i actually agree that not all mons need to have viable accessible STAB and coverage or else identity starts to be lost, but also that's not quite what i was arguing. i just said i don't think gamefreak thinks about balance when doing that most of the time. dragapult not getting poltergeist is more an exception than a rule, and i do think signature moves are an indicator of that because it doesn't really matter if it's confined to one or two mons if the move breaks them anyway (see: another ghost move, last respects)
i also feel like if a pokémon has a type it should, you know, be able to have moves of that type, competitively viable or not - there is a difference between gyarados not having a flamethrower-esque flying STAB, and gyarados currently not having a physical flying move in gen 9 at all (and only hurricane overall!)
i also feel like if a pokémon has a type it should, you know, be able to have moves of that type, competitively viable or not - there is a difference between gyarados not having a flamethrower-esque flying STAB, and gyarados currently not having a physical flying move in gen 9 at all (and only hurricane overall!)