What is the best type?

[Cool Trainer Jess]

I think water is.

[Magmar]

Well, I think Water is as well, only because it's very versatile, doesn't have a crapload of weaknesses, and has several dozen Pokemon of its element, so you really have options as to which Water Pokemon you would like on your team. I'm not saying it's the strongest, but I am pointing out this strength that makes the game more fun. Lapras? Gyarados? Blastoise? Starmie? Use whichever one you want, they're all overall decent (although Starmie and Lapras trump out of that group). You can have Water/Grass, Water/Ice, Water/Flying, Water/Ground (ouch)...

And guys, before one of the mods takes a stroke, try to put a little explanation behind your results rather than one-liners.

[Mega Horny]

Idk, i think steels up there. Tending to have great defense and very useful movesets to suit their stats, as well as resistance to more types than any other. Spikes can be a real pain in the ass, too.

[+conspiracy+]

yes water is definitely up there in the rankings... as for Steel, it gets more honorable mention imo, just for being associated with the oh so commonly used Skarmory...

Water types are very versatile as stated before, and their stats tend to be spread around rather than being focused into just one or two stat categories... which makes them versatile moveset wise... not to mention almost every team out there consists of a water type.

My top type is Dragon.. I know its a little cliche, but hey =)

All Dragon's have just ridiculous movepools, and the best stats in the game... They are very versatile moveset wise, as some are physical like Flygon, some are more special oriented like Kingdra, and others are just great all-around like Salamence and Dragonite. Dragon's resist the common special types, except for ice of course which imo is their only downfall... and dragon attacks are only resisted by steel types, which is just another advantage...

Overall, i cant make a decision as to which is the best.. theres a downside to everything.

[Silencer]

IMO Psychics are also one of the best types. They have pretty large movepools most of the times and if you would look at it anime wise, they could always blast back an opponent without having to move. Dark and Steel may be their foes but most Psychics are able to learn fire attacks (heck, slowbro learns flamethrower and fire blast). Also they have some nice combinations.

water/psychic
grass/psychic
ice/psychic
psychic/flying
normal/psychic (eat that ghosts)
fight/psychic (eat that dark)
rock/psychic
ground/psychic
steek/psychic
dragon/psychic (when counting legendaries aswell)

9 combinations with the 16 other types. That aint to shabby.

[Crazy Elf Boy]

Definatly the top three types are

Steel
Dragon
Dark

What makes them so special, its because they rock and I love them. If you don't agree then to bad for you.

[mr_pikachu]

I'm actually surprised nobody's mentioned Ground yet. Jeez, Earthquake utterly breaks double battles (Levitate/Flying/Protect/Detect/2-turn moves, woo!); Ground deserves a mention just for that.

I'm actually not that fond of Steel. Yeah, it's great for defensive capabilities, but the attack choices are very lacking. Spikes is just somewhat annoying (although if you get some Roars/Whirlwinds going, look out), and most of the others are either far too weak or wildly inaccurate. I think Steel Wing might be just about the only exception, and it's only mildly strong. Iron Tail is as strong as EQ, but 75% accuracy makes me cry.

[lordsalamence]

the dragon type.it only haz about 2 weaknesses out of 17.

[Magmar]

Mr. Pikachu has a huge point about the Steel type lacking in real good moves. Without Lock On, you have a 1-in-4 shot of failing.

And, I've been wanting to say this...

*abuses a Salamence*

[Crazy Elf Boy]

*abuses a Salamence*

I see why you would do that, but really why would you strangle a salemence. Why not take it out on a Bagon?.

I also agree with Mr Pikachu ground types are unappreciated like my favourite combo in double battles is a Wishcash Fylgon. Wishcahs uses earthquake and everything dies except for it and Flygon.

