Pokemon Types - Guide for Pokemon Diamond
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Table of contents: 01: Introduction 02: Special cases 03: Cardinal types 04: Combo types 05: Nonexistant combos 06: Contact, thanks and copyright 07: Version history <01>: Introduction Type is one of the most basic mechanics of Pokemon. Attacks have one type; pokemon have either one or two. Pokemon types may be weak to an attack type ("It's super effective," double damage), resistant ("It's not very effective...," half damage), or immune ("It doesn't affect," no damage or effect, applies also to non-attack moves.) When a pokemon has two types, those types' modifiers are both used, and if types coincide, they are multiplied together, which can result in x4 super effective damage, 1/4 not very effective damage, or a weakness and a reistance cancelling one another out. If either of a pokemon's types has an immunity, that pokemon has the immunity regardless of the other type. Another effect type has is that, if a pokemon uses an attack that is the same type as the pokemon (or as one of their types), that attack's power will be multiplied by 1.5. This is known as STAB, or the Same Type Attack Bonus. Unlike in the previous generations, type does NOT determine whether an attack is physical or special in Diamond and Pearl; attacks are individually assigned a category. In my personal opinion, this is an enormous improvement to the series. There are 17 types in Pokemon, two of which (Steel & Dark) were added in the second generation of games. What follows is a complete list of the types and type combinations that exist in Pokemon, the interactions those types have, and lists of all the pokemon that have each type. Also included are comments/analyses on each type. Fair warning: I don't claim to be an expert on battling. The information I provide will be mostly useful to new players, although a few finer points are covered that may surprise you. <02>: Special Cases There are some abilities that alter type weakness and resistance. I've noted them in the pokemon lists. Here is a key: * - An asterisk denotes that this pokemon only sometimes has this trait, and may have a different trait. CC - Color Change. Kecleon's trait makes it change types based on the type of the last move used on it. FC - Forecast. Castform's trait makes its type change based on the current weather. Sunny Day makes it a fire type, hail makes it an ice type, and rain makes it a water type. Under any other weather conditions, it's a normal type. fil - Filter. This ability cuts damage of types this pokemon is weak to in half. HP - Heatproof. This ability makes Fire attacks do half the damage they otherwise would. Exclusive to bronzong/bronzor. Not as good as Thick Fat. lev - Levitate. This ability makes the pokemon that has it immune to ground type moves. MT - Multitype. Arceus's ability changes its type based on what "plate" item it holds. SR - Solid Rock. Damage from super effective attacks is reduced by a factor of 1.5. 2x hits become 1.33~, 4x hits become 2.66~. TF - Thick Fat. This makes Fire and Ice attacks do half the damage they otherwise would. VA - Volt Absorb. This makes electric attacks worse than useless - a VA pokemon hit with one is healed for up to 1/4 its max HP. WA - Water Absorb. Like Volt Absorb, but for water. WG - Wonder Guard. Shedinja's ability makes all attacks that it isn't weak to do nothing. As to attacks it is weak to, well, Shedinja only has 1 HP, so the rest should be obvious. This ability can't be transferred by skill swap (it's the only one that can't). Levitate and abilities that cancel or reduce weaknesses apply UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES. However, a pokemon's ability may be removed in battle by Skill Swap or Worry Seed, and Levitate may be cancelled by Gravity (also applies to flying types). Therefore, pokemon with these abilities should still be considered to have the weaknesses listed. Flying types with a subtype that's weak to ground are also weak to ground when gravity is used (or when they're holding an iron ball, but honestly, why would you do this?), which I have noted below where appropriate. Burmy and Wormadam are a particularly special case. Burmy has three forms, Grass, Ground and Steel, based on where it last battled (tall grass, caves or paths, or inside buildings, respectively). Which form the female Burmy is in when it evolves dictates Wormadam's type, which is grass plus the type of Burmy's form. This doesn't make Wormadam impossible to read, because you can tell the different typings apart by appearance. Male burmys always just evolve into Mothim. I used to have a blurb here saying that moves that alter weaknesses didn't matter that much, but I've changed my mind - understanding these moves is important. Here they are, then: Foresight - While mainly for negating a foe's evasiveness boosts, this move will also render ghost types susceptible to normal and fighting type attacks. Importantly, this makes the "invincible typing" Ghost/Dark (Sableye, Spiritomb) have a fighting weakness. Gravity - Removes the ground-type immunity from flying types or pokemon with Levitate. This works on ALL pokemon in battle and persists for five turns. Lock-on - Has the same effect as foresight, but only for the turn after it is used. Also makes this attack have perfect accuracy. Miracle Eye - This move, when used on a Dark type pokemon, removes that pokemon's immunity to psychic. Odor Sleuth - This is exactly the same move as Foresight, with a different name. Roost - This flying-type recover move renders the user susceptible to ground attacks for a turn. There are berries which will halve a pokemon's weakness, but these only affect one attack, and there's no way to be sure whether your opponent has one. <03>:Cardinal Types Here are the 17 types and their weaknesses, resistances and immunities when alone. No pokemon is pure flying type, (except arceus when holding the sky plate), but it's still here for reference. I've