Underutilised type combinations

[QuentinQuonce]

Including single-typed Pokemon, there are 171 different possible type combinations in the series. By this point nearly all of them have been used, but with over a thousand different Pokemon in existence, inevitably some type pairings get used more than once - and some much more than once. There are loads of Normal/Flying Pokemon, for instance (it's literally the most common dual-typing there is) and so we've seen lots of variations on that particular theme - some are bulky, some are frail; some are slow, some are fast; some are strong, some are weak.

I'm actually fine with type pairings being done over and over as long as the new designs are creative and mechanically distinct. Obviously it's a bit of a recurring joke that we're all tired of Fire/Fighting starter Pokemon, but if you actually look at the way Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar operate it's quite clear that they're very different takes on the same idea (even before Blaziken got a mega evolution).

But some type pairings haven't been used particularly often - some have only been done once for a single Pokemon, while others have been done more than once but only for a particular evolutionary line. Some type combinations have only been used for legendary Pokemon; some type combinations have only been used for temporary in-battle forms. And this has left some of them feeling rather underexplored. Which types do you think have scope to be paired up again?

Note that I'm not talking about type combinations that are currently unused - obviously those are underutilised, don't bring those into the discussion. This is also not a wishlisting thread - I'm not asking how individual Pokemon could be improved or fan-crafting new Pokemon.

I'll get the ball rolling with a few examples which come to mind.

Poison/Flying

It might surprise a few people to learn that this type combination is, and always has been, exclusive to the Zubat line throughout all nine generations. Because it's a pairing which just seems like it'd have been done more than once - Poison and Flying are both really common types so it's surprising this particular combination hasn't been used more frequently than it has. Zubat is iconic, sure, but that's never stopped Game Freak from repeating type combinations (or even design concepts) before - I'm not saying another Poison/Flying Pokemon would have to be a bat, but equally there's no reason they couldn't just... make another bat Pokemon.

Regardless, I think this is a type combination that could stand to be explored a bit more. It's defensively pretty sound - Crobat isn't a bulky titan, but a Pokemon of this typing with better defenses could be something of a wall under the right conditions. And while I did just say "they could do another bat", there's all manner of other poisonous airborne creatures to choose from: butterflies, spiders, roaches, flies. There are even some poisonous birds!

After nine generations I definitely think this one could stand to see a little more exploration.

Normal/Water

Normal actually has the most unused combinations, but most of the pairings it has had have been used more than once (Grass, Psychic, Dragon, Ground, Fairy, Dark). Except this one. Which stands out, as Normal and Water are the two most abundant types. Surely they'd cross over more than once?

Bibarel's a meme, but I'd like to see a Normal/Water mon with actually good stats - a proper top-tier species. A lot of dual-Normals are a bit rubbish, but we've had quite a few great ones in recent games: Drampa, Cyclizar, Pyroar, Arboliva, Grafaiai, Ursaluna, H-Zoroark, Obstagoon. Time for another Normal/Water mon, I think.

Ghost/Poison

The thing about this one is that Gengar received both a mega evolution and a Gigantamax form, slightly muddying the "no new Pokemon of this type" trend over the years. But until Pecharunt's release last year, Ghost/Poison was exclusive to the Gastly line. Again, slightly surprising since Ghost and Poison feel like types that should overlap more frequently than they do - it's wild to me that the most common pairing with Ghost isn't Dark or Psychic or Dragon or even Fire, but instead is... Grass.

And in fairness, the Gastly line's melding of poisonous and ghostly tactics is well-used in their lore, so I can see why another Ghost/Poison Pokemon might feel like it was stepping on their toes somewhat. But that's all the more reason to try! I'd like to see someone give it a shot and create another Ghost/Poison species that feels wholly distinct. A common theme with each of these typings has been that the sole Pokemon they have are all iconic and/or popular ones - but hey, Pikachu's an Electric-type and that hasn't stopped us from getting more of those.

Dragon/Fairy

This one doesn't even exist anymore so it's technically an unused typing now. Altaria did it well. But Dragon and Fairy feel so starkly set apart - like Fire and Water - that it feels almost hilariously out of place to pair them.

Again, there's a slight sense that another Pokemon of this typing might feel like a Mega Altaria rerun - it's hard to imagine a Dragon/Fairy that isn't a fluffy bouncy tubby ball of joy and love. Which is why I think there's room to go way in the other direction! Give us a Dragon/Fairy that's tough as nails and monstrous in appearance and utterly horrible. We've seen a lot of creative Dragon dual-types in recent games (Turtonator, Dragapult, Kommo-o, Hydrapple, Baxcalibur) and I think that'll continue - so my hope is that we get another go with this typing.



