4 Moveslot Syndrome

I hate having to decided on that last stupid moveslot! This happens especially when I try to make an Assault Vest or Choice Specs Togekiss. Sometimes, Pokémon have such great movepools that I can't really decided what move to put in the last slot. I have a tough life (Jk).

 

Not as often as it could happen. I have a rather easy time deciding moves. Unless it's a low level Pokémon. Then I would probably abandon any status move I had if it were a better one/damaging move.

 

A 5th move slot would have a TREMENDOUS effect on the Metagame. Surely it would make a lot of Pokémon better, but it would only make those few select Pokémon with diverse move pools even more so overpowered. Especially in VGC and doubles would a 5th move slot have a huge impact. The additional move for each Pokémon opens up additional opportunities for more combinations.

Here are some examples I can think of that would have a huge effect on some Pokémon:

Mega Gyarados
-Substitute
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Crunch
-Earthquake

Usually when setting up a Mega Gyarados, you have to pick between offensive moves to choose from since Sub and DDance are essential for a successful sweep. With access to a third attacking move, Mega Gyarados has even more coverage and can successfully KO even more Pokémon.

Volcarona
-Quiver Dance
-Fiery Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Giga Drain
-HP Rock

How many times have you attempted a Volcarona sweep and a fire type Pokémon such as Mega Charizard or Heatran has gotten in your way? You'll need giga drain if you ever hope to stop a water type or anything else that walls Volcarona, plus that additional health makes a huge difference. With an extra slot for HP rock, Volcarona can finally have a chance to defeat Pokémon that resists all of its movepool as it has x4 super effectiveness on Mega Charizard and other Volcaronas. As for HP ground, heatran can say its prayers as its also x4 effective, but just in case it has an air balloon, hp rock would come in handy a bit more.

Gliscor
-Protect
-Subsitute
-Roost
-Toxic
-Earthquake

Behold, the biggest pain you'll ever have to battle. With this, Gliscor is not much different, except that it can finish off anything it can't touch with toxic with an earthquake. This means that it can deal damage to pretty much everything except Skarmory and Magic Guard Clefable. Thought Gliscor was already a good wall? Now its even more so an issue to deal with. <.<

 

Scrafty
Ice Punch
Drain Punch
Dragon Dance
Crunch
Bulk Up

 

I have had troubles thinking about what to decide, this move or that move. Like, ALL THE TIME
If I was going to get a 5th move on a venusaur, probably Sleep powder, Leech seed, Protect, Giga drain and sludge bomb.

 

I always struggle between putting stealth rock or thunder wave on my Ferrothorn. My Deoxys-Speed is normally my primary hazard setter, but I like to have stealth rock on ferrothorn to deal with Rapid Spin or Defoggers, and for if my Deoxys is knocked out before I'm done laying spikes. On the other hand, most of my teams don't have ways to guarantee a status infliction (ex. Will-O-Wisp), so it's helpful in a pinch. There's also no way I'm replacing Protect with Thunder Wave, as it helps Ferrothorn get a guaranteed turn of health recovery, and lets Ferrothorn scout for common threats.

 

I encounter this problem most when it comes to set-up and healer sets. Like for Mega-Sableye, I usually have CM and Recover on it, while I would like both its STAB moves (Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball), and an extra move like Dazzling Gleam for coverage. Usually, I do Dark Pulse and Dazzling Gleam, or Shadow Ball and Dazzling Gleam.
This can be said for a lot of Mons. The Latis are another good example.

 

I think the four moveslot barrier is what makes Pokémon fun - it makes all metagames workable and evolving. The easiest remedy is to cover the weakness with another Pokémon on your team, but then it goes on and on and on.
No team is completely bulletproof, but some are better at covering weakness than others.

 

I HATE having only 4 moveslots soooo freakin bad! I wish Pokémon could learn more than 4 moves, that'd be much more helpful for everyone.

 

Yo the stuggle is real! I feel your pain with the umbreon example because I use the exact same set on my team. Another is my nidoking, which I have ice punch, eathquack, stealth rock, and either poison jab or sucker punch (currently sucker punch). The way I decide is by looking at the threats I am more likely to see, and place that move on the Pokémon. Or, if another Pokémon already covers that weakness, use the other move instead. I choose sucker punch to counter the fast psychic types and didn't need a stab poison move because I also have a sludge wave gengar on my team.

As for whether it would change the game (heck yeah it would) but it wouldn't break it, and if anything, its high time the actually added that in Pokémon, considering the Pokémon in T.V. shows can know like 5-6 moves. It would offer more creative thinking and potentially useless Pokémon may suddenly become incredible. Kinda like how fairy type made a lot of useless normal types great and then boosted the neglected poison types. With steel not resisting dark and ghost type anymore, that changed the game entirely from metagross being broken to unbroken... until its mega came out...Thing is a freaking monster... But anyways, I just think its the next step forward in Pokémon, but its been long in the wait.