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... I don't think the generic silhouettes are meant to be taken at face value. It just means, aside from the identifiable Leon, Lance, and Raihan that there are 5 other trainers in Master Class. Being it's likely Ash is going to get into the Master Class, from how I'm taking it those 5 unknowns are likely still changing positions day-by-day.
Well yeah like I said I don't think we're ever going to see them, so they could be anyone and the silhouettes might well look different later on (the anime is rarely consistent with that sort of thing anyway).
I don't really want to know who all of them are anyway. It'll only cause problems when Gen XII's Champion is identified as "the strongest trainer ever" and we all scratch our heads and go "really? Where was s/he in the World Tournament then?" But to go back to my first point the Eldes shoutout would have been so neat. He's the strongest opponent by far in any of the MSG, and Orre Colosseum is explicitly said to be a world-class facility for the very best trainers. But oh well. I think the Orre games are long forgotten by this point.
Amaura line
Now this one I'm kind of stumped on. There's no reason this has to be related to any other Ice Pokemon - much as with Cranidos and Tyrunt, it conceivably could be linked to any dinosaur or draconic Pokemon we already have. Kind of drawing a blank here, tbh.
While this is a bump, I have my own weird theories to bring up! Namely, about the types.
Namely, I feel that the types, from a flavor/personality and gameplay standpoint alike, can be categorized in quite a few ways.
First, the basic types:
Normal is the baseline/default type. The non-elemental type, if you will. It is basically completely devoid of any distinct traits, as represented in its type matchups where it doesn't resist anything and doesn't hit anything super effectively. Its moves are generally universal: basic attack techniques on both sides like basic tackles, slashes, etc. on the physical side, things like basic voice attacks on the special side, and a wide variety of basic non-damaging debuffs and techniques on the status end. In other words, it is the baseline type.
Bug and Flying are the basic creature-based types. They are more flavor types that originally didn't have much personality in terms of elemental power or gameplay purposes, but they are assigned as a type to distinct types of creatures: the Bug-type being obviously associated with insects, and the Flying-type associated with avians, such as birds, but in both cases more exotic monsters that are still insectoid or avian respectively gain these types. Their moves are generally techniques used by insects and avians without any distinct elemental flavor to them for the most part.
Grass, Fire, Water, and Electric are the basic elemental types. They embody the four rudimentary elements of nature, a common trope for elemental magic in RPGs and other fictional settings: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. While the Fire and Water-types are obvious in their associations, Earth is represented by the Grass-type, being that it involves dominion over plant life and plant energy (hence earth magic), and Air is represented by the Electric-type, since lightning comes from the air and is formed by a reaction of air particles. They are the elemental magic types in a sense, being the basic types of special moves originally, and three of them are starter types. The general stat builds of the four types align with the tropes as well: Grass-types are slower and more bulky/defensive with more healing/support moves (a la Earth), Fire-types are frailer yet very offensively powerful, Water-types are well rounded, and Electric-types are fragile and lack raw power, but make up for it in speed and the ability to strike first (a la air). Three of them have intuitive type interactions with each other in a rock-paper-scissors triangle in such a way that teaches type interaction via the starters, and Electric has distinct offensive interactions with the other three (Grass resists it, Fire is neutral to it, and Water is weak to it).
And then there's what I'd call more intermediate level types, which are generally found later than the above and are "stronger" but less intuitive, and yet still relatively simple:
Fighting, Rock, and Ground are what I call the physical strength/power types. They are dominantly physically oriented and have a variety of strong physical attacks that are often focused on having high power/damage output, and technique wise involve sheer physical strength. Fighting-type moves are powerful and involve super strong physical power delivered in physical blows, Rock-type moves involve the use of rocks and stones as physical projectiles, while Ground-type moves often involve stomping the ground or any sort of physical technique involving the ground. They all possess one or two special moves that vaguely involve other elements such as chi or earth, but these are outnumbered by the majority of powerful physical moves these three types possess. Fighting-types often possess very high physical Attack and hit many types super effectively, Rock-types possess high Defense in addition to good Attack and resist quite a few physical types, and Ground-types also have a good blend of physically powerful Pokemon both offensively and defensively.
Psychic and Ghost are what I call the special energy or spritual/ethereal types. Both are dominantly specially oriented, as opposed to the above three and being a direct antithesis to them in a way. As opposed to raw physical power, they focus on mind powers or spiritual energy that stems from it. The Psychic-type is the antithesis of the Fighting-type in that it's the strongest special/elemental type that involves psionic energy derived from a powerful mind that can manipulate and control spiritual energy at will, hence why some of its attacks also involve psychokinesis or lifting things with the mind, and many of its attacks are accordingly special, with few physical moves. Ghost is in a similar boat, but having a more eerie vibe to it and involves spookiness and a more sinister type of spiritual energy. The few physical moves they do possess involve a sort of energy to them as well, such as channeling psychic energy into a headbutt or vanishing into thin air before striking from behind.
Dark and Poison are what I call the combat pragmatist types. Both of these types mainly involve physical combat or physical poison/venom energy, but as opposed to Fighting, Rock, and Ground which focus on raw physical strength, these two types have less physical power and instead focus more on using dirty fighting tactics like sneak attacks or physical poison/venom to win against the opposition. Dark-type moves are considerably less powerful than Fighting-type moves, generally lingering around 70-80 Base Power, and rarely ever above 100, but have tricks up their sleeve like biting the opponent, or having several attacks that never miss that are sneak attacks or trick the opponent into lowering their guard, priority that strikes an attacking opponent, attacks that strike a fleeing opponent, an attack that uses the opponent's Attack against them, and so on. Meanwhile Poison exploits inflicting poison on the opponent with physical poison/toxins/venom to subsequently be able to wear them down passively over the battle, and even have a variant known as bad poison that gives increasingly intense passive damage every turn.
