Overworld Moves (Non-HMs)

[Devalue]

Talks about HMs every so often. What is your opinion about overworld moves that are not HMs? Refers to moves like Dig, Teleport, Headbutt, and Sweet Scent. Would you like to see more moves not tied to progression like this? What kind of effects would you want, if so?

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Sounds like a good expansion to an existing mechanic. (Posted this topic, after all.) Adds more utility to some Pokemon without being required. Provides more ways to interact with your environment too. Found that quite lacking in Sword/Shield. Fills some of the void left by HMs. Needs not default to backtracking (necessarily). Created a few ideas:

- Synthesis, Rototiller, and Grassy Terrain: Use it on a sprout. Grows a vine to climb up. Accesses alternate ways through a route, different Pokemon, and/or items. May skip some trainers by doing so. (Thanks Golden Sun for this idea.)
- Dig and Drill Run: Use it on a patch of loose soil. Enters a special area, much like with the vines above.
- Moves with a Poison chance: Clears plants blocking your path. See above.
- Moves with a Freeze chance: Freezes small bodies of water. Accesses some areas without Surf.
- Healing moves effective on other Pokemon (like Heal Pulse): Makes an overworld Pokemon happy. Follows you around. Turns your next wild encounter on that route into a double battle with that Pokemon as your partner.
- Mind Reader: Friendship checker on any party Pokemon
- Minimize: Enables your Pokemon to enter a small hole in the wall. Reports back with what they saw. Displays an area from a different perspective. May see items hiding behind trees or trainer ambushes, for example.
- Thief and Trick: Changes your Right Stick press from a whistle to a short-range "attack". Steals a wild Pokemon's held item without entering battle. Only works on overworld Pokemon. Agitates or scares them.
- Attract: Like Sweet Scent, but only opposite gendered Pokemon. (Straight Sweet Scent, essentially.)
- Glare and Mean Look: Acts like a Repel until toggled off.
- Rain Dance, Hail, Sunny Day, and Sandstorm: Changes the current weather in your area for ten minutes.

 

[Zeostar]

I am perfectly fine with overworld moves. While I can't think of any creative ideas, I wouldn't mind seeing more implementation in the future. Serves as a nice bonus for moves such as Headbutt.

 

[ReKoil]

I liked the Headbutt interaction in Johto and wouldn't mind seeing it return.
Sweet Scent is just useful and I have used it quite a bit, though I do wish you could register it so you wouldn't have to go to your party every time and active the move there.
Dig I have used on occasion. Mainly when I wanna leave a cave fast to go heal and don't want to use and Escape Rope or don't have any.
I don't think I've actually ever used teleport outside of a fight tbh.

I really like your ideas for Dig/Drill Run & Mind Reader. As for the healing moves effective on other Pokemon, that just sounds adorable and I would actually kinda like to see it implemented.

I think Special Ice moves when used on a body of water could Freeze the surface and potentially let you cross. Like freezing the water with an Icy Wind or Ice Beam.

Also Gravity could be used to move obstacles out of the way by adjusting their gravity.

Role Play to disguise yourself as a member of the regions evil team so that they ignore you and you don't have to fight them if you don't want to.

Double Team could be a toggle that makes any battles in the area a Double Battle when toggled by using it in the area.

 

[Sheep]

Almost forgot they existed! I like them. Headbutting trees was a pain sometimes, but still fun when you found rare encounters like Heracross. I enjoyed it.

Things that would be cool:

1) Sing. Since wild encounters can be found in the overworld now, using Sing should put it to sleep. It will stop moving and allow you to either quickly get around it without worrying about an encounter, or battle it with it being under the Sleep status.
2) Ice Beam. Creates paths across water if you don't have anything that can Surf. You've mentioned this already, and it's a good idea. 👍
3) String Shot. Climb trees, go down caves, etc. Characters have done this in the anime.

It's all I can think of from a very brief think, but there are so many possibilities with this!

Role Play to disguise yourself as a member of the regions evil team so that they ignore you and you don't have to fight them if you don't want to.

Love this. Didn't even think about it. Would be great tbh.

 

[Amore]

I think my ideal land encounter options would be a combination of SwSh encounters where you see them in the overworld, Honey trees, and Headbutt (Munchlax don't sleep in trees but are lured by honey, whereas Noctowl could care less about honey for example). Bring back Cut slicing down grass (but perhaps make it that 1 use erases the entire patch given we've moved beyond tiles) too.

I like the Ice Beam idea...but only in a limited area, for example a cave system in the far North (or South if its that hemisphere) would be cold enough for you to make Ice Beam bridges, perhaps finding Kyurem at the end of it! That Sing idea above is great too. It wouldn't affect wild pokémon with Soundproof obviously, which would be neat.

r.e. Dig, bring back secret bases! Secret Power can be left out of the game, Dig being multi-purpose makes more sense. Could have type-exclusive uses:
- Rock- and Steel-types are able to dig into tougher rocks than other Dig users
- If Dive made a comeback, only Water-type Dig users could create a secret base under the ocean to live it up Bond-villain style.
- Introduce a new item "Truffles" that can only be dug up by Pig pokémon!