also described what each type does as an attack type. ***Normal:*** x2 weak: Fighting Immune: Ghost Pokemon that are pure Normal: Aipom, Ambipom, Arceus(MT), Azurill (*TF), Bidoof, Blissey, Buneary, Castform (FC), Chansey, Clefable, Clefairy, Cleffa, Delcatty, Ditto, Dunsparce, Eevee, Exploud, Furret, Glameow, Granbull, Happiny, Igglybuff, Jigglypuff, Kangaskhan, Kecleon (CC), LickiLicky,Lickitung, Linoone, Lopunny, Loudred, Meowth, Miltank (*TF), Munchlax (*TF), Nosepass, Persian, Porygon, Porygon2, PorygonZ, Purugly (*TF), Raticate, Rattata, Regigigas, Sentret, Skitty, Slaking, Slakoth, Smeargle, Snorlax (*TF), Snubbull, Spinda, Stantler, Tauros, Teddiursa, Togepi, Ursaring, Vigoroth, Whismur, Wigglytuff, Zangoose, Zigzagoon Normal type attacks are not very effective against rock or steel and do nothing to Ghost types. Comments: Normal is the "default" type and doesn't have a lot of interactions. Normal types do need to consider their weakness to fighting, however. A lot of players give their pokemon a normal move to get around resistances, since nearly every pokemon can learn normal moves and few things resist them. ***Fire:*** x2 weak: Water, ground, rock x0.5 resistant: Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel Pokemon that are pure Fire: Arcanine, Charmander, Charmeleon, Chimchar, Cyndaquil, Entei, Flareon, Growlithe, Magby, Magmar, Magmortar, Ninetales, Ponyta, Quilava, Rapidash, Slugma, Torchic, Torkoal, Typhlosion, Vulpix Fire type attacks are super effective against Grass, Ice, Bug, and Steel, and not very effective against Fire, Water, Rock, and Dragon. Comments: Fire doesn't show up often outside of the starters and the occasional legendary, but a lot of non-fire pokemon will also carry fire moves due to the wide spread of types they are effective against, as well as the powerful burn status. It's easy to forget that fire is resisted by Dragon types, so try to remember that. Fire attacks are good against steel, which annoyingly resists almost everything. For a pokemon, the fire type isn't so hot (lololol). Those weaknesses are alarmingly common, and when using a fire type you're going to pretty much have to accept that you'll be smacked with something super-effective. ***Water:*** x2 weak: electric, grass x0.5 resistant: fire, water, steel, ice Pokemon that are pure Water: Azumarill (*TF), Blastoise, Buizel, Clamperl, Corphish, Croconaw, Feebas, Feraligatr, Finneon, Floatzel, Goldeen, Golduck, Gorebyss, Horsea, Huntail, Kingler, Krabby, Kyogre, Lumineon, Luvdisc, Magikarp, Manaphy, Marill (*TF), Milotic, Mudkip, Octillery, Phione, Piplup, Politoed (*WA), Poliwag (*WA), Poliwhirl (*WA), Prinplup, Psyduck, Remoraid, Seadra, Seaking, Seel (*TF), Shellder, Shellos, Squirtle, Staryu, Suicune, Totodile, Vaporeon (WA), Wailmer, Wailord, Wartortle Water type attacks are super effective against Fire, Ground, and Rock, and not very effective against Water, Grass, and Dragon. Comments: Water types are a staple of the game. A lot of things are weak to it due to having a ground type, a rock type, or quite commonly both. Ice is a nice resistance to have, as is fire. Water's weaknesses are not that big of a problem - you'll rarely see anything but a grass type carrying grass moves, so electric is the only thing you have to worry about. Water types also love to learn ice moves, which is a nice way to cover up the holes in water's offense. ***Electric:*** x2 weak: ground x0.5 resistant: electric, flying, steel Pokemon that are pure Electric: Ampharos, Electabuzz, Electivire, Electrike, Electrode, Elekid, Flaaffy, Jolteon (VA), Luxio, Luxray, Manectric, Mareep, Minun, Pachirisu, Pichu, Pikachu, Plusle, Raichu, Raikou, Shinx, Voltorb Electric type attacks are super effective against Water and Flying, not very effective against Electric, Grass, and Dragon, and do nothing to Ground types. Comments: Electric is a pretty good typing due to its only having one weakness. Water and flying types are both very common, and in several cases (importantly Gyarados) coincident, so electric attacks are useful; many of them also have a chance to paralyze, which can turn the whole tide of the battle. Just be sure to have another attack type available that isn't resisted by ground. ***Grass:*** x2 weak: fire, ice, flying, poison, bug x0.5 resistant: water, electric, grass, ground Pokemon that are pure Grass: Bayleef, Bellossom, Cacnea, Carnivine, Cherrim, Cherubi, Chikorita, Grotle, Grovyle, Leafeon, Meganium, Sceptile, Seedot, Shaymin, Shroomish, Sunflora, Sunkern, Tangela, Tangrowth, Treecko, Turtwig Grass type attacks are super effective against Water, Ground, and Rock, and not very effective against Fire, Grass, Poison, Flying, Bug, Dragon, and Steel. Comments: Grass has an awful lot of weaknesses, which can make these pokemon a pain to use. Grass type attacks are also resisted by a lot of things, making it difficult to make these types very versatile. This isn't to say they're useless, but it isn't the best type. Notably, grass types perform pretty well against electric types, which are rarely carrying any of grass's weaknesses. ***Ice:*** x2 weak: fire, fighting, rock, steel x0.5 resistant: ice Pokemon that are pure Ice: Glaceon, Glalie, Regice, Snorunt Ice type attacks are super effective against Grass, Ground, Flying, and Dragon, and not very effective against Fire, Water, Ice, or Steel. Comments: Ice by itself is a very bad typing, but it doesn't turn up often, as you can see. Ice type attacks, however, are incredibly useful. You'd be crazy to have a whole team without one. Ice attacks have the distinction of being x4 effective against a lot of combinations, so exploit this whenever possible. ***Fighting:*** x2 weak: flying, psychic x0.5 resistant: bug, rock, dark Pokemon that are pure Fighting: Hariyama (*TF), Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, Machamp, Machoke, Machop, Makuhita (*TF), Mankey, Primeape, Riolu, Tyrogue Fighting type attacks are super effective against Normal, Ice, Rock, Steel, and Dark, not very