powerful.

Toxic's one that always gets me. Not really the move itself, rather the fact that near-as-dammit every single pokemon can learn it. That's something that goes pretty unexplained as far as I can tell.

 

[Ice Tyrant]

Admittedly it's because it's already stupidly broken as it is, but why is Oblivion Wing only at 80 BP when it should be a tad bit higher in all honesty? Especially since it's one of Yveltal's primary moves but due it being Flying Type, doesn't get boosted by Dark Aura?

 

[Osprey]

Why does a move like Constrict even exist? Power-wise, it's out classed by the likes of Pound and Tackle. What could make a move that weak? Is the attack just a mildly uncomfortable hug? Same goes with moves like Whirlpool and Fire Spin, except their weak power makes even LESS sense. You'd think that a violent swirl of water or a vortex of flame would do more damage than a Tackle, but instead we get laughably weak moves on top of shit accuracy.

I also have to wonder why Follow Me works. A variant like Rage Powder makes sense, but why does a waggling finger provoke a Pokemon into switching targets? Come to think of it, why do waggling fingers allow a Pokemon to execute any move from Splash to Judgement?

 

[PaulTheProtist]

Metronome. You can somehow use moves from Earthquake to Roar of Time with it. How does that even work?

 

[Enzap]

Cosmic Power. Just the name of this move reminds me of the Power Cosmic, the source of power of Galactus and his Heralds. And I do not understand it's description:

Raises Defense and Sp. Def (Special Defense) with a mystic power.

When I read that part ("mystic power"), my mind thinks of magic not psychic powers. Both of these things (magic and psychic powers) are totally different, unrelated to each other. [size=-4]The reason I'm stating the obvious: It's a mystery.[/size]

Magic powers are often associated with the Psychic type in Pokemon. Think about Pokemon like Alakazam (who's based on a magician with a disappearing or escape artist act) or Delphox (who is literally a wizard). Plus alien Pokemon are often depicted as Psychic. Starmie, Elgyem, Deoxys, Solrock, and Lunatone are all Psychic types. Basically Psychic seems to be a catch-all type for any strange powers that aren't explainable by Pokeverse physics.

Tail Whip. Why does it lower defense while Tail Slap inflicts damage? I'd rather be slapped than whipped...

Tail Whip's Japanese name is Tail Wag, which makes more sense for its game and anime animation. Not sure why they changed it to "whip." I think the idea is the opponent lets their guard down because the user looks happy and unassuming with its tail wagging.

I don't understand how Earthquake is a special move. It would be special otherwise I just imagine a Pokemon violently shaking the opponent by the shoulders yelling 'EARTHQUAKE!'

I think Earthquake one of those weird ones that's affected by Attack and Defense, but won't trigger contact-based abilities like Static or Iron Barbs.

I figure that doing something like shaking the earth requires brute physical strength to pull off.

Yeah, that's the gist of it as I understand it. They seem to slam the ground, resulting in shock waves that travel through the ground into the opponent. At least this is how it's been represented in the anime, and that makes the most sense. Being shaken up by high energy vibrations seems like it would cause some damage.

Typically moves that have a solid, physical element to them are Physical, and moves that use energy or some other intangible element are special. I've always been a bit more confused by special moves that have direct contact, like Wring-Out and Trump Card, than physical moves that don't make contact. Moves like Rock Throw make sense as a physical attack since it's literally a rock, a physical object being hurled at the opponent.

 

[skyradiant]

Why does GameFreak feel the need to balance the moves of uber legendaries (as in stuff like Sacred Fire having 95 accuracy instead of 100 and Shadow Force being a two-turn attack)? These Pokemon aren't even allowed in official tournaments, unless it's something like the Primal competition, so trying to balance them out is pretty pointless.
It also doesn't make sense why Flying Press is the only dual-typed move, it seems weird compared to a few other moves. For instance, Oblivion Wing should have been Dark/Flying, Muddy Water could have been changed to Water/Ground, while the elemental punches could have become dual Fighting-type moves.

 

[Grei]

Surf. I don't get how that can be a move used anywhere.

Like... the user just summons a wave from nowhere? What if you're in the Battle Tower? Or you're in a Sky Battle?

 

[SirOni]

Toxic's one that always gets me. Not really the move itself, rather the fact that near-as-dammit every single pokemon can learn it. That's something that goes pretty unexplained as far as I can tell.

I've thought about it myself and I've somewhat concluded that it may be certain noxious elements that any living creature can produce. Certain gross stinky elements...that can come out of either end.

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

I've thought about it myself and I've somewhat concluded that it may be certain noxious elements that any living creature can produce. Certain gross stinky elements...that can come out of either end.

[video=youtube;D3pgjRdnyxY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3pgjRdnyxY[/video]

 

[skyradiant]

Toxic's one that always gets me. Not really the move itself, rather the fact that near-as-dammit every single pokemon can learn it. That's something that goes pretty unexplained as far as I can tell.

I've thought about it myself and I've somewhat concluded that it may be certain noxious elements that any living creature can produce. Certain gross stinky elements...that can come out of either end.

I can see so much scat fetish art/fanfic produced from this idea alone lol.