FLY

[Gudon44]

Am I the only one who's insanely bugged by the fact that some Flying-types CANNOT LEARN FLY?? Butterfree, Scyther, Mantine, Jumpluff, Mothim, Yanmega...
And hear me out: Dodrio, a bird with NO WINGS, can fly. And so does Tropius and Golurk. A SAUROPOD AND A ROBOT GET FLIGHT BEFORE A MOTH AND A DRAGONFLY.

 

[Team Gaara]

I think some of that has to do with whether or not they could both effectively carry a human in the air and use the actual move. It's inconsistent sometimes, though, as there's no way a Pidgey should be able to carry a human, but it can fly long and high distances in the sky and, therefore, use the attack. Likewise, a Dodrio can carry a human, but has no wings to Fly. But it can jump to use the attack.

Butterfree cannot fly in the sense probably that Butterflies tend to stay low to the ground and fly slowly. You wouldn't go from Celadon City to Lavender Town on one. Scyther's in the same boat. It couldn't hold a human, for it could get bloody, and if the human rode on his back, he couldn't flap his wings. Neither seem like they could effectively use the attack, either.

Mantine likely can't fly long distances. It just seems kind of out there since he's a fish. Jumpluff does not fly at all, it rides the wind.

Mothim and Yanmega...probably for similar reasons to Butterfree and Scyther.

So yeah, it kinda just depends, I guess, but I think they try to make it rational. It makes sense. Golurk and Tropius actually can Fly so they get the move. Not to mention, Tropius is a Flying-type.

 

[Gudon44]

Huh. That actually makes a lot of sense. Now I can sleep at night!

 

[Winterdaze]

Mothim and Yanmega...probably for similar reasons to Butterfree and Scyther.

There is no excuse for Yanmega, whose Pokedex entries explicitly mention its ability to carry a grown human in flight.

It just seems at one point they decided Bugs shouldn't be able to learn fly regardless of size, and stuck with it out of consistency at the expense of logic. At least, until Genesect and Volcarona came along.

 

[Team Gaara]

Mothim and Yanmega...probably for similar reasons to Butterfree and Scyther.

There is no excuse for Yanmega, whose Pokedex entries explicitly mention its ability to carry a grown human in flight.

It just seems at one point they decided Bugs shouldn't be able to learn fly regardless of size, and stuck with it out of consistency at the expense of logic. At least, until Genesect and Volcarona came along.

I feel Yanmega, though, could probably not execute the attack in the way they describe Fly. I can't see a Dragonfly swooping down like, say, Salamence. Or maybe they decided, despite the dex entry, Dragonflies, like butterflies, don't fly high in the sky or long distances.

 

[Gudon44]

Mothim and Yanmega...probably for similar reasons to Butterfree and Scyther.

There is no excuse for Yanmega, whose Pokedex entries explicitly mention its ability to carry a grown human in flight.

It just seems at one point they decided Bugs shouldn't be able to learn fly regardless of size, and stuck with it out of consistency at the expense of logic. At least, until Genesect and Volcarona came along.

I feel Yanmega, though, could probably not execute the attack in the way they describe Fly. I can't see a Dragonfly swooping down like, say, Salamence. Or maybe they decided, despite the dex entry, Dragonflies, like butterflies, don't fly high in the sky or long distances.

Makes sense. Perhaps dragonflies are a bit too fragile to slam into the opponent the way other Flyers can.

 

[Winterdaze]

I feel Yanmega, though, could probably not execute the attack in the way they describe Fly. I can't see a Dragonfly swooping down like, say, Salamence. Or maybe they decided, despite the dex entry, Dragonflies, like butterflies, don't fly high in the sky or long distances.

The whole "not being able to fly high or far" neither makes sense with large scale bugs like Pokemon, nor is it true in the real world either. Many butterflies are known for having extremely long migration routes requiring long distance flight, which is incredibly impressive for an animal of that size. Dragonflies are ridiculously adept fliers as well, the preconception that bug Pokemon wouldn't be able to execute the move is based on real world preconceptions that stem from real insects being very, very small.

I seriously doubt Yanmega is any less capable of dive bombing or carrying someone than say, a Pidgey. I do not think Bug types being incapable of learning Fly is based on any kind of logic.

 

[Gudon44]

Perhaps it has to do with exoskeletons - they're fragile, see, and could be cracked by a divebomb

 

[Winterdaze]

Perhaps it has to do with exoskeletons - they're fragile, see, and could be cracked by a divebomb

Except they aren't fragile, relative to size insect exoskeletons are remarkably robust (especially in comparison to delicate pneumaticised bird bones). If impact force was an issue, then Bug type Pokemon shouldn't be able to learn any hard hitting contact moves like Double Edge, and yet they can.

 

[Life]

Originally I thought the same thing, but before I replied I wanted to do a bit of research before I did. And, well, for the most part I don't agree anymore.