effective against Poison, Flying, Psychic, and Bug, and do nothing to Ghost types. Comments: Fighting is a great type. It's super effective against three types that are weak to little or nothing else - Normal, Steel, and Dark. Rock types, in particular, don't stand much of a chance against fighting types. ***Poison:*** x2 weak: ground, psychic x0.5 resistant: grass, fighting, poison, bug Pokemon that are pure Poison: Arbok, Ekans, Grimer, Gulpin, Koffing (lev), Muk, Nidoran F, Nidoran M, Nidorina, Nidorino, Seviper, Swalot, Weezing (lev) Poison type attacks are super effective against Grass, not very effective against Poison, Ground, Rock, or Ghost, and do nothing to Steel types. Comments: Poison shows up more often in combinations than by itself. It only has two weaknesses, but I gotta say, they suck. As an attack type, it's more useful for poisoning than for damage, since so many things resist it and only grass is weak. ***Ground:*** x2 weak: water, grass, ice x0.5 resistant: poison, rock Immune: electric Pokemon that are pure Ground: Cubone, Diglett, Donphan, Dugtrio, Groudon, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Marowak, Phanpy, Sandshrew, Sandslash, Trapinch Ground type attacks are super effective against Fire, Electric, Poison, Rock, and Steel, not very effective against Grass and Bug, and under normal circumstances, do nothing against Flying or to pokemon with Levitate. Comments: Ground type is a pretty good type; it's a shame it gets messed up so often by mixing it with Rock. Ground attacks have a great super effective spread and again, you'd be crazy to have a team without any. Watch out for those weaknesses, though, they're quite common. ***Flying:*** x2 weak: electric, ice, rock x0.5 resistant: grass, fighting, bug Immune: ground No pokemon have the Flying type outside of a combination. Technically, Arceus does when holding the sky plate, but that doesn't reall seem worth covering. Flying type attacks are super effective against Grass, Fighting, and Bug, and not very effective against Electric, Rock, or Steel. Comments: For some reason, Normal/Flying is the default flying type. See that combo for comments on this type of Pokemon. As an attack,it's pretty average. Flying attacks are useful against Fighting, which isn't weak to much. Don't use flying moves without STAB ***Psychic:*** x2 weak: bug, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: fighting, psychic Pokemon that are pure Psychic: Abra, Alakazam, Azelf (lev), Chimecho (lev), Chingling (lev), Cresselia (lev), Deoxys, Drowzee, Espeon, Gardevoir, Grumpig (*TF), Hypno, Kadabra, Kirlia, Mespirt (lev), Mew, Mewtwo, Mime Jr. (*fil), Mr. Mime (*fil), Ralts, Spoink (*TF), Unown (lev), Uxie (lev), Wobbuffet, Wynaut Psychic type attacks are super effective against Fighting and Poison, not very effective against Psychic and Steel, and do nothing to Dark types. Comments: Psychic is an excellent type. In the first generation, it was ludicrously overpowered, with the dark type nonexistant and ghost and dark lacking any good attacks. Even now, it's still a great type, as its weaknesses aren't that common and it's the perfect Fighting killer. Psychic isn't super effective against much, but it isn't resisted by much either, and psychic attacks tend to be very powerful. Obviously, watch out for Dark types. ***Bug:*** x2 weak: fire, flying, rock x0.5 resistant: grass, fighting, ground Pokemon that are pure Bug: Burmy, Cascoon, Caterpie, Illumise, Kricketot, Krickitune, Metapod, Pineco, Pinsir, Silcoon, Volbeat, Wurmple Bug type attacks are super effective against Grass, Psychic, and Dark, and not very effective against Fire, Fighting, Poison, Flying, Ghost, or Steel. Comments: Hmm, bug. Frankly, bugs suck. Always have. It's not quite as true as it used to be, but there are still few bug types worth using. As a typing it's okay, and it's worth having a bug attack to handle psychics, but I wouldn't rely on it because it's resisted by a ludicrous amount of types. ***Rock:*** x2 weak: water, grass, ground, steel, fighting x0.5 resistant: normal, fire, poison, flying Pokemon that are pure Rock: Bonsly, Cranidos, Nosepass, Rampardos, Regirock, Sudowoodo Rock type attacks are super effective against Fire, Ice, Flying, and Bug, and not very effective against Fighting, Ground, and steel. Comments: For some reason Rock doesn't show up alone very often. This is good because it's a pretty bad typing. Rock attacks, on the other hand, are good to have for their strength against fire, ice, and flying types. Remember that rock does not resist electric - this is a mistake I used to make, since back in the R/B/Y days most rock types had a ground subtype. Man, typing in R/B/Y was awful. ***Ghost:*** x2 weak: ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: poison, bug Immune: normal, fighting Pokemon that are pure Ghost: Banette, Dusclops, Dusknoir, Duskull (lev), Misdreavus (lev), Mismagius (lev), Shuppet Ghost type attacks are super effective against Psychic and Ghost, not very effective against Steel and Dark, and do nothing to Normal types. Comments: Ghost is an uncommon type and so are the attack types it is weak to and resists. It's one of the few types weak to itself, which makes ghost vs. ghost matchups a contest of speed. The immunities to normal and fighting are great, they cover a lot of ground. Somehow, however, ghost types don't end up being that great. ***Dragon:*** x2 weak: ice, dragon x0.5 resistant: fire, water, electric, grass Pokemon that are pure Dragon: Bagon, Dragonair, Dratini, Shelgon Dragon type attacks are super effective against Dragons and not very effective against Steel. Comments: Dragon is the second least reactive type; I've always kind of wondered why it exists. Like ghost, it's weak to itself. The ice weakness can be a problem due to the prevalence of Ice Beam, but the resistances are good. Anyway, this doesn't show up on its own much. ***Steel:*** x2 weak: fire, fighting, ground x0.5 resistant: normal, grass, ice, flying, psychic, bug, rock, ghost, dragon, steel, dark