[+conspiracy+]

lol more like everything takes 10% damage because whiscash sucks :x and then what would flygon do...

anyways, yes ground types are good and they have a good move, but they aren't great all-around types. Ground types usually have just decent attack and above average defense, then lack in everything else, and Earthquake is one of the easiest moves to counter with those comonly used pokes like Gengar, Claydol, and Flygon (omg a ground type... which is good because it is part dragon lol my previous points stands =P) that have levitate, not to mention all the flyers... Ground types are useful for countering common electrics like Jolteon and Zapdos, but get torn up on the very next turn by HP Grass/Ice... other than that their main function is to serve as defensive walls and Exploders =)

[Cool Trainer Jess]

But my most favorite is............................................


[color=red][b][u][i]DRAGONS RULEZ!!!!!!!!!




It's truly the most useful type and has my favorite pokemon drangonite!!!!!!!!!!

[Blademaster]

best (best)

adj. Superlative of good.

1. Surpassing all others in excellence, achievement, or quality; most excellent
2. Most satisfactory, suitable, or useful; most desirable
3. Greatest; most
4. Most highly skilled

-Dictionary.com

...Hmmmmm...

Going by definitions 1 and 4, the best types are Steel (defensively) and Ground (offensively).

Going by definition 3, the best type is Water (81 different species, including Tamanta, Buizeru, and Manafi).

But going by definition 2, I have to say the best is Ice - Ice types are very cool (no pun intended) and very powerful - Jynx, Lapras, Sneasel, Glalie, and Walrein are all quite impressive and they have the advantage against Grass, Ground, and Flying types, all of which there are a plethora of, both pure and hybrid. That Jynx you can trade a Poliwhirl for in Cerulean City has always been one of my favorite RBYFrLg Pokemon; It can take down Lance's 5 Dragons single-handedly, then that's a good Pokemon type in my book.

-Blade

[Phoenixsong]

The "best" type? If you're talking about diversity then it has to be Flying, which has combos with every type except Ghost, Fighting and itself (meaning it never stands alone).

They vary wildly in effectiveness and strategy, from the sadly-not-so-great Pidgeot to the heavily defensive Skarmory to the dangerous Dragon-type Salamence. Quite a few get very nice movesets (Salamence again, for example), and they are the single best defense against the aforementioned menace that is Earthquake- you can always Skill Swap away a Gengar's Levitate, but no moves exist yet that can change an opponent's type. They also resist Fighting, stopping moves like Brick Break from causing trouble, and HP Grass (common for special sweepers) doesn't help against them either.

A Flying-type can be used in all sorts of combos: Tropius can do a sunlight combo with Groudon, Swellow can use Toxic/Guts/Façade with ease... do I need to mention Salamence again? The type itself has only three weaknesses (Ice, Rock, Electric), every single one of which can be cancelled out by one of the many primary types a Flyer can have. Gligar and Skarmory, for example, have only two weaknesses (Ice/Water and Fire/Electric) because their Ground- and Steel-types cancel everything else out. Add that to the fact that Flying-types are absolutely necessary for in-game play (Fly... unless you'd seriously rather walk) and, well, for me there's no comparison. Flying-types have totally dominated the game.

My favorite type, though, is either Fire, Psychic or Electric. Maybe Dark. (Yippee, possible new DP starter triangle!)

[Mega Horny]

The "best" type? If you're talking about diversity then it has to be Flying, which has combos with every type except Ghost, Fighting and itself (meaning it never stands alone).

Actually, i believe there is a debate over whether Perappu is pure flying or not. Perhaps it has been resolved?

[lordsalamence]

Rudeboy,congrats! you are our new janitor for the rest of eternity!You start tomorow @3:30am!

[Everoy]

My favorite and in my opinion the best is Dark. Two of the most awesome evo lines, Houndour/Houndoom and Sneasel/Weavile, are Dark. Plus, the combos are awesome: Dark/Fire, Dark/Ice, Dark/Flying, etc.

P.S. Woohoo, post 250!

P.P.S. *abuses a clan of Salamences in various ways, none of them sexual*

[lordsalamence]

ohhh... you dont wanna get me mad.....

