- Greetings Pokefans. Michael here, and
in the Pokemon games there are some moves that
just aren't very good. Why use Water Gun when Scald
is stronger and can burn? Why use Thundershock when
you can use Thunderbolt? The same thing, but stronger. Now of course these
weaker moves are important for the earlier parts of a play
through to balance the game, but for post game
or competitive play? They're not very useful. But they're not
completely useless. They still do damage,
just less damage than their better alternatives. However there are some
situations out there where a Pokemon can learn a
move that for it specifically, the move is completely useless. It either does
nothing, always fails, or does something redundant. Today I'm going to be
listing 10 instances of a Pokemon being
able to learn a move that is useless for
it specifically. However, I should specify
upfront that I'm going to be ignoring
uncommon situations, mainly typings or abilities
being changed or suppressed. Most of the moves that I'm going to be talking about are
useless because they clash with the Pokemon's
ability or typing, so therefore if that
ability or type goes away, then the move is
no longer useless. However, that only occurs in
uncommon battle situations, and it would be kind of
annoying to specify that every single entry, so
just assume that all of these entries have to do with regular battle situations
without any attributes of a Pokemon being changed. On the topic of battles,
this video is sponsored by Hustle Castle, which is
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Castle for sponsoring, but now let's start with
the first entry on our list, the first useless
move situation, that being number one, Floating
Pokemon with Magnet Rise. Magnet Rise is an electric
type move introduced in Generation IV. For five turns after using it, the user acts like it
has the ability Levitate. It's immune to Ground
moves, will not be impacted by Spikes or Toxic Spikes,
will not be affected by terrains, et cetera. It's not the best
move out there, but it's situationally
helpful for Pokemon that are weak to ground moves,
like electric or steel types. Now you might be
thinking that they would only give a move
like this to Pokemon that have not
already magnet risen. But nope, there are several
floating Pokemon out there that can learn Magnet Rise. Tynamo, Eelektrik, Eelektross,
and Vikavolt can all learn Magnet Rise but have
the ability Levitate, so they're already floating. Minior and Celesteela
can also learn it, but are Flying type
Pokemon, so they too are already immune to Ground moves. Of course there
are many situations where these Pokemon
could stop floating, like they lose Levitate
or gravity is in effect, or they're hit by Smack Down, but as I said in the intro,
I'm not going to be focusing on uncommon situations. The vast majority of the time, these Pokemon using Magnet Rise would be a complete
waste of a turn. Next is a move that
isn't very good normally, but it's completely useless
on one particular Pokemon, that being number two,
Umbreon with Synchronoise. Synchronoise is a Psychic
type move introduced in Generation V. It hits all adjacent
Pokemon, like Discharge does, and it is base 120
power and 100% accurate. While that seems
amazing, there's a catch. Synchronoise will
only damage Pokemon that share at least
one type with the user. So if Noctowl uses it,
it only hurts Normal and Flying type Pokemon. If Chimecho uses it, it can
only hurt Psychic type Pokemon. It's far too situational
of a move to ever be good, but it's completely useless
on Umbreon specifically. Eevee can get Synchronoise
as an egg move, and then of course
can be evolved into all the eeveelutions,
one of which is Umbreon. But Umbreon is a dark type, which means that its
Synchronoise can only hurt other dark type Pokemon. However, since Synchronoise
is a psychic type attack, and therefore, dark type
Pokemon are immune to it. Therefore without any
Ring Target shenanigans, Umbreon can never damage another Pokemon
using Synchronoise. The move is completely
useless on it. The next entry also
deals with the dark type, but instead of a dark type
Pokemon, it's a dark type move. That being number three,
Klutz Pokemon with Fling. Fling is a dark type
damaging move introduced in Generation IV that
involves the user throwing their held item at the opponent. The power and secondary
effect of the move depends on the item that is flung, and the move can't be used again unless the Pokemon
gains another item. As for Klutz, it's an ability that removes all the effects
of the Pokemon's held item. They can still hold items,
but they don't get the effects of one, whether the effects
are positive or negative. It's honestly a
pretty trash ability because held items
are a really big part of competitive Pokemon play. And you just don't
get to use one. However, there was a
strategy back in Gen IV, where a klutz Pokemon
could hold a negative item like a Toxic Orb, and then
Fling it onto the enemy Pokemon. So they can hold the item
without being hurt by it, and then inflict
the enemy Pokemon with the affects of that item. But then Generation V
implemented a change. Klutz Pokemon can
no longer use Fling. If a they try to use Fling, and they have the ability Klutz, the move will fail
every single time. There are seven Pokemon that
can both have the ability Klutz and learn Fling. Buneary, Lopunny,
Audino, Golett, Golurk, Stufful, and Bewear. While these Pokemon do
have other abilities, and could use Fling if
they don't have Klutz, if you get one that
does have Klutz, Fling is completely
