Okay, guy, a Pokémon with only one type in its movepool is not only very unrealistic (this isn't gen 1 anymore), but WILL be unviable.Name: Monotyped Movepool Menace
Description: This Pokemon, while fully competitive, has access to only one typing in its movepool.
Justification: It has been a significant amount of time since the Create-A-Pokemon Project has undergone an unconventional concept. Necturna was certainly unique with a concept based around Sketch, which ended up being an excellent process full of discussions on balancing a Pokemon that could potentially break the metagame. Similarly, through creating a Pokemon with only one typing available in its movepool, we will need to carefully discuss the actualization of a Pokemon that is both correctly balanced while fully competitive.
Questions To Be Answered:
Explanation: At the risk of dissecting the current state of the Create-A-Pokemon Project, I feel that the past several concepts have played it a bit safe within the CAP Process. That is certainly not a bad thing ― we have learned a significant amount from our previous creations! But through pushing the boundaries of what the CAP Process can accommodate, I feel that we will stumble into some meaningful conversations that will be both memorable and revealing. Giving ourselves a specific constraint will open up our discussions in new and unique ways previously unavailable.
- Basic: Which movepool typings are inherently strong? Which ones are inherently weak? How much does STAB play into this? How much do support moves play into this?
- Basic: Which movepool typings allow Pokemon to "cover" their inherent weaknesses? Which abilities can help mitigate these shortcomings? How does a Pokemon find competitive flexibility when it is inherently restricted?
- Intermediate: Which movepool typings are hard-walled by competitive Pokemon in the metagame? Would overcoming these walls result in our creation being overpowered? Does a Pokemon with significant constraints need a counter?
- Intermediate: How much do stats play into the viability of a manually stunted Pokemon? Do stats need to be skewed significantly in order to compensate for a lack of variety? If so, in what way? If not, are balanced stats valued in the current metagame?
- Advanced: Will a Pokemon with only one typing in its movepool give rise to any specific underused counters? Is this beneficial to the metagame as a whole? Are there specific Pokemon that we can increase the viability of through the creation of this Pokemon?
- Advanced: In what ways can a Pokemon find competitive viability when it has a limited movepool? What characteristics make a Pokemon inherently viable in a metagame?
Initially, it may be tempting to "crunch the numbers" and determine the best typing to give a Pokemon with only one type accessible in its movepool. However, I believe we will have a much more hefty discussion attempting to balance our creation within the constraints of our movepool. Selecting the ideal typing may not allow us to buff the Pokemon's other attributes, resulting in a Pokemon that while powerful, is neither powerful nor meaningful enough to thrive in the metagame. Through carefully discussing and selecting a single movepool typing, we will set on the much more complicated and enjoyable task of finding the right balance on such an artificially restricted Pokemon.
Note that the concept is left extremely open-ended. The typing we choose for our Pokemon's movepool may not be STAB. Our creation may have two typings. This Pokemon may even, through our own admission, have a few moves that are not within the typing of its movepool. But all of these points, particularly the last one, excite me from a creation standpoint. If we have made it to the place in our conversations that we have deemed it IMPOSSIBLE to create a competitively balanced and viable Pokemon with only a single type movepool, that means that our discussions went so in-depth, that they exhausted all other possible options. I feel that this concept will find interesting twists and turns at each step of the process, despite the constraints it puts on the process. There is much to discuss through the selection of an unconventional concept such as this one at each and every competitive stage, from deciding the solitary movepool typing down to the inclusions and omissions of its movepool.
As a final note, I encourage you to re-read the questions listed above: they are specifically designed to demonstrate intrigue and the depth of discussion available through the concept. Thank you for reading!
Unless we give it, like, Scrappy Boomburst with Mega Rayquaza's stats.
It could MAYBE become a wall that doesn't really need moves, but then you're taking away the purpose of only having 1 type available in your movepool.
Also, Hidden Power called.