Unused Moves

This is a sub-page of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness.

Watch on YouTubeThese games have a lot of unused and semi-unused moves hidden in the files. The semi-unused ones can never be seen in their move form, as they are exclusively used internally by various actions and items and were not designed to be in a move list. Most of the moves here are also present in Rescue Team, although Explorers added a few new surprises.

To access these moves in-game, use this AR code. Replace the ??? with the hexadecimal below, and press Select to overwrite your team leader's first move with the unused one.

All of these moves are affected by the "Multitalent" IQ skill, as well as Ginsengs, unless they have 99 PP. If a move has no effect, it can also trigger the "Wary Fighter" IQ Skill.

Note that, unless noted otherwise, every unused move has the description of "$$$".

Move List#

ID	Name	PP	Notes
0x000	Nothing	99	A placeholder for empty move slots. Fittingly does nothing when used.

0x160	Struggle	1	This is the move used internally when all of your moves have 0 PP and you try using one. Works the exact same in its standalone move form. This move has a complete description that can be seen in regular gameplay by selecting the move in the Message Log after it's been used.
0x163	regular attack	17	This is the move used internally when you press A to do a regular attack. Works the exact same in its standalone move form.
0x164	is watching	17	This is the move used internally when enemies opt to skip their turn, creating the message "[Pokemon] is watching carefully!" in standard gameplay. The standalone version does nothing when used, like its legitimate counterpart, but the unique message doesn't appear, instead creating the message "[Pokemon] used is watching!"
0x165	Bide	17	This is the move used internally when Bide finishes. Using it here will immediately show the "[Pokemon] can't take it anymore!" message, and seems to dish out damage in proportion to all the damage you've taken in the dungeon so far.
0x166	Revenge	17	This is the move used internally when Revenge finishes, similar to above since Revenge is basically just a reskinned Bide in these games.
0x167	Avalanche	17	This is the move used internally when Avalanche finishes, similar to the two above since Avalanche is basically just a reskinned Bide in these games.
0x169	$$$ (Excavate)	99	Does nothing when used on enemies, but if you are facing a non-diagonal wall, the wall will be removed and replaced with walkable floor. This is the same effect as Rock Smash, which is likely why it was scrapped. This exact move also exists in Rescue Team, but its corresponding unused TM has been removed in this game, and the name was dummied out in non-Japanese versions (The Japanese version still retains the name ほりおこし)
0x16A	$$$ (Spin Slash)	10	Attacks all enemies in a 3x3 square around you. This is the same effect as Cut, which is likely why it was removed. This exact move also exists in Rescue Team, but its corresponding unused TM has been removed in this game, and the name was dummied out in non-Japanese versions (The Japanese version still retains the name かいてんぎり)
The next ones are moves used internally by Orbs. All of these are direct copy-pastes from Rescue Team.
0x16B	See-Trap	22	Used internally by the See-Trap Orb.
0x16C	Takeaway	12	Used internally by the Mug Orb.
0x16D	Rebound	22	Used internally by the Rebound Orb.
0x16E	Bloop Slash	22	Used internally by the Lob Orb.
0x16F	Switcher	17	Used internally by the Switcher Orb.
0x170	Blowback	17	Used internally by the Blowback Orb.
0x171	Warp	14	Used internally by the Warp Orb.
0x172	Transfer	22	Used internally by the Transfer Orb.
0x173	Slow Down	37	Used internally by the Slow Orb.
0x174	Speed Boost	22	Used internally by the Quick Orb.
0x175	Searchlight	22	Used internally by the Luminous Orb.
0x176	Petrify	22	Used internally by the Petrify Orb.
0x177	Stay Away	22	Used internally by the Stayaway Orb.
0x178	Pounce	22	Used internally by the Pounce Orb.
0x179	Trawl	22	Used internally by the Trawl Orb.
0x17A	Cleanse	17	Used internally by the Cleanse Orb.
0x17B	Observer	22	Was used internally by the unused Observer Orb in Rescue Team. The corresponding Orb was dummied out in Explorers, so this is a very direct leftover.
0x17C	Decoy Maker	22	Used internally by the Decoy Orb.
0x17D	Siesta	12	Used internally by the Slumber Orb.
0x17E	Totter	12	Used internally by the Totter Orb.
0x17F	Two-Edge	22	Used internally by the Two-Edge Orb.
0x180	No-Move	22	Used internally by the Silence Orb. Pretty unfitting name for this Orb, may be an indication of an early idea for an Orb effect.
0x181	Escape	1	Used internally by the Escape Orb.
0x182	Scan	27	Used internally by the Scanner Orb.
0x183	Power-Ears	27	Used internally by the Radar Orb.
0x184	Drought	22	Used internally by the Drought Orb.
0x185	Trap Buster	57	Used internally by the Trapbust Orb.
0x186	Wild Call	22	Used internally by the Rollcall Orb.
0x187	Invisify	12	Used internally by the Invisify Orb.
0x188	One-Shot	3	Used internally by the One-Shot Orb.
0x189	HP Gauge	32	Used internally by the Identify Orb. Pretty unfitting name for this Orb, may be an indication of an early idea for an Orb effect.
