Weaknesses of Every Pokémon Type
Pokémon battles are strategic puzzles, and the difference between success and defeat in a decisive match can be the understanding type weaknesses.
In Pokémon games, picking the correct types for a team is an essential part of the strategy. A single type team will be vulnerable to attacks the type is weak against, leading to a total-party knockout. As a result, having a diverse variety of Pokémon types will help players develop more stable combat strategies. It’s particularly crucial when competing against Gyms that specialize in specific styles. Knowing the shortcomings of each Pokémon type is essential for assembling a well-balanced team.
Pokémon types are used in a variety of ways. Each species has a type, such as Charmander being a Fire-Type Pokémon, but Pokémon moves also have types, such as Earthquake being an Earth-type move. Moves that fit a Pokémon’s species type do extra damage (known as Same-Type Attack Bonus), but most Pokémon can learn movements that are not in their species type. For example, Charmander can learn Acrobatics, a Flying-type move, and Pikachu can learn Iron Tail, a Steel-type move.
Although Electric-type moves have little effect on Ground-type Pokémon, Steel-type moves do, and Electric-type moves are beneficial against Water-type Pokémon, which are Steel-resistant. Players will take advantage of a Pokémon’s species form and stand up against moves it is weak against by balancing movesets of various types.
Pokémon with dual typing, such as Charizard’s Fire and Flying, achieves more STAB moves and inherits both types’ weaknesses, making defense more difficult. Charizard is vulnerable to both Water and Ground-type attacks, as well as Electric-type attacks. Although possessing a dual-type Pokémon will have interesting offensive options, it is crucial to understand both types’ weaknesses to prevent a surprise one-hit K.O.
For Battle Strategy, Every Pokémon Type’s Weakness
The following is a list of all Pokémon types, their weaknesses, and the possible reasoning behind each liability. The majority of the Pokémon games’ weaknesses are focused on theoretical interactions with each element in real life. However, certain types included in later games, such as the Fairy-type and the Dark-type, are less concrete, rendering their gameplay less straightforward. Despite this, the majority of types are relatively easy to remember with a bit of practice.
- Normal-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Fighting-type moves. This weakness could be based on the idea that Normal-type Pokémon aren’t obvious fighters, or that a normal person would be weak to one trained in combat.
- Fire-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Water, Ground, and Rock-type moves. Fire is put out by the water, smothered by the earth, and snuffed out by rocks.
- Water-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Electric and Grass-type moves. Water conducts electricity, and grass (plants) drinks up water to thrive.
- Grass-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, and Bug-type moves. Plants are burned by fire, killed by ice or frost, killed by poisons, and eaten by bugs.
- Electric-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Ground-type moves. Earth insulates against electricity (in certain situations).
- Ice-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Fire, Fighting, Rock, and Steel-type moves. Ice is melted by fire, cracked by force from physical blows or rock impacts, and can be shattered by steel.
- Fighting-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Flying, Psychic, and Fairy-type moves. Physical fighting moves are limited to the ground, making them vulnerable to attacks from above. The physical body can be weak to the mind, or to magic.
- Poison-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Ground and Psychic-type moves. The ground can absorb poison, and the mind can be greater than the effects of poison on the body.
- Ground-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Water, Grass, and Ice-Type moves. The ground can be eroded by water, broken up by plant growth, and frozen by ice.
- Flying-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Electric, Ice, and Rock-type moves. Being higher up makes things more vulnerable lighting strikes. Ice can freeze over wings, and rocks can be thrown to knock things out of the sky.
- Psychic-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Bug, Ghost, and Dark-type moves. The mind can be penetrated by things that cause fear, like bugs, ghosts, and darkness.
- Bug-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Fire, Flying, and Rock-type moves. Bugs can be easily burned or smashed by rocks and are often eaten by birds and other things that fly.
- Rock-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, and Steel-type moves. Rocks can be eroded by water, overgrown with or broken apart by plants, shaken apart by earthquakes, or eroded by sand, and destroyed by steel items like drills.
- Ghost-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Ghost and Dark-type moves. Ghosts are weak only to ethereal forces, like other ghosts and the darkness. This is a more vague type whose weaknesses were likely decided to balance other types.
- Dragon-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Ice, Dragon, and Fairy-type moves. Dragons are weak to ice because they need to remain heated in order to breathe fire, are weak to other dragons because they are powerful enough to fight each other, and are weak to magic. This is another, more obscure type, as it is based on myth and fantasy instead of reality.
- Dark-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Fighting, Bug, and Fairy-type moves. The darkness can’t stand up to honed physical constitution or the purity of magic. Its weakness to bugs is possibly due to people not being able to see them in the dark.
- Steel-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Fire, Fighting, and Ground-type moves. Steel can be melted by hot flames, destroyed over time by physical damage, and eroded by the earth. Its surprising water isn’t a weakness for steel, as water can cause rust and erode many metals.
- Fairy-Type Weaknesses: x2 weakness to Poison and Steel-type moves. The Fairy type symbolizes magic or purity, in contrast to the Dark-type. Poison can taint pure things, making them evil or sick. Fairy-type Pokémon could be weak against Steel-type moves simply because most Fairy-type Pokémon are shown as soft, cute, and small, which doesn’t hold up well against the weight and strength of steel. It could also be to help balance the Fairy-type, which has been known to be overpowered in the Pokémon games.