[Phoenixsong]

Actually, MH, the debate has been resolved- Perappu is, as we feared, Normal/Flying. Bah. Ah, well, that's only one Flyer out of many that are yet to come, yes? Up until September there IS still hope...

[Saffire Persian]

I personally like the Normal-type. Overlooked, yes. But they are often so incredibly versatile, and usually don't fall into a stereotype. They usually have huge movepools that you can draw upon, not to mention they only have one weakness.

[Magmar]

no moves exist yet that can change an opponent's type.

Does Conversion 2 accomplish this? I'm not sure... I don't remember what the move does...

I think water is.

But my most favorite is............................................


[color=red][b][u][i]DRAGONS RULEZ!!!!!!!!!




It's truly the most useful type and has my favorite pokemon drangonite!!!!!!!!!!

Umm... not sure what to say to that...

P.P.S. *abuses a clan of Salamences in various ways, none of them sexual*

Haha, you're my hero. *Smacks a Salamence with a push broom*

[lordsalamence]

you dont wanna go around making enemies,you know......(eats a skitty)

[Blademaster]

LOL,

OK, OK, come on, now, no more abusing the Bagon line (or the Skitty line, for that matter)...

Rude Boy, I checked and Coversion 2 makes the user resistant to the opponent's last move's type (If used right after the opponent attacked with Metal Claw, the user would become a Steel or Fire type, etc..).

[Magmar]

Ah, thanks! Maybe it had a different function in the TCG?

[Saffire Persian]

Also, I think the move Camoflauge changes a POkémon's type.. and lets not forgot Kecleon's Color Change.

[Cheesey]

I don't want to repeat what other people have said (even though I reckon I agree with the flying comment, because it does indeed have a lot of versatility due to all of the type combinations); so I'll say... GRASS.

Ahaha, well, not really. It's a shame though, Grass could be quite a good type, but it's got really annoying weaknesses (like Fire and Flying, two heavily used types in general). And plus, it's not really super-effective against enough types to make it meritable in its own right (sure, there's Water, but Electric pokemon cover that; and stuff like Rock and Ground can be done by Water itself). Its also got a pants movepool, generally... Leaf Blade's ok, but it's basically a glorified Slash. Maybe if there were more unique/powerful grass moves people would be tempted to use them?

[lordsalamence]

umm...... no offence, but i think the grass-type was made to give battlers an easy time....and to be the most suckiest type in the series along with the bug-type....*eats a butterfree,Delcatty,and oddish,then flies away on his salamence*

[SoulflameNinetales]

In battling terms, the best type to use has changed over the years. I remember when RBY were the only ones out, if you didn't have a psychic you didn't have a strong team. Of course now that is far different.

I believe that bug is greatly overlooked. It is suprisingly effective against many types, through are are others that are heavily resistant. And poison types are suprisingly effective compared to other types, the only reason that they aren't used often id due to the overuse of psychics. In fact a well trained weezing is reasonally effective against many targets and boasts only one weakness. However, water seems to be the best when it comes to versatility very closely followed by normal, flying and psychic. I believe that every type has the ability to be effective in battle, its just based on what you splash in...

My faves to use are Dark, Ground and Fire. These three types alone often make up 60-75% of my pokemon in teams. This is followed closely by Normal and Electric. I use Dragon, Bug and Steel the least, but i don't have any real types i dislike, thro i was once a hardcore bug hater.

[Magmar]

umm...... no offence, but i think the grass-type was made to give battlers an easy time....and to be the most suckiest type in the series along with the bug-type....*eats a butterfree,Delcatty,and oddish,then flies away on his salamence*

*Beats your Salamence in the head with a 10 ton sledgehammer and starts to skank*

I think Weezing and Muk have a huge level of potential, and I also say the same for Venomoth--what a movepool! I also find Venonat to be an adorably illustrated Pokemon, and I really hate bugs in general, never mind bug Pokemon, and Venonat has always been the exception.

