XY Ramblings #3: New Dual-Types

One of the things I look forward to in any new generation of Pokemon is not just the new Pokemon, but new, unique dual-typings for those Pokemon. Some of my favorite Pokemon to be introduced each generation in the past had unusual type pairings that made them particularly interesting. Gen VI is no exception, though with the introduction of the Fairy-type, a large number of these “new” dual-types are Fairy dual-types, which are definitely cool, though I’ve already covered them in my last ramblings, so they will not be covered here. Here, though, are the new dual-types of Pokemon X and Y outside of all those fairies…

 

Normal paired with all sorts of types: Besides Fairy, Normal was surprisingly the type to get a number of dual-types. In fact, Normal has now been paired with more types than Fairy, and the same number of types as Poison! In particular, there are three new part-Normal dual-types.Note that defensively, they all gain a Fighting weakness and a Ghost immunity.

 

Diggersby, the evolved form of Bunnelby, is a Normal/Ground-type. He is in a way the Rattata/Zigzagoon/Bidoof/Patrat of this generation, being a common Normal-type that has a single evolution and statwise isn’t much to speak of. That said, he has the hidden ability Huge Power, which means he is potentially quite dangerous, wielding one of the strongest Earthquakes in the game. Typing-wise, he does have the advantage of hitting most Rock- and Steel-types his Normal STAB isn’t effective against, though he will struggle against ones that are part Flying or have Levitate, as well as Ghosts with those properties.

 

Pyroar and his pre-evolution Litleo are Fire/Normal-types. (Yes, Normal is their secondary type.) He has a cool design and has solid Special Attack and Speed, although not much else to distinguish him from other Fire-types, aside from currently being the only Pokemon to resist both Fairy and Ghost. He’ll struggle against Rock-types, too, though at least most Steel-types won’t give much trouble.

 

And then there is Heliolisk and his pre-evolution Helioptile, who are Electric/Normal-types. He has good Special Attack and Speed like Pyroar, and also has some interesting abilities, such as Sand Veil, Dry Skin, and even Solar Power for a hidden ability. He also has a movepool that includes, among other things, Surf, because being based on a basilisk lizard, he can run across water; the move also complements his STAB coverage pretty well. Pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Electric-types have always been cool, though; it’s just too bad that he’s the only new one outside of Mega Evolutions and Dedenne.

 

Ghost/Steel: One of the more notable dual-types to come out of this generation, Ghost/Steel is the typing of the family of possessed swords, Honedge, Doublade, and Aegislash. The type comes with numerous resistances and immunities, though Steel no longer resisting Ghost and Dark means that both of Ghost’s weaknesses remain. Still, a Steel-type that is completely immune to Fighting is always cool. (Aegislash is cool for another reason, which I will ramble about later.) Offensively, these blades get Sacred Sword for that still-near-perfect Ghost/Fighting coverage, which is only stopped by any Normal-type that had Trick-or-Treat used on them.

 

Dark/Psychic: The type of Inkay and Malamar, who have their unique aspects outside of their typing (Contrary Superpower, anyone?). Dark/Psychic has only a few weaknesses, but one of those is a 4x weakness to Bug, meaning you have to watch out for U-Turns. Fairy-type moves are also super-effective. The type also lacks any resistances outside of its Psychic immunity. So it’s a cool type, but defensively not really the best for competitive play. Still, Contrary Superpower.

 

Poison/Dragon: This typing only applies for Dragalge, the evolved form of Skrelp (who is a Water/Poison-type). Dragalge is one of the few Pokemon not to be completely screwed over by Fairy-types, as he is neutral to their attacks and can hit them back with STAB super-effective Poison attacks. Having a high Special Defense also helps a lot, and can learn Water-type attacks to deal with Steel/Fairy-types. (Just watch out for Ferrothorn.)

 

Rock/Dragon: Once again, the new Pokemon generation brings with it new fossil Pokemon that are Rock-types, this time with two new dual-types. Tyrunt and Tyrantrum are Rock/Dragon types, and finally provide Pokemon with a proper T.Rex Pokemon. He has great Attack and Defense, and looks fearsome to boot. Just watch out, as he does still have a fair number of weaknesses, even with Rock’s normal weaknesses of Water and Grass neutralized.