Finally, there's Ice, which deserves its own category, as a somewhat more higher level elemental type than the basic ones. It is elemental similar to Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric, and is closest to Water, but has its own properties being a frozen (thus in a way manipulated) variant of it: it hits two types that resist Water super effectively, has its own weather condition in Hail/Snow that either causes passive damage or raises the Defense of Ice-types, and has a unique status condition in Freeze, perhaps the strongest status condition of them all since it can completely incapacitate an opponent for an undetermined length of time. Ice has somewhat less intuitive type match-ups and is more glass cannon than Water, being offensively oriented. Its moves all involve power and either freezing the opponent or having another effect, and many Ice-types interact with hail/snow in different ways.
And last but not least, the last three are what I consider to be the more advanced types: they are the strongest types of all, based on more abstract concepts and have the least intuitive type interactions while generally being very powerful in different ways.
The first of these three is the Dragon type, which I can classify as the arcane magic type. It is perhaps the most advanced "magic" type on par with Fairy, which I will get to later, but it has several properties. Type interaction wise, it universally resists all four of the basic elemental types. This emphasizes Dragons being masters of natural energy and mana, to the point where they cannot truly be harmed by the elements of nature in and of themselves. Since Dragons are masters of natural energy, their moves often channel this arcane energy: natural energy that they bend and manipulate to their will to do damage. Dragon-type moves are often very powerful, and involve nature such as tornadoes, gusts, and dropping comets from the sky, dealing a lot of raw damage, but in many cases an unnatural energy causes secondary effects due to the fact that Dragons manipulate and bend nature's power to its will. Physical Dragon moves include Outrage, which involves channeling arcane energy and going into a violent rampage, and Dragon Rush, which can cause the target to flinch. Dragons are weak to Ice, themselves, and Fairy, the latter two being the highest levels of magic and nature and Ice being manipulated to become cold which can harm Dragons, most of them ectothermic, as a result.
The counterpart of the Dragon type is the Fairy type, added later as a counter, and I consider the divine magic type. Fairy is in a way the opposite side of the same coin relative to Dragon: they harness the power of nature just as Dragons do but harness this power more in tandem with it: while Dragons' use of nature's energy is in a parasitic manner, Fairies harness nature in a more commensalistic manner with one or the other benefitting while the other isn't harmed. In a sense, they borrow nature's power and allow it to do its thing, instead of forcefully bending nature's power to its will. Their moves often involve borrowing power from the moon and channeling it into a concentrated burst of energy, summoning wind, and unleashing a beam of light, all more "pure" forms of unleashing nature's energy. These moves lack the raw power of Dragon-type moves, but either have no secondary effects (reflecting the lack of manipulation of said energy), or have a beneficial secondary effect for the user. Play Rough, unlike Outrage, is more of a playful and mischievous roughhousing as opposed to a violent rampage. Fairy, unlike Dragon, has a wide variety of support moves akin to a divine spellcaster/cleric, including healing moves and other moves that have strong effects in Doubles. They are immune to Dragon, as they have better, more harmonious control over natural energy than Dragons' forceful control, and resist Fighting and Dark, two types that involve Pokemon who like to fight hand to hand, using their cute charms or divine energy to trick them into lowering their guard before pouncing. They are weak to Poison and Steel since both are toxins that harm nature, seeing as fae are nature spirits and nature incarnate, this lines up.
The final of the three advanced types is the Steel type, which I would call the ultimate defensive type. Steel is a man made material that's extremely hard, durable, heavy, and sturdy, moreso than anything else. As such, Steel has bar none the most resistances of any type, ressiting almost everything while only having a few weaknesses, those being to two extremely strong types flavor wise and one elemental type that can melt steel and make it easy to manipulate. It's an extremely sturdy type, and many Steel-types have high defensive stats to complement this. Steel-type moves on the other hand are generally not powerful and don't have a lot of good offensive matchups: Steel as a type isn't made to attack but rather to take hits and have immense staying power, and many of its members are heavyweight, physically durable, and are meant to take hits and stay around.
Made them all hideable because the ramble ended up being longer than I thought it would be at first but yeah.
And a second weird theory I have, indirectly related to the above, is that most of the three-stage lines in Gen 1, the original self-contained ones that is, altogether embody the collective categories of types that I highlighted, barring the combat pragmatist, Ice, Fairy, and Steel-types, since those either didn't exist or had no token representatives at the time.
The starter trio being the flagship three stage Pokemon, Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise represent three of the classical elements of course and originated this recurring trend: a trio of elemental specialists as your first Pokemon.
Electric is the only one of the four not represented, although Pikachu was the starter in Yellow and was once upon a time going to be a three stage line with Gorochu as the endpoint before Yellow became an anime homage.
The two basic Bugs that represent the simpler side of the Bug-type: simple insects that undergo the insect metamorphosis process and very early to teach the concept of evolution in an explicit way.
Also a basic Flying-type, represents a basic bird/avian creature, although unlike the Bugs this one is just a basic three-stage line that's basically an honorary second starter: a first capture and a first team member.
Two of the original four trade-evolutions, who altogether represent the intermediate types that I highlighted: in these two cases the physical power types. Machamp is a Fighting-type with high Attack, having superhuman physical strength, while Golem is a Rock/Ground-type with good Attack and high Defense, being incredibly physically durable while also having great physical strength to go with it as a durable rock monster. Both are physically strong, bulky, and slow.
The other two of the quartet, and these two embody the special spiritual/ethereal types, Alakazam is a Psychic-type with extremely high intelligence and powerful abilities to release psychic energy with its mind, and Gengar is a Ghost-type with the kinds of abilities you would expect from ghosts, and the general ethereal quality of them. In contrast to Machamp and Golem, Alakazam and Gengar are fast, specially strong, but frail.
Finally, Dragonite is the pseudo-legendary, and a Dragon-type, representing the Dragon-type's advanced nature. It levels up slowly and has higher evolution levels than every other three-stage line, and has extremely high stats being the strongest three-stage Pokemon of them all. It has a wide and varied movepool representing the Dragon-type's masterful elemental variety.