useless on them. Either don't teach it Fling, or use an ability capsule
on it, if possible. The next entry is number
four, Non-Sleepers with Rest. You likely know what Rest does,
but just in case you don't, it causes the user to
fully regain their HP then go to sleep for two turns, whether they had a non-volatile
status condition or not. It's been around
since Generation I, and the vast majority
of Pokemon can learn it. But even though it's
a widespread move, there are several Pokemon
that can't make use of it. Pokemon with abilities that prevent them
from falling asleep, those abilities being
Insomnia, Vital Spirit, and Sweet Veil. If a Pokemon with one of
these three abilities tries to use Rest, the move
will fail every time. I'm not gonna list
all of the Pokemon that this applies to,
because it's all of them! Every single Pokemon that can
have Insomnia, Vital Spirit, or Sweet Veil can
also learn Rest. Now of course these Pokemon
have other abilities, so rest is useful on
them if they don't have one of their
non-sleeping abilities, but if they do,
don't teach it rest. The move is a complete waste. Next is another
situation involving Rest, but for a different reason, that being number five,
Shedinja with Rest. Now, Shedinja doesn't have
Vital Spirit, Insomnia, or Sweet Veil. It can fall asleep. However, Rest can
fail for two reasons. The first is if the
Pokemon can't fall asleep, but the other is if the
Pokemon's HP is full. Shedinja is a weird
Pokemon due to its ability. Wonder Guard prevents
all direct attack damage to it unless the move
is super effective. To compensate for
that OP ability, Shedinja's base HP stat is one. Literally one. The maximum HP a
Shedinja can have, even at level 100, is one. Therefore, Rest will always fail if a Shedinja tries to use it, because since Shedinja
only has one HP, it's either at full
HP or it's dead. There's no in between, and an in between HP value is
necessary for Rest to work. The move will always fail if
a Shedinja tries to use it. Side note, an honorable
mention useless move for Shedinja is Final Gambit. This move causes
the user to faint but does damage to the
target equal to the HP that the user lost by fainting. So since Shedinja
only has one HP, Final Gambit will only ever
do one HP point of damage if a Shedinja uses it. Not technically useless,
but so close to useless that I figured I
should mention it. Alright so that's two entries
having to do with Rest, so let's stay on theme
and have another entry, not about Rest specifically, but about just being
generally lazy, that being number six, Truant
Pokemon with Two-Turn Moves. You likely know
what Truant does. It's a hindering ability
that only allows the Pokemon to move every other turn, with the Pokemon loafing
around on the off turns. The ability sucks,
and is only useful if you are inflicting an
enemy Pokemon with it, like by using Entrainment. But what you may
not have realized about Truant Pokemon is that
they can't use two-turn moves. On one of their good
turns, they can initiate the charging turn of the move, but then on the second turn,
they're loafing around. The move never gets to finish, and therefore the
charging of it is reset. The moves simply don't work. Of the three Truant Pokemon, each can learn one two-turn move that will consistently fail. Slakoth and Slaking
get Solar Beam, and Durant gets Dig. Now of course there are
ways to get around this. If Truant goes away,
then they're fine, and a Power Herb allows
them to use the two-turn charging move in just
one turn, one time. So it allows them to use
Solar Beam or Dig, once. Also, if the sunlight is harsh, then Slakoth and Slaking
can fire Solar Beams off in just one turn,
every other turn when they're not loafing around. But there's no way to speed up and make a Dig
take only one turn, other than a Power Herb. So if it's not
holding a Power Herb, a Truant Durant,
can never use Dig. Thankfully, this situation
isn't really a problem. Slaking is a physical attacker so it's not gonna want to
use Solar Beam anyways, and Durant has
non-Truant abilities that you're going
to pick every time, unless you're doing the
Truant Entrainment strategy. But still, technically,
if the Pokemon has Truant the two-turn moves are useless. Next is number seven. Shadow Tag Pokemon
with Mean Look. Shadow Tag is an ability
that prevents enemy Pokemon from fleeing wild battles or switching out
in trainer battles. Mean Look is a move that creates that same effect on
the target Pokemon. Prior to Gen VI, both of
these worked on all Pokemon, but since Gen VI, they work on all Pokemon
except ghost types. Therefore, it doesn't make
sense for a Shadow Tag Pokemon to know Mean Look. It's a redundant situation
like with Magnet Rise and Levitate. The move is doing something that the ability
is already doing, trapping the enemy Pokemon. There are only six Pokemon
that get Shadow Tag, and four of them
can learn Mean Look. Mega Gengar, Gothita,
Gothorita, and Gothitelle. Mean Look can be
useful on Gengar if you're not mega evolving it, but if you if you have
a Shadow Tag Gothita, Gothorita, or Gothitelle, Mean
Look makes no sense on it. Next is number eight. Weather-Changing Moves on
Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Mega Rayquaza. This one, it's gonna need
a little bit of explaining. Now you might be thinking that a weather changing
move is useless on regular Groudon,
Kyogre, and Rayquaza. For Groudon or Kyogre,
why would you teach it Sunny Day or Rain Dance,
when their abilities summon that weather automatically. For Rayquaza, why
would you teach it a weather changing move, when Air Lock prevents all
effects of that weather? Well, I will agree the moves