Which type pairings do you think haven't yet been used to their fullest extent?

 

[R_N]

Rock/Grass has only been on the Lileep line and Ogerpon (Cornerstone), which is a smidge surprising. They're "opposites" but it's all fairly connected. Plants growing out of stuff like concrete and rocks is a fairly common sight, as is growing over rocky cliffs and such, that alone feels ripe for several different concepts.

Ground/Grass is, likewise, shockingly underutilized. It's Torterra (specifically Torterra) and the Toedscool line. Plants kinda...grow out of that stuff so it feels like it would be way more common than it is.

 

[Worldie]

it's hard to imagine a Dragon/Fairy that isn't a fluffy bouncy tubby ball of joy and love

Come forth, blue eyes white dr--- oh wait

 

[RocketSurgery]

Oh great, this thread is perfect for something I wanted to point out but didn't really fit in the annoyed/liked threads:

SV killed a lot of unique types.

This is obviously bound to happen as we run out of unused type combinations, but it felt like SV really stepped on the gas for handing out previously unique type combos.

Just off the top of my head:

Fighting/Ghost. Previously held by Marshadow, Annihilape had the gall to copy the gloomdweller, who didn't even make it into SV beyond Raifort's hairpin! (Fun fact, in GO Annihilape debuted first, making it the first fighting/ghost in that game).

Ghost/Fairy. Previously held by Mimikyu, now of course overshadowed by Flutter Mane. I know a lot of people thought the Misdreavus line should have been retconned to ghost/fairy in Gen 6 (which was never going to happen because even still GF has yet to make a Pokemon that has 4 immunities through type and ability, aside From the special case of Shedinja), so Flutter Mane feels deserved.

Ghost/Steel. Formerly exclusive to the Honedge line, now held by Ghodengo. Just like Annihilape, Gholdengo beats the originator of its type to Pokemon GO, where the Honedge line is still not available.

Poison/Ghost: As mentioned already, unique to the Gastly line for 8(.5?) generations, now shared with Pecharunt.

Poison/Psychic: introduced last gen to the Galarian Slowbro and Slowking line, it is now shared with Munkidori.

Poison/Fairy: introduced with Galarian Weezing last gen, now shared with Fezandipiti.

Of the loyal 3 and pecharunt, only Okidogi didn't claim a previously unique type, since Poison/Fighting is held by the Croakgunk and Hisuin Sneasel lines.

Fighting/Dragon: previously the Jangmo-o line, now shared with the box legend of Scarlet, Koraidon.

Normal/Dragon: once Drampa's claim to fame, now shared with the raidons' vanilla vrtsion,Cyclizar.

Ice/dragon: previously unique to Kyurem and its forms, now shared with the Frigibax line. Relatedly, last gen killed a few other legendary unique type combos: Dragapult rendered Ghost/dragon non-unique (previously held by Giratina) as well as Duraludon taking Dragon/Steel (previously Dialga, of course, and then also given to Hisuian Goodra). SwSh also introduced another Dragon/Electric in Dracozolt, though Mega Ampharos had previously already taken the type from Zekrom.

Fire/Poison: previously the salazzle line, now shared with Iron Moth.

Ground/Electric, once stunfisk's, now shared with Sandy shocks.

Ground/dark: previously exclusive to the Sandile line, now shared with Ting-lu.

Ice/dark: previously exclusive to the Weavile line, now also held by Chien-pao.

Rock/Psychic: technically not unique since Solrock and Lunatone aren't evolutionary relatives, but Iron Boulder is the first mon outside of those version counterparts to take on the type.

Grass/water, grass/rock, and grass/fire: Noted already, but funny that Ogerpon's 3 mask forms all had a previously unique type, previously held by the Lotad line, Lileep line, and Scovillian, who didn't even last a whole generation with its unique type combo!

Honorable mentions:

Pawmo/Pawmot and Iron Hands, who both had Electric/Fighting at the same time.

Blaze breed Tauros: while fire/fighting is not unique, this was the first non-starter to have the type!

There's probably a few more that I didn't remember off the top of my head, and hopefully I didn't forget about some previous mon that already gave out some of the types in the list above.

I think Ghost may have previously held the most unique type combinations, but with SV handing 4 previously unique ghost combos out all at once (and gen 8 also handing out ghost/dragon and ghost/water), that may not be the case any more. There are still a few unique ghost combos: ghost/normal (hisuian zorua/zoroark), ghost/electric (rotom), ghost/ice (froslass), ghost/bug (shedinja), and the yet to exist ghost/rock mon.

