With the release of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, a multitude of new things were added. Old features such as the Underground, mining, Amity Square, and even the Poke Radar all made triumphant returns much to the joy of fans. Yet, for everything it brought, several things were left behind.
For one reason or another, a multitude of moves did not reappear within these remakes. Although some of these moves were hardly used and others are easily forgettable, there are few on that list that will be missed.
9 Heal Order
One of Vespiquen's main appeals was its three signature moves. Attack Order, Defend Order, and Heal Order. As their names suggest, Attack Order does damage to an enemy, Defend Order raises Vespiquen's Defense and Special Defense, while Heal Order heals Vespiquen to some degree. While the first two moves are still in the game, Heal Order was removed in Sword and Shield and did not make a return with the new Diamond and Pearl remakes.
All three of these moves were made to make Vespiquen interesting and competitively viable. It's why Elite Four member Aaron was such a tricky opponent in the first set of games centered in Sinnoh. The beehive Pokemon was able to bolster its defenses, heal itself, and attack viciously. While Vespiquen is still a dangerous opponent, its threat has lessened with Heal Order's removal.
8 Triple Axel
As one of the few physical ice-type moves, many were sad to see Triple Axel go, especially with how good of a move it was. As a multi-hitting attack, Triple Axel is good for breaking Focus Sashes and the Sturdy ability. While its base damage is more in line with moves like Tackle or Scratch, the fact that this move grows in power with each successful hit makes it a very powerful attack.
While an argument could be made that, because it was introduced in a later generation it shouldn't be in a game set in earlier gens, that argument isn't sound. For one, the Fairy type is now established in the Sinnoh region and so are a good portion of the moves that come with it. Considering fairy-types didn't exist during the fourth generation, there doesn't appear to be a clear reason as to why Triple Axel wasn't included.
7 Return And Frustration
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While these are two separate moves, they are very similar in their use. Both are normal-type attacks that don't have a set base damage like most other moves. Instead, the damage of this move reflects the friendship between the trainer and the Pokemon using the move. Return becomes stronger the higher your friendship rating is with that Pokemon and Frustration is stronger the lower that rating is.
These two moves gave a sense of realism to Pokemon. Suddenly, caring whether or not your Pokemon was hurt or inflicted with a status became a core mechanic and made your team of monsters almost real. They were also the first steps in a series of friendship mechanics that persevere today so it's a shame that neither move made a return.
6 Trump Card
Trump Card is yet another move that doesn't have a set base power and was once Eevee's signature move. The move's strength doesn't rely on friendship like Return or Frustration but instead takes a route similar to Water Spout. Trump Card's power is directly related to the move's remaining Power Points or PP. The less PP the move has, the stronger it becomes.
Its technical base power is about 40, but the move can reach, if not exceed, 200 base power. The trade-off is that this move only has five PP, eight with a PP Max, and is subject to the Pressure ability. The move does take a while to build up and it only does significant damage for the last three turns it's used. It makes for a powerful yet balanced move and it's shame that it was removed.
5 Psychic Fangs
This late addition to the fang moves was introduced back in Sun and Moon as the signature move of Bruxish. Unlike the other three fang moves, this move doesn't have a chance of inflicting a status effect or causing the target to flinch. Instead, its effect mirrors the move Brick Break and can shatter both Reflect and Light Screen.
While the only Pokemon that can learn this move naturally is Bruxish, this move does become a TR in Sword and Shield. Considering that several of these 'new' moves have become TMs in the remakes, such as Dazzling Gleam, it wouldn't have been strange to see this move in the game. Instead, players miss out on one of the few physical psychic type moves, and a strong one at that.
4 Flip Turn
Flip Turn is a physical water type move that, much like U-turn and Volt Switch, sends the user back to its Poke Ball and replaces it with another on its team. This move was also introduced in Sword and Shield, specifically the Isle of Armor, but there doesn't appear to be a clear reason for why it was removed.
Flip Turn itself isn't all that powerful of a move. All it does is add a new typing to the small pool of escape-type moves. It wouldn't be game-breaking to have an Empoleon dealing a small amount of damage before leaving the battle. It's even weaker than U-turn, yet it was removed while moves like Parting Shot remained.
3 Misty Explosion
As the name entails, Misty Explosion is a lot like Explosion. It's a fairy-type move that does massive damage with the trade-off of using up the user's remaining health. Unlike Explosion, however, this move is Special as opposed to Physical and can be boosted should it be used in Misty Terrain.
Not only did this move give variety to self-sacrificing moves by targeting an opponent's Special Defense, but it also gave fairy-types access to these moves as well. It made players far more cautious when it came to battling certain fairy-types and, despite it being a self-sacrificing move, there are plenty of strategies surrounding it.
2 Sky Uppercut
Previously a signature move of Combusken and Blaziken, Sky Uppercut is a fighting-type move that deals a decent amount of damage. It's not the strongest fighting-type move out there, but it does have an additional effect in being able to target airborne Pokemon. Not just flying types, but also Pokemon that are semi-invulnerable due to the moves Fly, Bounce, and Sky Drop.
With its added effect, fighting-types gained an advantage against their aerial foes. However, this advantage was lost in generation eight as Sky Uppercut was removed. Many fighting-type users hoped to see this move reinstated, especially since Thunder has the same added effect with more damage, but, alas, the move remains unusable.
1 Me First
As opposed to moves like Copycat and Mimic, Me First, as the name suggests, doesn't require your opponent to make the first move. In fact, it doesn't even work if your Pokemon doesn't make the first move. Should the user be faster, and their opponent chooses an attacking move, that Pokemon using Me First copies the attack and sends it back at the target with greater power and 100 percent accuracy.
As the quintessential "no you" move of the Pokemon world, it's considered one of the most powerful, even when put against moves like Judgement and Astral Barrage, mostly due to its double base power and 100 percent accuracy. Doubled with the fact that One-Hit-KO moves are subject to Me First's power, it's not too much of a surprise that was removed.