 

Rock/Ice: The other fossil Pokemon, Amaura and Aurorus, feature the unique Rock/Ice type. As cool as this typing is, keep in mind that both Rock and Ice are known for having numerous weaknesses, and combined, the only weaknesses that get neutralized is Ice’s weakness to Fire. Meanwhile, it has weaknesses to Water, Grass, Ground and Rock and 4x-weaknesses to Fighting and Steel, while only resisting Normal, Ice, Poison, and Flying. But that’s enough that’s bad about these icy dinosaurs’ typing. They have a good offensive typing and can use their Refrigerate ability to turn their Nature Power-turned-Tri Attack into an Ice-type attack, making it the only Ice-type attack that can cause a burn. He also has a unique move, Freeze Dry, which is an Ice-type attack that is super-effective against Water-types. And above all, he’s a dinosaur of auroras and ice, and looks really elegant. Probably not a Pokemon that’ll shake up the competitive scene, but he’s still cool.

 

Fighting/Flying: One of the most long-awaited dual-types, Fighting/Flying is the type of Hawlucha, the luchador hawk. “Luchador hawk” is already full of win, and as a bonus, Fighting/Flying has very solid offensive coverage, currently only resisted by Electric/Flying-types, base form Rotom, and Aegislash. Defensively, he gets a number of useful resistances, including a 4x-resistance to Bug, as well as a Ground immunity; plus, he’s a Flying-type that is not weak to Stealth Rock. This plus Hawlucha’s high Speed and solid Attack make him quite a threatening little guy. As for why he’s so highly requested, Fighting was the one type to not have been paired with Flying as of Gen V, and now between Hawlucha and Togekiss’s becoming a Fairy-type, Flying has now been paired with every single other type.

 

Ghost/Grass: Gardenia’s worst nightmare has come true as there are not one but two families of Ghost/Grass-types. First of all, there is Phantump and Trevenant, who are based on ents/treants with an extra flavor of ghost possession (Phantumps are possessed by the souls of children who got lost in the forest… GameFreak, always providing plenty of Nightmare Fuel with their Ghost-types). They have great Attack and decent defenses but low Speed. The other Ghost/Grass-types are Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist, based off the classic Halloween item known as the jack-o-lantern. They are unusual in that they can come in four different sizes, each with varying stats; larger ones are stronger but slower, while smaller ones are weaker but faster. Regardless of size, they all have great defenses and attack primarily physically. Both of these families learn Phantom Force, which is basically a weaker Shadow Force, with the same property of attacking past Protect-type moves. Their typing removes Grass’s normal Poison and Bug weaknesses too. They’re both cool Pokemon and I’m sure Gardenia will come to love them eventually (once she stops being scared of them).

 

These are all the new dual-types introduced in this game. Now to look at what’s left as far as unmatched dual-types…

This chart notes all the possible Dual-types (and mono-types) in Pokemon and in which generation the first fully evolved (non-Arceus) Pokemon of that dual-type appeared:

Red = Red/Blue, Orange = Gold/Silver, Yellow = Ruby/Sapphire, Green = Diamond/Pearl, Blue = Black/White, Purple = X/Y

Notes:

*1: Only appears as an alternate Forme of Meloetta, who is normally a Normal/Psychic and can only turn into Normal/Fighting in-battle after using Relic Song.

*2: These Pokemon (the alternate Rotom forms, Magneton, and the various “new” Fairy-types) existed in previous generations but gained the indicated typing in the corresponding generation.

*3: There currently exists an unevolved Pokemon of this type (Surskit), but no fully-evolved Pokemon with this type.

*4: Before the indicated generation, there were unevolved and not-fully-evolved Pokemon of this type (Nincada for Bug/Ground, Dratini/Dragonair for pure Dragon).

*5: Before Gen V, it was possible to have an Arceus form with this mono-type. It was also possible for Kecleon to temporarily become this type through Color Change, or for a member of the Porygon family to become this type through Conversion2.

So that's all for dual-typed Pokemon. The next question, though, is given all these new types, what are the best two-type attack combos to get the most neutral coverage against all these Pokemon, especially the new Fairy-types? That will be the subject of my next ramblings...

But first, an intermission!

Ramblings #3.5: Random Changes to Types

Three fun little changes have been made to three types:

Electric-types can no longer be paralyzed.

Grass-types are immune to any "Powder" or "Spore" moves.

Ghost-types cannot be trapped by any move or ability. (This includes Magnet Pull for Aegislash.)

Not much else to say, except that the Grass-type buff is also clearly to nerf the dominance of Spore.

XY Ramblings #2: The Fairy-Type

One of the big new changes for Gen VI is the introduction of the new Fairy-type. This is the first new type introduced to Pokemon since Dark and Steel were introduced in Gen II, and not only are several of the new Pokemon of this type, but several older Pokemon have either had Fairy added to their typing or had their typing completely overwritten to Fairy-type.