Immune: poison Pokemon that are pure Steel: Mawile, Registeel Steel type attacks are super effective against Ice and Rock and not very effective against Fire, Water, Electric, and Steel. Comments: Yes, steel resists 11 of the 17 types and has 1 total immunity - to poison, which is a great immunity because it effectively gets rid of that status effect as well. No doubt about it, steel is a good type. Watch out for the weaknesses, though, they're common. Interestingly, only water and electric type attacks do ordinary damage to Steel. ***Dark:*** x2 weak: fighting, bug x0.5 resistant: ghost, dark Immune: psychic Pokemon that are pure Dark: Absol, Darkrai, Mightyena, Poochyena, Umbreon Dark type attacks are super effective against Psychic and Ghost and not very effective against Fighting, Steel, and Dark. Comments: Dark was created to nerf Psychic. It does a good job - Dark types are great against psychics. It's worth having a Dark attack (Crunch?) around for this reason. Apart from that, Dark type doesn't do a lot. <03>:Combo types Here are the combonation types that exist in Pokemon Diamond & Pearl. Many types only have one pokemon, or one evolution family. Still, out of 136 possible combinations, only 72 actually exist among the 493 pokemon. I always list the earlier types first in this order: normal, fire, water, electric, grass, ice, fighting, poison, ground, flying, psychic, bug, rock, ghost, dragon, steel, dark. When they are shown the opposite way in the game, I note this. Normal/Water: x2 weak: fighting, electric, grass x0.5 resistant: fire, water, steel, ice Immune: ghost Bibarel is the only pokemon that is Normal/Water. Comments: The added fighting weakness is lame, but Bibarel's pretty terrible anyway. Normal/Flying: x2 weak: electric, ice, rock x0.5 resistant: grass, bug Immune: ground, ghost Pokemon that are Normal/Flying: Chatot, Dodrio, Doduo, Farfetch'd, Fearow, Hoothoot, Noctowl, Pidgeot, Pidgeotto, Pidgey, Spearow, Staraptor, Staravia, Starly, Swablu, Swellow, Taillow, Togekiss, Togetic Comments: Here's the bulk of the birds. The addition of the normal type cancels out Flying's fighting resistance and adds an immunity to ghost - not a great trade-off, if you ask me. Still, this is a decent type if only for its ground immunity. Normal/Psychic: x2 weak: bug, dark x0.5 resistant: psychic Immune: ghost Girafarig is the only pokemon that is Normal/Psychic. Comments: What an odd typing. It might actually be a little better than Psychic. The immunity to ghost is a pretty big plus in this case, considering that psychic types are usually weak to it. Fire/Ground: x4 weak: water x2 weak: ground x0.5 resistant: fire, bug, steel, poison Immune: electric Pokemon that are Fire/Ground: Camerupt, Numel Comments: Yeah, Camerupt resists several types, but that double water weakness REALLY hurts. In general, double weaknesses can really hurt a pokemon overall. Be careful what you use this against. Fire/Fighting: x2 weak:water, ground, flying, psychic x0.5 resistant: fire, grass, ice, steel, dark x0.25 resistant: bug Pokemon that are Fire/Fighting: Blaziken, Combusken, Infernape, Monferno Comments: Decent type. Fire and fighting don't interact much, so they sort of get added together. The exception is the double bug resistance, which I suppose is nice if it comes up. U-turn does almost nothing to these types. Fire/Flying: x4 weak: rock x2 weak: water, electric x0.5 resistant: fire, steel x0.25 resistant: grass, bug Immune: ground Pokemon that are Fire/Flying: Charizard, Ho-oh, Moltres Comments: This is a pretty decent type. It's Grass and Bug types' worst nightmare. That double rock weakness can really hurt, however, especially against opponents that like to use Stealth Rock (yes, it DOES do super effective damage). Also keep in mind that when gravity is in play, this typing is weak to ground. Fire/Rock: x4 weak: water, ground x2 weak: rock x0.5 resistant: bug, ice x0.25 resistant: fire Magcargo is the only pokemon that is Fire/Rock. Comments: Ouch. Those 4x weaknesses are just awful. I don't know what else to say. Fire/Steel: x4 weak: ground x2 weak: water, fighting x0.5 resistant: normal, flying, psychic, ghost, dragon, dark x0.25 resistant: grass, ice, bug, steel Immune: poison Heatran is the only pokemon that is Fire/Steel. Comments: As much as having any 4x weakness sucks, this is still a great type. Heatran resists most of the common attack types, some very strongly. A good counter to ice. Fire/Dark (Displayed as Dark/Fire): x2 weak: water, fighting, ground, rock x0.5 resistant: fire, grass, ice, ghost, dark, steel Immune: Psychic Pokemon that are Dark/Fire: Houndoom, Houndour Comments: Fire and Dark have no interactions, so they pile on top of one another. The result is four weaknesses, but also five resistances and an immunity. Apart from the weakness to fighting there isn't much to complain about here. Water/Electric: x2 weak: grass, ground x0.5 resistant: fire, water, flying, ice x0.25 resistant: steel Pokemon that are Water/Electric: Chinchou (*VA), Lanturn (*VA) This typing isn't bad at all, with only two weaknesses. Plus, Lanturn will always have Volt Absorb, since its other ability is completely useless. You can essentially count Electric as an immunity+ under normal circumstances. Water/Grass: x2 weak: flying, poison, bug x0.5 resistant: steel, ground x0.25 resistant: water Pokemon that are Water/Grass: Lombre, Lotad, Ludicolo Comments: Water nullifies grass's weaknesses to fire and ice, and doubles its water resistance. Not bad for a grass type. Water/Ice (Sometimes displayed as Ice/Water): x2 weak: electric, grass, fighting, rock x0.5 resistant: water x0.25 resistant: ice Pokemon that are Water/Ice: Cloyster, Dewgong (*TF), Lapras (*WA), Sealeo (*TF), Spheal (*TF), Walrein (*TF) Comments: This is one of the more common ice types, and really, it's a pretty unfortunate grouping. Four common weaknesses and only resists its own types. It's still usable, but you don't get much of a