The only ones that are not represented that existed are Normal and Ice, although Normal is also represented by Pidgeot. But both of those types instead had strong high stat single stage Pokemon introduced in the late game, with Normal having Snorlax, a roadblock who is powerful, and Tauros and Kangaskhan found in the Safari Zone, while Ice had Lapras, a gift Pokemon you could find in the middle of the game.
Anyway, a long rant but I had quite a bit to talk about in terms of weird theories.
While this is a bump, I have my own weird theories to bring up! Namely, about the types.
Namely, I feel that the types, from a flavor/personality and gameplay standpoint alike, can be categorized in quite a few ways.
First, the basic types:
Normal is the baseline/default type. The non-elemental type, if you will. It is basically completely devoid of any distinct traits, as represented in its type matchups where it doesn't resist anything and doesn't hit anything super effectively. Its moves are generally universal: basic attack techniques on both sides like basic tackles, slashes, etc. on the physical side, things like basic voice attacks on the special side, and a wide variety of basic non-damaging debuffs and techniques on the status end. In other words, it is the baseline type.
Bug and Flying are the basic creature-based types. They are more flavor types that originally didn't have much personality in terms of elemental power or gameplay purposes, but they are assigned as a type to distinct types of creatures: the Bug-type being obviously associated with insects, and the Flying-type associated with avians, such as birds, but in both cases more exotic monsters that are still insectoid or avian respectively gain these types. Their moves are generally techniques used by insects and avians without any distinct elemental flavor to them for the most part.
Grass, Fire, Water, and Electric are the basic elemental types. They embody the four rudimentary elements of nature, a common trope for elemental magic in RPGs and other fictional settings: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. While the Fire and Water-types are obvious in their associations, Earth is represented by the Grass-type, being that it involves dominion over plant life and plant energy (hence earth magic), and Air is represented by the Electric-type, since lightning comes from the air and is formed by a reaction of air particles. They are the elemental magic types in a sense, being the basic types of special moves originally, and three of them are starter types. The general stat builds of the four types align with the tropes as well: Grass-types are slower and more bulky/defensive with more healing/support moves (a la Earth), Fire-types are frailer yet very offensively powerful, Water-types are well rounded, and Electric-types are fragile and lack raw power, but make up for it in speed and the ability to strike first (a la air). Three of them have intuitive type interactions with each other in a rock-paper-scissors triangle in such a way that teaches type interaction via the starters, and Electric has distinct offensive interactions with the other three (Grass resists it, Fire is neutral to it, and Water is weak to it).
And then there's what I'd call more intermediate level types, which are generally found later than the above and are "stronger" but less intuitive, and yet still relatively simple:
Fighting, Rock, and Ground are what I call the physical strength/power types. They are dominantly physically oriented and have a variety of strong physical attacks that are often focused on having high power/damage output, and technique wise involve sheer physical strength. Fighting-type moves are powerful and involve super strong physical power delivered in physical blows, Rock-type moves involve the use of rocks and stones as physical projectiles, while Ground-type moves often involve stomping the ground or any sort of physical technique involving the ground. They all possess one or two special moves that vaguely involve other elements such as chi or earth, but these are outnumbered by the majority of powerful physical moves these three types possess. Fighting-types often possess very high physical Attack and hit many types super effectively, Rock-types possess high Defense in addition to good Attack and resist quite a few physical types, and Ground-types also have a good blend of physically powerful Pokemon both offensively and defensively.
Psychic and Ghost are what I call the special energy or spritual/ephemeral types. Both are dominantly specially oriented, as opposed to the above three and being a direct antithesis to them in a way. As opposed to raw physical power, they focus on mind powers or spiritual energy that stems from it. The Psychic-type is the antithesis of the Fighting-type in that it's the strongest special/elemental type that involves psionic energy derived from a powerful mind that can manipulate and control spiritual energy at will, hence why some of its attacks also involve psychokinesis or lifting things with the mind, and many of its attacks are accordingly special, with few physical moves. Ghost is in a similar boat, but having a more eerie vibe to it and involves spookiness and a more sinister type of spiritual energy. The few physical moves they do possess involve a sort of energy to them as well, such as channeling psychic energy into a headbutt or vanishing into thin air before striking from behind.
Dark and Poison are what I call the combat pragmatist types. Both of these types mainly involve physical combat or physical poison/venom energy, but as opposed to Fighting, Rock, and Ground which focus on raw physical strength, these two types have less physical power and instead focus more on using dirty fighting tactics like sneak attacks or physical poison/venom to win against the opposition. Dark-type moves are considerably less powerful than Fighting-type moves, generally lingering around 70-80 Base Power, and rarely ever above 100, but have tricks up their sleeve like biting the opponent, or having several attacks that never miss that are sneak attacks or trick the opponent into lowering their guard, priority that strikes an attacking opponent, attacks that strike a fleeing opponent, an attack that uses the opponent's Attack against them, and so on. Meanwhile Poison exploits inflicting poison on the opponent with physical poison/toxins/venom to subsequently be able to wear them down passively over the battle, and even have a variant known as bad poison that gives increasingly intense passive damage every turn.
Finally, there's Ice, which deserves its own category, as a somewhat more higher level elemental type than the basic ones. It is elemental similar to Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric, and is closest to Water, but has its own properties being a frozen (thus in a way manipulated) variant of it: it hits two types that resist Water super effectively, has its own weather condition in Hail/Snow that either causes passive damage or raises the Defense of Ice-types, and has a unique status condition in Freeze, perhaps the strongest status condition of them all since it can completely incapacitate an opponent for an undetermined length of time. Ice has somewhat less intuitive type match-ups and is more glass cannon than Water, being offensively oriented. Its moves all involve power and either freezing the opponent or having another effect, and many Ice-types interact with hail/snow in different ways.
And last but not least, the last three are what I consider to be the more advanced types: they are the strongest types of all, based on more abstract concepts and have the least intuitive type interactions while generally being very powerful in different ways.
