Best/Funniest Move Animations

[NovaBrunswick]

Every time a Pokémon uses a move in the games, it has an accompanying animation to let you know what they're doing. Some of them are a bit more memorable than others - what are your favourites?

I was kind of obsessed with the animation of Surf in Gen 2, because I liked how it made everything on the screen go all wobbly, including the names of the Pokémon and HP bars:

I also found the Gen 3 animation for Rock Tomb funny, because it looks like the user is dropping rocks and drawing a huge red "X" over the opponent:

And not forgetting Leer's Gen 2 animation with its laser eye beams:

(All these are from Bulbapedia.)

 

[mtqc]

I really love the current version of Retaliate. It's almost unnecessarily dramatic, but that's what makes it so cool.

 

[Ignition]

Darkest Lariat being learnable by other Pokémon is funny especially with something like Snorlax

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Not quite a move animation but Cramorant’s Gouging Form Gulp Missile launching Pikachu is hilarious!

 

[RedBlastoise]

Leer does look really funny in Gen 2 and I always thought that Water Gun's animation in Gen 3 looked pathetic because it was just a ball of water and not a stream of water like it should've been.

 

[shoz999]

Just found out that when Dubwool uses Double Kick, he jumps up and down. When Dubwool uses Headbutt, he turns around and back kicks.

 

[NovaBrunswick]

Just found out that when Dubwool uses Double Kick, he jumps up and down. When Dubwool uses Headbutt, he turns around and back kicks.

And when Mudsdale uses a kicking move, he turns around and kicks with his back legs.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

And when Mudsdale uses a kicking move, he turns around and kicks with his back legs.

That actually makes sense. Horses and other equestrians tend to kick with their back legs. The front legs are almost never used for attacking.

 

[Leonhart]

I've always found Mud Sport to have an amusing animation in the Gen III games, mostly because it seems absurd to me that flinging mud in the air doesn't cause damage. I also find Attract's animation to be silly because it feels over-exaggerated.

 

[NovaBrunswick]

When a Pokémon uses Seismic Toss, they "throw" the opponent around the globe, similar to what it looks like in the anime. If you look closely at the globe, some real-world countries such as Norway and Russia are visible, which somewhat implies that Pokémon takes place in our world, but in an alternate dimension:

(In Japanese, Seismic Toss is called Earth Throw, which may explain a globe being part of the animation.)

 

[Leonhart]

When a Pokémon uses Seismic Toss, they "throw" the opponent around the globe, similar to what it looks like in the anime. If you look closely at the globe, some real-world countries such as Norway and Russia are visible, which somewhat implies that Pokémon takes place in our world, but in an alternate dimension:

(In Japanese, Seismic Toss is called Earth Throw, which may explain a globe being part of the animation.)

I think that in the Gen II games the animation showed the Pokemon throwing a literal globe at their opponents when using Seismic Toss, which I found equally hilarious.

 

[NovaBrunswick]

Ever seen Incineroar using Flamethrower?

 

[GearChange]

I've always loved the animation for Slash in Gen 3, absolutely one of my favorites.

 

[Sakuyamon]

Follow Me in Gen 3. For the longest time I thought it looked stupid and the move itself isn't even good anyway which makes it all the more funnier lol.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I liked how Nightshade looked in Gen I in the original GB release before the 3DS VC release changed it to prevent seizures. I wanted a move back then called Heatwave that also used that animation before the name actually became an actual attack. Surf and Haze also had pretty neat looking animations in the first games.

 

[Leonhart]

I liked how Nightshade looked in Gen I in the original GB release before the 3DS VC release changed it to prevent seizures. I wanted a move back then called Heatwave that also used that animation before the name actually became an actual attack. Surf and Haze also had pretty neat looking animations in the first games.

Speaking of Heat Wave, it received such a bad animation in the Gen III games: I remember it basically looking like an orange version of Sandstorm, and its Gen IV animation wasn't much better since it looked like an orange version of Ominous Wind.

 

[NovaBrunswick]

If you mix Water Pledge and Fire Pledge in-game, you get a rainbow:

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

The Pledge moves do have nice animations after you combine two of them. It’s just the shame that they aren’t useful when used alone.

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

Splash always makes me laugh. Simply animated, yet goofy. Leer in the first generation reminded me of Cyclops from the XMen in a way.

 

[Missingno.Fan]

I liked Surf in Generation I. It was like it was raining and then two reverse waterfalls come up.