Talk:Headlong Rush (move)

Wait, this is a punching move?!?

I know this isn't a Game Freak forum and a discussion here would probably have no impact on the actual games, but how is Headlong Rush a punching move?! The four Pokémon that can learn it as of pre-DLC Scarlet and Violet are Ursaluna, Hariyama, Torterra, and Great Tusk. Hariyama, I get throwing punches, and Headlong Rush is apparently a sumo wrestler thing, but… isn't sumo wrestling more about slapping and shoving than punching? It makes sense that Hariyama can throw a punch (and a pretty mean one on top of that), I'm just not sure why a technique derived from sumo wrestling is classified as a punch. Fake Out is also a sumo wrestling thing and it's not a punch. Ursaluna spends most of its time on all fours, but both of its pre-evolutions are mainly bipedal and can learn punching moves through TMs, and I can see Ursaluna getting up on its hind legs and curling up one of its forepaws for long enough to throw an attack that can be defined as a punch rather than a slap or claw strike. But Torterra and Great Tusk? What? They're obligate quadrupeds! Their bodies aren't built for getting up on their hind legs for any significant length of time (like, maybe a second at most) or doing stuff with their front feet other than walking, running, or stomping! They probably can't even curl their front feet into anything remotely resembling a fist! Those two would have to execute Headlong Rush as a tackle! Heck, even Ursaluna would probably prefer tackling over punching (again, it's mainly quadrupedal), and maybe Hariyama would prefer tackling as well (because, again, it's a sumo wrestler and sumo is more about shoving your opponent out of the ring than straight-up beating them senseless). (And if Hariyama can learn Headlong Rush, why can't Iron Hands learn it?) Again, I'm assuming that the punching move classification is actually present in the game code and not an error on Bulbapedia's end… I'm just baffled at how Headlong Rush is apparently a punch. --Luigifan (talk) 17:54, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

Honestly, I don't know, maybe it's creators mistake because other sites like Serebii also state it is a punching move. We can add it to the trivia section. When we are at this topic I realized there's no "punching move" flag in the move infobox but there is one for sound moves (just hidden). Could anyone take care of that?--Rocket Grunt 18:13, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

It is most likely an oversight. Long story short, it seems one of the move devs copied and used Power-Up as a starting off point for Headlong Rush in PL:A. No one thought of removing the flag, and got carried over to SV. Here's a more detailed explanation I posted on Smogon back when PL:A released. Of course, this is my own speculation based on my research of PL:A's move data. AmbientDinosaur (talk) 19:35, 10 February 2023 (UTC)