Pokemon fans are discussing which creatures might be able to make use of some as-yet unseen type combinations in future instalments of the series.
A topic of discussion that often comes up within the Pokemon community are the various type combinations that aren’t used by any creature, and some fans have imagined which creatures could potentially be redesigned to best accommodate some of these unseen type combos. Creative members of the Pokemon community frequently design their own custom creatures to entertain these kinds of ideas, but the upcoming Pokemon Legends: Z-A could introduce such concepts officially through new regional variants or Mega Evolutions.
Even fans new to the Pokemon series are likely to have an understanding of Pokemon types and type matchups, with every Pokemon featuring at least one type and many using two. Despite there being more than 1,000 distinct Pokemon species as of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, surprisingly, there remain a handful of type combinations that are not used by any known species of Pokemon. These include combos such as Dragon and Bug-type, Rock and Ghost, Normal and Bug, and quite a few more. Though it’s not entirely clear why some of these combinations have never been used in any official Pokemon design to date, many fans have taken it into their own hands to bring such Pokemon to life.
With these unused type combinations in mind, one fan known as BubbleWario has suggested a handful of existing critters that could potentially make use of such dual typings in a believable way. Though they didn’t accompany their ideas with any custom redesigns of these species, some of these re-typed Pokemon make for some interesting possibilities. The total list of re-typed Pokemon includes Lycanroc as a Rock and Normal-type Pokemon, Burmy as a Bug and Normal-type, Yanmega as a Bug and Dragon-type, Spiritomb as a Ghost and Rock-type, Beartic as an Ice and Normal-type, Sneasler as a Poison and Ice-type, Victini as a Fairy and Fire-type, Alolan Dugtrio as a Fairy and Ground-type, and Perrserker as a Steel and Normal-type.
Why Pokemon’s Normal-Type is a Double-Edged Sword
Though the Normal-type isn’t particularly underutilized in Pokemon designs, it does play a part in many of these unused type combinations. This probably isn’t a coincidence, as the Normal-type can be considered a sort of handicap due to it making Pokemon weak to the Fighting-type while not being super effective against any specific type. Pokemon that use the Normal-type are still strong thanks to them being able to deal much greater damage with Normal-type moves, but a Rock and Normal or Steel and Normal-type Pokemon would still be at a significant disadvantage against Fighting-type attacks.
Other type combinations such as Bug and Dragon or Fire and Fairy seem a bit more likely to appear in future Pokemon games, however. Fans may not have to wait too long to see official examples of this either, with the upcoming Pokemon Legends: Z-A likely bringing a few new forms for existing Pokemon via Mega Evolutions and regional variants, which could absolutely make use of alternative types.
Pokemon
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