The first of these three is the Dragon type, which I can classify as the arcane magic type. It is perhaps the most advanced "magic" type on par with Fairy, which I will get to later, but it has several properties. Type interaction wise, it universally resists all four of the basic elemental types. This emphasizes Dragons being masters of natural energy and mana, to the point where they cannot truly be harmed by the elements of nature in and of themselves. Since Dragons are masters of natural energy, their moves often channel this arcane energy: natural energy that they bend and manipulate to their will to do damage. Dragon-type moves are often very powerful, and involve nature such as tornadoes, gusts, and dropping comets from the sky, dealing a lot of raw damage, but in many cases an unnatural energy causes secondary effects due to the fact that Dragons manipulate and bend nature's power to its will. Physical Dragon moves include Outrage, which involves channeling arcane energy and going into a violent rampage, and Dragon Rush, which can cause the target to flinch. Dragons are weak to Ice, themselves, and Fairy, the latter two being the highest levels of magic and nature and Ice being manipulated to become cold which can harm Dragons, most of them ectothermic, as a result.
The counterpart of the Dragon type is the Fairy type, added later as a counter, and I consider the divine magic type. Fairy is in a way the opposite side of the same coin relative to Dragon: they harness the power of nature just as Dragons do but harness this power more in tandem with it: while Dragons' use of nature's energy is in a parasitic manner, Fairies harness nature in a more commensalistic manner with one or the other benefitting while the other isn't harmed. In a sense, they borrow nature's power and allow it to do its thing, instead of forcefully bending nature's power to its will. Their moves often involve borrowing power from the moon and channeling it into a concentrated burst of energy, summoning wind, and unleashing a beam of light, all more "pure" forms of unleashing nature's energy. These moves lack the raw power of Dragon-type moves, but either have no secondary effects (reflecting the lack of manipulation of said energy), or have a beneficial secondary effect for the user. Play Rough, unlike Outrage, is more of a playful and mischievous roughhousing as opposed to a violent rampage. Fairy, unlike Dragon, has a wide variety of support moves akin to a divine spellcaster/cleric, including healing moves and other moves that have strong effects in Doubles. They are immune to Dragon, as they have better, more harmonious control over natural energy than Dragons' forceful control, and resist Fighting and Dark, two types that involve Pokemon who like to fight hand to hand, using their cute charms or divine energy to trick them into lowering their guard before pouncing. They are weak to Poison and Steel since both are toxins that harm nature, seeing as fae are nature spirits and nature incarnate, this lines up.
The final of the three advanced types is the Steel type, which I would call the ultimate defensive type. Steel is a man made material that's extremely hard, durable, heavy, and sturdy, moreso than anything else. As such, Steel has bar none the most resistances of any type, ressiting almost everything while only having a few weaknesses, those being to two extremely strong types flavor wise and one elemental type that can melt steel and make it easy to manipulate. It's an extremely sturdy type, and many Steel-types have high defensive stats to complement this. Steel-type moves on the other hand are generally not powerful and don't have a lot of good offensive matchups: Steel as a type isn't made to attack but rather to take hits and have immense staying power, and many of its members are heavyweight, physically durable, and are meant to take hits and stay around.
Made them all hideable because the ramble ended up being longer than I thought it would be at first but yeah.
And a second weird theory I have, indirectly related to the above, is that most of the three-stage lines in Gen 1, the original self-contained ones that is, altogether embody the collective categories of types that I highlighted, barring the combat pragmatist, Ice, Fairy, and Steel-types, since those either didn't exist or had no token representatives at the time.
The starter trio being the flagship three stage Pokemon, Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise represent three of the classical elements of course and originated this recurring trend: a trio of elemental specialists as your first Pokemon.
Electric is the only one of the four not represented, although Pikachu was the starter in Yellow and was once upon a time going to be a three stage line with Gorochu as the endpoint before Yellow became an anime homage.
The two basic Bugs that represent the simpler side of the Bug-type: simple insects that undergo the insect metamorphosis process and very early to teach the concept of evolution in an explicit way.
Also a basic Flying-type, represents a basic bird/avian creature, although unlike the Bugs this one is just a basic three-stage line that's basically an honorary second starter: a first capture and a first team member.
Two of the original four trade-evolutions, who altogether represent the intermediate types that I highlighted: in these two cases the physical power types. Machamp is a Fighting-type with high Attack, having superhuman physical strength, while Golem is a Rock/Ground-type with good Attack and high Defense, being incredibly physically durable while also having great physical strength to go with it as a durable rock monster. Both are physically strong, bulky, and slow.
The other two of the quartet, and these two embody the special spiritual/ephemeral types, Alakazam is a Psychic-type with extremely high intelligence and powerful abilities to release psychic energy with its mind, and Gengar is a Ghost-type with the kinds of abilities you would expect from ghosts, and the general ethereal quality of them. In contrast to Machamp and Golem, Alakazam and Gengar are fast, specially strong, but frail.
Finally, Dragonite is the pseudo-legendary, and a Dragon-type, representing the Dragon-type's advanced nature. It levels up slowly and has higher evolution levels than every other three-stage line, and has extremely high stats being the strongest three-stage Pokemon of them all. It has a wide and varied movepool representing the Dragon-type's masterful elemental variety.
The only ones that are not represented that existed are Normal and Ice, although Normal is also represented by Pidgeot. But both of those types instead had strong high stat single stage Pokemon introduced in the late game, with Normal having Snorlax, a roadblock who is powerful, and Tauros and Kangaskhan found in the Safari Zone, while Ice had Lapras, a gift Pokemon you could find in the middle of the game.
Anyway, a long rant but I had quite a bit to talk about in terms of weird theories.
May as well throw in my view of "Type Introductions".
First off, I have no "neat" system as each region is different and they can easily throw a in an "uncommon" or even "rare" Type early on just as much as they can save an early Type for later than expected. So, in my general view, this is how I see Type introduction done:
STARTERS/Basic Elementals:Grass, Fire & Water
Already starting off with exceptional cases, but we can't ignore the Starter Types. And Starter Types for a reason, they're the most basic of the basic elementals. The initial Types we're supposed to be "WOW"ed by for their uniqueness in early game (as we'll cover). In a way the Starter's Type we choose is gonna be considered most player's "specialty" in the early game due to both the Starter being more powerful than early route mons and said early mons usually having Types that either don't resist or are even weak to the Starter Types (there are exceptions of course, though Starter's raw stats usually override them as mentioned).
