Ah, what would Eevee's moves be, if they had to be redesigned for each Eeveelution?
Well, fortunately, Smash Bros doesn't require us to stick strictly with how the moves act in the game or what the 'mon actually learns. Otherwise, Jigglypuff's Rest would just reduce your percentage and Pikachu wouldn't get Skull Bash at all.
I think it'd be instructive, first and foremost, to define the general types of attack that each special would be. In general, I'd expect a long-range projectile for neutral B, a powerful short-range burst for side B, a semi-defensive move for down B, and a rescue/upwards propulsion up B. Again, assuming a move common to them all for the Final Smash, which is why I picked Trump Card, though Last Resort also would work. Fairly standard idea overall; we would just need to come up with the animations for each one and pick the move type.
- Neutral B: Long projectile
- Eevee: Swift
- Vaporeon: Water Pulse
- Jolteon: Thunderbolt/Shock Wave
- Flareon: Lava Plume
- Espeon: Psybeam
- Umbreon: Dark Pulse
- Leafeon: Energy Ball
- Glaceon: Ice Beam
- Sylveon: Moonblast
- Side B: Close burst (perhaps a meteor move or other fun knockback property)
- Eevee: Take Down (though not damaging itself - moves don't have to have the same properties as they do in Pokémon)
- Vaporeon: Scald/Muddy Water
- Jolteon: Thunder Fang
- Flareon: Fire Fang
- Espeon: Psycho Cut
- Umbreon: Night Slash
- Leafeon: Leaf Blade
- Glaceon: Ice Fang
- Sylveon: Play Rough
- Down B: Semi-defensive - I like the idea of pushing foes back and nullifying all projectiles for these.
- Eevee: Sand Attack
- Vaporeon: Acid Armor
- Jolteon: Pin Missile (imagine it just fluffing out its fur)
- Flareon: Fire Spin
- Espeon: Psych Up
- Umbreon: Mean Look/Screech
- Leafeon: Grass Whistle/Sweet Scent (kind of reaching, yes)
- Glaceon: Mist/Mirror Coat
- Sylveon: Light Screen
- Up B: Rescue move
- Eevee: Double Edge (It does involve risky flings according to its description)/Baton Pass
- Vaporeon: Dive ("dives" where it was and "re-emerges" some distance above)
- Jolteon: Volt Switch
- Flareon: Flare Blitz
- Espeon: Telekinesis
- Umbreon: Feint Attack
- Leafeon: Magical Leaf
- Glaceon: Ice Shard
- Sylveon: Fairy Wind
You really would just need four basic animations (a blast from the mouth, a quick forward motion, a steadfast stance with something "puffing" out, and a teleport-style move with a sudden attack at the end) to pull it off, with the after-effects (like a bit of flame or bursts of light/darkness) as appropriate for each attack. As for throws... I had wondered what any of them would use for throws, but I remembered that they all learn Tail Whip - they use their tails to grab people and then either kick for the held attack or whirl them around for throws.
Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.THIS.
Also, to settle your splits: Thunderbolt, Scald, and instead of Grass Whistle, try Razor Leaf. Growl instead of Sand Attack for Eevee's Down B, and make the Tilts variants of Sand Attack, and the Smashes variants of Quick Attack. I'd aim to get as close to the paralleled Eeveelution moves
as possible.
For Up+B, maybe the animation should be a short downwards/near area attack, followed by a large rebound upwards?
edited 31st Jan '14 7:43:34 PM by wanderlustwarrior
It doesn't matter if any of them can learn the moves in question (though most of them can... but you'll notice Psycho Cut, Night Slash, and Play Rough on my list but not in the game lists). But like I pointed out before, that doesn't matter. Pikachu can't learn Skull Bash in its original game, but nobody is suggesting we take it out of Smash.
So with that said, yes, Leaf Tornado (or perhaps Petal Dance) would be better for a Leafeon's Down B move than what I had previously suggested.
Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.Technically, yes, Skull Bash and Teleport were TM moves that could be given to Pikachu and Mewtwo, respectively, in Generation I. Super Smash Bros Melee came out in late 2001, so we were already in the second generation by then, and outside of importing, neither was a realistic move choice. Certainly, nobody is using a Skull Bash Pikachu now that we're in the sixth generation; yet everyone knows that it'll still be on Pikachu's list.
Our point is, it's not as important if the move perfectly matches the source game. Just as long as it'd be fun to play. And I'm not going to claim my outline on how to treat the Eeveelutions in Smash is perfect, but I think it'd be a good starting point.
Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

Well then what would Eevee do? =/