 

First, let’s look at how the Fairy-type fares in battle, as far as type advantages and disadvantages go.

 

Offensively, Fairy-type attacks are…

Super-effective against: Fighting, Dragon, Dark

Not very effective against: Fire, Poison, Steel

 

Defensively, Fairy-types are…

Weak to: Poison, Steel

Resistant to: Fighting, Bug, Dark

Immune to: Dragon

 

Conceptually, the mystical Fairy-type is actually pretty close to the frequently-requested Light-type, especially with moves like Dazzling Gleam and Moonblast, which does offer some explanation for their strength against Dark and, to some extent, Fighting. Fairies being weak to Steel is an important conceptual point; faeries in folklore traditionally had a weakness to “cold iron”, which is like poison to them. That poison itself is also one of their weaknesses is probably just as fitting. As for their complete dominance over Dragons, that’s mainly attributable to their overall mystical power, I suppose.

 

Competitively, though, the Fairy-type was intended to keep Dragon-types from being broken, which is clearly in effect with their complete immunity to Dragon-type attacks. Their strength against Fighting-types also helps balance out what is another strong typing in the game. Their strength against Dark-types may be more of a conceptual thing, but it also helps balance out a particular buff Dark-type attacks got, not to mention that Dark-type attacks are common and frequently used as coverage alongside Fighting.

 

Another notable balancing aspect is Fairy’s weaknesses; Poison and Steel are notable for being among the weakest offensive types in the game. Outside of Fairy-types, Poison is only super-effective against Grass, while many Pokemon are resistant to it and Steel-types are outright immune. Steel only has weaknesses to Ice and Rock, which already have numerous weaknesses, and are resisted by some common types, particularly Water. This change gives those two types some more offensive presence.

 

Now, you may be thinking that Steel doesn’t need yet another type that it resists. However, in exchange for resisting Fairy-type attacks, Steel-types are no longer resistant to Ghost- and Dark-type attacks, now taking neutral damage from them. This new advantage to Dark helps balance out their weakness to Fairy, but Ghost-types only benefit from this, as now their attacks are only resisted by Normal (immunity) and Dark. I will talk about this more in a later Rambling about dual-types and their offensive coverage.

 

For now, though, let’s take a look at notable Fairy-type Pokemon and moves.

 

First of all, offensively, there are really only three notable Fairy-type attacks. There is only one physical Fairy-type attack: Play Rough. It’s a solid attack, with 90 base power, 90% accuracy, and a 10% chance of lowering the target’s Attack. Given the lack of alternatives, it works; kind of like Aqua Tail but with a secondary effect. On the special side, there is Dazzling Gleam, which has 80 base power, 100% accuracy, and no side effect, and is a TM, and Moonblast, which has 95 base power, 100% accuracy, and a 30% chance of lowering the opponent’s Special Attack. Moonblast is kind of odd, in that it’s stronger than Dazzling Gleam in every way and has more PP (15 vs. 10); there’s also how it has 95 BP, when many other special attacks with that power (Surf, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam) were reduced to 90 BP. Definitely an oddity. Dazzling Gleam probably has the lone advantage of better distribution, as it is a TM, but many Fairy-types will learn Moonblast already.

 

Now for some new Fairy-type Pokemon. Here are all the Pokemon that were introduced this generation that are Fairy-type:

 

Flabebe/Floette/Florges: These flower-based Fairy-types that are totally not Grass-type are among the more notable new Pokemon of this type. They have high Special Defense and numerous Grass-type moves, and are solid Pokemon overall. Also, Floette is absolutely adorable. Wish I could say the same for Florges, though, who just looks weird… Also, Flower Veil and Symbiosis are useless in singles, but might be useful in doubles/triples… actually, that’s a thing that will come up a lot.

 

Sylveon: Probably the most notable new Fairy-type, in part because she is the new Eeveelution. Sylveon has an incredible Special Defense and good Special Attack, plus decent HP. She can probably make a solid Calm Mind user with Moonblast and Shadow Ball… and then you might as well have Skill Swap because let’s be honest, you’re probably not going to get a whole lot of mileage out of Cute Charm. Though Sylveon is definitely cute. Probably my favorite of the new Fairy-types.

 

Spritzee/Aromatisse: These aroma-based Pokemon have decent defensive stats and an okay Special Attack, but incredibly low Speed. Their Healer and Aroma Veil abilities, while interesting, are only useful in double/triples; GameFreak does seem to be going for a thing where many of their Fairy-types are to be supporters in multi-battles.

