With the advent of each generation, things change. Game Freak decides to make types interact with each other differently or revamps the way moves are classified. But what if we could "freeze" a Pokemon in its debut generation and see how it would interact with the rest of the metagame? If something was a dominant threat back in Generation 1, could it be one again, five generations later?
At A Glance
Winners
Hidden Power - 60 base power coverage doesn't sound too exciting, but for Pokemon from Generations 1-3, it does grant some usefulness. Take Scizor for instance, who can now augment Hidden Power with Technician and give itself the relevant coverage it wants.
Generation 1 Psychics - You read that right: Psychic is only weak to Bug. This means they can't be Pursuit-trapped anymore and Knock Off does neutral damage. Unfortunately they lose out on hitting Dark-types SE unless they can attack with Bug or Fighting, which are physical for them.
Bulky Steels - As long as it's not from Generation 6, Steel goes back to resisting Ghost and Dark. Who's afraid of Knock Off now? Unfortunately, they also lose their resistance to Fairy and Gen 1 Pokemon take neutral damage from their STAB (Aerodactyl is smiling somewhere), but the utility they bring back to the metagame is greatly appreciated.
Better STAB - Hurricane Dragonite. Earth Power and Sludge Wave Nidoking. Focus Blast Machamp. Now these moves hit off their higher attacking stat, requiring new checks and counters or just putting more pressure on their old ones now that they hit harder.
Gen 6 Fairies - All Steel, Poison, and Fire types before Gen 6 no longer resist Fairy, which means some of their old checks are gone. As long as you run coverage for Gen 6 resists, or use a teammate to clear them, these guys might prove to be the biggest threats to the metagame.
Losers
Hidden Power - You win some, you lose some. Hidden Power coverage is split for some Pokemon, which means Ground is no longer an option on special attackers to hit Heatran for example.
Some Ghost and Dark-types - The fact that you can't hit some Gen 1 Pokemon SE anymore with your STAB is a letdown. Plus, Gen 1-3 Ghosts need to be physical while Gen 1-3 Darks need to be special to take advantage of pre-split mechanics, and typically those roles are reversed. The reactivated NVE hits on almost every Steel-type adds insult to injury.
Wrong Side of the Split - These Pokemon have reduced or non-existent STAB to work with now. Gengar's Ghost/Poison hit physically. Crawdaunt's Dark/Water hit specially. At least Azumarill keeps physical Play Rough ... until you remember it's not Fairy anymore! They will need to adapt new roles or they will be left behind.
Retro-typed - Just when you thought your new typing was going to give you an edge in life, the rug is pulled out and you're back where you started. At least that's how Clefable, the Rotom formes, and Togekiss feel right now. Maybe they can turn things around and put that old typing back into action?
METAMONS
Every Pokemon reverts to the type chart of its debut generation.
At A Glance
- When a Pokemon is attacking:
- Generations 1-3 are bound by the pre-Physical/Special split.
- Generations 4-6 are bound by the post-Physical/Special split.
- When a Pokemon is defending:
- Generation 1 is bound by the Gen 1 Type Chart.
- Generations 2-5 are bound by the Gen 2-5 Type Chart.
- Generation 6 is bound by the current Gen 6 Type Chart.
- Defending Pokemon take precedence, so for example Gen 1 Psychics are immune to Ghost regardless of what generation the attacker comes from.
- By extension, if a type didn't exist yet during that Pokemon's generation, it takes neutral damage from that type. For example, this means Gen 1 Pokemon take neutral damage from Dark, Steel, and Fairy attacks, which didn't exist yet.
- All other current (Gen 6) mechanics apply, like abilities/weather/individual type mechanics like powder, etc.
- Mega Pokemon are all currently considered Gen 6, which means you gain that type chart the same turn you mega evolve.
- If a Pokemon was retyped, it reverts to the original typing it had at its creation. This doesn't affect anything else, like retyped moves.
Gen 1 - All Pokemon introduced this generation defend with this chart. They take neutral damage from Dark, Steel, and Fairy.
Gen 2-5 - All Pokemon introduced these generations defend with this chart. They take neutral damage from Fairy.
Gen 6 (current) - All Pokemon introduced this generation defend with this chart:
Pre-split Move Classifications - Affects Pokemon introduced Gens 1-3 when attacking:
Physical moves:

Gen 2-5 - All Pokemon introduced these generations defend with this chart. They take neutral damage from Fairy.

Gen 6 (current) - All Pokemon introduced this generation defend with this chart:

Pre-split Move Classifications - Affects Pokemon introduced Gens 1-3 when attacking:
Physical moves:
- Normal
- Fighting
- Flying
- Ground
- Rock
- Bug
- Ghost
- Poison
- Steel
- Water
- Grass
- Fire
- Ice
- Electric
- Psychic
- Dragon
- Dark
Winners
Hidden Power - 60 base power coverage doesn't sound too exciting, but for Pokemon from Generations 1-3, it does grant some usefulness. Take Scizor for instance, who can now augment Hidden Power with Technician and give itself the relevant coverage it wants.












Losers
Hidden Power - You win some, you lose some. Hidden Power coverage is split for some Pokemon, which means Ground is no longer an option on special attackers to hit Heatran for example.









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