Like other mainline Pokemon games, each Pokemon is capable of knowing four moves at a time in Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet. As Pokemon level and evolve, they learn new moves. If a Pokemon's moveset is at maximum, then players will be forced to delete an already-existing move, or give up on learning the new move.
Prior to Generation 8, Pokemon players would need to trade an item called Heart Scales to specific NPCs in each region if they wanted to relearn a move. While Luvdisc is present in Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet, trainers won't have to worry about catching them to get Heart Scales to trade in. Remembering and forgetting moves is now possible without the help of a Move Relearner.
How to Forget & Relearn Old Moves
For those familiar with Pokemon Legends: Arceus, players can go into their Pokemon's summary and adjust its moveset through the menu screens in Scarlet and Violet. The option to "Change Moves" becomes available for every Pokemon once they have learned five moves. To swap out moves, players will need to do the following:
- Open the pause menu with X-button.
- Highlight and select a Pokemon with A-button.
- Select Check Summary.
- Tap right on the directional pad to go the Moves and Stats page.
- Tap A-button to open up a new menu.
- Select Remember moves, Forget a move, or Use TMs to learn moves.
Deleting a move from a Pokemon's maxed out moveset will not replace it with an already-learned move. As the name indicates, forgetting a move will literally cause the Pokemon to forget one of the four moves in its moveset. Forget a move can come in handy if players are trying to clear out a not-very-useful attack or status move (ex: Growl).
In addition to this, TMs can be used to teach moves directly from the Moves and Stats page instead of digging through the bag first. As most players know, not every Pokemon is compatible with every TM. If a Pokemon can't learn a move from a TM, then it will say "Cannot Learn" in red under their icon.
Consult Your Pokemon
If a Pokemon levels and learns a new move, then players can have the option of saying "yes" that they want to learn it, or "no." By saying "yes", this will take them to a new screen where players can select the move they want to delete to make room for the new one.
A new feature added to Scarlet/Violet now allows players to "consult" their Pokemon for which move they should forget. To do this, players should press the X-button to get their Pokemon's opinion. Sometimes a Pokemon will want to get rid of a move that's already useful, so players don't always have to confirm their Pokemon's choice.
Having balanced moves are key to Pokemon battles. For example: A moveset with all Dragon-type moves will be completely ineffective against Fairy-type Pokemon, so it's important to have at least two moves of different Types.
Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet are available for Nintendo Switch.