type advantage with these pokemon. Water/Fighting: x2 weak: flying, electric, grass, psychic x0.5 resistant: fire, water, steel, bug, rock, dark, ice Poliwrath (*WA) is the only pokemon that is Water/Fighting. Comments: Poliwrath's typing is kind of odd. The psychic weakness is unfortunate, but it does have a very nice set of resistances. Not a bad typing, really. Water/Poison: x2 weak: electric, ground, psychic x0.5 resistant: fire, water, steel, fighting, poison, bug, ice Pokemon that are Water/Poison: Qwilfish, Tentacool, Tentacruel Comments: Not bad at all. It's easy to end up with a set of moves that won't hurt these much. Water/Ground: x4 weak: grass x0.5 resistant: fire, poison, rock, steel Immunity: electric Pokemon that are Water/Ground: Barboach, Gastrodon, Marshtomp, Quagsire (*WA), Swampert, Whiscash, Wooper (*WA) Comments: As always, the double weakness really drags this type down. None of these are ever going to survive a solarbeam or wood hammer, and you're just going to have to get used to that. Apart from that, it has no other weaknesses, so this is still a decent type. Water's other weakness is totally nullified, which is a nasty surprise for people who see these pokemon and think they're just a water type. Water/Flying: x4 weak: electric x2 weak: rock x0.5 resistant: fire, water, steel, fighting, bug Immune: ground Pokemon that are Water/Flying: Gyarados, Mantine (*WA), Mantyke (*WA), Pelipper, Wingull Comments: Another double weakness. Gyarados can often take a strong electric attack anyway because he's just that awesome, but that weakness pretty much dooms the rest of these. Good resistance set regardless. Water/Psychic: x2 weak: electric, grass, bug, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: fire, water, steel, fighting, psychic, ice Pokemon that are Water/Psychic: Slowbro, Slowking, Slowpoke, Starmie Comments: The Dark weakness is kind of unfortunate. Apart from that, this typing is better than water alone. No interaction whatsoever between the types, so just think of this as a water AND a psychic type. Water/Bug (Displayed as Bug/Water): x2 weak: electric, flying, rock x0.5 resistant: water, steel, fighting, ground, ice Surskit is the only pokemon that is Bug/Water. Comments: Surskit evolves into a different typing anyway. Move along. Water/Rock (sometimes displayed as Rock/Water): x4 weak: grass x2 weak: electric, ground, fighting x0.5 resistant: water, normal, poison, flying, ice x0.25 resistant: fire Pokemon that are Water/Rock: Corsola, Kabuto, Kabutops, Omanyte, Omastar, Relicanth Comments: Double weakness, but at least there's a double resistance here to balance it. The problem is that a weakness can mean a lot more to a pokemon than a resistance - just one hit from a grass type attack will often take these out. Water/Dragon: x2 weak: dragon x0.5 resistant: steel x0.25 resistant: fire, water Pokemon that are Water/Dragon: Kingdra, Palkia Comments: Wow, this happens to cancel two out of three of water's weaknesses. Water, in turn, cancels Dragon's painful ice wakness. Fire and water do practically nothing, too. As always, it's a speed match with other dragons, but seeing as that's the only weakness, this is a very good type. Water/Steel: x2 weak: electric, fighting, ground x0.5 resistant: normal, flying, psychic, bug, rock, ghost, dragon, dark, water x0.25 resistant: steel, ice Immune: poison Empoleon is the only pokemon that is Water/Steel. Comments: Now this is bizarre. Somehow the fourth generation's water starter ended up with one of the best types in the game. Again, it's easy to end up with a set of moves that won't do much to this. It's too bad Empoleon isn't that great. If you find a use for it, though, have fun laughing at ice attacks. Water/Dark: x2 weak: electric, grass, fighting, bug x0.5 resistant: fire, water, steel, ghost, dark, ice Immune: Psychic Pokemon that are Water/Dark: Carvanha, Crawdaunt, Sharpedo Comments: Another no-interaction combination. I like to call these "compound types." This type isn't bad. Electric/Flying: x2 weak: ice, rock x0.5 resistant: flying, steel, grass, fighting, bug Immune: ground Zapdos is the only pokemon that is Electric/Flying. Comments: Nice resistances. Zapdos becomes weak to ground if its immunity is somehow removed during battle. Electric/Ghost: x2 weak: ghost, dark, ground x0.5 resistant: poison, bug, electric, flying, steel Immune: Normal, fighting Rotom (lev) is the only pokemon that is Electric/Ghost. Comments: Rotom is ordinarily immune to ground, which makes this a very good typing indeed. Electric/Steel: x4 weak: ground x2 weak: fire, fighting x0.5 resistant: normal, grass, ice, electric, psychic, bug, rock, ghost, dragon, dark x0.25 resistant: flying, steel Immune: Poison Pokemon that are electric/steel: Magnemite, Magneton, Magnezone Comments: A double weakness, but man, look at those resistances. Resisting 12 types and being immune to one, the Magnemite family may be the most difficult pokemon to damage, type-wise. Only water does ordinary damage. Grass/Ice: x4 weak: fire x2 weak: flying, poison, bug, fighting, rock, steel x0.5 resistant: water, electric, grass, ground Pokemon that are Grass/Ice: Abomasnow, Snover Comments: Just awful. Abomasnow fails at being a usable ice type. Grass/Fighting: x4 weak: flying x2 weak: fire, ice, poison, psychic x0.5 resistant: water, electric, grass, ground, dark Breloom is the only pokemon that is Grass/Fighting. Comments: Double flying weakness, but that's one you can get around some of the time. Not totally awful. Grass/Poison: x2 weak: fire, ice, flying, psychic x0.5 resistant: water, electric, fighting x0.25 resistant: grass Pokemon that are Grass/Poison: Bellsprout, Budew, Bulbasaur, Gloom, Ivysaur, Oddish, Roselia, Roserade, Venusaur, Victreebell, Vileplume, Weepinbell Comments: This is the typing given to nearly all grass types from the first generation; everything here is first generation except the Budew family, which started in the third gen and was given first and third forms in