[Lady Vulpix]

Stats-wise, the most favored types are Dragon and Psychic (especially if you count the legendaries). When it comes to versatility, Water allows for the most varied teams and movesets, and Normal has by far the largest movepool. As for type weaknesses, I'd say Normal, with one immunity and only 1 weakness, or Ghost, with 2 weaknesses but also 2 immunities and 2 resistances. And Steel gets a mention for being resistant to most types. Of course, there's the Ghost/Dark combination, with 3 immunities and no type weaknesses, but that's not a type. On the other side, Ground is super-effective against 5 types, but has the problem of being useless against Flying types and pokemon with Levitate. Rock is a good offensive type, SE against 4 types, no types are immune to it and only 3 are resistant. Normal, Fire and Water have most of the best moves and, while normal isn't SE against anything, it does cause the most status ailments. So I'd say Normal is the type that wins in most categories.

[Phoenixsong]

Erg... I said there's no move that can change an opponent's type. Color Change, Camouflage and the Conversion Moves only change the user's type. Therefore it is impossible to remove a Flying-type's immunity to Ground, unless you want to be stupid and do that to yourself. Not that any Flying-types learn any of those moves/abilities.

And technically, Sableye is weak to Fighting; Ghost doesn't resist that type, it's only immune (Gastly, Shedinja and such do, but their other types resist Fighting, not their Ghost type). When the immunity is removed by Foresight, Sableye is one big hunk of Brick Break fodder. Of course, it's pretty safe as no one uses Foresight anyway, but still...

Still, I agree with Lady Vulpix; Normal is definitely super-versatile, and that's my second pick after Flying.

[SoulflameNinetales]

As for type weaknesses, I'd say Normal, with one immunity and only 1 weakness, or Ghost, with 2 weaknesses but also 2 immunities and 2 resistances. And Steel gets a mention for being resistant to most types. Of course, there's the Ghost/Dark combination, with 3 immunities and no type weaknesses, but that's not a type.

You forgot about Electric. It only has 1 Weakness and at least 2 resistances. But then again there are many resistant to electric attacks

[lordsalamence]

[quote=Rude Boy ]
*Beats your Salamence in the head with a 10 ton sledgehammer and starts to skank*

*shoots RudeBoy's starter with 14 pellet guns,then eats the corpse and steals his soul*

[+conspiracy+]

lordsalamence stop spamming plz..

anyways... electrics are ok, but the lack of good electrics just drops their stock... well, the lack of electrics in general

[Phoenixsong]

Electric-types also have poor movesets. Granted, this will change in DP with the new attack system (ie, Jolteon will have Shadow Ball), but for now that damages Electric's useability. They also have no immunities.

[Link]

I'd say Normal as it only has one weakness and can damage and outlast LOTS of pokemon snorlax is one pokemon that'll do it to ya.

[lordsalamence]

NORMAL SUCKS BALL$!!!

Salamence can kick a snorlaxe's ass!!!!




*Shoots a vigoroth in the head with 14 pellet guns, eats the corpse and flies who-knows-where on his Salamence*

[Mega Horny]

Lol, what a pity. it seems he will be banned. I was hoping we could settle our differences in a battle. He sent me a pm saying pretty much the same thing he just posted, btw.

[lordsalamence]

says who?!?

I was just saying my opinion......*BUUUURP!*

[frylock]

Okay, Salamence is just a crappy Dragonite rip-off. He's not that cool. Stop yelling at peoples types LordSalamence, and don't respond to this with some stupid

"beats up frylock and flies around on SALAMENCE!!!! Derrr....."

Water types, just because there's a water/other type pokemon for pretty much everything but ghost. YOu could porbably make a really good team with just water types. Dark types are pretty cool, but there isn't any extremely powerful dark type other than Tyranitar(whcih could change if there's a darrk starter in D/P. Other than Salamence, Dragons are pretty cool.