As for when you actually see wild Grass, Fire, and Water mons, that also depends. Grass is likely the first you'll encounter once you're past the first couple routes, expect to see what's essentially a sprout, bud, seed, or fruit with legs; not as complicated as the Grass Starter but for those who didn't pick it can have it.
Water can be iffy as it can be the second or the last, all depending on if the common Water mon is able to walk on land or not. If they can, then chances are good when you run across a route with a body of water on it that there could be a Water-type just hanging out in the tall grass, usually a cartoony version of an aquatic animal (though lacking in details when compared to the Water Starter, but never a bad addition if you didn't pick it).
Fire is usually an uncommon Type outside of the Starter. Makes sense when you think about it, but annoying if you think a Fire-type would be handy yet prefer the non-Fire Starter. Usually got to wait somewhere in the middle of the game before adventuring into a location where a Fire Starter has been placed; sometimes obvious like a mountain/volcano or desert, sometimes its also just a plain grassy field fire horses are running about. Don't be surprised by the time you find a Fire-type you may have a forming team and got to decide whether to stick with what you got or swap one for a Fire-type. The Fire-type usually is mammalian though has been known to be other animals classes like a slug or bird.
EARLY MONS: Normal, Bug, & Flying
We joke about them, though we know a pattern when we see one.
Normal is more than likely going to be the second Type you encounter, sometimes in a few forms though that should quickly stop after the first few routes. What can I say, Normal is normal, its you're "elemental-less" Type which is mostly neutral interaction, a good general Type to have on your team for those who don't quite want to deal with the Type Chart just yet. Normal is also considered the "Gimmick" Type, not for the early route mons, but there's a likely chance if you encounter a Normal-type later in the game it'll have some kind of gimmick with either a Signature Move, Ability, or appearance; enjoy the simplicity while you can.
The idea of Pokemon was created when Satoshi Tajiri wanted to share his childhood experience of bug collecting with a younger audience he felt don't have a chance to do so. Bug seems like a strange thing to have as a "Type", but hey they worked it out and it serves as a basis for the coplex Types whose strengths and weaknesses aren't as straightforward as the basic elements. Reflecting the Bugs they're based on, early route Bugs evolve fast but are weak compared to later mons plus come with some crippling weaknesses, they can serve as a power gap crutch as your other Pokemon catch up to where your Starter is at. Later Bugs will usually be specialized in order to make up for the shortcomings you'll run into with the early route Bugs.
Finally, Flying may end up being your secondary Type specialty after your Starter's Type in the early game thanks to helpful Type interactions and them generally being faster than other Types. And it'll likely be a bird, because most Flying-type moves are made for birds and if you're not a bird (or have wings of some kind) than you're not going to have a fun time as a Flying-type. Take not of that: if it's a Flying-type without wings (or, sans that, a beak) it better have a good second Type to lean on. For a long while Flying-type was treated as an add-on Type and in a way still is even if we have some pure Flying-types com mons now. That could either be a blessing (Ground immunity) or a curse (Electric and Ice weakness) so keep an eye on later Flying-type Pokemon to see what side of the line that additional Flying-type falls on.
ADVANCED LESSON: Poison, Dark, Fairy, & Electric
In Pokemon Type Match-ups is super important, but it's not everything. While you're getting a handling on the Type Chart, here are some other Types they throw in whose Types don't play that major of a factor in interactions but have their own skills that need mastering.
Poison is the most obvious. Often a secondary Type, or a random Move a Bug- or Grass-Type would just know, Poison is synonymous with the Poison status. There's a reason some games gives you the Antidote as the early status curing item as you'll likely get Poisoned often and don't feel like running back to the Pokemon Center each time. But that just teaches you how useful Poison can be, especially in a Trainer battle where chip damage can be a difference between ending a battle early or having one of your Pokemon KOed. And then later in the game you learn about Toxic and Badly Poison...
Both Dark & Fairy have become common early route Types. Dark adds some grimness and/or edge to the Pokemon world; their Moves meant to be deceptive and having a wide range of annoying effects though not that powerful. While Dark-types tend to show up here and again later in game, unless they have a secondary Type they usually don't get much stronger; rather their value is how complicated their Moves can get and some later Type interactions such as immune to Psychic and resist Ghost. Fairy is the opposite, keeping a fantastical element with, well, fairy creatures with magical capabilities; outside your Starter the Fairy may be your first Special-focused mon (usually SpD wise, though sometimes SpA). Don't let the name trick you, Fairy can be quite tanky and little tricksters in their own right. Fairy don't hit hard, but that's because a lot of their Moves they learn later on so they're a slow burn but could end up being a dragon slayer you need in the end.
Finally, often near the end of the early routes they'll toss you an Electric-type, the unofficial fourth Starter and possibly the Pikaclone of the gen. Electric is similar to Poison where, while its Type Match-ups are probably more notable, it's major contribution is a status ailment: Paralysis. Game going to fast for you, well now your Pokemon is half as fast and quarter of the time won't be able to do anything. Not fun for the paralyzed, but could be fun for the Paralyzer if you choose to pick one up. And with only one weakness Electric can be surprisingly bulky... let's fix that.
ROUGH ROAD AHEAD: Rock, Ground, Fighting, & Steel
Finally exiting the early routes, that's when the heavy hitters start showing up and you're Type lessons start to really matter.
As soon as you get to a cave or even rocky terrain all the Rock- and Ground-types come out to play. Rock and Ground are a funny duo, they probably share the most between Types but have key differences that you better learn because one mistake can result in your Pokemon getting KO. But once you have those lessons learned its easy to see the value in the Types, both offensively and defensively, and can decide whether your team needs a bit of earthy enforcing. Oddly once Rock and Ground-types show up you sometimes don't really see them again later on, meaning the ones you pick up now could be one of the mons you take into the end game.
