From the earliest days of Pink and Blue, Pokemon has massaged a novel wrinkle into its elemental desk within the type of dual-typing. These creatures, carrying traits of a number of sides, can have extra benefits and weaknesses than your backyard selection ‘mon, making them particularly attention-grabbing on the battlefield.
Typically, it makes good sense. Lanturn is an anglerfish, and subsequently it’s water and electrical. Litwick, a haunted candle, is invariably ghost and fireplace. Bungee Gum possesses the properties of each rubber and gum. To this point, so good.
In different situations, nonetheless, it leaves you scratching your noodle a smidgen. Listed below are only a few of the secondary typings that really feel tacked awkwardly on for causes past our comprehension. If you happen to can justify them to us, then you definately would possibly simply be a Pokemon Professor your self. We’ll assume you will have some form of tree-related surname.
1. Geodude Household (Floor)
Let’s get one thing out of the best way actual fast — this record goes to function loads of gen 1 critters. As a lot as we love these Sport Boy classics, they’re mechanically janky and competitively unbalanced. Sure, I’m going to hyperlink that article no one likes once more.
Geodude and its evolutions are a number of the less complicated Pokemon designs, consisting of a group of stones with various levels of disagreeable faces. Their Rock typing is tutorial, and but additionally they have the Floor typing chucked in there for some cause.
It’s not too egregious, till you uncover that Pink/Blue/Yellow had completely zero pure Rock-type Pokemon because of this. Its shut family, Onix, Rhyhorn and Rhydon, have been equally Rock/Floor hybrids, although they at the least have tunnelling points that validate this notion.
How can a factor that could be a real rock be greater than that? It will need to have one thing to do with that crusty disposition, I suppose. He’s gonna put some dust in your eye.
2. Gengar (Poison)
In line with the identical theme, Ghosts are one of many rarest Pokemon typings in technology 1. It solely has a scant three members to its identify, all of them belonging to the Gastly household.
Once more, which means that there could be no pure Ghost-types till Misdreavus reared its spooky head in Johto, and it didn’t appear all that obligatory by my estimation. Gastly, by its very nature, is gaseous, so it being Poison is sensible. To a level, Haunter additionally has some gassy traits that make it Poison-esque.
However Gengar? By now, it has reworked into extra of a shadow-like determine, and amongst nearly 50 Pokedex entries, its poisonous traits have by no means as soon as been addressed. It’s been acknowledged the way it assaults folks within the evening, steals warmth from its environment, and as soon as “caught only one leg out of a wall” — making it sound extra like my eccentric grandfather than a pocket monster — however nothing in any respect about something remotely toxic.
To be truthful, dual-typing is usually awarded as a part of the evolution course of to point out how far a lifeform has come, whereas eradicating one would appear counter-intuitive. However when somebody asks you to reel off probably the most iconic Poison Pokemon in franchise historical past, how lengthy is it going to take earlier than this specter will get a point out?
3. Helioptile/Heliolisk (Regular)
Saying scent ya later to gen 1 for a second, we bounce throughout the ocean in direction of the tropical realm of Alola, the place we simply would possibly encounter these cute little reptilian fellas.
Utilizing their frills, they can generate {an electrical} present, and subsequently register as shoo-ins for the Electrical-type. However then, they’re additionally… Regular? As photo voltaic powered lizards typically are?!
Tangentially, the Regular typing is one thing of a curiosity on this collection. Ought to a Pokemon not have any form of proclivity in direction of respiratory fireplace or conjuring ice or being a literal bug, then certain, it appears regular sufficient. For example, I’d say that my cat, Lafayette, is regular (and cute).
However as soon as it has a typing past that? That sounds fairly darned irregular to me, so how are the Helio’s not simply pure Electrical varieties? Like a number of of those entries, it absolutely comes all the way down to gameplay components, providing us a novel typing mixture that’s in any other case remarkable.
By that logic, each time Lafayette drinks water from the faucet I’m going to proclaim that she’s a Regular/Water sort. In response, she’ll most likely say “meow” or “purr” or “eat the wealthy”, as per traditional.
4. Alolan Exeggutor (Dragon)
We’ll keep in Alola for an additional entry to save lots of on airfare, and pay homage to one of the vital painfully intentional jokes in Pokemon historical past; the large, garish Alolan Exeggutor.
Shedding the Psychic-typing of its mainland cousins, the Alolan kind inexplicably pairs its pure Grass-type with the excellence of being a Dragon. What about it’s dragon-like, I’m wondering, apart from the truth that it makes for an amusing jape? Nothing apart from Moon’s earnest try at justification in its Dex entry, declaring that “because it grew taller and taller, it outgrew its reliance on psychic powers, whereas inside it woke up the facility of the sleeping dragon.”
Evidently, elevated peak can yield draconic outcomes. In case your youngster has a sudden progress spurt, you’ll be able to shriek at them “you’re a dragon, Morgan McNeil!” (I needed to do some fast guesswork on their doable identify.)
Look, it’s only a little bit of foolish enjoyable, however it signifies that this tree is extra of a Dragon than Charizard, Aerodactyl, and a sure slippery buyer often known as…
5. Gyarados (Flying)
One of many infuriating issues about Pokemon components is that a few of them are a bit too literal. If it’s acquired wings on it, it’s most likely going to be a Flying sort. The one exception is after they determine to drag a sneaky-pseudo third typing by giving it the Levitate capacity as a substitute — yeah, I see you hovering over there Hydreigon, don’t suppose I don’t know what sort of rip-off you’re pulling!
