Yes everyone, I'm gonna talk about something everyone has heard of at least once and just about everyone has played at least once. Pokemon. But what makes Pokemon such a powerful example of an RPG? It's all those types (elements, whatever) and the competitiveness to assure you win whatever Pokemon battle you have. Whether it's a Gym Leader/Elite Four member which often sticks to a particular type or basically any cool/ace trainer you have trouble with, it's the type advantages and disadvantages that really make the game what it is.
This post is gonna cover the eighteen Pokemon types and my opinion of each and every one of them. Prepare for some sarcasm, as I'm not keen on quite a lot of them.
Fairy: I am just gonna put this up first just to show that I know absolutely nothing about the Fairy type. That's because I never played a Pokemon game past Gen-4. All I know about it was that it was supposed to be made to directly counter Dragon types, along with Dark and Fighting for some reason. For the rest of these types, they are listed in alphabetical order.
Bug: The classic type that no one likes because all the early-game low-stat Pokemon are a part of it. Unless it's some awesome Bug type like Scizor or you have a powerful Bug move that can ruin Dark or Psychic types, they aren't useful. I don't think I've ever really used a Bug type at all. Not to mention they share two of Grass's weaknesses.
Dark: Dark is like Fairy, made to counter a type that was deemed overpowered, although in the Gen-1 Psychic was overpowered due to a glitch that prevented Ghosts from actually hurting Psychics. Now like the Fairy type they are made to be way nastier to the type they were answered to by being immune to that particular type. Obviously the edgiest Pokemon you will find are Dark types, naturally, but not all their moves are bad. Bite is a move I used on many Pokemon. Houndoom is an awesome example of a Dark type. The types only real weakness is Fighting, which unfortunately is pretty common.
Dragon: Prepare to be butthurt, but I hate the Dragon type. It's pretty overrated and while the Dragons all look cool and have good strengths against Electric and the three core types, their own attacks seem to not be good on anything. Other than other Dragon types, that is, and that's quite shameful. To further make things worse for Dragon, the main weakness they have is not Dragon, and assuredly not Fairy, but Ice. Slap an Ice move on any Ice, Water, or other type, and watch as those Dragons fall prey to it quickly due to the majority of dual-typed Dragons being either Flying or Ground as well. Probably the only really good Dragon type in my opinion is Kingdra, which nullifies the Ice weakness by being part-Water. Seriously though, you can sweep Drake's team in Gen-3 (but probably not his Kingdra in Emerald) with Ice moves. I almost want to say the same for Lance if you have really good Ice type moves, although his set isn't fully Dragon-type.
Electric: From one of my least favorite types to the one type that is my absolute favorite. Yes, Electric is my favorite type ever. While the majority of Electric types are glass cannons, they are fast, paralysis-inducing all the time, and despite only being strong against Water and Flying, think about it. You'll be periodically running into Flying types, and every game has to have water routes so you'll be battling Water types there. Just watch out for the Ground type, the Electric's only weakness, and any Pokemon with a Ground move. Also watch out for Water-Ground dual types, those will really catch you off guard. Other than the Ground weakness, you can't really go wrong with Electric.
Fighting: A favorite of many, including me. Sure, it's bad against the previously-overpowered Psychic, and sucks against Flying and for some reason Fairy, but it makes up for it by being super effective against a whopping five types, one of which it's the only type that is super effective to. All the mineral elements (Ice, Rock, and Steel) are weak to Fighting, as is Dark and Normal. I think that's impressive, and the majority of Fighting types manage to not disappoint as well.
Fire: The fan favorite of the three core types, Fire is pretty much another glass cannon type, with immense attack power and speed and really awesome dual-type matchups, for the most part. Many people will pick the fire starter when given the chance, myself included. Being good against not just Grass, but Steel as well is fantastic. Not all are created equal and awesome of course. I'll also admit that Fire-Fighting dual types for the starters was just overdone. Of course, Water is a major weakness, and also Rock is problematic especially for Charizard players such as myself. One thing I hated about Diamond and Pearl is that there were really only two Fire-type groups in the entire game, the Infernape starter line and the Ponyta/Rapidash line. What were they thinking limiting it to that?