don't make a whole lot of sense on the regular forms
of these Pokemon, but they still
technically have a use. For example, you send
your Groudon into battle, Drought summons the sun, but then another Pokemon
uses a weather changing move and gets rid of the sun. If your Groudon knows Sunny
Day it can set the sun back up without have to switch out. As for Rayquaza, Air Lock
doesn't remove the weather, it removes the effects of it. So Rayquaza could summon the
weather, and then switch out, therefore the effects of the
weather suddenly come back and therefore impact
the enemy Pokemon and whatever
Pokemon you send in. So you could have
Rayquaza use hail, and then switch out, and then suddenly the enemy
Pokemon takes some hail damage. Like I said, super situational. Extremely specific, probably
not a battle situation you're ever going to encounter, and therefore maybe don't
teach your Groudon Sunny Day. But with Gen VI, things changed, because these Pokemon
got super forms. I'm saying super forms to encapsulate both
Primal and Mega, and therefore, these super
forms can summon super weathers and these super weathers
can only be changed by other super weathers. Regular weather summoning moves or abilities, so
Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Hail, Sandstorm, Sand Stream,
Snow Warning, Drought, and Drizzle, they don't
work if a super weather is on the field. They will fail every time. The only way to get rid
of a super weather is if the Pokemon controlling
the weather switches out or another super
weather activating
Pokemon enters the field while the other one's
weather was already up. So a Primal Groudon's
super sun can only go away if the Groudon switches
out, or a Primal Kyogre or Mega Rayquaza
enters the battle and therefore replaces
Groudon's super sun. Therefore, the scenarios
I mentioned earlier, they no longer work. If a Primal Groudon
has its sunlight set up and then a Primal Kyogre or
Mega Rayquaza enters the field and gets rid of the super sun, the only way the Primal
Groudon can set its sun back up is switching out and
switching back in. If it knows Sunny Day, Sunny
Day just won't do anything. In short, super-weathers
can only be changed by other super-weathers. Therefore these three Pokemon,
if they're on the field, there is some kind of
super weather on the field, whether it's theirs, or another
one that replaced theirs. So, if they know a regular
weather summoning move, the move is always gonna fail. They're completely
useless on the super forms of these Pokemon. Now for the next entry. And all of the situations
I have discussed so far have been have been ones where the move could be made
useful if the Pokemon's typing or ability changed. However, these last
two are always useless because the
attributes that clash with the move cannot be changed. The first of these
two is number nine, Ash-Greninja with Role Play. Role Play is a psychic
type move introduced in Generation III. It's a pretty
straightforward move. It simply causes the
user to copy the ability of the target. However, Role Play
doesn't work on abilities that are integral to
how the Pokemon works. For example, Disguise on Mimikyu or Stance Change on Aegislash. These abilities don't
work on other Pokemon. So therefore, other Pokemon
cannot take, or copy, or suppress these abilities, and the Pokemon that
have these abilities can't have their
abilities changed. That second part is another
limitation of Role Play. Role Play cannot copy
these special abilities, but if the user has
one of these abilities, they can't lose it. Role Play will always fail if the user has an ability
that cannot be changed. There's only one Pokemon
that's in this situation. A Greninja with Battle Bond. An Ash-Greninja, so a Greninja with the ability
Battle Bond cannot lose that ability under
any circumstances. It can't be skill-swapped,
it's can't be suppressed, and it cant' be changed
by using Role Play. Therefore, a Greninja with
the ability Battle Bond can learn Role Play, but if
it tries to use the move, it will always fail. Role Play is completely
useless on an Ash-Greninja. And the final entry
is a move made useless not due to the Pokemon's
type or ability, but due to another
attribute of the Pokemon, that being number 10,
Genderless Pokemon with Attract. You know how Attract works. If the target is of the
opposite gender of the user, they are inflicted with the
infatuation status condition, causing them to only
be able to move half of the time until either them or the Pokemon they've fallen
for leaves the battlefield. Attract fails against
Pokemon of the same gender and against genderless Pokemon, but it also fails if
the user is genderless, since there's no opposite
gender of genderless Pokemon. Now, most genderless
Pokemon cannot learn Attract for this very reason, but
there are a few exceptions of genderless Pokemon that
can never use Attract. Now that sounded kinda sad. Those Pokemon are Mew,
Cryogonal, Minior, and Dhelmise. Staryu and Starmie could also
learn Attract in only Gen II, but not since then, so the
only way to get one now is to teach it one in the
Gen II virtual console and then transfer it. I feel kind of bad
for these Pokemon. Most genderless Pokemon don't
care about falling in love, but these clearly have the
ability to, and they never can. That's so sad. Pour one out for the
genderless attract Pokemon. Thank you so much for watching, and don't forget to
download Hustle Castle using the link in the
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all I have for now, so 'til next time, Pokefans. (upbeat music) Gotta catch them all.