Because of this, a Pokemon that’s based mostly on Chinese language dragons, is a part of the dragon egg group, and has entry to the assault Dragon Rage shouldn’t be an precise Dragon in any respect. As a refresher, solely the Dratini household had the respect of being true Dragons within the first technology, leaving different appropriate candidates scrambling for the scraps of the arbitrary Flying-type.
For the aforementioned Charizard and Aerodactyl? Positive, I get it. They’ve acquired wings which can be laborious to overlook. However for Gyarados, that sucker is nearly completely discovered within the ocean… at the least up till final yr’s Legends of Arceus once we lastly acquired to witness it majestically soar by the skies.
It was fairly terrifying, not going to lie, and I sacrificed my Rowlet companion in order that I may safely flee. Nature is merciless.
6. Birds (Regular)
Hey, I’m not fairly over this Regular stuff, so whereas Gyarados’ Flying facet is simply an occasional function that it pulls out at historic events, avian Pokemon have a distinct challenge happening totally.
All through franchise historical past, almost each regional hen has been a Regular/Flying sort. If we have been attempting to ease youngsters into the nuances of typing, they have been maybe led awry by the false notion that they’d have simply been Flying and nothing else.
Oh, what’s that, birds are regular animals? Alright, so are bugs. Is Caterpie a Bug/Regular sort? Horses are regular too, so shouldn’t Ponyta be Fireplace/Regular? It’s a kind of bizarre issues that has simply sort of caught, to the purpose the place Flying has grow to be the final word secondary sort.
To at the present time, there are nonetheless solely three pure Flying-type Pokemon: Tornadus, Rookidee and Corvisquire. If you happen to’re significantly keen on the skies, you’ll be able to’t discipline a whole workforce, or also have a single totally developed non-legendary on the roster. Hen is, evidently, not the phrase.
7. Kartana (Grass)
Usually, the validity of Pokemon typing can solely be accepted in meme kind, equivalent to that man who angrily shouts “I assume” whereas throwing his fingers into the air.
Living proof is the Extremely Beast Kartana. Often called the Drawn Sword Pokemon, this curious creation resembles an origami superhero. True to its delineation, it’s a Metal-type, however its main typing is in precise reality Grass.
If you wish to take into account issues in a roundabout method, paper is comprised of timber, and timber go hand in hand with grass. On this sense, Kartana is technically a lifeless tree, having cruelly been chopped down, processed and packaged as a paper product. When you apply that logic, you’ll be able to nearly really feel your self nodding with satisfaction.
…However wait, if it’s certainly a lifeless tree, then shouldn’t it’s a Ghost as effectively? Aaaah, dammit! We have been so shut.
8. Drampa (Regular)
I promise that is the final time I’m going to harp on about this particular shoehorned typing. In spite of everything, they’re simply regular males. …They’re simply harmless males!
Up so far, when glancing on the Pokemon who’ve been distinguished as Regular, you’ll be able to at the least glean a modicum of reasonability. Just a little man like Pidgey? Yeah, that’s Regular. A pleasant younger lizard equivalent to Helioptile? Okay, that’s Regular-ish. A Pokemon that might be finest described because the bootleg Falkor motion determine your kindly aunt purchased from the $2 retailer? This isn’t Regular, folks.
In each method, form and kind, Drampa seeks to undermine all that we consider to be true. Even though it has been seen flying within the anime, it’s neither a Flying-type, nor has entry to Levitate. Even its Pokedex entries don’t alleviate the problem, claiming that it “seems in cities and performs with the youngsters”, or that “whether it is angered, it utterly destroys its environment with its intense breath.”
It appears to embody the phrase “unusual” to a tee, and I suggest that when gen 10 rolls round, Drampa be repurposed into the world’s first triple-typing: Dragon/Regular/However Actually Not Regular.
9. Stufful (Combating)
Uninterested in me utilizing the Regular sort as a punching bag? Effectively then, let’s observe a Pokemon whose typing would make it effectively suited to go a couple of rounds with an precise punching bag.
Stufful, a bear cub that has allusions towards being a stuffed animal, is named the Flailing Pokemon. What that entails, precisely, is that in case you attempt to hug it and even contact it with out its specific written consent, it can go on a mood tantrum for the ages, sending close by civilians reeling with its unrestrained blows.
Because of this, it’s apparently worthy of being a fighter, putting it alongside such luminaries as Machamp, who has 4 arms and 4 thousand muscular tissues, or Hariyama, a distinguished sumo wrestler who I swear is definitely saying its identify at any time when I summon it to the battlefield.
I can solely think about that Kubfu, whose diligence and dedication have led to it being a Combating-type prodigy, could be downright offended after they see Stufful flailing about and claiming that they’re reduce from the identical material. Get misplaced with that noise, Winnie the Pooh.
10. Practically Each Gen 1 Grass-Kind (Poison)
Pop quiz, rookie! What’s the one pure Grass-type Pokemon within the first technology of video games?
Did you say Bulbasaur, the emblematic mascot of Grass-types? Or did you say Bellsprout, the plant-like monstrosity? Possibly you mentioned Oddish, who is nearly totally a weed? Maybe you mentioned Charmander, since you hate pop quizzes and simply need to see the world burn?
Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrect, and a jerk.
These Pokemon are all Poison varieties, as effectively. In Bulbasaur’s case, you may give it a cross, as its hybrid fauna resembles some sort of toad, and certain, Oddish’s eventual vacation spot, Vileplume, is topped off with a poisonous rafflesia. However for considered one of Pokemon’s most essential varieties, one of many three choices your journey begins with, to solely have a lone purebred consultant?
It simply looks as if an odd alternative, particularly in relation to us courtesy of the lower than inspiring Tangela. Thanks for waving that grassy flag, I suppose. You appear to be spaghetti, and sometime Imma eat you.