Summary
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are continuing the trend of cutting moves from previous entries in the series to make room for new moves. Protect and Detect, two nearly identical moves, raise questions about Game Freak's design philosophy for Gen 10.
- While Protect is a widely learned move, Detect has a much smaller pool of Pokemon that can learn it. This imbalance has made Protect the more popular choice in competitive battles, rendering Detect largely ineffective.
- Game Freak must make a major decision for Gen 10 regarding the presence or absence of Protect and Detect. It can either cut Detect and let Protect be the definitive attack-negating move, or rework Detect to make it distinct. Consistency in move choices is crucial for an intentional design in the game.
The Pokemon series has a history of cutting certain moves from entries in the series to make way for new moves to take their place, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are no exception. While there are a handful of cut moves from the Gen 9 games, there are also small, but noticeable overlaps in moves with similar effects present in the game. Protect and Detect are two moves that fall into this category as they are nearly identical in almost every respect while taking up two different move slots in the game, leading to the need for Pokemon Gen 10 to reassess what makes a move worthy of sticking around.
It's not surprising that some moves had to be cut from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet given the way certain mechanics were reworked for the Gen 9 games. A move like Hail being cut from the games makes sense because the hailstorm weather condition was replaced by the snowstorm weather condition, and the signature moves of Pikachu and Eevee from the Pokemon Let's Go games are also unnecessary since they no longer fit with the core identity of these new titles. However, the fact that two moves with essentially the same effect are present in the game while other unique moves were cut raises questions about Game Freak's design philosophy ahead of Gen 10.
Pokemon Needs More Consistency When It Comes to Cut Moves Ahead of Gen 10
Detect and Protect were both introduced in Gen 2 and fill similar niches within the Pokemon series' move pool as they allow players to negate the effects of an incoming enemy attack. The two moves are so similar that they even have the same move description in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The nearly identical nature of these moves begs the question as to why they both exist in Gen 9, especially because almost every critter can learn Protect, but only a select few can learn Detect, and they are mostly Fighting types and the Eeveelutions.
Pokemon That Can Learn Detect
- Eevee
- Vaporeon
- Jolteon
- Flareon
- Zapdos
- Galarian Zapdos
- Yanma
- Espeon
- Umbreon
- Makuhita
- Hariyama
- Sableye
- Meditite
- Medicham
- Zangoose
- Riolu
- Lucario
- Yanmega
- Leafeon
- Glaceon
- Azelf
- Oshawott
- Dewott
- Samurott
- Hisuian Samurott
- Timburr
- Zorua
- Hisuian Zorua
- Zoroark
- Hisuian Zoroark
- Mienfoo
- Mienshao
- Sylveon
- Hawlucha
- Kubfu
- Urshifu
- Quaxly
- Quaxwell
- Qauquaval
- Lokix
- Flamigo
- Iron Hands
While this may seem like a solid list of mons who can learn Detect, it's quite small compared to Protect which can be learned by nearly every mon. As such, Protect has become the more popular choice for competitive battles and Pokemon VGC, with it being so common that some players will run a strategy where the move Imprison is used alongside Protect to disable the use of any of the opponent's moves known by both mons, preventing opponents from using Protect. This strategy is effectively useless with Detect since almost no competitive player is going to run Detect over Protect.
Pokemon Gen 10 needs to make a major decision when it comes to Protect and Detect's presence or lack thereof in the games because one on hand, Detect could be cut completely as Protect could just take its place as the definitive attack-negating move. However, there is also the possibility that Detect remains in the game, but is reworked significantly to make it distinct from Protect. Both Protect and Detect have a chance to fail if used in succession, so maybe Detect could remove this failure chance in exchange for only protecting against status moves.
Whichever route Game Freak decides to go down with these moves in Gen 10, the consistency between which moves remain in the games and which are cut needs to be clearer. Having two identical moves in the game while cutting unique ones is a disservice to these games and the competitive Pokemon strategies players develop around them. Gen 10 has the chance to solidify Game Freak's philosophy when it comes to cut moves so that every move in the game feels like an intentional design decision.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 71 /100 Critics Rec: 48%
- Released
- November 18, 2022
- ESRB
- E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- no
WHERE TO PLAY
The school that you’ve enrolled in as you play Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet hosts a special independent study project. The theme of this assignment is "A Treasure Hunt." Explore the world and seek out your very own treasure!
Three stories will be woven into your adventure while traversing the sprawling Paldea region. Along Victory Road, you will go to Gyms in different locations in order to to achieve Champion Rank. On the Path of Legends, you can join Arven in search of rare ingredients. And in ★ Starfall Street ★, you’ll challenge Team Star, a group of delinquents causing trouble for the school.
These stories are set in an open world, so where you go is all up to you. A world teeming with Pokémon and people to meet is waiting for you—traverse the Paldea region wherever you heart desires.