I expect GF is going to be using underused type combos a lot more in the coming games as they try to not blow through the rest of the unused combos. (And I would rather they do that than introduce new types to extend the number of new combos for a few more gens)

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Oh great, this thread is perfect for something I wanted to point out but didn't really fit in the annoyed/liked threads:

SV killed a lot of unique types.

This is obviously bound to happen as we run out of unused type combinations, but it felt like SV really stepped on the gas for handing out previously unique type combos.

Just off the top of my head:

Fighting/Ghost. Previously held by Marshadow, Annihilape had the gall to copy the gloomdweller, who didn't even make it into SV beyond Raifort's hairpin! (Fun fact, in GO Annihilape debuted first, making it the first fighting/ghost in that game).

Ghost/Fairy. Previously held by Mimikyu, now of course overshadowed by Flutter Mane. I know a lot of people thought the Misdreavus line should have been retconned to ghost/fairy in Gen 6 (which was never going to happen because even still GF has yet to make a Pokemon that has 4 immunities through type and ability), so Flutter Mane feels deserved.

Ghost/Steel. Formerly exclusive to the Honedge line, now held by Ghodengo. Just like Annihilape, Gholdengo beats the originator of its type to Pokemon GO, where the Honedge line is still not available.

Poison/Ghost: As mentioned already, unique to the Gastly line for 8(.5?) generations, now shared with Pecharunt.

Poison/Psychic: introduced last gen to the Galarian Slowbro and Slowking line, it is now shared with Munkidori.

Poison/Fairy: introduced with Galarian Weezing last gen, now shared with Fezandipiti.

Of the loyal 3 and pecharunt, only Okidogi didn't claim a previously unique type, since Poison/Fighting is held by the Croakgunk and Hisuin Sneasel lines.

Fighting/Dragon: previously the Jangmo-o line, now shared with the box legend of Scarlet, Koraidon.

Normal/Dragon: once Drampa's claim to fame, now shared with the raidons' vanilla vrtsion,Cyclizar.

Ice/dragon: previously unique to Kyurem and its forms, now shared with the Frigibax line. Relatedly, last gen killed a few other legendary unique type combos: Dragapult rendered Ghost/dragon non-unique (previously held by Giratina) as well as Duraludon taking Dragon/Steel (previously Dialga, of course, and then also given to Hisuian Goodra). SwSh also introduced another Dragon/Electric in Dracozolt, though Mega Ampharos had previously already taken the type from Zekrom.

Fire/Poison: previously the salazzle line, now shared with Iron Moth.

Ground/Electric, once stunfisk's, now shared with Sandy shocks.

Ground/dark: previously exclusive to the Sandile line, now shared with Ting-lu.

Ice/dark: previously exclusive to the Weavile line, now also held by Chien-pao.

Rock/Psychic: technically not unique since Solrock and Lunatone aren't evolutionary relatives, but Iron Boulder is the first mon outside of those version counterparts to take on the type.

Grass/water, grass/rock, and grass/fire: Noted already, but funny that Ogerpon's 3 mask forms all had a previously unique type, previously held by the Lotad line, Lileep line, and Scovillian, who didn't even last a whole generation with its unique type combo!

Honorable mentions:

Pawmo/Pawmot and Iron Hands, who both had Electric/Fighting at the same time.

Blaze breed Tauros: while fire/fighting is not unique, this was the first non-starter to have the type!

There's probably a few more that I didn't remember off the top of my head, and hopefully I didn't forget about some previous mon that already gave out some of the types in the list above.

I think Ghost may have previously held the most unique type combinations, but with SV handing 4 previously unique ghost combos out all at once (and gen 8 also handing out ghost/dragon and ghost/water), that may not be the case any more. There are still a few unique ghost combos: ghost/normal (hisuian zorua/zoroark), ghost/electric (rotom), ghost/ice (froslass), ghost/bug (shedinja), and the yet to exist ghost/rock mon.

I expect GF is going to be using underused type combos a lot more in the coming games as they try to not blow through the rest of the unused combos. (And I would rather they do that than introduce new types to extend the number of new combos for a few more gens)

Wow, I never noticed exactly how many unique combinations ScVi reused but this is, indeed, quite a lot.