 

Swirlix/Slurpuff: These sugary Pokemon are definitely a jack-of-all-stats, master of none family of Pokemon. Again, Sweet Veil is only useful in doubles/triples, though at least their hidden ability, Unburden, has use in singles. Still not exactly one of the better Fairy-types in the game.

 

Dedenne: Every generation has had a new Pokemon that is some sort of cute electric Pikachu-like rodent, with Pichu in Gen II, Plusle and Minun in III, Pachirisu in IV, and Emolga in V. This generation has Dedenne, who is also part-Fairy and is rather reminiscent of a tinier Raichu. Cute as he is, like others before him, his stats keep him from being a particularly good Pokemon.

 

Carbink: As a Rock/Fairy type, Carbink isn’t weak to Poison but takes quadruple damage from Steel. Carbink’s most notable quality is his stat build that is similar to Shuckle, having a high Base 150 Defense and Special Defense but rather poor base 50 stats elsewhere. There are some uses for this guy, especially if he has his hidden ability Sturdy, as he can set up Stealth Rock pretty reliably. He’s also based on a carbuncle, which is pretty cool.

 

Klefki: Probably my second favorite of the new Fairy-types. Klefki is a Fairy/Steel type, which is cool in that he becomes immune to the Poison-type attacks Fairy is normally weak against, and loses the Steel weakness as well, while Fairy negates Steel’s Fighting weakness. That leaves Fire and Ground as his lone weaknesses. Klefki’s stats aren’t too impressive, but he has one cool trick up his sleeve: Prankster. Prankster is a fun ability that Klefki can definitely put to use, especially with Spikes. That he’s basically an animate keyring is just funny.

 

Xerneas: Naturally, one of the new Legendaries of this game is a Fairy-type. Xerneas has overall high stats with particularly high Attack and Special Attack, and his Fairy Aura ability gives his Fairy-type moves extra power. He has an unusual signature move, Geomancy, which has a charge turn like Solarbeam and Sky Attack, except that rather than attacking, on the next turn, his Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed go up 2 levels each (basically he gets 2 Quiver Dances). It’s probably one of the better charge-turn moves as you can’t just switch in a Pokemon resistant to the incoming attack, though you can interrupt it with Taunt or sleep. Xerneas also has a very pretty design, especially with all the multicolored gems on his antlers. Overall, he’s a cool Legendary.

 

Now for some of the various Pokemon that have become Fairy-type…

 

Cleffa/Clefairy/Clefable: Clefable is one of my favorite Pokemon, and it’s definitely cool, if not expected, that she’d become a Fairy-type. In fact, Clefable completely loses her Normal typing and is a pure Fairy-type. That said, aside from the extra ability to slay Dragons, Clefable still remains cool for her past abilities, namely causing all sorts of havoc with Magic Guard, or potentially messing with stat-boosters with Unaware. As a bonus, Clefable’s Special Attack got a slight boost from base 85 to base 95.

 

Igglybuff/Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff: Unlike Clefable, Wigglytuff has her Fairy-typing added to her Normal-typing. Wigglytuff also gets a slight boost to her Special Attack, from 75 to 85; in addition, she gets another, non-hidden ability, Competitive, which boosts her Special Attack if her stats drop, which is better than Cute Charm at least. Wigglytuff probably isn’t going to rock the competitive scene anytime soon still, but at least her new typing and boosts might make give her more of a role in NU.

 

Mime Jr./Mr. Mime: These mimes’ Psychic/Fairy typing is an interesting one, as Fairy negates Psychic’s Bug and Dark weaknesses, meaning Mr. Mime has less to fear from U-Turn and Pursuit. He’s also a great anti-Fighting-type, and can attempt to hit Poison-types with a super-effective Psychic-type attack. Mr. Mime can potentially make more use of his abilities, too; Soundproof can help as sound-based attacks can otherwise pass through Substitutes, while Technician can be used with Hidden Power, which is now locked at 60 Base Power. Again, probably won’t shake up the metagame too much, but definitely an improvement.

 

Togepi/Togetic/Togekiss: Like Clefable, these Pokemon have their Normal-typing replaced with Fairy, which also makes Togetic and Togekiss Fairy/Flying. This makes them completely immune to the Dragon/Ground combination that is popular with Pokemon like Garchomp. Togekiss is still a favorite Pokemon of mine, and being able to stand up to one of the most monstrous Pokemon of past generations just makes her that much cooler.

