Anime move errors

Revision as of 15:02, 17 January 2013 by SnorlaxMonster (talk | contribs)

In the Pokémon anime, there will often come up a Pokémon that knows a move it cannot learn legally in any of the games. It is unknown whether these are actual mistakes, a writing policy of not having to stick to the games too closely, or merely the Pokémon using an attribute that shares the name of a move in the games.

Occasionally, in-game event Pokémon that can be transferred onto the main series games have a move that is not normally included in that Pokémon's moveset (a prime example being Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphire, which gave away four separate Pokémon with moves that were not normally available to that specific Pokémon).

List of anime Pokémon with moves they cannot learn in the games

Sprite Name Move First use Picture
  Samurai's Pinsir Tackle 1004Challenge of the Samurai  
  Ash's Raticate Jump Kick 1015Battle Aboard the St. Anne  
  Jessie's Lickitung Tackle 1052Princess vs. Princess File:Victreebel Lickitung Tackle.png
  Jeanette's Beedrill Tackle 1077The Fourth Round Rumble  
  Ritchie's Zippo Tackle 1079Friend and Foe Alike  
  James's Victreebel Tackle 1086Pikachu Re-Volts File:Victreebel Arbok Tackle.png
  Jessie's Arbok Tackle 1095A Shipful of Shivers  
  Ralph's Tony Fury Swipes 1100Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon?  
  Ash's Charizard Tackle 1108Pokémon Double Trouble  
  Olesia's Wooper Charm 1108No Big Woop!  
  Olesia's Wooper Tackle 1108No Big Woop!  
  Ash's Pikachu Leer 1150Hour of the Houndour  
  Ash's Cyndaquil Agility 1152Hot Matches!  
  Jessie's Wobbuffet Bide 1167A Hot Water Battle  
  Duplica's Mini-Dit Tackle* 1174Imitation Confrontation  
  Tamao's Umbreon Agility 1171Trouble's Brewing  
  Misty's Poliwhirl Tackle 1183Trouble's Brewing  
  Ash's Pikachu Tackle 1183Trouble's Brewing  
  Janina's Onix Wrap 1208Fight for the Light!  
  Ritchie's Cruise Take Down 1220The Mystery is History File:Cruise Take Down.png
  Ash's Bulbasaur Dig 1225Bulbasaur... the Ambassador!  
  Parasect Sleep Powder 1227For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll!  
  Lance's Dragonite Whirlwind 1235Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution  
  Parasect Sleep Powder 1241Hocus Pokémon  
  Dragonite Whirlwind 1253Great Bowls of Fire!  
  Brock's Crobat SonicBoom 1257Lapras of Luxury  
  Ash's Larvitar Harden 1258Hatch Me If You Can  
  Ritchie's Rose Gust 2019.5Oaknapped  
  Sableye Lick 2029Ready, Willing, and Sableye  
  Skitty Fury Swipes 2029.5Big Meowth, Little Dreams (Part 2)  
  Jirachi Teleport 2034.5Jirachi: Wish Maker  
  Harley's Ariados Shadow Ball 2174New Plot, Odd Lot!  
  Jessie's Dustox Stun Spore 3008Gymbaliar  
  Gengar of Team Meanies Confusion 3023.5Pokémon Mystery Dungeon:
Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate
 
  Ash's Staravia Gust 3026Getting the Pre-Contest Titters!  
  Cheryl's Mothim Supersonic 3032An Angry Combeenation!  
  Spearow Gust 3064Riding the Winds of Change!  
  Kylie's Munchlax Giga Impact 3076A Full Course Tag Battle!  
  Roman's Girafarig Bite 3076A Full Course Tag Battle!  
  Nidoran♂ Bite 3109Leading a Stray!  
  Froslass Slash 3116The Drifting Snorunt!  
  Dusknoir Rapid Spin 3122.5Pokémon Mystery Dungeon:
Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness
 
  Regigigas Hammer Arm 3129Pillars of Friendship!  
  Bellsprout Absorb 3134Promoting Healthy Tangrowth!  
  Damos's Baltoy Shock Wave 3135.5Arceus and the Jewel of Life  
  Damos's Claydol Shock Wave 3135.5Arceus and the Jewel of Life  
  Uxie Teleport 3151The Needs of the Three!  
  Mesprit Teleport 3151The Needs of the Three!  
  Chingling Sing 3161Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!  
  Chimecho Sing 3161Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!  
  Nando's Kricketot Sing 3174Last Call — First Round!  
  Kricketune Bullet Seed 3183.5Zoroark: Master of Illusions  
 
 
Unown Psychic 3161PK21  
  Normajean's Teddiursa Pound 3190The Brockster Is In!  
  Officer Jenny's Swanna Blizzard 4081Crisis at Ferroseed Research!  
  Piplup Water Gun 4081PK24  