I've always found it mildly interesting that there's a lot of precedent for legendaries debuting unique type combinations which eventually get picked up by non-legendaries (which I guess isn't really surprising when you think about it as legendary typings do tend to be more "exotic", for lack of a better word, and they're hugely marketable Pokemon so it often serves a purpose for them to be a new and untried typing). Ones I can bring to mind:

Dialga>Duraludon
Reshiram>Turtonator
Zekrom>Dracozolt
Giratina>Dreepy
Kyurem>Frigibax
Meloetta-Pirouette>Mega Lopunny/Stufful
Marshadow>Annihilape
Tornadus-T>Rookidee
Rotom-Mow and Rotom-Frost (if you consider Rotom a legendary, which varies from canon to canon)>Hisuian Voltorb and Arctozolt
Articuno>Delibird
Zapdos>Emolga
Nihilego (if Ultra Beasts are considered legendaries, which they functionally basically are)>Glimmet

Terrakion, Heatran, and Volcanion still currently have unique combinations; Hoopa, Lunala, and Spectrier all share the same type combination (but the combination itself remains exclusive to legendary Pokemon). Any others?

edit: Oh yeah, Latias & Latios. Realised just as I hit the button

 

[R_N]

Wow, I never noticed exactly how many unique combinations ScVi reused but this is, indeed, quite a lot.

I've always found it mildly interesting that there's a lot of precedent for legendary Pokemon debuting a unique type combination which eventually get picked up by non-legendary Pokemon (which I guess isn't really surprising when you think about it as legendary typings do tend to be more "exotic", for lack of a better word, and they're hugely marketable Pokemon so it often serves a purpose for them to be a new and untried typing). Ones I can bring to mind:

Dialga>Duraludon
Reshiram>Turtonator
Zekrom>Dracozolt
Giratina>Dreepy
Kyurem>Frigibax
Meloetta-Pirouette>Mega Lopunny/Stufful
Marshadow>Annihilape
Tornadus-T>Rookidee
Rotom-Mow and Rotom-Frost (if you consider Rotom a legendary, which varies from canon to canon)>Hisuian Voltorb and Arctozolt
Articuno>Delibird
Zapdos>Emolga
Nihilego (if Ultra Beasts are considered legendaries, which they functionally basically are)>Glimmet

Terrakion, Heatran, and Volcanion still currently have unique combinations; Hoopa, Lunala, and Spectrier all share the same type combination (but the combination itself remains exclusive to legendary Pokemon). Any others?

edit: Oh yeah, Latias & Latios. Realised just as I hit the button

I dont think Rotom has ever been considered a legendary anywhere? It played the Legendary encounter music in DP but that's it (& they played the regular encounter music for Shaymin and Cresselia....). As far as I can remember its consistently treated as a regular -albeit somewhat special- Pokemon otherwise.

Rock/Fighting's definitely one of those types that feels like it'd see at least one more use by this point. The two types aren't that opposed in concept, you know?

 

[QuentinQuonce]

I dont think Rotom has ever been considered a legendary anywhere? It played the Legendary encounter music in DP but that's it (& they played the regular encounter music for Shaymin and Cresselia....). As far as I can remember its consistently treated as a regular -albeit somewhat special- Pokemon otherwise.

Rock/Fighting's definitely one of those types that feels like it'd see at least one more use by this point. The two types aren't that opposed in concept, you know?

I believe that in the Adventures manga Rotom is explicitly considered a legendary (translations may differ, but I recall it being a plot point in the Platinum chapter). I wasn't sure if the same was ever true of the anime.

It's probably been retconned at some point since then given the way Rotom has become more ordinary over time.

 

[Worldie]

Considering in latest entryes we see Rotoms used even to just make phones and camera, I am somewhat confident they're not supposed to be legendary pokemon and not even "rare" pokemon that's sure

 

[R_N]

Even back in Gen 4 Rotom never gets the legendary moniker otherwise (Phione, meanwhile, had a bunch of stupid back & forth with TPCi's websites) so if Adventures really did that, seems like a mess up on their part (assuming it wasnt a translation error).


But we're drifting here.

I still think the Rotom types are notable since they were otherwise tied to swappable (albeit quasi-permanent!) forms that didn't even have it to begin with. So it was neat to see the Voltorb & Arctozolt lines take another crack at them.
Likewise I thought it was nice that there was a quick turn around on Fire/Psychic from Zen Mode to Braixen/Delphox. Maybe one day we'll get a normal Fire/Ice Pokemon but at least that one's a little more finnicky to work with so hard to call it "underutilized" heh...

Dragon/Psychic, though. Dragons always get their power emphasized in various ways, so seems like adding strong mental powers would be an easy match.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Considering in latest entryes we see Rotoms used even to just make phones and camera, I am somewhat confident they're not supposed to be legendary pokemon and not even "rare" pokemon that's sure

As I said

It's probably been retconned at some point since then given the way Rotom has become more ordinary over time.

