moves with confusing types

First Impression. Like...what does that even mean? And why is it a Bug type move?? I know it used to be the sig move for Golisopod, but that honestly doesn't answer any questions for me lol.
 
I suppose that many Bug type attacks were just given that type because Bugs needed more attacks and that's it.

What confuses me more are some status moves, like why is Wide Guard a Rock type move, or Coil a Poison type move.
Or why is Agility a Psychic move? It relaxes the body, so it has nothing to do with psychic powers, and in fact most of the Pokémon that learn Agility have literally nothing to do with the Psychic type. I mean, the type is irrelevant for most status moves, but still, it feels so random :)
 
wipoon said:
I suppose that many Bug type attacks were just given that type because Bugs needed more attacks and that's it.

What confuses me more are some status moves, like why is Wide Guard a Rock type move, or Coil a Poison type move.
Or why is Agility a Psychic move? It relaxes the body, so it has nothing to do with psychic powers, and in fact most of the Pokémon that learn Agility have literally nothing to do with the Psychic type. I mean, the type is irrelevant for most status moves, but still, it feels so random :)
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I think the implication is that the person is using ESP to get faster. Like some shounen manga will have the main characters use chi / chakra / whatever to move faster / walk on walls / walk on water / etc.

Not sure about Coil or Wide Guard though, I think it's either a "Let's throw it there for variety's sake", some arcane byte packing technique (these moves were released in the DS after all) or GF just had a specific Pokemon in mind when making the move and gave it that type so it looked more signature-y.
 
von Sternen said:
I think the implication is that the person is using ESP to get faster. Like some shounen manga will have the main characters use chi / chakra / whatever to move faster / walk on walls / walk on water / etc.

Not sure about Coil or Wide Guard though, I think it's either a "Let's throw it there for variety's sake", some arcane byte packing technique (these moves were released in the DS after all) or GF just had a specific Pokemon in mind when making the move and gave it that type so it looked more signature-y.
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to me this actually opens up another discussion (might have to make a separate thread): what if we just get rid of typings for non damaging moves? would it affect the meta in anyway?
 
Roni said:
to me this actually opens up another discussion (might have to make a separate thread): what if we just get rid of typings for non damaging moves? would it affect the meta in anyway?
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Kinda? Some abilities rely on the typing of status moves, but it's not a particularly big deal.
The biggest change I can see is the fact that Thunder Wave starts hitting Ground types, which is a bit annoying since it's already overused as is.
 
von Sternen said:
Kinda? Some abilities rely on the typing of status moves, but it's not a particularly big deal.
The biggest change I can see is the fact that Thunder Wave starts hitting Ground types, which is a bit annoying since it's already overused as is.
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ok i didn't factor in status moves. blunder on my part. i was mostly just thinking about stat modifiers, esp those that would only affect the user. weather absolutely still needs typings too.

to not derail this thread too much, i'm also chucking in Mirror Move. not sure of GF's logic to make that Flying... it's literally mimicking the opponents' last move, why not make it Normal or Psychic?
 
Well, except for a very few moves that somehow take typings into account (like Thunder Wave, Stealth Rock, Counter/Mirror Coat), the status moves' types are actually pointless and are there just to make things more colorful (like when they changed Moonlight from Normal to Fairy, the move is still literally the same).

Even in those cases the types wouldn't be really necessary as we already see in things like Poison Powder not affecting Grass types when Grass is weak to Poison. Pretty sure this kind of moves and what they affect and what not are each coded individually regardless of the type they get, the type is just illustrative.

Roni said:
i'm also chucking in Mirror Move. not sure of GF's logic to make that Flying... it's literally mimicking the opponents' last move, why not make it Normal or Psychic?
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Apparently the move in Japanese is something like 'Parrot mimicry'
 
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Well, they did change Gust, Karate Chop and Bite's type in Generation II - they used to be all normal type moves - so you'd think they could change that to steel if they wanted to.

My theory is that because the sword there is metaphorical - it's not like there are actual swords involved, just sword-like appendages. Which include, say, Gallade's pointy arms or Haxorus' face axes or Samurott water-shell swords. They can be of any type so they're normal.

As for Sweet Scent, I can't think of a reason besides the evergreen "The devs didn't really care" :c
 
Squirtlenator said:
Why is flash not electric?

Splash not water?

