Why didn't Marill inherit Sing from Lapras?

Question

I was breeding my Lapras and Marill and was expecting the egg to learn sing as stated in Marill's egg move. Result was not as I expected. Any thoughts?

Comments

Which game are you playing?

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pokemon emerald

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Does your Marill have a Sea Incense equipped?

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why sea incense? i thought that's what you do when you want to have azurill. but i wanted to have marill in this one

Answer 1

The reason Marill didn't inherit the move Sing is because you have to have Marill hold the Sea Incense since Marill gets sing when it is hatched as an Azurill. This is proven by this:

Moves marked with a dagger (†) can only be bred onto Marill if it hatches as an Azurill, and cannot be obtained otherwise.

Source
(Click on the Level up by breeding and scroll down and you should find that same sentence)

Sing is marked with a dagger, so this means that Marill gets Sing only by hatching into an Azurill.

Hope this helps.