6th Gen In-game trainers with past gen only moves

[Pendraflare]

This is something that i've wondered about for a little while. First off, Lysandre's Gyarados has Iron Head and Outrage, which can only be obtained in BW2, Platinum or HGSS. Guess he paid a visit to Unova, or spent time in the Battle Frontier then! Additionally, an Ace Trainer in Victory Road, the very first trainer you fight in the cave, in fact, has a Weavile with Ice Punch and Low Kick. Ice Punch i'll buy to an extent, since it's an Egg move, but Low Kick is a bit much.

Now, the trainers in the Battle Maison I can understand them doing this with (if memory serves, in BW there was a Scizor in the Battle Subway that had Superpower). But the in-game trainers? I know it isn't something that makes the game diabolically tough, but I still find it kinda hard to suspend my disbelief there, given that these are trainers the game forces you to fight, and they have moves that the game requires you to import, and doesn't give you fresh out.

Anyone else think it's kinda ridiculous here? Discuss.

 

[MarioManH]

I don't really find it that ridiculous that trainers have Pokemon with past-gen moves. But for the in-game trainers you have to face, they shouldn't have past-gen moves until after-game since that's when you should typically begin to import.

 

[Howmander]

I don't really find it that ridiculous that trainers have Pokemon with past-gen moves. But for the in-game trainers you have to face, they shouldn't have past-gen moves until after-game since that's when you should typically begin to import.

Why? You can start importing as soon as you get your pokedex, so if there's moves you want and can get them at any point after you choose your starter, why shouldn't everything else in game be allowed to do it too?

 

[Banned]

Interesting observation, I can't say I noticed that while I was playing the game. I don't think it's objectionable, since it doesn't really make a whole lot of difference when battling them (the battles are easy enough already). But it's cool that they'd have those moves, especially the Weavile, since it seems to have its typical Smogon set from your description. It shows the game developers have put some thought into tactics for in-game trainer battles, which is always nice to see. I remember in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald there's an Ace Trainer double battle in Victory Road with a Gardevoir/Slaking combo, and the Gardevoir uses Skill Swap on the Slaking. That was fun to see, especially with it being such a novel move back then.

 

[Hikamaru]

I guess Lysandre's Gyarados had Iron Head as a way to counter Fairy-types who were trying to take advantage of the Mega form's Dark-type which was weak to Fairy attacks.

But yeah interesting observation there Flareblitz, I know I've heard of in-game trainers in previous games having moves that would be illegal or can't be learned outside of past-gen tutors. The Weavile you mentioned is kinda interesting, because Low Kick was a tutor move for it in B2/W2 I think, and Ice Punch is now an egg move for it.

Remember how some in-game trainers (typically smarter AI ones like Veterans, Ace Trainers, Gym Leaders, Elite Four/Champion and villain bosses) tend to include moves that their Pokemon would normally learn through a TM? That's mainly to try and give them some form of coverage against something they might have a weakness to.

TV Tropes even has an article which mentions the versatility in some Pokemon's movepools, called "Confusion Fu".

 

[Hiatus]

It's sort of interesting when you wonder how they've managed to teach these moves to their Pokémon, but I definitely wouldn't call it ridiculous. It might end up raising their difficulty a bit, but at the end, they're still beatable; you just need to think of a good strategy to get around them. d:

 

[Belldandy]

I actually like the idea. If we can breed and import to get advantages for our own Pokemon, why not have in-game trainers that are equally as dedicated? Sure, the method in which to obtain these moves doesn't make sense for them (an NPC can't go out and buy BW2 and transfer them in after all!), but they should still be eligible.

On a similar note, in the anime you'd have Pokemon who would be able to resist moves that would otherwise be super-effective, and trainers would work hard to teach their Pokemon moves that should've been TMs, etc. Maybe irrelevant to the games, but why can't be see dedication like that in the games themselves? It adds variety and you don't really know what to expect. I find it to be pleasant.

 

[Shrew]

I never noticed this, but I must say that it disappoints me.

The official tourneys only allow Kalos-obtained pokemon. From one point of view, this is to prevent hacks; from another, it's to put everyone on the same playing field. You don't have to worry about your opponent having Knock Off, Stealth Rock, etc. available to most of their team just because they've been playing longer than you and happen to still own a $40-50 game from long ago. This makes the game easier to get into for newcomers and returning veterans alike.

...well, that's at least the way I liked to look at it. :\ If Gamefreak is sneaking in these type of moves in the casual play of story mode, then that probably means they don't care at all about giving everyone equal footing in the multiplayer setting.