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.
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