Anyway yeah back on track. Couple of other ones: Ground/Fighting has only just been done (Great Tusk) but similar to Rock/Fighting feels like one that should have been done sooner/more widely. Mud wrestling is a thing, after all.

Another Ground pairing that's been unique for almost the entire length of the series is Ground/Ice - it technically got an addition when Mamoswine was added in Gen IV, but it's still been entirely the province of the Swinub line. Ground and Ice aren't miles apart conceptually so it seems funny it's never been used again.

 

[bdt2002]

I understand that Fire/Fighting starter Pokémon have been the focus of many jokes and criticisms over time, but I’m going to go on record and say that I actually really like this combination and wish we had more of them.

In the OP for this thread QuentinQuonce how all of Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar were designed and operate differently, and I would like to respectfully both agree and disagree with that. On paper, yes, their base stats play out that way- Blaziken’s the all-arounder of the trio with a slightly higher physical Attack stat than special, Infernape is the dedicated speedy mixed attacker of the group, and Emboar is the physical rank, the “brute” of the trio with low Speed and the highest HP and physical Attack. In practice, though, this falls apart a bit, at least for me. Archetypially (how do you spell that word?), these three aren’t that different, and they have a lot in common with their movepool too. In Gens 5 and 6 you even get physical STAB Flame Charge to help bridge that Speed gap a bit as an added bonus. They all learn a Fighting-Type move immediately upon their first evolution (two of the three being multi-hit moves), and they all reach their final stage at Level 36.

In more recent years we’ve seen a resurgence from another Type combination that, as of Gen 9, is the first type combination since Fire/Fighting to have back to back fully evolved starters with it, those being Hisuian Typhlosion and Skeledirge with the Fire/Ghost typing. It remains to be seen if Legends ZA or the inevitable Gen 10 games will also have one of these, but the key difference here is twofold. Not only do Hisuian Typhlosion and Skeledirge operate “more differently” than the Fire/Fighting trio, but there are also Fire/Ghost Pokémon that are not starter Pokémon. Paldea’s roster of newly added Pokémon even has a second one in Ceruledge, and the developers noticeably had the foresight to make it and Skeledridge two completely different Pokémon as far as their stats are concerned, being the first physical attacker with this type combination we’ve seen.

I think what I’m trying to say in this post is that Fire/Fighting is an underutilized type combination outside of the starter Pokémon role, if that makes sense. I think it says a lot about this typing’s reputation when, at least so far, the developers haven’t even tried to make a new Fire/Fighting Pokémon that’s not a starter, and even Incineroar was made a Fire/Dark-Type instead. Fire/Fighting trying to go the route Fire/Ghost is now would only be a positive in my opinion, though even I have to admit some of my feelings about this come from not wanting too many Pokémon to feel like “clones” of older Pokémon in the same way you may have clone characters in a fighting game.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

I understand that Fire/Fighting starter Pokémon have been the focus of many jokes and criticisms over time, but I’m going to go on record and say that I actually really like this combination and wish we had more of them.

In the OP for this thread QuentinQuonce how all of Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar were designed and operate differently, and I would like to respectfully both agree and disagree with that. On paper, yes, their base stats play out that way- Blaziken’s the all-arounder of the trio with a slightly higher physical Attack stat than special, Infernape is the dedicated speedy mixed attacker of the group, and Emboar is the physical rank, the “brute” of the trio with low Speed and the highest HP and physical Attack. In practice, though, this falls apart a bit, at least for me. Archetypially (how do you spell that word?), these three aren’t that different, and they have a lot in common with their movepool too. In Gens 5 and 6 you even get physical STAB Flame Charge to help bridge that Speed gap a bit as an added bonus. They all learn a Fighting-Type move immediately upon their first evolution (two of the three being multi-hit moves), and they all reach their final stage at Level 36.

In more recent years we’ve seen a resurgence from another Type combination that, as of Gen 9, is the first type combination since Fire/Fighting to have back to back fully evolved starters with it, those being Hisuian Typhlosion and Skeledirge with the Fire/Ghost typing. It remains to be seen if Legends ZA or the inevitable Gen 10 games will also have one of these, but the key difference here is twofold. Not only do Hisuian Typhlosion and Skeledirge operate “more differently” than the Fire/Fighting trio, but there are also Fire/Ghost Pokémon that are not starter Pokémon. Paldea’s roster of newly added Pokémon even has a second one in Ceruledge, and the developers noticeably had the foresight to make it and Skeledridge two completely different Pokémon as far as their stats are concerned, being the first physical attacker with this type combination we’ve seen.