Flying: So apparently there is a pure Flying type post-Gen 4, but other than that every Flying type is dual-typed with another. Overall though, it's versatile, has decent moves and can be good for pesky Grass or Fighting types. On the other hand, its three main weaknesses are all purely offensive ones, and given dual types, that can mean loads of trouble. Gyarados is a notable example, being Water-Flying, and I mentioned Charizard and the Dragon types already.
Ghost: Poor Ghosts. They had it extremely rough in Gen-1 due to all of them being part Poison and also NOT super-effective against Psychics. Newer Ghost-types are interesting, though I rarely if ever use them. Ghost moves tend to be utility at the very most, not a whole lot of amazingly powerful Ghost moves. It's all about the trickery. Weakness to its own type is pretty bad. Being immune to Fighting is a plus though.
Grass: The worst of the three core types. Five weaknesses, including Fire, Ice, and Flying is real bad for the Grass types, and while they are good against Water, Electric is much better overall and usually much stronger. A whole slew of Grass moves tend to be like Ghost moves, utility. A good chunk of them are mere status moves. Unless you can gleefully Razor Leaf/Giga Drain/Solarbeam/Magical Leaf through the Water and Rock types with really strong Grass types, you might not be all that pleased with Grass overall. I know I wasn't.
Ground: Ground is in the same vein as Fighting, in that it is very good for being super effective against five types, one of which is Electric, which doesn't have any other weaknesses. Though you'll more than often see a bunch of kids spamming Earthquake, yes it's a good move, but damn near everyone has used and seen this move so many times. Ground is purely offensive as a type and I'll admit it's great for anything that isn't a Flying type. Then again, it shares two of Rock's weaknesses, as well as a dreaded Ice weakness which I just don't stop bringing up.
Ice: So yes, Ice. The Ice Pokemon suck. But the moves? Purely offensive and painful for each of them, especially dual-typed Dragons. Being super effective against Ground, Grass, Flying, and Dragon is gonna make someone invest in at least one Ice move. But probably not an Ice Pokemon. A pure Ice type is only resistant against its own, and being weak against the other mineral elements as well as Fighting is bad. Most people would smack an Ice type on a Water Pokemon and call it a day.
Normal: The type with the largest move pool, from basic attacks like Scratch to bigwig powerhouse moves like Hyper Beam. Then again, you Normals aren't really super effective against anything at all, and cannot touch Ghosts. Fighting will do you lot in. I don't like Normal Pokemon in general. Though Game Freak does a good job in making both Whitney (Gen-2) and Norman (Gen-3) into powerful gym leaders.
Poison: I actually personally recommend catching a Zubat and evolving it up to a Crobat. That is a fantastic example of a good Poison type, very speedy, good typing, and generally serves a player well. Other than that, well, not much for Poison overall. It's pretty much a status effect type, with most of its Pokemon being on the defensive, and having a nasty weakness to Psychic. Not much else to say really.
Psychic: To be honest, I've never really used Psychic types. While good against Poison and Fighting, and as I've said before, very overpowered in Gen-1, they've pretty much lost their luster over time. Glass cannons through and through, focusing almost exclusively on Special Attack and being completely ineffective against Dark. I like Alakazam, but apart from that I got basically nothing about Psychic types overall.
Rock: While an offensive type that is great against other offensive types like Fire and Ice, it has too many weaknesses. Not helping much are the Rock-Ground dual types, where both Water and Grass will do 4x the damage. And Fighting is always an issue. Rock has some rock solid moves overall, but as a type it is pretty hard to survive given its main weaknesses.
Steel: Defense, defense, defense. These things are pretty defensive, but have terrible offensive moves for some reason. It's hard to really use a Steel type, especially when met with the dreaded Fire, Fighting, or Ground type which is super effective against it. Still, those resistances are nice to have.
Water: Finally we come to Water, the last of the three core types and overall the best. Water is all about versatility and abundance, and are the most well-rounded of all the types. Naturally they work wonders against Rock, Ground, and Fire, where most of them would be one-shotted by a really good Water move. It can cover its own weaknesses well. Put an Ice move on one and Grass (along with Dragon) are pretty much covered, while you could probably give at least one Water type a Ground move to cover the nastier Electric weakness. Overall, you really can't go wrong with Water either.
So overall, my favorite types tend to be Water, Electric, Fighting, Ground, and Ice. The defensive and utility classes like Ghost, Grass, Steel, and Rock I like the least overall. Can't help it though. I prefer to be more of an offensive Pokemon player.
Although I haven't played in over 11 years already...
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