6 of the best moves introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet had some noticeable powercreep regarding some fantastic moves introduced in this generation. Unsurprisingly, some of these attacks are outright broken and stand as some of the best moves in the entire series.

This listicle will highlight some of them and why they are excellent options in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Anyone who can incorporate such attacks will often use them in their sets whenever possible. Given the sheer power and utility of these maneuvers, it's hard to imagine them not being good in future generations unless they get nerfed hard.

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Six amazing moves that debuted in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

1) Tera Blast

Tera Blast (Image via Game Freak, Bulbapedia)

There used to be a great move known as Hidden Power, which was a Special Attack that could be any type but Fairy based on the user's natural IVs. It was a solid coverage option that many Pocket Monsters ran since it could patch up weaknesses that they normally couldn't handle in the rest of their moveset.

Hidden Power was removed in Sword and Shield. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet would introduce something better known as Tera Blast, which was better for a few main reasons:

• It has a higher Base Power.
• You can pick which type it is (including Fairy) by changing the user's Tera-Type instead of it being based on the user's IVs.
• It can use the Attack stat instead of Sp. Atk if that will deal more damage.

The only downside for Tera Blast is that the user must Terastallize in order for the move to do anything but Normal-type damage. Nonetheless, Tera Blast fulfills a similar niche to Hidden Power and is quite valuable for a variety of sets. Not to mention, it's learned by nearly everything in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

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2) Shed Tail

Shed Tail (Image via Game Freak, Bulbapedia)

Substitute is an already amazing move. Similarly, anything that swaps the user out has usually seen some competitive success (i.e., Baton Pass, Teleport, and more). Combine the two to get Shed Tail. The only downsides are that it's only learned by Cylcizar and Orthworm in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and takes 50% of the user's HP.

Still, that 50% HP makes beefy Substitutes that can protect the ally that instantly switches into the battle. Also, Cyclizar has Regenerator as an Ability, which has insane compatibility with Shed Tail. So much so that Cyclizar ended up going to Uber in Smogon's tiering system.

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3) Last Respects

Last Respects (Image via Game Freak, Bulbapedia)

Last Respects is another move that two things can only learn in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. This time, Houndstone and Basculin White-Striped forms are the Pocket Monsters that get it. For those unaware, Last Respects is a move with 50 Base Power, increasing by an extra 50 Base Power every time an ally faints.

That means it could have up to 300 Base Power in a six vs. six Single Battles if all five of its allies faint. Ghost is also one of the best typings in the game. Interestingly, Last Respects caps at 5,050 Base Power if you can theoretically manage to make your allies faint 100 times in the same battle.

It's much less effective in three vs. three Single Battles or four vs. four Double Battles. Nonetheless, it did lead to Houndstone getting sent to Ubers in Smogon's regular tiers.

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4) Rage Fist

Rage Fist (Image via Game Freak, Bulbapedia)

Another broken Ghost-type move in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is Rage Fist. Only Primeape and Annihilape can learn it, yet it's less situational than Last Respects and has seen some success in Double Battles.

Basically, it has 50 Base Power by default and gains an extra 50 Base Power every time the user gets hit. Switching doesn't reset the counter, either. Thus, a tanky Annihilape can be devastating, as proven by it also being banned from OU and sent to Ubers on Smogon.

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5) Revival Blessing

Revival Blessing (Image via Game Freak, Bulbapedia)

Revival Blessing allows the user to revive one of its allies to 50% HP. That is extremely good. The only downside is its extremely limited distribution, as only Pawmot and Rabsca can learn it in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

You can basically revive something that your opponent has already struggled to defeat, forcing them to have to beat it twice to win. Leppa Berry does allow the user to use Revival Blessing again.

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6) Population Bomb

Maushold is almost entirely used solely in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's competitive battles due to Population Bomb. This Normal-type move has 20 Base Power and 90 Accuracy and can hit up to ten times. If you use Wide Lens, you have a 99% to hit each individual hit, making it incredibly likely that you will have a 200 Base Power move.

Technician would boost that to 30 Base Power a hit, which in turn means it's 300 Base Power in total if all hits connect. It's ludicrously powerful. Even the non-Technician power is still on par with Self-Destruct in terms of damage with none of its drawbacks.

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Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective.