Why does Switcheroo... exist? It has the exact same effect as Trick, and basically the exact same animation as Trick. Its flavor is... kinda different? I guess? Based on their descriptions, Trick seems more like it's "hey check out my neat held item, woah can I see your held item, anyway nice talking to you bye" whereas Switcheroo is just a more more straightforward stealthy swap, but like, that really doesn't seem like enough of a difference to create a whole separate item switching move. Swapping items faster than the eye can track could be considered a kind of trick, at least to me.
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Pokémon Movepool Oddities & Explanations
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At least they have different types?
That's better than, say, Wrap and Bind.
I think it's just a flavour thing, kinda like Protect and Detect...
*sighs at GF and bloat of identical things*
Kinda pointless, but hey you can Imprison Trick and still use Switcheroo... I guess...
The thing is though, Wrap and Bind, Protect and Detect, Battle Armor and Shell Armor, they're made in the same generation (and most of them have some mechanical difference, however petty). Game Freak made Trick in Gen 3, and then for some reason decided to make Trick again in Gen 4.
You guys love weird trivia, why would this group of Grass-Types be unable to learn Bullet Seed?
Amoonguss, Celebi, Decidueye, Lilligant, Shiinotic, Trevenant, Tsareena, Virizion and Whimsicott, I added Seed Bomb to the search to show they are able to control/produce seeds, and I can't think of a balance reason for them to be incompatible with Bullet Seed.
Removing Seed bomb also add some that have more obvious reasons to not learn the move, Rotom and Silvally are just temporally Grass-type, meanwhile Dhelmise and Kartana are quite different from a regular plant.
Also, the national dex version of this includes Gogoat, Sawsbuck, Leavanny, Serperior and Chesnaught.
With this information, some of you may already have the answer...
Bullet Seed wasn't a TM during gens 5, 6 and 7, when the move was created it was added to every single Grass-Type, and all Grass-Types from gens 4 and 8 become compatible with the TM because GF was actually taking care of the compatibility of the move during those gens unlike the other 3.
Now the real question, why is Celebi the only exception? That's something I don't know.
Amoonguss, Celebi, Decidueye, Lilligant, Shiinotic, Trevenant, Tsareena, Virizion and Whimsicott, I added Seed Bomb to the search to show they are able to control/produce seeds, and I can't think of a balance reason for them to be incompatible with Bullet Seed.
Removing Seed bomb also add some that have more obvious reasons to not learn the move, Rotom and Silvally are just temporally Grass-type, meanwhile Dhelmise and Kartana are quite different from a regular plant.
Also, the national dex version of this includes Gogoat, Sawsbuck, Leavanny, Serperior and Chesnaught.
With this information, some of you may already have the answer...
Bullet Seed wasn't a TM during gens 5, 6 and 7, when the move was created it was added to every single Grass-Type, and all Grass-Types from gens 4 and 8 become compatible with the TM because GF was actually taking care of the compatibility of the move during those gens unlike the other 3.
Now the real question, why is Celebi the only exception? That's something I don't know.
There's pokemon that learn Switcheroo that doesn't learn Trick, is the only real reason I can think of. They wanted this extra switching move that could go to other Pokemon they felt wouldn't learn trick.
This did not stop them from giving it to Pokemon that also learn Trick, though....
Also the onset, that is in DP specifically, of the move is kind of bizarre. Like by this point, especially by egg move, there's quite a few Pokemon who don't learn Trick but do get Switcheroo but in DP? Persian, Hypno (learned Trick), Linoone (learned Trick) & Buneary as an egg move. The former 3 have it as a level 1 move and their pre-evos don't get it.
Kind of wonder if it was meant to be a Persian signature move or something and they randomly changed their mind.
In Gen 6, TM67 was Retaliate which both Togetic and Togekiss got but notably not Togepi.
My guess is that when they changed TM67 to Smart Strike they wanted to remove it from the Togepi's family moveset. But, while they did it with Togekiss, for whatever reason Togetic slipped through and kept TM67, thus being able to learn Smart Strike.
Gen 7 rolls arounds, instead of making it so Togetic & Togekiss was unable to carry over Smart Strike, being they both have spikes on their head (Smart Strike's Japanese name is "Smart Horn", thus all the horned Pokemon learning it) they decided to let it slide and let them keep Smart Strike, adding it onto Togekiss's TM list.
If this sounds familiar its pretty much what also happened to the Elgyem family with the move Steel Wing. TM51 was Ally Switch in Gen V but was changed to Steel Wing in Gen VI, yet despite not having wings the Elgyem family kept it. For whatever reason they let it slide; maybe because it would be too much of a hassle to remove a Move which honestly the Elgyem family wouldn't use anyway (problem fixes itself essentially), maybe they thought an alien based on the Area 51 incident having a Steel Flying-type move felt appropriate, or a little bit of both.
Landorus Sludge & Till: If it can make the land fertile it also likely has the power to make it barren. It's likely just a natural poison that, being the Forces of a Nature, they have access to. If anything I would say Landorus makes more sense knowing it than Tornadus and Thundurus as what Landorus does likely causes chemical changes, right way creates nutrients for increased fertility, but the wrong way creates harmful poisons. But for flavor it should get Rototiller, give it as another Level 1 Move that it needs to relearn.
Fire-Rus: While it does get a Fire-type move, note the Dex is saying its lightning creates is what creates fires and likely only with flammable objects. If they follow this idea than all Electric-types should be able to learn a Fire-type move. That said I'm surprised the Forces of Nature don't get Heat Wave which is usually a shoe-in Fire-type Move for Flying-types until SwSh, and even then its only Tornadus (and likely because of its Therian Forme). Though if Therian Formes are being considered, maybe Thundurus should get Flamethrower as its based on a dragon.
Enamorus: The dex entries make it questionable whether she actually brings the Spring or its just that she can sense when the season changes and that's when she comes back (to Hisui at least). Even Cogita isn't so sure in one of her poems, joking at the end it could just be maybe the reason Enamorus leaves during Winter because it hates the cold. Like the above Landorus using its power over the land to make it fertile, Enamorus is using its Fairy-type magic, none are directly controlling the plants like a Grass-type would. Now I would still give Enamorus some Grass-type Moves, maybe they will if accessible in SV. As for also getting Sludge Wave, well Enamorus isn't called the "Love-Hate" Pokemon for no reason; it can be very "toxic" toward those it don't like.
I would imagine method of obtainment also dictated things:
- Alazakam being the most hard to obtain, first having to catch and evolve an Abra, and then finding someone to trade your Kadabra to and back from (which back then meaning either knowing a kid with a Link Cable or having one yourself). Thus it gets the high stats and healing move.
- Mr. Mime was likely the easiest, it was an in-game Trade for a Pokemon you catch around Mt. Moon so you could get it before Misty if you're willing to do the leg work.
- Drowzee was a bit way into the game, on Route 11, and evolving at Level 26 meant you'd be training it for at least 10 Levels before evolving to Hypno. Some waiting & work, but gets the Sleep-inducing move and "tanky" so not a bad pick if you're looking for a simpler Psychic-type.
- Staryu was way into the game, needed a Super Rod, and a Water Stone to evolve (but first let it learn some useful Moves like Recover, maybe even wait till Hydro Pump at Level 47). Pretty tasking, though can be done within the game unlike evolving Kadabra.
- Earliest you can get Slowpoke is Celadon with a Super Rod. And you get it at Level 15, which mean 22 Levels before evolving to Slowbro. On on hand its a Level evo so not too hard, but on the other hand you'll have it quite a bit as a Slowpoke, so I guess the resulting Slowbro is acceptable if you don't have a solid Water- and/or Psychic-type yet or want something more bulky than Starmie.
- Exeggutor is an odd one, you first need to get it as a Level 24-25 Exeggcute from the Safari Zone. Now you just need a Leaf Stone to evolve it, though not too soon if you want some useful utility Moves. And even then once it evolves you need to teach it Psychic and Mega Drain/Solar Beam via TM! Highest Special Attack aside from Alakazam, but is it worth it? I'm thinking not.
- Jynx is an in-game trade like Mr. Mime but slightly more complicated. You need to trade it for a Poliwhirl, which means first getting the Good Rod, catching Poliwag which can fished most anywhere at Level 10, and train it up 15 Levels. It's some work though I suppose it being part Ice and above I say above average stats justify the little extra work.
It can't reach the point of Zen as its mind eventually drifts to wanting pancakes.
Well I guess if I did it above, but I'm going to batch them up:
Golem/Rhydon: So this is an interesting case of "pick your poison"; or rather "pick your hinderance". You get Geodude first in Mt. Moon or preferably Rock Tunnel, and at Level 25 it evolves into Graveler who is pretty solid (pun intended). But then this is where Graveler hits a wall: it's a Trade evo. This is a make or break point, if you can Trade it to evolve it into Golem, congrats! But if you can't, and you want a strong Rock/Ground, then when you get to the Safari Zone that's when you can get Rhyhorn. At Level 25. And it doesn't Evolve until Level 42! Now, it's certainly "worth" the power if you can't get Golem or just want the "best" between the two. However, if you can get Golem, I have a feeling a lot would be more drawn to getting it just so that have Golem's power at their earliest convenience.
Fossil Pokemon: Now, since they don't learn any Rock-type Moves, this is an odd case. Assuming you know what you're picking, you're not getting Omastar because of its Rock-type, you're getting it because its a strong Water-type and willing to wait till Cinnabar to get a Omanyte and train it to Level 40. Kabutops you're not getting it cause it's a Rock-type or even a Water-type, you're getting it for Slash Crit hax... though there are considerable better options earlier. It almost feels like they're meant to be a distraction for the ACTUAL Fossil Pokemon you'd want: Aerodactyl! Sure you get either the Helix Fossil/Dome Fossil right away, but after getting Cut you'd want to make a trip back to Pewter before going to Cinnabar Island to get the Old Amber via the backroom of the Museum. Now you get the best Flying-type in the game, super fast, super strong, and gets Fly, Dragon Rage, & Bite/Double-Edge (along with a few choice Status Moves). Even if you got Golem/Rhydon it wouldn't be a bad choice, it's not like it's going to be using any Rock or Ground moves.
Onix: I stand by my theory that Onix was nerfed just so it could be Brock's Pokemon. Look through my old posts I posted two different stat spreads what I think it could have been originally (one and two), but it gets the same idea across: Good HP/Attack, high Defense, and low Special & Speed. I also wouldn't be surprised if it was just supposed to be in Victory Road, maybe as a last minute option from Golem/Rhydon. But no, it was made weaker thus made available earlier and, unless you REALLY need the defense, Geodude should be your go-to Rock-type at that point.
Well it's just trying to knock out the opponent, not eat them.
Hm, well when translations fail, time to deep dive into the actual Japanese name. In Japanese, Tottering Feet is "Chidori Ashi".
What does "Chidori Ashi" directly translate into? Hint, it's not "Tottering Feet". It directly translates to "Plover Feet". Plover, as in the small species of bird wading bird. These birds have long longs and, paraphrasing from wikipedia, "They feed mainly on insects (...) which are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups".
"Okay, that explains the birds, but what about Spinda and Mr. Rime"?
Oh, well you see, they're drunk. Or rather, they're walking/acting like they're drunk. For "Chidori-Ashi" has also become a Japanese slang term for a drunk person (just type "Chidori-Ashi drunk" into Google and it'll give plenty of examples).
FUN FACT: "Chidori-Ashi" is also a karate term. It's a way of walking by crossing your feet, either going forwards or sideways, to always assure your body is facing forward (toward your opponent). So in the future if we get a martial arts Pokemon that randomly knows Tangled Feet, you now know why.
Oh, do you want to jump down the hole that is the Japanese pun which dictates the Pidove's family entire design? Here's the specific secton:
So, what does this have to do with its Ability, Big Pecks? Big Peck's Japanese name is "Pigeon Breast". In Japanese, this is pronounced "Hatomune". But wait, see how that word has "hato" in it? Yup, that word, in addition to meaning "Pigeon Breast" has another meaning: "A proud heart"... Oh, and it's also a name of a type of Japanese chest armor: Hatomune dou (going to guess that's why its a Defense-focused Ability).
No, that's the difference.
Trick's Japanese name is "Trick". And the literal Japanese word is transliteration of the English Word "Trick" into Japanese vowels: Torikku.
Swithceroo's Japanese name is "Secret Switch". It's literal Japanese translation is "Surikae", which from what I can find simply does mean changing over/exchanging something (often secretly or silently). Yeah, there's no deeper meaning.
- I think the idea between the two is that Trick is as in a "magic trick" (hence Psychic-Type). It uses its magic/psychic powers/sleight-of-hand to swap items.
- Switcheroo are like the con man who do the cup game on the street, keep your eye on the cup with the ball, don't get distracted, not that it matters, as the con mon had already sleeved the ball and now all the cups are empty. But this time its the target's item that's taken, keep your eye on where it goes, sneakily switched the item with yours, and viola! Hey, this isn't your item, oh well, don't know where yours went so you can have this one. Huh? The item I have looks like your item? No, no, we just so happened to have the same item, well, used to, yours got lost but you got a "nice" other item in return...
And yes, you may now list ALL the Pokemon this doesn't make sense for. And I'll probably agree with most of them, but in GF's mind there's two item switching Moves: one which is via magic/out-smarting and another via deceit. If they give one to a Pokemon the general attitude of the species depends on which one they get... according to GF.
Upon reading this my immediate reaction was to look at what Pokémon learn BOTH Switcheroo and Trick: Delphox, Froslass, Hypno, Linoone, Linoone-Galar, Obstagoon, and the Cutiefly family.
- Of these, Hypno is the only one that makes a lot of sense to be able to do both (really, Switcheroo fits best it's literally a hypnotist it's incredibly easy to put you in a trance and then just swap the items lol, but it's a Psychic-Type so give it Trick too it doesn't change anything). Fascinatingly, Drowzee learns Trick but not Switcheroo. It's actually rather cool storytelling to restrict it in that way, meaning Hypno is definitely putting its opponent in a trance to steal its item as only Hypno has mastery over hypnosis, Drowzee doesn't.
- Delphox is literally a Magician, that's its hidden ability. Why on Earth would they feel the need to also give it Switcheroo? Trick fits incredibly thematically well. Witches aren't necessarily known for their slyness or con artist ways. And then I realised it's a fox and went oh, fair enough actually those are known for being sly. And then I realised Thievul doesn't learn it and this goes back to being dumb.
- Linoone(-G) and Obstagoon just, why do they learn Trick. They don't have magic powers, they're Switcheroo users through and through. Can't muster anything.
- Froslass is fun. Parallel to Hypno, it gets Switcheroo from Snorunt and then once it gets the ghostly powers it learns Trick too. Glalie is stuck just with Switcheroo. I don't mind this at all, Switcheroo makes sense on Snorunt even if it doesn't work that well on its evos.
- Cutiefly and Ribombee? Yeah... no clue. Obviously, Trick makes sense for them, fae creatures are renowned tricksters. But they're the only Fairy-Type Pokémon to learn Switcheroo besides the Cottonee line and Klefki, who aren't tricksters they're pranksters so the Switcheroo distinction makes total sense for them. The fact that they learn both I have absolutely no clue about, even if they just learned Switcheroo I'd say bit odd but fair enough, I just don't see their capacity for both.
- Half the Switcheroo users are speedy mammals. So why does the Sentret line only learn Trick? Why can both Linoone and Furret learn Trick, but only Linoone can learn Switcheroo? He screams, for he does not know.
- Why does Zigzagoon(-G) learn Trick, but not Switcheroo if its evolutions learn both? Zigzagoon can literally run in zigzags that seems far more in line with Switcheroo's quick pickpocket strategy than Linoone being forced into a straight line (and Obstagoon...... standing still (Obstagoon is a mess)).
- The distinction I was happy with as far as the Fairy-Type Pokémon are concerned (prankster vs trickster) I was happy with. So Volbeat, Sableye, Meowstic, and the Impidimp and Purrloin families learning only Trick has ruined my day. In fact, Impidimp is the only Fairy-Type with Prankster to learn Trick, and is even a Dark-Type on the side which is Switcheroo's type! Meowstic is fine, it's Psychic-Type, but Sableye is Dark-Type too! A common trend with Trick users that Switcheroo users don't have is deception, so Purrloin and Liepard I don't mind so much, but that doesn't apply to anything else (Sableye is shadowy I guess?, Volbeat has bioluminescence which is associated with fae tricksters in folklore (Volbeat and Illumise should be Fairy-Type fight me)). So now that other explanation is called into question and now I'm sad.
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After 5 generations, Drifloon got Air Slash
Which of course, leads to the question of: but why
And then a follow up question of "why Drifloon barely got any flying moves"
Gen 4: Gust, Tailwind (Egg Move), Fly (HM), Defog(HM), Air Cutter (Move Tutor Only)
Gen 5: Gust, Tailwind (now a BW2 Tutor, not an Egg), Fly (HM), Acrobatics (TM), Defog (Egg move but you have to breed gen 4 Drifblim that had it)
Gen 6: Gust, Tailwind (cross-gen egg move, ORAS tutor), Fly (HM), Acrobatics (TM), Defog (cross-gen egg move)
Gen 7: Gust, Tailwind (egg move, USUM tutor), Fly (HM), Acrobatics (TM), Defog (cross-gen egg move, USUM tutor)
Gen 8: Gust, Tailwind (normal level up move this time! also BDSP egg), Fly (TM), Acrobatics (TM), Defog (normal egg move, BDSP TM)
Bonus Round: LA had literally not a single Flying move for it. Not a single one!
Like even if we ignore the bird moves Air Slash should have been its go-to move since day 1 with a bullet and probably should have just gotten Air Cutter by level up. While it shouldn't be using it, Aerial Ace (it learned Cut so presumably the line works like a weedwacker) & Sky Drop (its a hot air balloon!) should have been available when appropriate.
And frankly giving it Hurricane to represent letting out all its air or something feels up their alley.
e: It wouldn't even need all of these but bro come on you had options
Which of course, leads to the question of: but why
And then a follow up question of "why Drifloon barely got any flying moves"
Gen 4: Gust, Tailwind (Egg Move), Fly (HM), Defog(HM), Air Cutter (Move Tutor Only)
Gen 5: Gust, Tailwind (now a BW2 Tutor, not an Egg), Fly (HM), Acrobatics (TM), Defog (Egg move but you have to breed gen 4 Drifblim that had it)
Gen 6: Gust, Tailwind (cross-gen egg move, ORAS tutor), Fly (HM), Acrobatics (TM), Defog (cross-gen egg move)
Gen 7: Gust, Tailwind (egg move, USUM tutor), Fly (HM), Acrobatics (TM), Defog (cross-gen egg move, USUM tutor)
Gen 8: Gust, Tailwind (normal level up move this time! also BDSP egg), Fly (TM), Acrobatics (TM), Defog (normal egg move, BDSP TM)
Bonus Round: LA had literally not a single Flying move for it. Not a single one!
Like even if we ignore the bird moves Air Slash should have been its go-to move since day 1 with a bullet and probably should have just gotten Air Cutter by level up. While it shouldn't be using it, Aerial Ace (it learned Cut so presumably the line works like a weedwacker) & Sky Drop (its a hot air balloon!) should have been available when appropriate.
And frankly giving it Hurricane to represent letting out all its air or something feels up their alley.
e: It wouldn't even need all of these but bro come on you had options
And this right here is a notable problem Flying-types have: if you're not a bird, or at the very least don't have wings, you're incapable of learning like 90% of the Flying-type moves, most of them being the attacks.
Flying-type needs more "general" Moves which is air/wind focused rather than bird/winged focus. Like, where is the Flying-type of Ominous Wind/Silver Wind? Heat Wave? Discharge? Hyper Voice? Leaf Storm/Tornado? Whirlpool? Quick Attack? U-Turn/Volt Switch/Flip Back? Liquidation? Circle Throw/Dragon Tail? Flame Charge? Rapid Spin? No, let's just make another version of Wing Attack, but this time it hits two times!
(Yes, I know I posted this in the Scarlet & Violet discussion, but I feel it's just as if not appropriate here as it is part of the discussion there)
I mean I listed out quite a few non-bird flying type moves the balloon could have gotten
This inadvertently lands on the problem with Flying moves conceptually when compared to other types. A lot of moves have wind/air as the base element and then other stuff is added on top to distinguish them or fit them into the appropriate type. Flying-type Ominous Wind/Silver Wind is just 'Wind'. You can add a fun adjective to make it arbitrarily poetic-sounding, but there are very few wind-related terms that convey the appropriate sense of mysticism needed for its secondary effect to make sense without making it feel more like a Fairy- or Psychic-type move. The Flying-type is (necessarily) so diverse that it doesn't really get its own strong theming independent of 'we have birds!' and often just ends up subsumed by whatever type it's paired with. Leaf Storm, Leaf Tornado, and even Sandstorm are all moves that deal damage by disturbing the air around the opponent, but that invisible element inevitably gives way to the visible one.
Flying-type moves also seem to be restricted by the in-game battle display. Damaging an opponent by blowing them away seems like a logical way to approach Flying moves, but it's not practical in a game where combatants react to every attack by recoiling slightly before immediately returning to a neutral position. Heat Wave works as a move because the 'heat' is the damaging part and the wind/breath is just the vehicle for that heat. A Flying version of Heat Wave doesn't read as a powerful attack to me unless you allow a convincing level of knockback. As a result, all our wind-based moves are depicted as either cutting the target or swirling around them and buffeting them somehow.
Another restriction on the design space for the Flying type is that, despite all this, it's still an exceptionally powerful offensive typing. It has excellent neutral coverage and pairs well with several other types. I doubt power creep is too much of a concern these days, but a strong Flying move with no major drawbacks, good accuracy, and wide distribution would have been very scary in virtually every generation. I wonder if it's deliberately been shafted a bit when it comes to moves because of this. For in-game purposes, Flying-type pivot and priority moves seem like obvious choices, but when I think about the competitive implications of a Flying-type U-turn it terrifies me.
Yeah, I think to give an example, a lot of physical-oriented Flying-type Pokémon that were previously lacking a good physical Flying-type move such as Dragonite, Salamence, and Scyther in the lower tiers really appreciated Dual Wingbeat existing. I think GF is reluctant to make a good physical Flying move that something like (gOd FoRbId) Gyarados can learn.
There's already a strong non-bird-related physical Flying move: Acrobatics.
But it has a condition: It requires sacrifice of the Item Slot. So to have a 110 Power Flying-type move you can't be holding an item, meanwhile other Types get Moves which are 90-100 Power which have their own effects (sometimes without a major drawback) and still have use of their Item Slot (which they can say use a Choice Item, Life Orb, or another power-up item to have that 90-100 Move's Power go above what a 110 Power move would normally do).
I'll take a conditional move that encourages interesting items like White Herb or Terrain Seed (or Flying Gem, if they ever bring the non-Normal gems) over a bland milquetoast "I deal good damage without much risk and that's it" move.
I would agree, but I don't like how the move got nerfed in Gen 6 because GF removed Gems. Flying Gem + Acrobatics was such a fun combo in Gen 5 on a lot of Pokemon like Charizard, Scizor, Gliscor, and especially Driftblim since it could activate Unburden at the same time. Now, you have to gimp yourself by not running any item or running a conditional item like Grassy Seed in order to use Acrobatics effectively. These tactics are fine, but I really liked that interaction with Flying Gem since it was self-sufficient, consistent, and more useful (the one time boost from Flying Gem helped these pokemon get past their counters more effectively + allowed Driftblim specifically to be more selective in when it activated Unburden).
As for Driftblim, its lack of Flying moves is pretty weird. I don't think Air Slash is a fitting move on it since its stubby little arms don't seem like they'd be able to perform the move very well, but I think it should have gotten Hurricane. I'd imagine it'd use it the same way I see it using Gust, where it would exhaust air to create a storm.
Interestingly (due to how we got here), Acrobatics seems pretty much like a move designed for Drifblim. Drifblim has almost equal offensive stats (80/90) and something I think a lot of people forget about Drifblim is that Unburden was it and Drifloon's signature ability in Gen IV. Now, granted, Acrobatics was introduced in Gen V and that's when Unburden began being distributed more widely too, but the link between no item = strong and used item = speed boost is hard to miss.
Still wasn't given to Gyara tho lmao
Edit: Getting ninjaed in 2022 like
Still wasn't given to Gyara tho lmao
Edit: Getting ninjaed in 2022 like
I mean, it could learn Air Cutter in its debut gen, being able to learn Air Slash is not much different.
I agree this makes for more interesting move design in and of itself, but the fact is Flying simply lacks something that several other types have access to (when there's a case many of them are already better offensive options with or without that move discrepancy). I also think the gap is too wide in this case because where Focus Blast, Wood Hammer, Hurricane, etc. have their downsides (Accuracy or Recoil typically), Acrobatics is a handicap that can actively inhibit your other moves by virtue of barring an item's usage, which again widens the gap in usability because the above moves can work as coverage or options where the risk is mainly in needing to use them on turns, not their inclusion in your moveset to begin with.
How do Pincurchin and Applin use Sucker Punch? Do they just roll into the opponent?
Applin does it by pretending to be an apple and then jumping out to surprise the opponent.
Pincurchin I have no idea.
What if Pincurchin just hides then the opponent gets bored of waiting for Pincurchin to come back and looks for it and steps on it by accident?
First, note "Sucker Punch" is called "Surprise Attack" in Japan. It has nothing to do with punching (and isn't considered a punching move), it was translated into "Sucker Punch" as that's an English term for hitting someone when they're not paying attention.
So, in that regard, as long as the Pokemon can deceive the opponent and then attack in someway they can get Sucker Punch. Infact Applin and Pincurchin would be good Sucker Punchers/Surprise Attackers as they're unassuming appearance would make the target let their guard down.
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