Howl is a strong support move in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet that has achieved renewed relevance in Tera Raid battles. Players can use new egg move mechanics to teach Pokemon Howl without a TM.
What's Howl?
Howl was first added to Pokemon all the way back in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire. Though the move is a solid support option, it’s fallen out of favor in competitive play behind options like Reflect, Light Screen, Helping Hand, and so on. That has changed in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet with the introduction of Tera Raid battles.
Howl raises the attack stat of all allied Pokemon, which is incredibly powerful when players have three allies in Tera Raid battles. Howl becomes a very strong support move in five and six-star Tera Raid battles, and can help allies chunk down bosses en route to an easy victory.
Is There a Howl TM in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet?
Howl is not available as a TM in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Though the games have a whopping 171 TMs available, the list of moves that can be taught in this way is far from comprehensive. There also isn’t any equivalent to the TM Machine that can craft items that teach new moves.
While moves not being available as a TM was previously a major inconvenience, players are able to teach Howl to Pokemon through picnics. This can be done through breeding and with a recently added item.
How to Teach Pokemon Howl
Players can teach Pokemon Howl by breeding or using a Mirror Herb in picnics. This stems from Howl being available as an egg move.
The list of Pokemon (and their evolution line) that can learn Howl as an egg moves:
- Typhlosion
- Camerupt
- Luxray
- Lucario
- Dachsbun
- Houndstone
Egg moves work the same as ever in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Pokemon that are bred from parts of different species have the chance to learn new moves from the parent that they normally wouldn’t have access to.
Pokemon such as Arcanine, Lycanroc, and Houndoom all learn the move Howl normally. Meanwhile, Luxray, Lucario, and Dachsbun need to learn the move from a parent. Players can get a Lucario that knows Howl by breeding a male Pokemon that knows Howl with a female Dachsbun. The Fidough eggs that come from this will hatch knowing the move Howl.
Alongside this, players can now teach existing Pokemon egg moves. This can be done by having a Pokemon forget a move, giving it the Mirror Herb held item, and then bringing it into a picnic with a Pokemon that currently knows the desired egg move.
For example, if a player catches a shiny Lucario and wants to teach it Howl, they can do so by having it forget a move, giving it a Mirror Herb, then bringing it into a picnic with an Arcanine that currently knows Howl. The empty move slot on Lucario will then be filled by Howl.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.