Things in the Pokémon world which just don't make sense (by pokémon standards)

[lemoncatpower]

Honestly, I believe something like Water Gun's power would range from a less powerful pressurized water jet (something to how pressurized water cuts steel but on a smaller, weaker scale) as compared to Hydro Pump which would be like using a fire hose on somebody at point blank range.

so that makes me think they should be physical based, same as hydro cannon. Sparkling aria and bubblebeam seem more like special based attacks for water (they are). Water seems like it should be way more physically oriented than special.

 

[Dew Watatsumi]

so that makes me think they should be physical based, same as hydro cannon. Sparkling aria and bubblebeam seem more like special based attacks for water (they are). Water seems like it should be way more physically oriented than special.

How would that be physical? Something like spraying water isn't something like stabbing, tackling, or punching something. Yes it has the capabilities as doing certain things as cutting through steel (as mentioned in my last post) but the user of the move isn't making physical contact with the target. I mean we already have a few physical water type moves such as Aqua Tail, Aqua Jet, Razor Shell, and Waterfall

 

[lemoncatpower]

How would that be physical? Something like spraying water isn't something like stabbing, tackling, or punching something. Yes it has the capabilities as doing certain things as cutting through steel (as mentioned in my last post) but the user of the move isn't making physical contact with the target. I mean we already have a few physical water type moves such as Aqua Tail, Aqua Jet, Razor Shell, and Waterfall

that goes against the above talk about rock type moves. All rock type moves are thus used with your body by this logic. Pressure is something that causes physical pain to your body, so that's why I say that.

 

[octoboy]

How would that be physical? Something like spraying water isn't something like stabbing, tackling, or punching something. Yes it has the capabilities as doing certain things as cutting through steel (as mentioned in my last post) but the user of the move isn't making physical contact with the target. I mean we already have a few physical water type moves such as Aqua Tail, Aqua Jet, Razor Shell, and Waterfall

Contact isn't required for physical moves, as demonstrated by earthquake and several rock moves. Though honestly, what move is physical and what isn't is probably something that doesn't do much good to think too hard about. Leaf storm likely doesn't have much less reason to be physical than razor leaf, but it's a special move, for instance, and if earthquake is physical due to the physical strength required to shake the ground, it could probably be argued that gust is physical as well, because it takes physical strength to flap hard enough to make a breeze, etc.

 

[Bguy7]

One thing that has bothered me is that there is only one special Rock-type attack.

Do you have any suggestions for another Rock-Type special attack? If I had to guess, probably not. The problem with the Rock-Type is that it's all about big heavy objects, which directly translates to nearly all of it's attack being physical. You should be happy to even have the two that we do.

honestly so many attacks should be switched up imo. Water attacks confuse me, because isn't water gun all about the pressure that hits the opponent? that confuses me a bit

I've debated that in my head as well, and tried to figure out a working definition for what separates a physical attack from a special attack. The two easy answers are either that physical attacks make contact and special attack don't, or that physical attacks use physical objects to attack with while special attacks use energy. The first definition doesn't work at all, just look at moves like Rock Throw or Razor Leaf that are ranged but still physical. The second definition almost always works, but there are exceptions, such as Water-Type moves or moves like Mud Shot. I think that the best explanation is simply that water, at least at a conceptual level, is "soft." True, it becomes a "hard" object at high speeds, but everyday conceptions tell us that it's "soft." The same logic applies to moves like Mud Shot.

 

[octoboy]

I think that the best explanation is simply that water, at least at a conceptual level, is "soft." True, it becomes a "hard" object at high speeds, but everyday conceptions tell us that it's "soft." The same logic applies to moves like Mud Shot.

I guess that would explain gust pretty well, but still leaves leaf storm pretty curious; what makes these leaves less solid than those used in razor leaf?

 

[Dew Watatsumi]

that goes against the above talk about rock type moves. All rock type moves are thus used with your body by this logic. Pressure is something that causes physical pain to your body, so that's why I say that.

The talk about rocks I was mentioning were about the anime. Pressure doesn't entirely have to put your body in stress as most special water attacks are primarily projectiles. Think of a waterbender from Avatar. Yes with the way they use water would be considered special attacking going by pokemon's rule, but when you have something like Katara's water whip technique, that would primarily be considered as a physical attack since she's using water to strike at the opponent. I know that comparison would be considered a stretch. I said nothing about just using your body but i can see where you got it from in the last post i've made. When we had something like Rock Tomb, the anime shows the target being trapped by rocks (ie Roxanne's Nosepass when it jumps on the ground causing rocks to protrude from the ground which we can assume is caused by its weight), but that was only one use for it. Here are the descriptions of certain moves from Bulbapedia.

Rock Tomb Boulders are hurled at the target. This also lowers the target's Speed stat by preventing its movement.
-We can assume that the user of said move could've picked up random rocks or debris from the surrounding area

Power Gem The user attacks with a ray of light that sparkles as if it were made of gemstones.

What I'm also trying to say is that physical moves require the user to use it's body in some sort of way while anything special are more energy based, more commenly used as projectiles. Actual rocks are being used for moves like Rock Slide, where they get them from are questionable yes. While something like Power Gem aren't rocks but energy that is made to look like gemstones. If that doesn't explain any further, the only other answer i can give you is pokemon logic

Edit: i know i should've worded it better but the 2 points above me were good as well

 

[Bguy7]

I guess that would explain gust pretty well, but still leaves leaf storm pretty curious; what makes these leaves less solid than those used in razor leaf?