Japanese version only

Sprite Name Move First use Notes Picture
  Roxanne's Nosepass Hyper Beam 2016Winner By a Nosepass! Roxanne commands her Nosepass to use Hyper Beam, which it cannot learn. These errors were picked up on in the dub, and the references to Hyper Beam were replaced with Thunder Wave and Zap Cannon. However, there is evidence that there was an error in the original script, and it was meant to be an Electric attack. This is seen in Pikachu being able to absorb "Hyper Beam" as if it were an Electric attack, and it had physical similarities to Electric attacks. File:Roxanne Nosepass Hyper Beam.png
  Ash's Starly Gust 3002Two Degrees of Separation! Changed to Whirlwind in the dub, a move that Starly can learn. However, after it evolved into Staravia, it began using Gust in the dub as well.  
  Brock's Bonsly Take Down 3014Leave It To Brocko! Changed to Double-Edge in the dub, a move that Bonsly can learn.  
  Ash's Tranquill Wing Attack 4068An Amazing Aerial Battle! In the dub, Ash merely commanded Tranquill to "attack now", without specifying a move.  

Dub only

Sprite Name Move First use Notes Picture
  Ash's Bulbasaur Whirlwind 1032The Ninja Poké-Showdown This was a dubbing error, as Whirlwind's Japanese name is ふきとばし Blow Away. Ash was telling Bulbasaur to simply "blow it away" in the Japanese version rather than commanding the actual move.  
  Brock's Vulpix Agility 1072The Ancient Puzzle of Pokémopolis Quick Attack in the Japanese version, a move that Vulpix can learn.  
  Morty's Gastly Confusion 1182From Ghost to Ghost No command given in the Japanese version, most likely a dubbing error.  
  Ash's Totodile Skull Bash 1216Dueling Heroes Headbutt in the Japanese version, a move that Totodile can learn.  
  Ash's Heracross Fury Swipes 1269The Ties That Bind! Fury Attack in the Japanese version, a move that Heracross can learn.  
  Harrison's Steelix Wrap 1271Playing with Fire! Bind in the Japanese version, a move that Steelix can learn.  

Former errors

Sprite Name Move First use Notes Picture
  A.J.'s Sandshrew Defense Curl 1008The Path to the Pokémon League A.J.'s Sandshrew used Defense Curl. However, Sandshrew was unable to learn Defense Curl until Generation II.  
  James's Koffing Poison Gas 1020The Ghost of Maiden's Peak James ordered his Koffing to use Poison Gas. However, Koffing was unable to learn Poison Gas until Generation II.  
  James's Weezing Poison Gas 1045The Song of Jigglypuff James ordered his Weezing to use Poison Gas. However, Weezing was unable to learn Poison Gas until Generation II.  
  Jessie's Lickitung Lick 1052Princess vs. Princess Jessie's Lickitung uses Lick multiple times in the original series. However, Lickitung was unable to learn Lick until Generation II.  
  Ponyta Flamethrower 1086Pikachu Re-Volts A Ponyta used Flamethrower in the episode. However, Ponyta was unable to learn Flamethrower until Pokémon Crystal.  
  Teddiursa Charm 1186UnBEARable A Teddiursa used Charm in the episode. However, Teddiursa was unable to learn Charm until Generation IV.  
  Ursaring Charm 1186UnBEARable An Ursaring used Charm in the episode. However, Ursaring was unable to learn Charm until Generation IV.  

Similar examples that are not anime move errors

Pokémon which can learn a move in a previous generation

Sprite Name Move First use Notes Picture
 
 
Andi's Nidoqueen and Oscar's Nidoking Submission 2072The Bicker the Better Andi's Nidoqueen and Oscar's Nidoking use Submission, which, though impossible to have in Generation III onwards, was available to teach to Nidoqueen and Nidoking by TM17 in Generation I.  
  Ash's Charizard DragonBreath 2136The Symbol Life Ash's Charizard uses DragonBreath, which, though impossible to have in Generation III onwards, was available to teach to Charizard by TM24 in Generation II.  
  Ash's Snorlax Harden 2149Wheel of Frontier Ash's Snorlax uses Harden, which, though impossible to have in Generation III onwards, was available to teach to Snorlax by level-up in Generation I. File:Ash Snorlax Harden.png
  Anabel's Espeon Zap Cannon 2170Second Time's the Charm Anabel's Espeon uses Zap Cannon, which, though impossible to have in Generation III onwards, was available to teach to Espeon by TM07 in Generation II.  
  Virgil's Vaporeon BubbleBeam 4102BW102 Virgil's Vaporeon uses BubbleBeam, which, though impossible to have in Generation III onwards, was available to teach to Vaporeon by TM11 in Generation I.  

See also

Move errors in various Pokémon canons
AnimeMangaGameTCG


  This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.