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I read on pokemondb.com that in gen 1 Geodude learns Defence Curl, Harden, Self Destruct and Explosion. This seems like a strange combination of moves to me, and I have two questions.

Harden and Defence Curl appear to be identical, both increasing defence by one stage. Is there a difference that I'm missing? Why would Geodude learn both moves when they are the same?

Explosion and Self Destruct also appear to be almost identical, both causing Geodude to faint and also dealing heavy normal type damage. However it seems that Explosion deals only 170 base damage while Self Destruct deals 200. This is strange given that Geodude learns Explosion at a higher level. So, what's up with this also?

Jojo
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1 Answers1

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According to Bulbapedia, in Gen 1 Selfdestruct had 130 power, while Explosion 170, that's why it's learned later.

Level Move Type Power Accuracy PP
1 Tackle Normal 35 95% 35
11 Defense Curl Normal — —% 40
16 Rock Throw Rock 50 65% 15
21 Selfdestruct Normal 130 100% 5
26 Harden Normal — —% 30
31 Earthquake Ground 100 100% 10
36 Explosion Normal 170 100% 5

* Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Geodude

While for Harden/Defence Curl I see no reason for that. Defense Curl doubles the power of the user's Rollout, but this is true only from Gen 2. They are the same identical move, apart from PPs.

Game Freak made several weird choices in Gen 1 games...

pinckerman
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    Oh so looks like pokemondb has a mistake for Selfdestruct then, that makes sense. Maybe someone reeeaaally wants 70pp worth of raising their defence? – Jojo Jun 10 '22 at 14:21
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    @Joe I wouldn't call it a mistake per se. The power of Selfdestruct was increased from 130 to 200 in Generation 2. so it's probably how their data is configured – Wondercricket Jun 10 '22 at 15:29
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    @Wondercricket pokemondb tells me that the power of Explosion increased from 170 to 250 after gen 1. It has no information about Selfdestruct changing, giving only the value 200. So the mistake is an omission of the gen 1 power value for Selfdestruct – Jojo Jun 10 '22 at 15:33