I'm so glad I discovered this goldmine of a thread. You have no idea.
I made a post on Bulbapedia a couple years ago about Tauros and Surf:
"It is mentioned that Tauros' name might reference the Tauros constellation most of us might be familiar with, but there are Greek legends about bulls swimming through large bodies of water and yes, they all involve the bulls carrying a being (often female). One in particular tells the tale of how the thunder god Zeus falls in love with a woman named Europa, but his status as a god deters him from approaching her. So, he turns himself into a [very handsome] bull and when Europa sees him, she is smitten instantly. She is coaxed into climbing onto the bull's back and he carries her to Crete (crossing the ocean to do so). Here is an interpretation of the myth in the form of a painting (there are several others). The myth also explains why Tauros is capable of learning the move Surf, and there exist other myths featuring women infatuated with bulls riding them across the ocean, such as Paciphae riding a bull she was cursed to fall in love with by Poseidon as punishment for a bad deal done unto him by Paciphae's husband, King Minos (picture)."
It's a giant stretch in hindsight but at the same time, I would not be surprised if someone from Game Freak was fascinated with Greek and Roman mythology enough to give Tauros a move referencing it. Or it could be a nod to wildebeast, which have been shown to migrate across inland bodies of water in herds.
I also think that Surf itself is learned by so many of the monster kaiju Pokemon because it also represents tsunamis. Most of the Pokemon capable of learning Surf can also learn Earthquake, and tsunamis are caused by seismic activity underwater.
And call me spiteful... but I still think it was BS that in Gen III, the Lotad line had access to Razor LEAF while the Seedot line got... Take Down? They fixed this in Gen IV, but that still burns. And speaking of Lotad, if you put one on your team in the early game of R/S you had an awful time. Lotad's only attacking moves were Absorb and Astonish, which were laughably weak coming off of Lotad's already awful stats. Then it evolves into Lombre and has to rely on Nature Power, most of which become physical moves and Lombre's attack is poor, and it doesn't get Hydro Pump until level 49 (thankfully you get Surf much earlier than that). Lotad does learn Mega Drain though... at level 43. Good Lord. Gen III movepools were so evil and anemic. It's also evil that Dustox and Politoed didn't get 10 point stat buffs in Gen VI, but that's another kind of discussion.
Water Gun on Phanpy in Gen II was a harmless reference to the playfulness of elephants imo. Useless yes, but it was cute. They shouldn't have removed it.
It is also very interesting to talk about how Pokemon use different moves in different ways. Poison Jab for example, is an arm attack for Tentacool and a horn attack for Nidorino. Slam is a tail move for Raichu but a.. uh... hmmm... a NECK move for Tropius? That's actually pretty neat. And under special circumstances, Bite attacks can be horn attacks, which is why Mamoswine learns Ice Fang. Tusks act like horns but are actually teeth, which makes sense.
Destiny Bond is funny one to think about in that respect as well. So when a ghost uses it, it's dragging you to the Shadow Realm with it. When Cacturne or Qwilfish get it, it's because, well, spiky things stick to you. One explanation is eerie and mystical and the other is very plain and simple. Oh and the both get Revenge for the same reason (spikes). Apparently if you hit something with spikes, it hurts you more than the thing you're hitting.
Lastly I will pose a question: Aron and its evolutionary line have been said to eat iron. You've got to have some pretty good dental work to eat iron. Aggron in particular has been shown to have sharp teeth. It also has horns. Now, Aggron is able to learn Smart Strike which is a horn attack, but it doesn't get Bite or Crunch? What gives? And why did they randomly give Crunch back to Flygon?
I made a post on Bulbapedia a couple years ago about Tauros and Surf:
"It is mentioned that Tauros' name might reference the Tauros constellation most of us might be familiar with, but there are Greek legends about bulls swimming through large bodies of water and yes, they all involve the bulls carrying a being (often female). One in particular tells the tale of how the thunder god Zeus falls in love with a woman named Europa, but his status as a god deters him from approaching her. So, he turns himself into a [very handsome] bull and when Europa sees him, she is smitten instantly. She is coaxed into climbing onto the bull's back and he carries her to Crete (crossing the ocean to do so). Here is an interpretation of the myth in the form of a painting (there are several others). The myth also explains why Tauros is capable of learning the move Surf, and there exist other myths featuring women infatuated with bulls riding them across the ocean, such as Paciphae riding a bull she was cursed to fall in love with by Poseidon as punishment for a bad deal done unto him by Paciphae's husband, King Minos (picture)."
It's a giant stretch in hindsight but at the same time, I would not be surprised if someone from Game Freak was fascinated with Greek and Roman mythology enough to give Tauros a move referencing it. Or it could be a nod to wildebeast, which have been shown to migrate across inland bodies of water in herds.
I also think that Surf itself is learned by so many of the monster kaiju Pokemon because it also represents tsunamis. Most of the Pokemon capable of learning Surf can also learn Earthquake, and tsunamis are caused by seismic activity underwater.
And call me spiteful... but I still think it was BS that in Gen III, the Lotad line had access to Razor LEAF while the Seedot line got... Take Down? They fixed this in Gen IV, but that still burns. And speaking of Lotad, if you put one on your team in the early game of R/S you had an awful time. Lotad's only attacking moves were Absorb and Astonish, which were laughably weak coming off of Lotad's already awful stats. Then it evolves into Lombre and has to rely on Nature Power, most of which become physical moves and Lombre's attack is poor, and it doesn't get Hydro Pump until level 49 (thankfully you get Surf much earlier than that). Lotad does learn Mega Drain though... at level 43. Good Lord. Gen III movepools were so evil and anemic. It's also evil that Dustox and Politoed didn't get 10 point stat buffs in Gen VI, but that's another kind of discussion.
Water Gun on Phanpy in Gen II was a harmless reference to the playfulness of elephants imo. Useless yes, but it was cute. They shouldn't have removed it.
It is also very interesting to talk about how Pokemon use different moves in different ways. Poison Jab for example, is an arm attack for Tentacool and a horn attack for Nidorino. Slam is a tail move for Raichu but a.. uh... hmmm... a NECK move for Tropius? That's actually pretty neat. And under special circumstances, Bite attacks can be horn attacks, which is why Mamoswine learns Ice Fang. Tusks act like horns but are actually teeth, which makes sense.
Destiny Bond is funny one to think about in that respect as well. So when a ghost uses it, it's dragging you to the Shadow Realm with it. When Cacturne or Qwilfish get it, it's because, well, spiky things stick to you. One explanation is eerie and mystical and the other is very plain and simple. Oh and the both get Revenge for the same reason (spikes). Apparently if you hit something with spikes, it hurts you more than the thing you're hitting.
Lastly I will pose a question: Aron and its evolutionary line have been said to eat iron. You've got to have some pretty good dental work to eat iron. Aggron in particular has been shown to have sharp teeth. It also has horns. Now, Aggron is able to learn Smart Strike which is a horn attack, but it doesn't get Bite or Crunch? What gives? And why did they randomly give Crunch back to Flygon?
Fixed.
