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A group of Copperajah and a Cufant in the Pokédex.
Image via Game Freak

Dozens of Pokémon majorly nerfed in Scarlet and Violet due to HOME restrictions

Some suffered more than others.

As happy as players were about Pokémon HOME connecting to Scarlet and Violet, the transfers came with huge restrictions that have weakened some of our favorite Pokémon.

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Players who’ve been transferring Pokémon from other games to Gen IX have noticed that transfer-only moves no longer exist. Previously, players would be able to transfer over Pokémon with moves they could only learn in older generations. But now, those moves will be automatically forgotten when they’re transferred to Scarlet and Violet.

In a June 18 Reddit thread, fans discussed how big of an impact this has on certain Pokémon that might’ve relied on those transfer moves. The biggest example they gave was Copperajah, who learned two really strong coverage moves in Gen VIII—Power Whip and Heat Crash.

Having access to Grass and Fire-type moves made it a huge threat to a lot of Pokémon that might switch in on the attack. But since it learned those two moves via TRs (which do not exist in Gen IX), Copperajah no longer has a way to use them with transfer moves gone.

Related: Pokémon HOME has opened the floodgates to rare Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet

Other players brought up a strong Dark-type Pokémon in VGC—Kingambit. Although Kingambit was just introduced this generation, its pre-evolution, Bisharp had been able to learn Knock Off from the move tutor since Gen V. Knock Off is particularly useful in a competitive setting because it removes the held item from its target, and it feels a little odd that Kingambit’s evolutionary line can’t use it in Scarlet and Violet. Luckily, the samurai is pretty powerful even without Knock Off, but it could’ve had another strong Dark-type option for its moveset.

Meanwhile, there’s a special case with Mew. One fan pointed out how Mew is specifically known for its ability to learn every TM in the game. Since many moves and TMs were cut from Gen IX, Mew’s movepool also shrank. It’s not a huge deal in a competitive setting since Mythical Pokémon are usually banned, but it’s still sad to see Mew’s gimmick become less special.

All hope is not lost, though. Fans are still hoping to see the return of tutor moves with the upcoming Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC. A potential move tutor in the DLC could be a game-changer for Pokémon like Copperajah and Kingambit.

Related: Pokemon HOME’s Scarlet and Violet update may have just teased the game’s next new form


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Author
Image of Karli Iwamasa
Karli Iwamasa
Karli is a freelance writer and editor for Dot Esports based in the Bay Area. She mostly writes about Pokémon with a focus on competitive VGC but also enjoys VALORANT.