I think what I’m trying to say in this post is that Fire/Fighting is an underutilized type combination outside of the starter Pokémon role, if that makes sense. I think it says a lot about this typing’s reputation when, at least so far, the developers haven’t even tried to make a new Fire/Fighting Pokémon that’s not a starter, and even Incineroar was made a Fire/Dark-Type instead. Fire/Fighting trying to go the route Fire/Ghost is now would only be a positive in my opinion, though even I have to admit some of my feelings about this come from not wanting too many Pokémon to feel like “clones” of older Pokémon in the same way you may have clone characters in a fighting game.

Okay so I'm gonna gently push back against this:

I don't think "they all learn the same moves" is really justification to say that Pokemon of the same type are too similar. Pokemon of the same type are going to mostly learn the same moves, that's... kind of a given. There are only so many moves of a given type after all. It's usually the other moves they learn that distinguish them more. Seaking is differentiated from other Water-types by its access to moves like Megahorn, Poison Jab, and Horn Drill; Staraptor is differentiated from most bird Pokemon by learning Close Combat. I think when you look at Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar there's plenty that sets them apart other than "they all learn Flame Charge" (which Blaziken and Infernape hardly need in any case).

Even leaving aside the fact that each of the three learns moves of their own type the others don't (Emboar and Infernape can't learn Sky Uppercut or High Jump Kick, Blaziken and Infernape can't learn Arm Thrust or Hammer Arm, Emboar can't learn Double Kick) there's plenty of other mechanical differences and divergences in their learnsets - Emboar has a thematical focus on weight-based and/or recoil moves and is the only one of the trio to get Scald, Infernape is a substantially better mixed sweeper than the other two, and Blaziken gets an extremely powerful Hidden Ability as well as a mega evolution.

Of course archetypally they're all pretty similar, and of course all three evolve at the same level: they're starter Pokemon after all (yes I know starters do not all evolve at the exact same time, but it's not like they're ever going to drastically differ - they all evolve in the mid-to-late teens and then again in the early-to-mid thirties).

And that's before getting into the fact that all three Pokemon are based on very different animals, which was part of the point I was initially going for - it's not like they just recycled the same concept twice. The well-noted fatigue with Fire/Fighting came more from the fact that Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar came in succession: if they'd been the starter Pokemon of gen I, gen IV, and gen IX it'd hardly have felt as notable.

 

[Scorpio]

Even back in Gen 4 Rotom never gets the legendary moniker otherwise (Phione, meanwhile, had a bunch of stupid back & forth with TPCi's websites) so if Adventures really did that, seems like a mess up on their part (assuming it wasnt a translation error).


But we're drifting here.

I still think the Rotom types are notable since they were otherwise tied to swappable (albeit quasi-permanent!) forms that didn't even have it to begin with. So it was neat to see the Voltorb & Arctozolt lines take another crack at them.
Likewise I thought it was nice that there was a quick turn around on Fire/Psychic from Zen Mode to Braixen/Delphox. Maybe one day we'll get a normal Fire/Ice Pokemon but at least that one's a little more finnicky to work with so hard to call it "underutilized" heh...

Dragon/Psychic, though. Dragons always get their power emphasized in various ways, so seems like adding strong mental powers would be an easy match.

Speaking of Rotom we still have yet to see Electric/Fire on another Pokémon

 

[R_N]

Speaking of Rotom we still have yet to see Electric/Fire on another Pokémon

Which is also one that seems like it'd be more common! Electricity causes fires in all kinds of scenarios, feels like a type combo that would have at least 2 other lines attached to it.

 

[Hugin]

So, here's the relevant Bulbapedia link. Some thoughts:
Mono-types are still really common, with only pure-flying having fewer than 12 members, and only 3 type combos(Normal/Flying, Poison/Grass, and Flying/Bug) having more than 12 members.
Electric deserves better. A LOT of the one-off and two-off types are electric and basically just random gimmick mons. This seems odd, maybe it's because GF is so obsessed with making Pikachu again, but they just haven't explored the Electric design space much.
Dragon/Psychic would be cool to have on a non-legendary.

 

[R_N]

So, here's the relevant Bulbapedia link. Some thoughts:
Mono-types are still really common, with only pure-flying having fewer than 12 members, and only 3 type combos(Normal/Flying, Poison/Grass, and Flying/Bug) having more than 12 members.
Electric deserves better. A LOT of the one-off and two-off types are electric and basically just random gimmick mons. This seems odd, maybe it's because GF is so obsessed with making Pikachu again, but they just haven't explored the Electric design space much.
Dragon/Psychic would be cool to have on a non-legendary.

As always it's fun to see things like this and see how typings you thought were super common kind of...aren't quite as common as you'd think. Like Normal/Flying and Bug/Flying, certainly they rank much higher than other dual types but if you look at the breakdown over generations...

