Why doesn't Shuckle learn Body Press?

Question

I mean I know Shuckle has an insane Defense stat but he's terrible otherwise. So why not give him Body Press? It would make him actually useful.

Answer 1

Game Freak most likely did not give Shuckle Body Press as a balancing measure. All the Pokemon that get Body Press are either heavy, or are Rock or Steel types (excluding Mew and Lickitung). Some other Pokemon based on chelonids, such as Blastoise and Torkoal, got the move yet Shuckle did not. Shuckle gets access to Contrary Shell Smash (boosts Defense and SpD and lowers Atk, SpA, and Spe) and Iron Defense, and its Speed is very slow, which means in theory Shuckle could be a terrifying Trick Room Pokemon if it had Body Press. Game Freak likely knew Shuckle's biggest issue was its passivity so they made no changes to its playstyle whatsoever.

Comments

Ok thanks, I usually don't use Shuckle.

Answer 2

First, Shuckle is not terrible otherwise. It can set Stealth Rock, Toxic, Sticky Webs, Encore... and it has crazy high defensive stats so it can wall. You can also do weird things with Guard Swap, Power Swap, and Shell Smash Contrary, but those are too niche to go into detail to. While Shuckle definitely isn't the best, it isn't useless.

Now, as to why it doesn't learn Body Press. Shuckle is very light (45 pounds). Most Pokemon that learn Body Press are much, much heavier, so it makes logical sense as to why Shuckle cannot learn it -- it's too light. Or perhaps Game Freak didn't want to give it a tremendously powerful move (which isn't likely, they probably just forgot about it and we're rationalizing for nothing at all).

Comments

I edited in Sticky Webs because it’s amazing lol