Fighting is the first Type I'd say will pop up now and again, mainly to knock you off your feet. They hit HARD, though luckily SpD is low and have some exploitable weaknesses. Fighting-types can also be seen as wallbreakers as many defensive Types are weak to them, so if you're feeling battles have been dragging on it may be a Fighting-type you need.
Going from pure offense to pure defense, Steel is likely the other Type you'll start encountering. Steel doesn't generally hit hard but that's because they can take hits even against Types that are super effective against them. And depending on the Steel-type that gives them plenty of time to setup, which can range to them actually start hitting hard, whittling you down, or just stalling even more. While this sounds like it'll slow down the game, Steel-types can be good when catching Pokemon or up against a strong Trainer Battle, so hyper defense could be the way to go for some who just want to get the journey going, as IRONic as that sounds.
SPECIAL ELEMENTALS: Psychic, Ice, Ghost & Dragon
And finally the Types which many think of when they think of late game Pokemon.
Mainly Psychic and Dragon, as those are two Types which Legendary Pokemon are often given (though Fairy is starting to get up there in numbers, but as I said before Fairy does also have plenty of early route mons). But not quite Psychic and Dragon. Psychic has had its share of Pokemon showing up in the middle routes starting even all the way back in Gen I. Psychic is the Special stats personified, the Special counterparts to the Physical Fighting-types. Psychic was so strong they needed to introduce the Dark-types to curb them. Psychics make for either a good combination with Fighting or alternative, and like Fighting they usual pop up now and again so you have your pick.
Before we get to Dragon, a quick mention of Ice and Ghost. Ice is probably a surprising late Type, while terrific offense they're terrible defense makes you think they'd be introduced with the above Advanced Lessons alongside Electric. While things are getting better, the reason for GF usually keeping them for later likely has to do with the Freezing status being the best status ailment to inflict (though also the rarest). Also Ice is one of the Types super effective against Dragon (that isn't itself), but while Fairy is immune and considered the dragon slayer Type, Ice still holds its own very well and an Ice-type is more likely to have a higher offense stat than a Fairy. Because of its later introduction Ice can be difficult to add to the team and may need special care, but when the situation calls for it Ice-type usually deliver icy death.
Ghost is to late game what Dark is to early game. They're a complex Type, their Type Chart usually focused on interactions with Types introduced later and often at in advantage of. If the later Types like Fighting and Psychic are throwing you for a loop, a Ghost could provide the answer you need against them. Ghost itself can be annoying to deal with as themselves and Dark-types are their weaknesses, neither Types known to hit heavy unless they have very high offense stats. Infact, generally Dark- and Ghost-type Moves are considered more useful than Pokemon of the Type themselves. But every Pokemon is its unique case, especially when a secondary Type is involved, so don't count a Ghost-type out if there's a spot in your team they can haunt.
And finally, we have Dragon. Dragon Pokemon aren't actually that amazing Type Chart wise. They, or rather the Dragonite family, were originally meant to be the "final/major boss" as they resisted all the Starter Types. However, as new games introduced new Dragons, the Type needed to curve out a new niche and that was, despite a lackluster Type Chart, they either had high stats or a high BST making them jack-of-all-trades. Dragons just give off raw power that an early Dragon tends to make the game easier even if its a basic stage (unless they really go out of their way to make it a weakling). Even if you have a pretty tight team, a strong enough Dragon could convince you to rethink things.
And that's how I see how the Types are tiered. This was supposed to be a short quick post...
Bruh you don’t do short quick posts… I think. Not that I’m complaining, I do tend to like your deep dives.
On another note, I’d feel Psychic is a borderline case between the “heavy hitters” types and the late-game types. While Psychic Pokémon (read: usually Abra and/or Ralts) are usually first available fairly early in most games, most of the Psychic boss trainers are reserved for late-game, which I bet is why you listed it where you did.
Mostly tho it felt weird not to pair it with Fighting
The thing is when I say "late" game I'm actually thinking like mid to like the 2/3rd point. I think by that point you are introduced to all if not most of the Types (at least in recent games). So you're like introduced to Fighting maybe about the 1/3rd point and then may encounter Psychics in the middle. Of course every game is different, we've had plenty of Psychics appear early though they tend to either out-of-the-way or its a weak basic stage which isn't too much to handle.
The thing is when I say "late" game I'm actually thinking like mid to like the 2/3rd point. I think by that point you are introduced to all if not most of the Types (at least in recent games). So you're like introduced to Fighting maybe about the 1/3rd point and then may encounter Psychics in the middle. Of course every game is different, we've had plenty of Psychics appear early though they tend to either out-of-the-way or its a weak basic stage which isn't too much to handle.
Acccccccccctually, if I may be (more) annoying (than usual) for a moment, Psychic tends to be generally a very early-game type: going off badge availability - as I did a while back in another thread, see below - it actually comes on average slightly earlier than Fighting does. Ghost isn't either, funnily enough, though it can often seem that way. In the first five generations Ice manages to be overall the latest type available, just surpassing Dragon.
Dragon often feels like the most late-game type purely because the characters who tend to use it show up late, but they're generally available fairly early on - Dratini is buyable in the first two generations, while Swablu, Trapinch, and Axew are catchable in the midgames of the titles they appear in. Only in DP is Dragon outright gated to the lategame, since Platinum makes Gible available far earlier.
Acccccccccctually, if I may be (more) annoying (than usual) for a moment, Psychic tends to be generally a very early-game type: going off badge availability - as I did a while back in another thread, see below - it actually comes on average slightly earlier than Fighting does. Ghost isn't either, funnily enough, though it can often seem that way. In the first five generations Ice manages to be overall the latest type available, just surpassing Dragon.
Dragon often feels like the most late-game type purely because the characters who tend to use it show up late, but they're generally available fairly early on - Dratini is buyable in the first two generations, while Swablu, Trapinch, and Axew are catchable in the midgames of the titles they appear in. Only in DP is Dragon outright gated to the lategame, since Platinum makes Gible available far earlier.
