Hey! So, I'm not really an ROA guy, so pardon if this isn't the right way to post something like this, but I wanted to get the word out about some interesting additions that just happened and will be happening with Gen 8 thanks to Pokemon Home updates.
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^ This is now 100% legal in SWSH!
Back in June of this year, Pokemon Home updated and caused something interesting. The update to interface with Pokemon SV led to a situation we haven’t seen in 23 years: backwards compatibility with old generations. Pokemon can be sent to and from SV to and the other SWSH titles barring LGPE with no issue.
Now, movesets aren't preserved when moving from game to game, if you move a Pokemon to one game it'll keep it's moveset in that game and get a new moveset for it's new home. This means something crazy like Garchomp learning Spikes in SV DOES NOT mean Spikes Garchomp in SWSH. Your moveset is still locked to your game.
However, some aspects do carry over. Back when the update in June happened, they added a move relearner that allows you to teach a Pokemon a move if it already knows it in a different game, provided it can learn the move by TM, egg move, or level up in the game you’re moving it to. This had some small legality implications in BDSP and SV; The missing BDSP egg moves like Boomburst Chatot got fixed, many genderless and male-only Pokemon regained their full movepools for LC play (I don't think showdown's implemented this yet), and SV Chansey got Heal Bell.
With this new update, something else akin to these minor additions has happened again. Back when the update dropped, a Pokemon's ability was stored locally on that game with its movepool. This was apparently a bug, and changed in the newest bank patch. What's important here is that SV is the first game in the series that allows you to change the ability of a Pokemon with a Hidden Ability. Back in SWSH, an ability patch was a one way street. Once it's on, it's on forever. Not anymore now!
What this means for Gen 8 players is that a number of previously illegal move + ability combos are now fully legal. Some of these seem like they'd be legitimately interesting options to try, so I wanted to make folks aware of the change. I haven't played any Gen 8 OU, but I can at least point at some kind of neat additions for you all to play with.
Again, I need to reiterate, the scope of what is impacted is far, far less than what RBY experienced with the advent of tradebacks in GSC. That said, it still introduces some notable Pokemon legality changes into the format after the gen’s concluded.
What’s newly available in Gen 8 OU Now?
Default abilities on Gen 7 VC movesets: The most influential contender here by far is unlocking the first 251 Pokemon’s normal abilities for their VC movepools, provided they’re in both SWSH and SV. Pokemon from the VC releases of Gens 1-2 are forcibly given their hidden abilities upon transfer. Pokemon SV’s implementation of the ability patch allows us to change that. As a quick reminder: A Pokemon’s moveset through Gens 3-8 is kept on Pokemon SWSH. Transferring it to Pokemon SV will not wipe away these old transfer moves in SWSH.
Some of these could have legitimate competitive implications on various rule sets. Some things that stood out to me perusing what’s new included:
Dream World Exclusive Moves / HA Locked events: This one is far less relevant because there were way less exclusive attacks distributed this way compared to two entire generations of funky TMs. Still, it’s worth bringing up since they exist. Nidoqueen can use Sucker Punch without Sheer Force. Mewtwo can Heal Pulse without Unnerve. Sableye can use… Octazooka without Prankster.
Potentially More New Legal Combos
One interesting thing about these home updates is that, for as long as there are Pokemon not yet in a future game with invertable hidden abilities, this is not the last time newly legal move + ability combos will be possible in SWSH. As Pokemon SV adds more Pokemon, more of these prior situations will unlock. As more games with the rest of the cast come out, tiny droplets of newly legal Pokemon will be let into the format if these are allowed, possibly for years to come.
A few notable future examples include:
To be upfront: I do not play any old gen formats. I have not played 6v6 singles in a long while. I am just a Pokemon movepool legality wonk who likes funny little movepool oddities, and I wanted to sound the alarm on a post-contemporaneous generation getting new content. Pardon if these examples aren't particularly relevant or interesting to invested players. Newly available Pokemon movesets can be used on cartridge today. Whenever this gets implemented, enjoy!
----
^ This is now 100% legal in SWSH!
Back in June of this year, Pokemon Home updated and caused something interesting. The update to interface with Pokemon SV led to a situation we haven’t seen in 23 years: backwards compatibility with old generations. Pokemon can be sent to and from SV to and the other SWSH titles barring LGPE with no issue.
Now, movesets aren't preserved when moving from game to game, if you move a Pokemon to one game it'll keep it's moveset in that game and get a new moveset for it's new home. This means something crazy like Garchomp learning Spikes in SV DOES NOT mean Spikes Garchomp in SWSH. Your moveset is still locked to your game.
