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A while ago we were teased with the return of some of Ash's Pokemon from past sagas, something that many were justifiably excited over as the last time Ash called upon his reserves was in the DPP saga, which was about a decade and a half ago. So yeah, this was a long overdue treat. One thing that makes the return of old Pokemon exciting is that they frequently end up having learned new moves during their absence, which makes seeing them fight again after so long extra fun. With this in mind, which of Ash's past Pokemon would you like to see get new moves? Do you have any specific moves you'd like to see, and if so why? And which old moves should be forgotten to make room for the new ones? I have a few examples of my own:
Corphish- I'd like to see it learn Crunch and Iron Defense, and these moves would respectively replace Vise Grip and Harden, since they would work as stronger variations of those.
Buizel- Ditch Water Gun for Aqua Tail and Sonic Boom for Swift or Razor Wind. The first because I want Buizel to have a stronger STAB move and I thought Aqua Tail would be fitting due to how long Buizel's tails are, while Swift/Razor Wind act as stronger Normal-type coverage than Sonic Boom, which to me always felt rather underwhelming.
Torterra- Give it Bulldoze and Stone Edge to replace Rock Climb and Sythesis. Bulldoze is mainly so Torterra can have a move to use its secondary STAB with, and since Earthquake is banned from the anime, Bulldoze is the next best option imo; since Torterra lost all the ability to fight as a speedster once it evolved, I think it would be sweet justice and irony if Torterra learned a move that reduces the opponent's speed instead. Stone Edge is mainly there for coverage. Rock Climb and Synthesis are the moves I'd like to see go because they often hindered Torterra in battle far more than they helped, especially the former.
Unfezant- Yes, yes, everyone and their mom hates this bird because of how weak and pathetic she was, but you know what? If anything that just makes Unfezant even more deserving of a makeover. She definitely needs an improvement the most out of Ash's Pokemon, and recall that Noctowl was once in a very similar position to Unfezant (regional bird that barely appeared and was only helpful during a single battle in its saga) before Sinnoh came to the rescue with a vastly improved moveset that allowed Noctowl to defeat a powerful League opponent. I say throw Unfezant a similar bone. As for the moves I'd like to see her learn, I went for Night Slash and Heat Wave, which would replace Air Cutter and Gust respectively. Night Slash because it would synergize well with Super Luck (and also because the way its animated in Journeys does look a bit like how Air Cutter was animated back in BW), and Heat Wave because it's better than Gust in literally every way, and because I could see Ash's birds learning stuff from each other, and perhaps Unfezant could have learned this move after watching Talonflame's fire attacks in action. Both moves also provide coverage.
Snivy- Grass Pledge. I'll admit to not knowing which move she should forget in favor of this one, but I just want her to learn this because it never made sense to me that Pignite learned Fire Pledge but the other Unova starters never learned their respective Pledges.
Oshawott- Water Pledge for the exact same reason as Snivy. And I also don't know which attack he should forget either.
Donphan- High Horsepower so that it can have a STAB move that's visually distinct from Torterra's. Since the last time we saw Donphan it was only seen using Rollout it's kind of unclear what its full moveset was, so I'm not sure which move should be replaced, but I guess if it were up to me Donphan's new moveset would be High Horsepower, Defense Curl, Rollout, and Take-Down.
Gliscor- Replace either Stone Edge or Giga Impact with Acrobatics. I just want Gliscor to have a real STAB move, but giving it a Ground-type one that fit was tricky, so I settled for just Flying for now, and I think Acrobatics would be the best fit since it would be the logical next step after that aerial training it received. I'm torn over whether Stone Edge or Giga Impact should go to make way for Acrobatics, though: on one hand the way Stone Edge is currently animated might clash with Gliscor's aerial fighting style, but on the other hand the way Gliscor used Giga Impact was already sorta reminiscent of Acrobatics, meaning it might be redundant to keep the two.
And that's just a small sample of my wishlist (I want most of Ash's old Pokemon to get new moves, lol), but it's the ones that come to mind the most for now. So are there any new moves you'd like to see Ash's old Pokemon use?
Corphish- I'd like to see it learn Crunch and Iron Defense, and these moves would respectively replace Vise Grip and Harden, since they would work as stronger variations of those.
Buizel- Ditch Water Gun for Aqua Tail and Sonic Boom for Swift or Razor Wind. The first because I want Buizel to have a stronger STAB move and I thought Aqua Tail would be fitting due to how long Buizel's tails are, while Swift/Razor Wind act as stronger Normal-type coverage than Sonic Boom, which to me always felt rather underwhelming.
Torterra- Give it Bulldoze and Stone Edge to replace Rock Climb and Sythesis. Bulldoze is mainly so Torterra can have a move to use its secondary STAB with, and since Earthquake is banned from the anime, Bulldoze is the next best option imo; since Torterra lost all the ability to fight as a speedster once it evolved, I think it would be sweet justice and irony if Torterra learned a move that reduces the opponent's speed instead. Stone Edge is mainly there for coverage. Rock Climb and Synthesis are the moves I'd like to see go because they often hindered Torterra in battle far more than they helped, especially the former.
Unfezant- Yes, yes, everyone and their mom hates this bird because of how weak and pathetic she was, but you know what? If anything that just makes Unfezant even more deserving of a makeover. She definitely needs an improvement the most out of Ash's Pokemon, and recall that Noctowl was once in a very similar position to Unfezant (regional bird that barely appeared and was only helpful during a single battle in its saga) before Sinnoh came to the rescue with a vastly improved moveset that allowed Noctowl to defeat a powerful League opponent. I say throw Unfezant a similar bone. As for the moves I'd like to see her learn, I went for Night Slash and Heat Wave, which would replace Air Cutter and Gust respectively. Night Slash because it would synergize well with Super Luck (and also because the way its animated in Journeys does look a bit like how Air Cutter was animated back in BW), and Heat Wave because it's better than Gust in literally every way, and because I could see Ash's birds learning stuff from each other, and perhaps Unfezant could have learned this move after watching Talonflame's fire attacks in action. Both moves also provide coverage.
Snivy- Grass Pledge. I'll admit to not knowing which move she should forget in favor of this one, but I just want her to learn this because it never made sense to me that Pignite learned Fire Pledge but the other Unova starters never learned their respective Pledges.
Oshawott- Water Pledge for the exact same reason as Snivy. And I also don't know which attack he should forget either.
Donphan- High Horsepower so that it can have a STAB move that's visually distinct from Torterra's. Since the last time we saw Donphan it was only seen using Rollout it's kind of unclear what its full moveset was, so I'm not sure which move should be replaced, but I guess if it were up to me Donphan's new moveset would be High Horsepower, Defense Curl, Rollout, and Take-Down.
Gliscor- Replace either Stone Edge or Giga Impact with Acrobatics. I just want Gliscor to have a real STAB move, but giving it a Ground-type one that fit was tricky, so I settled for just Flying for now, and I think Acrobatics would be the best fit since it would be the logical next step after that aerial training it received. I'm torn over whether Stone Edge or Giga Impact should go to make way for Acrobatics, though: on one hand the way Stone Edge is currently animated might clash with Gliscor's aerial fighting style, but on the other hand the way Gliscor used Giga Impact was already sorta reminiscent of Acrobatics, meaning it might be redundant to keep the two.
And that's just a small sample of my wishlist (I want most of Ash's old Pokemon to get new moves, lol), but it's the ones that come to mind the most for now. So are there any new moves you'd like to see Ash's old Pokemon use?