Pokémon Sword and Shield leak shows 21 new moves

Dataminers have been doing their usual work, looking through the latest Pokémon HOME update and finding any new information that might not have been shared publicly yet. 

And in Update 1.1.0 for the storage and transfer app, 21 new moves were discovered in some unused files that have not appeared in HOME or Sword and Shield. 

All but one of the moves is completely new, with the only recurring name being Jungle Healing, the signature move for the newest Mythical Pokémon Zarude, who has not been released yet. Each of the other attacks are completely unique titles that have never been seen in a Pokémon game before. 

And while not all of the moves have been seen before, there are a few attacks that can we can break down based on the context of their names when thinking about the upcoming Expansion Pass content. 

Here are all of the moves included in the “leak.:

• Expanding Force
• Steel Roller
• Scale Shot
• Meteor Beam
• Shell Side Arm
• Misty Explosion
• Grassy Glide
• Rising Voltage
• Terrain Pulse
• Skitter Smack
• Burning Jealousy
• Lash Out
• Poltergeist
• Corrosive Gas
• Coaching
• Flip Turn
• Triple Axel
• Dual Wingbeat
• Scorching Sands
• Jungle Healing
• Wicked Blow
• Surging Strikes

Outside of Jungle Healing, Surging Strikes sounds a lot like something one of the different forms of Urshifu will use. Specifically, the Water/Fighting-type Rapid Strike Style form, which is known for using “flowing movements in battle to smoothly parry an opponent’s moves and then overwhelming the opponent with a flurry of rapid strikes.”

If that is indeed the case, then another of these attacks, most likely Wicked Blow, will be the Single Strike Style Dark/Fighting-type form’s signature move. That and Coaching sounds like something Kubfu might learn, since it is themed around growth and potential. 

As for the other 17 attacks, some of them sound like special moves for Pokémon we don’t know of yet. It looks like at least a few might have to deal with Terrain setting moves, and could potentially give us some new types to play with when covering the field in battles. 

The only other guess work we can really pin down is Shell Side Arm, which sounds like it could be a new Special Water-type move used by Pokémon with shells, such as Slowbro and Slowking. Galarian forms of Slowpoke’s evolutions have not been fully shown yet, so this could revolve around them somehow despite type changes. 

The first part of the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, The Isle of Armor, is set to release before the end of June, so we should have all of our questions answered by then.