Hidden Power- Reliable?

[Volcanix769]

First off, I'm not entirely sure if this may be a good discussion since I tried posting this topic on Serebii and it was rejected.

So, HP used to be Physical from Gen II-III in terms of Poison, Fighting, Steel, Ghost, Rock, Bug, Ground and Flying for those Pokemon who lacked certain moves and so it can serve as another reliable Physical Attack. Special in terms of Electric, Dark, Psychic, Dragon, Water, Grass, Fire and Ice is used for those Pokemon that are good in Special Attack and to cover the Pokemon's gaping holes in terms of moveset and weaknesses. Huntail for example can't learn Electric types and it can learn HP Electric that can cover Flying types that may be Water/Flying.

But! Hidden Power has 30-70 Power depending on IV, and it's hard to get the power and type you want by random encounters. IVs are set forever, so you can't change that except EVs if you want to strengthen your desired Power. Now, HP is completely Special now and a lot of people teach their Pokemon that in the meta game. As in Espeon knowing HP Fighting to cover Dark types and Steel since the Special Attack of it is high and Steel and Dark Pokemon are resistant and immune.

And like what I said about Hidden Power being 30-70 and is Special now, it doesn't act like a Physical Attack. So, do you think that there should be another Physical Hidden Power? If so, why? To serve as a gaping hole for Physical Attackers? Or do they have enough Physical moves to cover their gaping holes? And because of the 30-70 Power not being very strong and doesn't act a second effect(because HP is just your inner energy based on you OWN energy) but reliable for type advantage?

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Please no. You cannot believe how much I despise Hidden Power because of its complex mechanics surrounding it. It also forces me to rely on special-based Pokemon with wider movepools so I don't waste days getting the type of HP is recommended by Smogon to make it a good Pokemon. Now that I think about it, Hidden Power hinders the purpose of having you to switch your Pokemon if it has a type disadvantage from the opponent's Pokemon. To answer your question, A physical-based Hidden Power would only make the game mechanic even more complicated for crafting your dream team.

 

[Volcanix769]

Please no. You cannot believe how much I despise Hidden Power because of its complex mechanics surrounding it. To answer your question, A physical-based Hidden Power would only make the game mechanic even more complicated for crafting your dream team.

Yeah, you're right, since every Pokemon you may set with it would have the same type of moves every time. And yeah, it's really hard to get the HP you want since it requires a lot of energy to waste.

 

[Sweets Witch]

The game mechanics wouldn't be that much different if it was to operate off of the same mechanics as Hidden Power. That is, it'd just be a Physical copy of the move that still relies on IVs for its strength and type. It'd definitely be a competitive game-changer, that's for certain. It'd lift that burden of feeling like you have to pick more Special Attackers. But on the other hand, Smogon would definitely end up expanding the Ubers tier a bit because if people don't know how to deal with a threat then they cry for it to be banned.