Part of the thing here is that "available" and "usable" are different points. Gastly, Abra, and Dratini might show up early on, but that doesn't mean you're expected to click an attack with them before about badge 3, and the placement of their type experts reflect that.
And I'm cool with that, raising up a Dragon from the early game is a very different challenge from taking bugs into the E4, but it's good when it is possible since I like challenge runs that aren't Nuzlockes.
Part of the thing here is that "available" and "usable" are different points. Gastly, Abra, and Dratini might show up early on, but that doesn't mean you're expected to click an attack with them before about badge 3, and the placement of their type experts reflect that.
And I'm cool with that, raising up a Dragon from the early game is a very different challenge from taking bugs into the E4, but it's good when it is possible since I like challenge runs that aren't Nuzlockes.
Eh... it's one of those things that's subjective. Like yeah Ralts also sucks if by chance you catch one early on in RSE and doesn't even know any attacking moves at first, but using attacks isn't all that defines a type. It gets hit by things certain ways, it has abilities or attributes other Pokemon on your team might not, it learns different TMs. From the moment you start using it, you're learning about that type.
I'd even argue that Gastly's early appearance in Johto might have been down to Game Freak wanting to change up how it'd been done before by making Ghosts available right at the start of the game - then again, Gastly is literally the only Ghost you can use in the main campaign in GSC.
My quibble was more that Psychic is not and hasn't ever been a late-game type - it just feels that way because Psychic gym leaders tend to come late and Psychic Pokemon tend to evolve at fairly high levels (or under certain conditions) and often don't get good until they have evolved.
Eh... it's one of those things that's subjective. Like yeah Ralts also sucks if by chance you catch one early on in RSE and doesn't even know any attacking moves at first, but using attacks isn't all that defines a type. It gets hit by things certain ways, it has abilities or attributes other Pokemon on your team might not, it learns different TMs. From the moment you start using it, you're learning about that type.
I'd even argue that Gastly's early appearance in Johto might have been down to Game Freak wanting to change up how it'd been done before by making Ghosts available right at the start of the game - then again, Gastly is literally the only Ghost you can use in the main campaign in GSC.
My quibble was more that Psychic is not and hasn't ever been a late-game type - it just feels that way because Psychic gym leaders tend to come late and Psychic Pokemon tend to evolve at fairly high levels (or under certain conditions) and often don't get good until they have evolved.
Oh absolutely it's subjective. Your chart is an objective measure* of when types are available when, and that's good information to have. I'm just saying that anyone who's taken Lick-only Gastly through Johto probably has reason to think that Ghost-types are only usable midgame, no matter when they're technically catchable. Leaders being lategame contributes to those thoughts, but so does the nature of they type and it's use in-game.
*more or less, I notice you ignore Shedinja in Hoenn despite it technically being available pre-Roxanne, because this game always requires judgement calls
Anyways, some info about leaders, in case that's relevant:
(.5 is for when the role changes within a single generation, such as BW/B2W2 or SM/USUM)
Dragon 4
Ghost 4
Fighting 3.5
Dark 3
Psychic 3
Steel 2.5
Fire 2
Flying 2
Ground 2
Ice 2
Water 1
Poison 1
Rock 1
Bug 1
Normal 0
Grass 0
Electric 0
Some obvious entries there, Dragon/Ghost/Fighting being high should surprise no one. Same with Normal and Grass having no E4 rep(poor Larry). But Poison and Steel being so low was a shock, and 0 electric feels like a missed opportunity to crush casuals with Lanturn/Raichu in Rain.
I considered including Champions, but other than Gens 2&3(Dragon/Water/Steel), all champions were mixed types, so consider this the stats for that.
(ignoring Alola/Star/Titans):
Electric 6
Water 5.7
Grass 5.2
Ice 5
Fighting 4.5
Rock 4.5
Flying 4
Normal 4
Psychic 4
Bug 4
Ghost 3.5
Dragon 3
Fire 2.2
Ground 2
Steel 2
Fairy 2
Poison 1.5
Dark 1
(stupid Striaton Gym)
Grass 5.2
Water 4.2
Electric 4
Rock 4
Fighting 3.5
Bug 3
Fire 2.2
Normal 2
Ghost 1.5
Flying 1
Poison 0.5
Ice 0
Ground 0
Psychic 0
Dragon 0
Steel 0
Fairy 0
Dark 0
Ice 5
Psychic 4
Dragon 3
Electric 2
Ground 2
Ghost 2
Steel 2
Flying 2
Normal 2
Fairy 2
Water 1.5
Fire 1
Poison 1
Fighting 1
Dark 1
Rock 0.5
Grass 0
Bug 0
Early game gyms have a decent amount of variety, but lots of grass/bug/rock, presumably because those are easy to counter. You know what else is easy to counter? Fire, with 2 early gyms. What's hard to counter? Water and Electric, 4 each.
Lategame gyms, AKA welcome to Ice/Psychic/Dragon town. Which, again...Dragon, sure, it's hard to beat. Psychic hits hard and only has a few counters. SO DOES FIGHTING. Meanwhile, Ice should be early-game if we're going by "easy to beat" rules.
I'm pretty sure this info is useless, but it's made me angry at GF's game design all over again, so here you go.
Oh absolutely it's subjective. Your chart is an objective measure* of when types are available when, and that's good information to have. I'm just saying that anyone who's taken Lick-only Gastly through Johto probably has reason to think that Ghost-types are only usable midgame, no matter when they're technically catchable. Leaders being lategame contributes to those thoughts, but so does the nature of they type and it's use in-game.
*more or less, I notice you ignore Shedinja in Hoenn despite it technically being available pre-Roxanne, because this game always requires judgement calls
Poppy. A five year old becoming a member of the Elite Four? That screams nepotism! Especially when it's shown how she's really close friends with Rika...