 

Azurill/Marill/Azumarill: Now Water/Fairy-type, Azumarill is best known for having Huge Power, which makes her actually incredibly powerful despite a seemingly low Base 50 Attack. (Remember that all stat points from EVs and IVs get boosted as well!) In addition to this, Water/Fairy has surprisingly good neutral coverage, only being resisted by Water/Poison, Water/Steel, Grass/Poison, and Grass/Steel. One additional boost that Azumarill gets is that, because females can now pass down Egg Moves, Azumarill may finally be able to use a Belly Drum + Aqua Jet combo, combining what would be an absolutely terrifying Attack stat with a priority move to absolutely demolish foes. Azumarill may be one of those Pokemon who becomes a favorite of mine after all these little changes.

 

Snubbull/Granbull: Like the Clefairy family, Snubbull and Granbull are classified as Fairy Pokemon in the Pokedex, and as such, they lose their Normal-typing completely to become pure Fairy. Not much has changed with them otherwise. It’s pretty fitting, though, for a pair of bulldogs to like to Play Rough.

 

Ralts/Kirlia/Gardevoir: My 10^th favorite Pokemon of all time pre-Gen VI, Gardevoir gains a Fairy-typing that benefits her quite a bit. Gardevoir’s biggest change, though, is that she gets a Mega Evolution that really buffs up her stats. Gardevoir should easily remain one of my favorite Pokemon of all time, and is definitely my favorite Fairy-type.

 

Mawile: Now a Steel/Fairy type, Mawile is still fairly unremarkable if not for her Mega Evolution, which increases her stats and gives her Huge Power, and running off base 100 Attack to start! Given Mawile’s lack of weaknesses and Intimidate to switch in easier, she can easily get in to Mega Evolve and start wrecking things.

 

Whimsicott: Note that in this case, only Whimsicott gains the additional Fairy-type to become Grass/Fairy; Cottonee is still pure Grass. Also, Whimsicott hasn’t really changed much; she’s still a complete Prankster that would rather mess with the opponent with random priority status moves than attack with her low attacking stats.

 

Arceus: Finally, let’s not forget that Arceus can now become a Fairy-type with a Pixie Plate. In Ubers, which is full of Dragon-types, Fairy Arceus could be a good anti-Dragon Pokemon.

 

There are other old Pokemon that can potentially become Fairy-type (mainly Legendaries), which we will find out when Pokemon Bank is released December 25^th.

 

Overall, I think the Fairy-type is a cool type and a great addition to Pokemon. It’d be nice if there were more notable attacks and some better Pokemon with the typing, as right now most of the best Fairy-types are from older generations. Some further development with this type could help shape it to be one of my favorite types, as there’s already a lot about the mystical nature of Fairy-types that I like conceptually, and there are some potentially interesting dual-types that can come out of this (as already demonstrated with Klefki).

 

For now, though, I’ll just have fun destroying everything with Azumarill and Mega Gardevoir.

 

Next time, we look at what new, interesting dual-types have appeared, and which ones have yet to officially show up still.

XY Ramblings #1: Introduction

In this series, I ramble about different notable things about Pokemon X and Y. (Mainly X, since that's the version I've played and beaten already.)

Overall, I'm enjoying this game a lot. There are definitely things it has improved on compared to last generation, and things that I feel are either a step backwards or just perhaps not really executed that well. Still, it's a good game that I'll definitely enjoy for a good while.

Here are some fun facts about my X version playthrough:

As I have always done starting from Gen III, I played as the female character for my first playthrough. I chose the light-skinned, blonde initial character and named her Karen, after Karen Kujo from the anime series Kin-iro Mosaic. Nicknames for many of my team members are also taken from that show.

My team that beat the Champion was:

- Delphox ("Curry", because curry is spicy)
- Blastoise ("Wataru", because it sounds kind of like Water)
- Florges ("Aya", the most fairy-like of the Kinmosa girls)
- Doublade/Aegislash (never did realize I could use a Dusk Stone to evolve him until after beating the game; "Shinobu" because that's the one name of the five girls that could still be a male name for the male Doublade; justified after fighting a male Black Belt with that name)
- Hawlucha ("Youko", the most energetic of the girls)
- Ampharos ("Alice", because she's golden)

Aegislash and Hawlucha are the top contenders for favorite new Gen VI Pokemon. All the Starters are great as well.

Next time, I will talk about the new type that was introduced this Gen... the mystical Fairy-type!