• Mantine: Mantine is based off of a Flying Ray, which are in the same family as Manta Rays. Flying Rays are known for breaching, thus how Mantine got its flying type. It can't actually fly, just soar?
• Butterfree: It's 3'07", weighing just 70.5lb's. From what I found, the smallest measurements of one of the game's protagonists is 4'0"6 and 75lb's. Even if Butterfree is strong enough to carry that much weight, that's almost a foot off in height. I guess it's debateable whether they could actually carry people or not.
• Mothim: Same thing as Butterfree, except this thing is smaller. It's 2'11 and 51lb's. I'm confident this thing isn't able to carry the protagonists.
• Jumpluff: Aside from being even smaller than Mothim, Jumpluff doesn't even fly. It floats/rides the wind.
• Scyther: Well, there's not really a good excuse for this one. The only thing I can come up with is that its evolution is incapable of flight.
• Yanmega: Absolutely no reason to support why Yanmega shouldn't be-able to fly. It's big enough, can fly, and has been seen carrying Jessie in the anime. I guess they just dislike bugs.

 

[Gudon44]

Perhaps it has to do with exoskeletons - they're fragile, see, and could be cracked by a divebomb

Except they aren't fragile, relative to size insect exoskeletons are remarkably robust (especially in comparison to delicate pneumaticised bird bones). If impact force was an issue, then Bug type Pokemon shouldn't be able to learn any hard hitting contact moves like Double Edge, and yet they can.

Perhaps as Yanmega grew larger, its exoskeleton became thinner to make it lighter (for better flight and to carry people). Thus, it became more fragile, and can't do the divebomb.

That's really the only explanation for why Yanmega doesn't learn Fly.

 

[Silverwynde]

Am I the only one who's insanely bugged by the fact that some Flying-types CANNOT LEARN FLY?? Butterfree, Scyther, Mantine, Jumpluff, Mothim, Yanmega...
And hear me out: Dodrio, a bird with NO WINGS, can fly. And so does Tropius and Golurk. A SAUROPOD AND A ROBOT GET FLIGHT BEFORE A MOTH AND A DRAGONFLY.

Butterfree and Mothim look a hair bit too frail to carry someone. Moth wings are kinda delicate. Jumpluff isn't really flying as much as it's floating, like dandelion fluff. Not sure what the deal is with Yanmega, though.

And I am perfectly fine with Golurk getting Fly, since all giant robots are supposed to fly and kick skidplate. It makes sense to me, but I watched a lot of Transformers as a kid so there you go.

 

[Winterdaze]

Perhaps as Yanmega grew larger, its exoskeleton became thinner to make it lighter (for better flight and to carry people). Thus, it became more fragile, and can't do the divebomb.

That's really the only explanation for why Yanmega doesn't learn Fly.

If that were true, Yanmega would have a poor defence stat, but instead its Defence is actually fairly good. There simply isn't a rational explanation.

 

[Tsareena]

It bothers me that Gyarados doesn't learn Fly. It is capable of flying in the manga and anime, if memory serves. Milotic does too, but it doesn't have the typing so I don't really care.
It's been explained before but it's just something that will always bug me.
I agree Yanmega should be able to Fly too. Whatever. :/

 

[Saturnidae]

Mothim and Yanmega...probably for similar reasons to Butterfree and Scyther.

There is no excuse for Yanmega, whose Pokedex entries explicitly mention its ability to carry a grown human in flight.

It just seems at one point they decided Bugs shouldn't be able to learn fly regardless of size, and stuck with it out of consistency at the expense of logic. At least, until Genesect and Volcarona came along.

I feel Yanmega, though, could probably not execute the attack in the way they describe Fly. I can't see a Dragonfly swooping down like, say, Salamence. Or maybe they decided, despite the dex entry, Dragonflies, like butterflies, don't fly high in the sky or long distances.

Not really, Dragonflies can fly very far, and very high. One the size of Yanmega would have the aerial range of a real world bird most likely.

Perhaps it has to do with exoskeletons - they're fragile, see, and could be cracked by a divebomb

Not really, Exoskeletons are much harder than vertebrate skin, The fact bugs are squishy is just because of the size difference. Some desert beetles and velvet ants actually need a hammer to drive a needle through their carapace for mounting.

 

[Yuri]

You're not the only one. A couple days ago I had to teach my Pokémon fly since I hadn't had one that could use it. It was pretty pathetic, being on the 8th Gym and not having a Pokémon with that ability.
I had to go through at least 7 different ones until I got one that could learn it through Wonder Trade. It really made me mad that Scyther and Mothim couldn't learn it.
Yet, somehow, Delibird could...

 

[GhostFingers]

Yet, somehow, Delibird could...

Fly slaving Deli is this bird's only non-gimmicky purpose. Pokemon logic is full of holes anyway, but the only Bug-types that can learn Fly aren't flying-type??? Other examples connected to Pokes listed in this thread: Delibird doesn't have fists but can learn Ice punch!? Gyarados has access to Bounce but not Fly (even though they are essentially the same thing with a slight variation). Both Golurk AND Yanmega have dex entries that mention flying strength, but only one can learn Fly!?