If I had to guess, Razor Leaf has an emphasis on sharp leaves, therefore causing physical damage, while Leaf Storm has a higher focus the actual storm side of things. You're right though, it is a flimsy distinction.

Funny related story, I actually did not learn until three or four years ago that Razor Leaf was a physical attack, I had always assumed it was special and never bothered to check.

 

[octoboy]

If I had to guess, Razor Leaf has an emphasis on sharp leaves, therefore causing physical damage, while Leaf Storm has a higher focus the actual storm side of things. You're right though, it is a flimsy distinction.

Funny related story, I actually did not learn until three or four years ago that Razor Leaf was a physical attack, I had always assumed it was special and never bothered to check.

I literally just learned this when looking up the two moves. It seems pretty easy to assume it's a special move somehow.

 

[RedJirachi]

I still don't understand why the Chansey line isn't either pure or part Fairy type. I'm not basing this on Egg groups but rather what they represent. Chansey symbolizes luck and Blissey is the personification of pure happiness with its eggs being said to be pure joy. Giving people luck and happiness are what most fairies in stories do particularly the Fairy Godmothers. Out of all the potential Pokémon to become Fairy, I'm surprised that these three stayed the same type. It would have been great to have a Fairy type that could withstand attacks while healing itself often.

I think it's because they're too beefy as is and they don't want to make them a game breaker

On my note, it's really weird that the Rotom Dex doesn't recognize its own species as seen. Is it trolling me?

 

[Cat's Eye Draco]

I've always found it a little odd how a Pokedex entry will often tell you a "fun fact" about a unique ability a Pokemon supposedly has, and said Pokemon has no moves reflecting this ability. Like Luxio, for example, which apparently has the ability to conduct electricity through its claws and KO an opponent with just one scratch... and yet doesn't learn a single scratching move.

 

[lemoncatpower]

I've always found it a little odd how a Pokedex entry will often tell you a "fun fact" about a unique ability a Pokemon supposedly has, and said Pokemon has no moves reflecting this ability. Like Luxio, for example, which apparently has the ability to conduct electricity through its claws and KO an opponent with just one scratch... and yet doesn't learn a single scratching move.

I think if pokemon were real, there wouldn't really be pokemon techniques across the board as much as pokemon having their specific abilities to attack per species. If that makes sense... like not every electric pokemon could necessarily learn "thundershock" in the same manner, but they'd all be able to deal a thundershock to you in their different ways depending on what species of pokemon you are. Also people would have way different names for all the different moves too. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, but I mean that pokemon moves just standardize a pokemon's abilities but in real life they wouldn't be locked into these movesets compared to all having their own unique abilities and moves that'd be quite different from each other.

I don't actually think that answers your question, but I don't think movesets are too reliable all the time to tell the actual skills a pokemon would be able to learn if it wasn't stuck in a video game.

 

[Bguy7]

I've always found it a little odd how a Pokedex entry will often tell you a "fun fact" about a unique ability a Pokemon supposedly has, and said Pokemon has no moves reflecting this ability. Like Luxio, for example, which apparently has the ability to conduct electricity through its claws and KO an opponent with just one scratch... and yet doesn't learn a single scratching move.

To elaborate on what lemoncatpower said, essentially, when Luxio is using some move like Spark, it is likely discharging the electricity via its claws. That's where the description would come from. Also, if there were an "Electric Claw" move, I'm sure Luxio would learn it, but as there is no such move, Luxio doesn't have many options for expressing this ability.

 

[RedJirachi]

Ride Pokemon not being recorded as "seen." Is my Rotom Dex shortsighted?

 

[Bguy7]

Ride Pokemon not being recorded as "seen." Is my Rotom Dex shortsighted?

No, it's just that it's programmed to only register Pokemon that you battle against. It's the same as any previous game where you can see Pokemon in the overworld.

 

[RedJirachi]

No, it's just that it's programmed to only register Pokemon that you battle against. It's the same as any previous game where you can see Pokemon in the overworld.

I was talking from an in-universe perspective

 

[Bguy7]

I was talking from an in-universe perspective

Yeah, so am I. A Pokedex is only programmed to register Pokemon that a trainer has battled against. If you want a reason, maybe it's so that trainer can keep track of what they have and haven't battled. Or maybe the Pokedex would overload if it tried registering literally every Pokemon all around you.

 

[RedJirachi]

Lillie believing she can keep Nebby in the bag when it knows Teleport

 

[Bguy7]

Lillie believing she can keep Nebby in the bag when it knows Teleport

I feel like you've said this before, and I said I don't see the issue. It wasn't a matter of what Lillie thought she could or couldn't do, she did what she thought she had to do to protect Nebby. And even then, I doubt she knew that it knows the move Teleport, seeing as she never battled with it.

 

[Akashin]

I feel like you've said this before, and I said I don't see the issue. It wasn't a matter of what Lillie thought she could or couldn't do, she did what she thought she had to do to protect Nebby. And even then, I doubt she knew that it knows the move Teleport, seeing as she never battled with it.

To say nothing of the fact that, with how often Nebby got out and how little effort she made to stop it from doing so as the game went on, I doubt she harbored any illusions of her ability to keep it corralled. She just made an effort to anyway because, as you said, it was something she felt she had to do.

Even if she did, that's just a simple case of her being naive. How exactly is that something that doesn't make sense by Pokemon standards? I'm relatively sure we have naive people on the other side of the 3DS' screen, too.