D/P. Poison type complements grass fairly well, eliminating its poison weakness and creating a double grass resistance. Watch out for the Psychic weakness, however. Grass/Ground: x4 weak: ice x2 weak: fire, flying, bug x0.5 resistant: ground, rock Immune: electric Torterra is the only Pokemon that is Grass/Ground. Comments: I can't understand why the fourth gen's grass starter gets saddled with this lame typing when it evolves into its final form. It's a drag, because Torterra's actually a pretty decent tank. The double ice weakness is a real Achilles heel, and Ground also eliminates grass types' important water and grass resistances, without touching any of its weaknesses except poison. S/he does gain an immunity to electric and some good ground attacks, but this is still unfortunate. Grass types already resist electric anyway. Grass/Flying: x4 weak: ice x2 weak: fire, flying, poison, rock x0.5 resistant: water, fighting x0.25 resistant: grass Immune: ground Pokemon that are Grass/Flying: Hoppip, Jumpluff, Skiploom, Tropius Comments: Another double ice weakness and a wide spread of normal weaknesses. Not so hot, although it does well against fighting types. Grass/Psychic (Sometimes displayed as Psychic/Grass): x4 weak: bug x2 weak: fire, ice, flying, poison, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: water, electric, grass, ground, fighting, psychic Pokemon that are Grass/Psychic: Celebi, Exeggcute, Exeggutor Comments: Grass and psychic don't interact except for the annoying double bug weakness; to be fair, bug isn't such a bad double weakness to end up with, but this typing is still not one of Celebi's best features. Grass/Bug (displayed as Bug/Grass): x4 weak: fire, flying x2 weak: ice, bug, rock, poison x0.5 resistant: fighting, water, electric x0.25 resistant: grass, ground Pokemon that are Bug/Grass: Paras, Parasect, Wormadam Comments: The horror: two double weaknesses. I can't recommend these pokemon under any circumstances. Wormadam, however, doesnt' always have this type (see "special cases"). Grass/Rock (displayed as Rock/Grass): x2 weak: fighting, bug, steel, ice x0.5 resistant: normal, electric Pokemon that are Rock/Grass: Cradily, Lileep Comments: Not so good. Rock loses grass's best resistances. Grass/Dark: x4 weak: bug x2 weak: fire, ice, flying, poison, fighting x0.5 resistant: water, electric, grass, ground, ghost, dark Immune: psychic Pokemon that are Grass/Dark: Cacturne, Nuzleaf, Shiftry Comments: An interesting type, and not useless despite its double bug weakness. Do be quite wary of it, though. Ice/Ground: x2 weak: fire, fighting, steel, water, grass x0.5 resistant: poison Immune: electric Pokemon that are Ice/Ground: Mamoswine, Piloswine, Swinub Comments: Another ice type that turns out pretty badly. Weak to a maddening five types. Ice/Flying: x4 weak: rock x2 weak: fire, steel, electric x0.5 resistant: grass, bug Immune: ground Pokemon that are Ice/Flying: Articuno, Delibird Comments: Does ice ever get a break? Double rock weakness. Articuno is still one of the best Ice types, however. Ice/Psychic: x2 weak: fire, rock, steel, bug, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: ice, psychic Pokemon that are Ice/Psychic: Jynx, Smoochum Comments: Another bad ice type. Manages somehow to have six weaknesses. Ice/Ghost: x2 weak: fire, rock, steel, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: ice, poison, bug Immune: normal, fighting Froslass is the only pokemon that is Ice/Ghost. Comments: At least it's immune to fighting. Otherwise, another type afflicted with ice syndrome. Ice/Dark (displayed as Dark/Ice): x4 weak: fighting x2 weak: fire, bug, rock, steel x0.5 resistant: ice, ghost, dark Immune: Psychic Pokemon that are Dark/Ice: Sneasel, Weaville Comments: Sneasel's okay, but its typing isn't doing it any favors with that double fighting weakness. Fighting/Poison (displayed as Poison/Fighting): x4 weak: psychic x2 weak: ground, flying x0.5 resistant: grass, fighting, poison, rock, dark x0.25 resistant: bug Pokemon that are Poison/Fighting: Croagunk, Toxicroak Comments: Psychic means game over, but a good type otherwise. Psychic doesn't turn up THAT much. Fighting/Psychic (Sometimes displayed as Psychic/Fighting): x2 weak: flying, ghost x0.5 resistant: rock, fighting Pokemon that are Fighting/Psychic: Gallade, Medicham, Meditite Comments: Here's a type that combines polar opposites. The result is most of the strengths and weaknesses being cancelled out. Aside from the flying weakness, these are pretty solid. Fighting/Bug (displayed as Bug/Fighting): x4 weak: flying x2 weak: psychic, fire x0.5 resistant: bug, dark, grass, fighting, ground Heracross is the only pokemon that is Bug/Fighting. Comments: Not a bad bug type aside from the flying problem. Heracross is one of the few bugs worth using. Fighting/Steel: x2 weak: fire, fighting, ground x0.5 resistant: normal, grass, ice, ghost, dragon, steel x0.25 resistant: bug, rock, dark Immune: Poison Lucario is the only Pokemon that is Fighting/Steel. Comments: Don't you just love steel type? Lucario's awesome, and so is its typing. It's pretty tough to damage. Poison/Ground: x2 weak: ground, psychic, water, ice x0.5 resistant: fighting, bug, rock x0.25 resistant: poison Immune: electric Pokemon that are Poison/Ground: Nidoking, Nidoqueen Comments: The nido-royalty have an okay type. The fighting resistance is a nice surprise. Poison/Flying: x2 weak: psychic, electric, ice, rock x0.5 resistant: poison x0.25 resistant: grass, fighting, bug Immune: ground Pokemon that are Poison/Flying: Crobat, Golbat, Zubat Comments: Crobat is a pretty cool pokemon with a decent type, although its weaknesses are very exploitable. It's perfect against fighting types, which it can hammer with flying moves while taking little damage. Watch out for the ice and rock weaknesses, though, because you never know what will be carrying those moves. Despite the weakness, Crobat isn't bad against psychic either if you give it the bug move U-turn. Warning: This type is