 

[QuentinQuonce]

So, here's the relevant Bulbapedia link. Some thoughts:
Mono-types are still really common, with only pure-flying having fewer than 12 members, and only 3 type combos(Normal/Flying, Poison/Grass, and Flying/Bug) having more than 12 members.
Electric deserves better. A LOT of the one-off and two-off types are electric and basically just random gimmick mons. This seems odd, maybe it's because GF is so obsessed with making Pikachu again, but they just haven't explored the Electric design space much.
Dragon/Psychic would be cool to have on a non-legendary.

Dragon/Psychic would be a cool type for a pseudo-legendary (I'm actually really intrigued by the idea of a Dragon/Normal pseudo) but given that it's potentially quite an overpowered typing it'd be interesting to see a Druddigon-esque Dragon/Psychic Pokemon.

 

[Hugin]

As always it's fun to see things like this and see how typings you thought were super common kind of...aren't quite as common as you'd think. Like Normal/Flying and Bug/Flying, certainly they rank much higher than other dual types but if you look at the breakdown over generations...

Rock/Ground is the one I go back to. Fewer than the number of Rock/Water mons, same as the number of Psychic/Flying mons, and no new lines since Gen II. But Geodude is everywhere so it's considered boring.

 

[CTNC]

Rock/Ground is the one I go back to. Fewer than the number of Rock/Water mons, same as the number of Psychic/Flying mons, and no new lines since Gen II. But Geodude is everywhere so it's considered boring.

Really?!

*checks*

Wow. Ground went from the default secondary typing for Rock types to have to actually kind of rare... Grass/Poison has a less extreme version of the situation. It was the default secondary type in Gen 1, no new Grass/Poison in Gen 2, Gen 3 had Roselia and its Gen 4 introduced the rest of its evolution chain, then Gen 5 had Amoonguss as the last Grass/Poison type.

 

[Blue glass]

That Ghost after Poison is the secondary typing more associated with Grass is really surprising. Haunted forest vibes. There is no Fire/ Fairy mon too, probably they are saving it for a starter. Electric/ Steel feels like it should be explorered more too.

 

[Ernesto]

That Ghost after Poison is the secondary typing more associated with Grass is really surprising. Haunted forest vibes. There is no Fire/ Fairy mon too, probably they are saving it for a starter.

Grass/Ghost went from being unused the first five gens to overcrowded (first with the Pumpkaboo and Phantump lines in XY, then Decidueye and Dhelmise in SM and now the Bramblin and Poltchageist lines in SV), it's remarkable how they make those decisions.

Dragon/Psychic would be a cool type for a pseudo-legendary (I'm actually really intrigued by the idea of a Dragon/Normal pseudo) but given that it's potentially quite an overpowered typing it'd be interesting to see a Druddigon-esque Dragon/Psychic Pokemon.

It'd also be cool if they went back to trying other types instead of Dragon—like Tinkaton could've easily been the pseudo if they'd wanted to with that amazing typing. For example with Fairy, even discounting the unused combos with Fire and Ground there's also Grass (only the Cottonee and Morelull lines plus Tapu Bulu) or Electric (think it's just Dedenne and Tapu Koko) to work with. Then again, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Outside of pseudos, I really like how they've started to give more love to Bug-types. SS gave us the first Bug/Psychic and Bug/Ice lines as well as the second Bug/Fire, SV the second Bug/Psychic and the first Bug/Dark. Even if the type combination is presumably one of the worst (with the trait of being one of the few resists to Mamoswine's STABs!) it'd still be great to get another jab at Bug/Ice. Don't get me wrong, Frosmoth looks amazing but I feel like there's a lot more to explore.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Grass/Ghost went from being unused the first five gens to overcrowded (first with the Pumpkaboo and Phantump lines in XY, then Decidueye and Dhelmise in SM and now the Bramblin and Poltchageist lines in SV), it's remarkable how they make those decisions.

It's all Gardenia's fault.

It'd also be cool if they went back to trying other types instead of Dragon—like Tinkaton could've easily been the pseudo if they'd wanted to with that amazing typing. For example with Fairy, even discounting the unused combos with Fire and Ground there's also Grass (only the Cottonee and Morelull lines plus Tapu Bulu) or Electric (think it's just Dedenne and Tapu Koko) to work with. Then again, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Yeah I'd really like to see a pseudo that was a completely unexpected type - like Steel's a pretty "powerful" and generally lategame type, so Metagross doesn't feel that out of place alongside the others. Tyranitar's great, but it'd be cool to mix it up and have a pseudo that was, like, Grass/Bug.