0x18B	Reviver	4	Was used internally by the unused Reviver Orb in Rescue Team. The corresponding Orb was dummied out in Explorers, so this is a very direct leftover. Does absolutely nothing in its standalone move form.
0x18C	Shocker	22	Used internally by the Shocker Orb.
0x18D	Echo	27	Used internally by the Sizebust Orb.
0x18E	Famish	22	Subtracts 10 from each enemy Pokemon's belly. There's no corresponding Orb for this one in Rescue Team or Explorers, so this is likely evidence of an abandoned Orb type.
0x18F	One-Room	22	Used internally by the One-Room Orb.
0x190	Fill-In	99	Used internally by the Fill-In Orb.
0x191	Trapper	17	Used internally by the Trapper Orb.
0x192	Possess	12	Was used internally by the unused Possess Orb in Rescue Team. The corresponding Orb was dummied out in Explorers, so this is a very direct leftover. Does absolutely nothing in its standalone move form.
0x193	Itemize	17	Used internally by the Itemizer Orb.
0x194	[blank]	22	Does nothing when used.
0x195	projectile	57	Always fails when used, even if you're holding an item. May possibly be used internally for throwables.
0x196	Hurl	22	Used internally by the Hurl Orb.
0x197	Mobile	17	Used internally by the Mobile Orb.
0x198	Item-Toss	96	Was used internally by the unused Toss Orb in Rescue Team. The corresponding Orb was dummied out in Explorers, so this is a very direct leftover. Does absolutely nothing in its standalone move form, even if you're holding an item.
0x199	See Stairs	22	Used internally by the Stairs Orb.
0x19A	Long Toss	22	Used internally by the Longtoss Orb.
0x19B	[blank]	22	Does nothing when used.
0x19C	Pierce	22	Used internally by the Pierce Orb.
The rest of the moves listed are exclusive to Explorers.
0x19D through 0x1A7	[blank]	22	Does nothing when used. All of these moves are the exact same, so they've been condensed into one here.
0x1A8	[blank]	22	Used internally by the Spurn Orb.
0x1A9	[blank]	22	Used internally by the Foe-Hold Orb.
0x1AA	[blank]	22	Used internally by the All-Mach Orb.
0x1AB	[blank]	22	Used internally by the Foe-Fear Orb.
0x1AC	[blank]	22	Used internally by the All-Hit Orb.
0x1AD	[blank]	22	Used internally by the Foe-Seal Orb.
0x1D3	$$$ (Judgment)	7	The infamous unused Judgment move, likely intended to be used by Arceus. It hits everyone in the room, and takes the primary type of the Pokemon that used it. It still retains its official name in the Japanese version.
0x1D4	$$$ (Seed Flare)	5	The decidedly less-infamous unused Seed Flare move, obviously intended for the Shaymins before they were ultimately shelved for Sky. The move has the exact same functionality between the two games, but here, it's named $$$ in non-Japanese versions, and has the $$$ description, consistent with other unused moves.
0x21F	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses the flame burst animation normally seen when using Weather Ball in sunny weather.
0x220	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses the dethawing/Ice Punch's animation.
0x221	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses the bubble animation normally seen when using Weather Ball in rainy weather.
0x222	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses Rock Blast's/Excavate's animation.
0x223	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses the "unearth" animation used by Dig.
0x224	[blank]	22	Does nothing when used.
0x225	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses Mega Punch's/Focus Punch's second animation.
0x226	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but makes a strange sound effect.
0x227	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses Solar Beam's second animation.
0x228	[blank]	22	Does nothing when used.
0x229	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses Dive's second animation.
0x22A	[blank]	22	Does nothing when used.
0x22B	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses Skull Bash's animation.
0x22C	[blank]	22	Does nothing functionally, but uses the Ghost-type Curse animation.
0x22D	[blank]	22	Does nothing when used.
0x22E	[blank]	22	Does nothing when used.
0x22F	[blank]	99	Always fails when used, but displays the message "TALK_MESSAGE_HEALTHY__131" in the message log. Has a rather unique description of "No information available."
Every move beyond this point appears to be a glitch move, which reads random data to make up its attributes.

Oddities#

Vacuum-Cut, a used move, uses ID 0x18A, which is between many of the Orb effects. It's likely that Vacuum-Cut was originally going to be an Orb-exclusive effect, but was eventually delegated to being a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon-exclusive move.

The move is a direct nod to another Mystery Dungeon series, Shiren the Wanderer, which includes a scroll item with an identically named effect in the Japanese version (しんくうぎり, localized to Blastwave in the DS remake). the scroll's effect in Shiren is nearly identical to the move's effect in Rescue Team and Explorers; it damages all enemies in the room.

Time	Darkness
`94000130 FFFB0000 121ACD65 00000??? D2000000 00000000`	`94000130 FFFB0000 121ACCA4 00000??? D2000000 00000000`