weak to ground when its immunity is removed. Poison/Bug (Sometimes listed as Bug/Poison): x2 weak: psychic, fire, flying, rock x0.5 resistant: poison, bug x0.25 resistant: grass, fighting Pokemon that are Poison/Bug: Ariados, Beedrill, Dustox, Kakuna, Skorupi, Spinarak, Venomoth, Venonat, Weedle Comments: Very common bug type. Its strengths and weaknesses are fairly balanced. Good against fighting, but they'll usually be carrying a rock attack, so watch out for that. Poison/Ghost (Displayed as Ghost/Poison): x2 weak: ghost, dark, ground, psychic x0.5 resistant: grass x0.25 resistant: poison, bug Immune: normal, fighting Pokemon that are Ghost/Poison: Gastly (lev), Gengar (lev), Haunter (lev) Comments: The Gastly family, which were the only ghosts in the first gen, are given a poison type for reasons that completely elude me. Some people complain about this typing, but I think it's okay, especially because levitate makes it immune to ground. It's a speed contest against psychics, however. Poison/Dark: x2 weak: ground x0.5 resistant: grass, poison, ghost, dark Immune: Psychic Pokemon that are Poison/Dark: Drapion, Skuntank, Stunky Comments: A good typing! Ground moves are a must for dealing with these. Ground/Flying: x4 weak: ice x2 weak: water x0.5 resistant: poison, fighting, bug Immune: electric, ground Pokemon that are Ground/Flying: Gligar, Gliscor Comments: This might be the single most contradictary type in the game. How can it be ground AND flying? Anyway, there's another double ice weakness here, but if you can avoid that, this is a great type. Ground/Psychic: x2 weak: water, grass, ice, bug, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: poison, rock, fighting, psychic Immune: electric Pokemon that are Ground/Psychic: Baltoy (lev), Claydol (lev) Comments: No interactions. It's ground plus psychic. Weak to a lot, but resists a lot. Kind of a roll of the dice. The ground immunity with levitate is a plus. Ground/Bug (Displayed as Bug/Ground): x2 weak: water, ice, fire, flying x0.5 resistant: poison, fighting, ground Immune: electric Pokemon that are Bug/Ground: Nincada, Wormadam (see "special cases") Comments: Not a bad choice for Wormadam. Nincada isn't very important. Ground/Rock (Sometimes displayed as Rock/Ground): x4 weak: water, grass x2 weak: ground, steel, ice, fighting x0.5 resistant: rock, normal, fire, flying x0.25 resistant: poison Immune: electric Pokemon that are Ground/Rock: Geodude, Golem, Graveler, Larvitar, Onix, Pupitar, Rhydon, Rhyhorn, Rhyperior (*SR) Comments: Ow, ow, ow. This turned up a lot in the first gen and I don't know why. Two double weaknesses plus four regulars is completely unforgivable, despite the fact that it's otherwise decent. Rhyperior does okay if it has Solid Rock, but otherwise these pokemon have a tough time getting around their type. If you want to use Golem, give it explosion, because it frequently won't last long. Ground/Dragon (Sometimes displayed as Dragon/ground): x4 weak: ice x2 weak: dragon x0.5 resistant: poison, rock, fire Immune: electric Pokemon that are Ground/Dragon: Flygon, Gabile, Gabite, Garchomp, Vibrava Comments: Good type despite the ice problem. Garchomp in particular is a monster. Ground/Steel (Displayed as Steel/Ground): x2 weak: water, fire, fighting, ground x0.5 resistant: normal, flying, psychic, bug, ghost, dragon, steel, dark x0.25 resistant: rock Immune: electric, poison Steelix is the only Pokemon that is Steel/Ground. Comments: Oh my, yes. Probably the best thing Onix gets out of evolution is escaping the terrible rock/ground type. What a resistance spread. Unfortunately, those weaknesses are pretty common, but at least none are double. Flying/Psychic (Displayed as Psychic/Flying): x2 weak: electric, ice, rock, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: grass, psychic x0.25 resistant: fighting Immune: ground Pokemon that are Psychic/Flying: Lugia, Natu, Xatu Comments: This type is the anti-fighting. Two STAB super effectives and a double resistance gives fighting types a rough time indeed, but watch out for the rock weakness. Flying/Bug (Displayed as Bug/Flying): x4 weak: rock x2 weak: electric, ice, fire, flying x0.5 resistant: bug x0.25 resistant: grass, fighting Immune: ground Pokemon that are Bug/Flying: Beautifly, Butterfree, Combee, Ledian, Ledyba, Masquerain, Mothim, Ninjask, Scyther, Vespiqueen, Yanma, Yanmega Comments: A common bug type with more than its fair share of weaknesses. I don't recommend these; most of them suck anyway. Note that even if this type's ground immunity is removed, it will still resist it. Flying/Rock (Displayed as Rock/Flying): x2 weak: electric, rock, water, steel, ice x0.5 resistant: bug, normal, fire, poison, flying Immune: ground Aerodactyl is the only pokemon that is Rock/Flying. Comments: Aerodactyl: This type is weak to five types, but it's otherwise okay, I suppose. Beware, this is weak to ground if the immunity is removed. Flying/Ghost (Displayed as Ghost/Flying): x2 weak: electric, ice, rock, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: grass, poison x0.25 resistant: bug Immune: normal, fighting, ground Pokemon that are Ghost/Flying: Drifblim, Drifbloon Comments: Not great despite its three immunities; there's a lot you can hurt these with. Flying/Dragon: x4 weak: ice x2 weak: rock, dragon x0.5 resistant: fighting, bug, fire, water x0.25 resistant: grass Immune: ground Pokemon that are Dragon/Flying: Altaria, Dragonite, Rayquaza, Salamence Comments: Yet another double ice weakness, but some of the game's best are here. Flying/Steel (Displayed as Steel/Flying): x2 weak: electric, fire x0.5 resistant: normal, flying, psychic, ghost, dragon, steel, dark x0.25 resistant: bug, grass Immune: ground, poison Skarmory is the only pokemon that is Steel/Flying. Comments: 9 resistances and two immunities, hell yeah. Skarmory ftw. This is weak to ground if you remove its immunity, however. Flying/Dark (Displayed as Dark/Flying): x2: electric, ice, rock x0.5: grass, ghost, dark Immune: ground, psychic Pokemon that are Dark/Flying: Honchkrow, Murkrow Comments: Pretty good, since dark's weaknesses are nullified. Psychic/Rock (Displayed as Rock/Psychic): x2 weak: bug, ghost, dark, water, grass, ground, steel x0.5 resistant: psychic, normal, fire, poison, flying Pokemon that are Rock/Psychic: Lunatone (lev), Solrock (lev) Comments: Few interactions, so a lot goes on here. Practically everything is going to be carrying something that does double damage, unfortunately. At least these pokemon are ordinarily immune to ground. Psychic/Dragon (Displayed as Dragon/Psychic): x2 weak: bug, ghost, dark, ice, dragon x0.5 resistant: fighting, psychic, fire, water, electric, grass Pokemon that are Dragon/Psychic: Latias (lev), Latios (lev) Comments: Nice resistance spread, and the weaknesses aren't too bad. Again, all the pokemon in this category are ordinarily immune to ground. Psychic/Steel (Displayed as Steel/Psychic): x2 weak: fire, ground x0.5 resistant: normal, grass, ice, flying, rock, dragon, steel x0.25 resistant: psychic Immune: poison Pokemon that are Steel/Psychic: Beldum, Bronzong (*lev *HP), Bronzor (*lev *HP), Jirachi, Metagross, Metang Comments: This is a fearsome type with plenty of resistances and weaknesses that can both be cancelled by the bronzors, and you can't be sure which is getting cancelled. Deadly. Bug/Rock (Sometimes listed as Rock/Bug): x2 weak: rock, steel, water x0.5 resistant: normal, poison Pokemon that are Bug/Rock: Anorith, Armaldo, Shuckle Comments: Okay type. The steel weakness isn't so bad, although rock is always a problem, as is water (surf, anybody?) Bug/Ghost: x2 weak: fire, flying, rock, ghost, dark x0.5 resistant: grass, ground, poison, bug Immune: normal, fighting Shedinja (WG) is the only pokemon that is Bug/Ghost. Comments: Time to explain Shedinja. Its type chart should really read like this: One-hit KO: fire, flying, rock, ghost, dark Immune: grass, ground, poison, bug, normal, fighting, dragon, steel, water, ice, normal, psychic This is because of two factors: First, Shedinja's ability, Wonder Guard, makes it immune to everything that isn't super-effective. Second, Shedinja only ever has 1 HP, so anything that will hit it will kill it. Due to its fragility, I can't recommend this pokemon unless you're a master strategist, in which case I'm sure you don't need my help anyway. Bug/Steel: x4 weak: fire x0.5 resistant: normal, ice, psychic, bug, ghost, dragon, steel, dark x0.25 resistant: grass Immune: Poison Pokemon that are Bug/Steel: Forretress, Scizor, Wormadam (see "special cases") Comments: The double fire weakness isn't a total dealbreaker due to the usual large steel-type resistance spread in addition to the fact that it's the only weakness. Plus, Forretress is a good pokemon. Despite all this, fire will still pwn it severely. Wormadam doesn't always have this type. Rock/Steel (Sometimes displayed as Steel/Rock): x4 weak: ground, fighting x2 weak: water x0.5 resistant: psychic, bug, rock, ghost, dragon, dark, ice x0.25 resistant: normal, flying Immune: poison Pokemon that are Rock/Steel: Aggron, Aron, Bastiodon, Lairon, Probopass, Shieldon Comments: For a steel type, this could be a lot better. Obviously, avoid ground and fighting moves like the plauge. Rock/Dark: x4 weak: fighting x2 weak: water, grass, ground, steel, bug x0.5 resistant: normal, fire, flying, poison, ghost, dark Immune: psychic Tyranitar is the only pokemon that is Rock/Dark. Comments: Tyranitar might have a lot of weaknesses, but it's such a beast that it doesn't really matter, except for that double fighting weakness. The psychic immunity is pretty evil too, and what a resistance spread. Ghost/Dragon: x2 weak: ghost, dark, ice, dragon x0.5 resistant: fire, water, electric, grass, poison, bug Immune: normal, fighting Giratina is the only pokemon that is Ghost/Dragon. Comments: Giratina has an excellent typing. A lot of pokemon won't be carrying any of its weaknesses, although ice beam must be watched out for as usual. Even so, Giratina can take an attack it's weak to without much trouble. Ghost/Dark(Sometimes listed as Dark/Ghost): NO WEAKNESSES x0.5 resistant: poison Immune: normal, fighting, psychic Pokemon that are Ghost/Dark: Sableye, Spiritomb Comments: Well, here it is: the best typing. No weaknesses whatsoever means you just have to slug it out with these, and it can get tedious. The three immunities greatly complicate the issue, obviously. Note: if Foresight, Odor Sleuth, or Lock-on is used, these pokemon gain a fighting weakness. Dragon/Steel (Displayed as Steel/Dragon): x2 weak: fighting, ground x0.5 resistant: normal, flying, psychic, bug, rock, ghost, steel, dark, water, electric x0.25 resistant: grass Immune: poison Dialga is the only pokemon that is Steel/Dragon. Comments: Dialga's is another awesome type with 11 resistances, an immunity to poison, and only two x2 weaknesses, albeit common ones. This is still a typing that can really get in foes' way of damaging Dialga. <05>:Nonexistant combos For the sake of interest, I've gone ahead and listed all of the types that don't yet exist. In a future version, I might add information on some of the more interesting ones. Normal/Fire, Normal/Electric, Normal/Grass, Normal/Ice, Normal/Fighting, Normal/Poison, Normal/Ground, Normal/Bug, Normal/Rock, Normal/Ghost, Normal/Dragon, Normal/Steel, Normal/Dark, Fire/Water, Fire/Electric, Fire/Grass, Fire/Ice, Fire/Poison, Fire/Psychic, Fire/Bug, Fire/Ghost, Fire/Dragon, Water/Ghost, Electric/Grass, Electric/Ice, Electric/Fighting, Electric/Poison, Electric/Ground, Electric/Psychic, Electric/Bug, Electric/Rock, Electric/Dragon, Electric/Dark, Grass/Ghost, Grass/Dragon, Grass/Steel, Ice/Fighting, Ice/Poison, Ice/Bug, Ice/Rock, Ice/Dragon, Ice/Steel, Fighting/Ground, Fighting/Flying, Fighting/Rock, Fighting/Ghost, Fighting/Dragon, Fighting/Dark, Poison/Psychic, Poison/Rock, Poison/Dragon, Ground/Ghost, Ground/Dark, Psychic/Ghost, Psychic/Dark, Bug/Dragon, Bug/Dark, Rock/Dragon, Ghost/Rock, Ghost/Steel, Dragon/Dark