(okay not literally Grass/Bug because it would take some serious work to make that typing good but you know what I mean)

Bug/Fairy perhaps. With a wonderfully overpowered ability like Magic Guard so it wouldn't care about Stealth Rock. That typing's only been done once and while I do love Ribombee, it'd be interesting to see a really defensively powerful Bug Pokemon - there aren't too many of those.

 

[Hugin]

(okay not literally Grass/Bug because it would take some serious work to make that typing good but you know what I mean)

Legendary Duo: Psychic/Water and Dark/Ground. When they get out of control, the trio master, Bug/Grass, rises up to defeat them.

 

[TailGlowVM]

I'm a bit surprised we haven't seen more Fairy/Flying types, given the stereotypical depiction of fairies is that they have wings and fly.

There's only two Fairy/Flying lines, one of which is a retcon and the other is grandfathered over from the earlier members of its group being Flying-type (and it only learns two Flying-type moves in Scarlet and Violet too).

Given that Bug and Normal are the two most abundant types for early-route Pokemon, I'm surprised there hasn't been a single one that combines the two types together.

I'd also eventually like to see an Ice/Poison, a Bug/Dragon and a Rock/Ghost. I suspect Fairy/Fire and Fairy/Ground may be types they are holding back deliberately since they both have the potential to be very powerful.

 

[bdt2002]

Okay so I'm gonna gently push back against this:

I don't think "they all learn the same moves" is really justification to say that Pokemon of the same type are too similar. Pokemon of the same type are going to mostly learn the same moves, that's... kind of a given. There are only so many moves of a given type after all. It's usually the other moves they learn that distinguish them more. Seaking is differentiated from other Water-types by its access to moves like Megahorn, Poison Jab, and Horn Drill; Staraptor is differentiated from most bird Pokemon by learning Close Combat. I think when you look at Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar there's plenty that sets them apart other than "they all learn Flame Charge" (which Blaziken and Infernape hardly need in any case).

Even leaving aside the fact that of the three learns moves of their own type the others don't (Emboar and Infernape can't learn Sky Uppercut or High Jump Kick, Blaziken and Infernape can't learn Arm Thrust or Hammer Arm, Emboar can't learn Double Kick) there's plenty of other mechanical differences and divergences in their learnsets - Emboar has a thematical focus on weight-based and/or recoil moves and is the only one of the trio to get Scald, Infernape is a substantially better mixed sweeper than the other two, and Blaziken gets an extremely powerful Hidden Ability as well as a mega evolution.

Of course archetypally they're all pretty similar, and of course all three evolve at the same level: they're starter Pokemon after all (yes I know starters do not all evolve at the exact same time, but it's not like they're ever going to drastically differ - they all evolve in the mid-to-late teens and then again in the early-to-mid thirties).

And that's before getting into the fact that all three Pokemon are based on very different animals, which was part of the point I was initially going for - it's not like they just recycled the same concept twice. The well-noted fatigue with Fire/Fighting came more from the fact that Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar came in succession: if they'd been the starter Pokemon of gen I, gen IV, and gen IX it'd hardly have felt as notable.

It’s not every day when I can read someone’s post and reconsider my entire argument, and I mean that as a compliment. I didn’t mention this until now, but while I personally still would have liked to see a bit more difference between the three, I’ll admit the developers did a better job differentiating them than I’ve given them credit for. Using the fighting game comparison again, it’s a lot better than some clone characters I can think of, I’ll tell you that My apologies for any trouble my original post might have caused, in the meantime.

I'm a bit surprised we haven't seen more Fairy/Flying types, given the stereotypical depiction of fairies is that they have wings and fly.

There's only two Fairy/Flying lines, one of which is a retcon and the other is grandfathered over from the earlier members of its group being Flying-type (and it only learns two Flying-type moves in Scarlet and Violet too).

Given that Bug and Normal are the two most abundant types for early-route Pokemon, I'm surprised there hasn't been a single one that combines the two types together.

I'd also eventually like to see an Ice/Poison, a Bug/Dragon and a Rock/Ghost. I suspect Fairy/Fire and Fairy/Ground may be types they are holding back deliberately since they both have the potential to be very powerful.

I can’t say much on the rest of these typings you listed, but I find it interesting that Legends Arceus specifically placed the Fairy/Flying typing into a more important story role. Not only was this the game where Enamorus was added, but the specific way Togepi’s evolution family is handled in this game with Volo and his connections to Cynthia seem to indicate that Fairy/Flying was deliberately chosen as what I’ll call “an anti-Garchomp typing”, in Sinnoh’s case anyway.