Poppy. A five year old becoming a member of the Elite Four? That screams nepotism! Especially when it's shown how she's really close friends with Rika... View attachment 532023
Poppy is a very strange character in general. Like it's not unheard of for a strong trainer to be a child as it's generally revealed the child has a strong connection to the Type they train. But these Types are generally natural or supernatural. Poppy is a Steel-type trainer. Like, sure, Steel-type Pokemon are alive, but when I think of a Type that would have a child have a mystical connection with them, Steel isn't the first one that comes to mind.
Also, it's not just Rika which is close to Poppy, Geeta is too as seen in her concept art. FUN FACT: They giant key around her neck is actually a purse she keeps candy in.
I think maybe Poppy is meant to be a joke on the "robot kid" / "robot girl" trope. He hair even kind of reminds me of Astro Boy's:
... Well, I guess this is weird theories so let's go: Poppy is a robot. Not that that's such a wild concept after SV's Professor was revealed to be a robot. Though Turo/Sada AI was a special case as they were made using the power of the Terastal Phenomenon which allowed them to be more advanced than other robots. Which there are, in XY's Battle Chateau there's a Maid named Julia who is actually a robot; and in SwSh's Battle Tower a Female Office Worker is presented as a robot. However Julia and the Office Worker (if we're to presume they're canon) speak in very obvious "robot speak". They're no where close to the Professor AI, they don't even sound like a child.
Of course, this is probably because they were built "as adults". But, what if a robot WAS first built as a child and then raised as one, learning to speak as a human would? Though Poppy talks like a small child, looking through her dialogue there are instances where she either uses a complex word or gets phrases mixed up. Typical child trying to imitate what the adults are saying around them, or moments the AI glitched or got confused?
But for what purpose? Well, aside the obvious, though is it really worth going through all the effort to make a Robot Trainer that's good as battling as a human? Surely they would be something more, a reason that would explain why the Pokemon League has the Elite Four and even Chairwoman spending time with her outside of Pokemon battling.
Say, what about her name? Poppy, oddly enough she's not the only (potential) robot girl to have that name in recent times, the Xenoblade Chronicles series has one. But let's go deeper, what have cultures around the world decided poppies represent? Answer: Sleep, Peace,... and Death. This is likely because poppies are used to make the drug opium which is a powerful sedative which can put you to sleep... or die from an overdose. The red color of the poppy is also thought to be a reason for the death connections and thus was a popular flower to offer to death deities or leave at a tombstone.
... Well, I guess if we're already making one leap of logic might as well go for two: Poppy is a robot made to resemble someone's child who passed away. Not too ridiculous, I mean, that is essentially what the Professor AI are. What if Poppy is just like them, though instead being made in the image of the person who imagined them into creation, it took a form of the person's lost child? And thus it makes sense why she's so good with Steel-types, being a robot she's likely able to form some kind of electromagnetic bond letting her know how they're doing and them what she's going to say next.
Poppy is a very strange character in general. Like it's not unheard of for a strong trainer to be a child as it's generally revealed the child has a strong connection to the Type they train. But these Types are generally natural or supernatural. Poppy is a Steel-type trainer. Like, sure, Steel-type Pokemon are alive, but when I think of a Type that would have a child have a mystical connection with them, Steel isn't the first one that comes to mind.
...
... Well, I guess if we're already making one leap of logic might as well go for two: Poppy is a robot made to resemble someone's child who passed away. Not too ridiculous, I mean, that is essentially what the Professor AI are. What if Poppy is just like them, though instead being made in the image of the person who imagined them into creation, it took a form of the person's lost child? And thus it makes sense why she's so good with Steel-types, being a robot she's likely able to form some kind of electromagnetic bond letting her know how they're doing and them what she's going to say next.
I kind of wondered the same thing. Thing is, the Paldean E4 all have plant names in Japanese, and none of them seem to make a lot of sense. Rika is chili peppers, Hassel is an orange plant, etc. You can dive into them for secret meanings, but they don't really seem intentional when you find them. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'd fully expect a child character named after a flower to be named after one with connotations of youth and vigor, or else tie it to the steel type somehow. Since they didn't do that, the question "why" is valid, but that doesn't mean the actual connection was intentional.
There's also the question of "Why steel", though. Because again, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. They had to make the E4 Ground/Steel/Dragon/Flying/Rock, we can agree on that. Larry's flying type for the flying/normal fakeout was clearly mandatory. But basically any of the E4+Geeta could have gotten any of the other 4 types with minor redesigns. Poppy's design doesn't feel very steel-focused, and TBH you could swap her Steel with Hassel's Dragons and the flavor on both characters would probably work better. So where's the steel connection? Secret robot makes a lot of sense, but I'm not convinced they're that subtle. What did they actually intend her Steel typing to mean?
Also, apparently every E4 member has a bird of some sort(Corviknight, Larry, Noivern, Espartha) except Rika. Does GF just not remember that Flygon exists? Is that the problem?
maybe she's just a little girl and they gave her steel because its funny for the little girl to have big bulky steel types and also Tinkaton is like. Right there.
While not as extreme, Jasmine could be a previous example of a particularly young Steel-type trainer. Though she does bring up another interesting tangent when it comes to type specializations. In keeping with gen 2's attempt to have the content be newly discovered in-universe, Jasmine is one of the very few NPCs to have changed their main Type. A different character mentions that she used to raise Rock-types like Onix.
It feels reasonable that Jasmine's affinity is for Steel only, and that Onix specifically is closer by way of evolving into a Steel type. From this, it doesn't feel like an extreme stretch to relate this to her social awkwardness: before the Steel type was codified in Kanto/Johto, she wasn't able to find partner mons with the same level of connection as her peers, potentially leading to some impostor syndrome.
I would be down for normalizing androids among the non-pokemon cast to the level Psychics are at, though.
... Well, I guess if we're already making one leap of logic might as well go for two: Poppy is a robot made to resemble someone's child who passed away.
Poppy. A five year old becoming a member of the Elite Four? That screams nepotism! Especially when it's shown how she's really close friends with Rika... View attachment 532023
I get what you're saying but Blue and Red were both 10 years old when they became champions. All of the Elite four members in Kanto were full grown adults and they were slapped around by these kids. A kindergartner E4 member isn't that weird to me tbh
