We continue this ongoing series with the penultimate article, by analysing the Pokémon found in each type to determine how a type is defined. With three more types ready to go, you could go on and find out the next types.
Flying
The Flying-type is one of the most abundant types you will find. In fact, it is the third-most abundant, behind Water and Normal. In fact, the first Flying-type you will encounter is a bird, with the exception of Hoppip. Flying-types mainly include anything that flies. However, that would be too broad a category because some other Pokémon that fly have Levitate rather than being of that type.
Birds that fly, in general, are always Flying-type. Notice that bird Pokémon that don’t fly, such as Empoleon, Golduck and Blaziken lack a Flying-type. None of the birds have Levitate to make up for lost flight. The only odd exception to this rule are Duduo and Dodrio, Pokémon that are flightless birds, yet are Flying-type. It could be an artefact of the Bird-type, where birds would be given a type, but it was changed to Flying.
Birds aren’t the only Flying-types. Bats seem to have the Flying-type because they can fly. There are no exceptions among the three bats we have. We also have other winged mammals like Emolga, who is based on a flying squirrel, a glider. Despite this, the “flying” part of its name is enough to qualify it as one.
Bugs with wings are also Flying-types, but unlike with bats, not all winged insects have Flying. A few of this type include Volbeat, Illumise, Heracross and Volcarona. It is possible that they are not made to fly forever, or they fit two types that they cannot fit an extra Flying-type.
Winged reptiles are no stranger to the Flying-type group. Among them, we have Charizard, Dragonite, Salamence and Tropius. We also have stuff like Druddigon as well. Similar to bugs, they differentiate some of those by actually being able to fly for a long period of time. Hydreigon is an odd example since it flies through Levitate rather than Flying, so it could be possible that its type combination would conflict with the type of its younger members, so that’s the workaround.
Having the wind element is another qualifying trait for Flying-types. For example, Tornadus is a “wind god”, as it’s known in Japanese. Rayquaza is similar in that it is a god, but instead of wind, it commands the air. Drifloon’s family is a similar example. They are levitators like most Ghosts, but unlike them, they are wind travellers. Hoppip’s family is similarly wind travellers.
There are some odd ones out among Flying-types. Gyarados is only Flying because it can stay in air for a long time, which is more of a triat with Levitate rather than being a Flying-type, so it’s possible that it flies because that was the only way to do it back in Generation 1, and it stays because of tradition. As for Mantyke and Mantine, they might have wings similar to birds, so even though they can’t fly in air, that would have been a contributing factor.
With that said, here are some of the contributing factors in the Flying-type:
- Birds that can fly
- Mammals with flight
- Winged Insects and Reptiles that can fly for long periods of time
- Contains a wind element
- Aquatic animal with “wings”
Ground
Up next is the Ground-type. This is a diverse bunch, despite not being so at first glance. Their different characters surprised me, since I thought of Ground-types as a simple type at first.
Ground-types consist of Pokémon that lives underground. Since they are built to have high mobility in the ground, that’s where they thrive. The mole Pokémon we have fit this criterion quite well, as well as Larvitar and Onix. There is also Nincada, an insect that lives in the ground until it evolves.
Underground isn’t the only place with earth. Mud is also a form of earth, even if it’s wet. As such, Pokémon that thrive in muddy areas are appropriately Ground-types, Swampert, Stunfisk and Whiscash are examples of this kind.
Some of the Ground-types thrive in a sandstorm area (notably a desert), so from this one could infer that they have the desert as a natural habitat. Some of these Pokémon live in deserts, such as Sandile, Trapinch and Hippopotas. Note that not every desert dweller is a Ground-type, since we have stuff like Cacnea and Scraggy. To make up for this, some of them have Sand Veil, but others might be more of the adaptable kind that can live anywhere.
Having a body consisting of earth or clay is another defining characteristic of a Ground-type. After all, isn’t it obvious to have Ground-types that are actually made of earth? There are quite a few that are purely made of it, such as Wormadam (Sand), Baltoy and Golett, but some might not be as obvious, with Camerupt and Torterra as examples.
Having a rule over earth is another element of a Ground-type. Since Earth is one of the elements, there are quite a few inspirations that led to some earth deities. Groudon is a Continent Pokémon, so it should be obvious what its type is. Landorus is able to make soils fertile with its power.
What about the various other animals that are Ground-type, yet doesn’t fit in one of the above traits? The Rhyhorn family, Phanpy family, Cubone family, Swinub line and the Nidos are examples of this. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that all these Pokémon are terrestrial, yet possess a degree of power that differentiates them from other terrestrial Pokémon. Perhaps they live on land so long that they adapted to it, so they can’t do well in water. In addition to this, the strength would have some advantages, but they would be more vulnerable to certain elements.
Ground-types sure are made up of a lot of things! So to recap, Ground-types:
- Lives Underground or Muddy Areas
- Desert Dweller
- Made from Earth or Clay
- Controller of Earth
- Strong Terrestrial Animals
Steel
Compared to Ground-types, Steel-types are simple in that they don’t have many differing characteristics that define them. As with some of the types like Electric, it is easy to recognise a Steel-type, with very few deviants.
Much like the Rock-type and the Ground-type, a Pokémon made entirely out that material is of that type. In this case, a metallic Pokémon is a Steel-type. The Klink family, Registeel and Klefki are some of the examples of this. For those resembling animals, their body is made of metal, such as the Ferroseed family and Durant.
Not all the Pokémon are made of metal. Instead, there are some that are Steel-types because of their metallic armour. Escavalier is one such example. It isn’t intrinsically metal, but the armour it has makes it one. Forretress is similar in that respect, as with the Aron family.
There are some standouts that don’t fit in the above categories. Mawile doesn’t seem to be one at first glance, but it is explained that its head-jaw (called a horn) is made of steel, which would explain it. Another Pokémon would be Lucario. It isn’t made of metal, but it could be inferred that the spikes make it Steel-type (or it’s possible that it got Steel-type to increase competitive viability). From this, both fall under the “metal armour” characteristic.
Here are the following that defines a Steel-type:
- Made of Metal
- Have Metal Armour
Flying and Ground are especially more challenging to cover, with less of a common ground between them. The Steel-type, however, is surprisingly easy if I say so myself.
Now that we have done three more types, we only have three more types left: Ghost, Dragon and Fairy. You can be sure that the last article in this series will delve into those three types. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I have writing it.
Thanks for reading.