Megahorn should be normal. There are many different typed mons that have horns.
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Because Splash is called Hop in Japanese, which isn't a water thing by any means. It's why Pokemon like Hoppip, a non water type, can learn it. So, Splash not being a Water type move isn't confusing in the slightest.
 
wipoon said:
Well, because you don't necessarily need electricity to produce light, which is why many other Pokémon (generally Grass, Psychic, and Fairy) can also do it.
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Light is produced through a phenomenon known as electromagnetic radiation, which is composed of both a magnetic and an electrical component. Magnetic > electrical, Electrical component > says it in it's name! Source https://www.reference.com/science/light-produced-3e9b872b6c30ca4f

Palamon said:
Because Splash is called Hop in Japanese, which isn't a water thing by any means. It's why Pokemon like Hoppip, a non water type, can learn it. So, Splash not being a Water type move isn't confusing in the slightest.
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So why not translate it to hop in English then. That would make so much more sense and more straightforward. You think the average Pokemon player is going to know the Japanese root word?!

Omit it, when you hear the word splash, the first thing that comes to mind is water.

Roni said:
there's already Horn Attack for that. would be weird if both moves were Normal. makes sense it's Bug type too because prior to Gen 3, it was the signature move of Heracross.
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Why would it be weird to have both moves as normal? Megahorn has a higher BP than Horn Attack. There are other moves that are the same and have the same typing, bind and wrap come to mind.

So according to your logic bugs are the only animals with horns?
 
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Squirtlenator said:
Why would it be weird to have both moves as normal? Megahorn has a higher BP than Horn Attack. There are other moves that are the same and have the same typing, bind and wrap come to mind.

So according to your logic bugs are the only animals with horns?
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bro like i said, it used to be the signature move of Heracross. they initially never planned to have any other mon learn it, thus it wouldn't be ideal if it wasn't STAB. i guess as time passed they figured other horned Pokemon would benefit from a strong Bug type move they could naturally learn and combat weaknesses with, so they kept the typing and expanded. nowhere in my original argument did i imply that "bugs are the only animals with horns".

also, pro-tip for these forums: you can mass click respond to other people's posts and when you click the icon at the bottom right you can quote them all and reply to all in one post. it'll allow for less spammy-ness.
 
Roni said:
bro like i said, it used to be the signature move of Heracross. they initially never planned to have any other mon learn it, thus it wouldn't be ideal if it wasn't STAB. i guess as time passed they figured other horned Pokemon would benefit from a strong Bug type move they could naturally learn and combat weaknesses with, so they kept the typing and expanded. nowhere in my original argument did i imply that "bugs are the only animals with horns".

also, pro-tip for these forums: you can mass click respond to other people's posts and when you click the icon at the bottom right you can quote them all and reply to all in one post. it'll allow for less spammy-ness.
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I was mirrory addressing the threads question "moves with confusing types". I am well aware that it was Heracross's signature move but, currently many mons of different typings have access to it nowadays. If you read the description of the move https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Megahorn_(move) the key word is horn. Horns are not inclusive to only bugs. That is the point that I was trying to make.

Thanks for the pro-tip when responding to multiple posts.
 
Squirtlenator said:
Light is produced through a phenomenon known as electromagnetic radiation, which is composed of both a magnetic and an electrical component. Magnetic > electrical, Electrical component > says it in it's name! Source https://www.reference.com/science/light-produced-3e9b872b6c30ca4f
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Well, in that case basically every light based move has its type wrong. I mean: Light Screen, Reflect, and Luster Purge (Psychic), Solar Beam (Grass), Sunny Day (Fire), Flash Cannon and Doom Desire (Steel), Moonlight (Fairy), Power Gem (Rock), Tail Glow (Bug). A lot of types have light themed moves.
 
von Sternen said:
Well, they did change Gust, Karate Chop and Bite's type in Generation II - they used to be all normal type moves - so you'd think they could change that to steel if they wanted to.

My theory is that because the sword there is metaphorical - it's not like there are actual swords involved, just sword-like appendages. Which include, say, Gallade's pointy arms or Haxorus' face axes or Samurott water-shell swords. They can be of any type so they're normal.

As for Sweet Scent, I can't think of a reason besides the evergreen "The devs didn't really care" :c
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sand-attack was also normal in gen 1 and changed in gen 2.
 
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