Let’s face it; there are several Legendaries that got screwed by more or less their own movesets due to how Gens 6 and 7 had treated them. As you may already know, Niantic gets their movesets from the most recent generation’s movepools for each Pokemon. Recently, the Crown of Tundra DLC for Sword and Shield had given movesets to all the Legendaries. Could these rerolls give some Legendaries the needed power they can finally achieve? Let’s see:
Ho-Oh:
The original screwed Legendary. Great balanced stats, terrible movesets. In Gen 8, Ho-Oh gains access to Gust–soon to come to Pokemon GO–and Air Slash as potential Fast Moves. It can also learn Overheat, Flamethrower, and Sky Attack as potential Charge Moves. Should Niantic choose to revisit Ho-Oh’s movesets, they won’t have an excuse anymore.
Virizion:
Even Gen 8 couldn’t save Virizion. Even with meh stats to begin with, lack of access to any Grass or Fighting Fast move just screwed it, and that continues even this time around. Virizion remains a Dex filler.
Palkia:
While already quite strong as a Dragon-type attacker, lack of a Water-type Fast Move relegates it to a single role, and that continues in Gen 8. Keep it as a Dragon-type Attacker. No access to Water Gun or Waterfall or even Bubble can help here.
Xerneas:
While this one isn’t out yet, it was doomed to fall the way of Ho-Oh and worse due to not having a Fairy-type Fast Move available to it. Sadly, that continues into Gen 8. Unless Niantic decides to redo the likes of Draining Kiss into a Fast-move, Xerneas will be probably the most crippled Legendary yet to be released.
From what I can tell, Ho-Oh is the only one that looks like it could be redeemed with a consistent Flying-type move that can at least compliment the boosted Brave Bird. The others? Aside from Palkia, they’re screwed.