However, some aspects do carry over. Back when the update in June happened, they added a move relearner that allows you to teach a Pokemon a move if it already knows it in a different game, provided it can learn the move by TM, egg move, or level up in the game you’re moving it to. This had some small legality implications in BDSP and SV; The missing BDSP egg moves like Boomburst Chatot got fixed, many genderless and male-only Pokemon regained their full movepools for LC play (I don't think showdown's implemented this yet), and SV Chansey got Heal Bell.
With this new update, something else akin to these minor additions has happened again. Back when the update dropped, a Pokemon's ability was stored locally on that game with its movepool. This was apparently a bug, and changed in the newest bank patch. What's important here is that SV is the first game in the series that allows you to change the ability of a Pokemon with a Hidden Ability. Back in SWSH, an ability patch was a one way street. Once it's on, it's on forever. Not anymore now!
What this means for Gen 8 players is that a number of previously illegal move + ability combos are now fully legal. Some of these seem like they'd be legitimately interesting options to try, so I wanted to make folks aware of the change. I haven't played any Gen 8 OU, but I can at least point at some kind of neat additions for you all to play with.
Again, I need to reiterate, the scope of what is impacted is far, far less than what RBY experienced with the advent of tradebacks in GSC. That said, it still introduces some notable Pokemon legality changes into the format after the gen’s concluded.
What’s newly available in Gen 8 OU Now?
Default abilities on Gen 7 VC movesets: The most influential contender here by far is unlocking the first 251 Pokemon’s normal abilities for their VC movepools, provided they’re in both SWSH and SV. Pokemon from the VC releases of Gens 1-2 are forcibly given their hidden abilities upon transfer. Pokemon SV’s implementation of the ability patch allows us to change that. As a quick reminder: A Pokemon’s moveset through Gens 3-8 is kept on Pokemon SWSH. Transferring it to Pokemon SV will not wipe away these old transfer moves in SWSH.
Some of these could have legitimate competitive implications on various rule sets. Some things that stood out to me perusing what’s new included:
Curse is a near universal TM in Gen 2. If the Pokemon exists in Gen 2, it probably has access to Curse now. Brand new combos like Technician Curse (Non-Mega) Scizor are now fully legal.
Gen 7 Tutor Move + Gen 1/2 VC Move + Non-Hidden Ability combos are now legal. Clefable had access to Teleport + Magic Guard as is thanks to LGPE, but with the Gen 9 ability patch, Teleport + Magic Guard + Knock Off becomes legal as well.
Articuno actually gets access to its VC moves since they were all trapped behind Snow Cloak. Celebrate, my fellow Whirlwind Articuno fans.
Dream World Exclusive Moves / HA Locked events: This one is far less relevant because there were way less exclusive attacks distributed this way compared to two entire generations of funky TMs. Still, it’s worth bringing up since they exist. Nidoqueen can use Sucker Punch without Sheer Force. Mewtwo can Heal Pulse without Unnerve. Sableye can use… Octazooka without Prankster.
Potentially More New Legal Combos
One interesting thing about these home updates is that, for as long as there are Pokemon not yet in a future game with invertable hidden abilities, this is not the last time newly legal move + ability combos will be possible in SWSH. As Pokemon SV adds more Pokemon, more of these prior situations will unlock. As more games with the rest of the cast come out, tiny droplets of newly legal Pokemon will be let into the format if these are allowed, possibly for years to come.
A few notable future examples include:
While Machamp is not currently in Pokemon SV, if it’s ever in a Pokemon game with access to the new ability patch in the future, the raw spectacle of Fissure No Guard Machamp will finally be a real thing in Gen 8 for any formats that allow OHKO moves and transfer moves. Go nuts, AG friends.
Okay so, Kubfu isn't actually influenced by these particular changes, but I thought I'd mention it in this thread anyway. Kubfu is in a weird situation where it was never available at level 5 or lower, and was never allowed in LC at all as a result. Should an event or update to Pokemon SV or Pokemon Go or some other future game gives us a Kubfu at level 5 or under, it can actually be legal in LC formats.
To be upfront: I do not play any old gen formats. I have not played 6v6 singles in a long while. I am just a Pokemon movepool legality wonk who likes funny little movepool oddities, and I wanted to sound the alarm on a post-contemporaneous generation getting new content. Pardon if these examples aren't particularly relevant or interesting to invested players. Newly available Pokemon movesets can be used on cartridge today. Whenever this gets implemented, enjoy!
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