Movepool

Movepool is the set of moves a character or creature can learn and use in a video game. The term is widely used in Pokémon, where a species’ movepool determines which moves it can acquire through leveling, TMs or HMs, move tutors, breeding (egg moves), or events. Movepools may differ between game generations, regional forms, and evolution stages, making them a dynamic property that can affect strategy and balance.

For Pokémon specifically, the movepool is often referred to as the learnset. Moves arrive at certain levels, via items, or through other methods; some moves are exclusive to certain evolutions, forms, or events. Egg moves expand what a Pokémon can learn by breeding two parents with compatible moves. In addition, certain games reconfigure how moves are obtained, such as removing or reintroducing TMs.

Impact and design: The size and composition of a movepool influence a creature’s versatility, type coverage, and role in battles. Developers control balance by restricting moves, changing availability across versions, or tying moves to evolution. In competitive play, analysts examine movepools to assess threat potential and plan team strategies.

Data representation: In game data, a movepool is encoded as a list of moves with conditions such as required level, item, or event flags. Community resources often track learnsets to compare species and assess viability across formats.