Pokemon's Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors, especially how Grass>Rock and

I know that the explanation for Rock > Flying was way back in the beginning, but no one used the "killing two birds with one stone" idiom to explain it? I am thoroughly disappointed.

Someone did, but it took about 15 posts to get there.

Another explanation is that Normal Pokemon represent more normal animals and such - the type is generally full of average creatures, dogs, cats, etc, etc. Normal Pokemon tend to be the type that seem the most like actual animals/pets/etc.

In folklore around the world, including... I think... Japanese folklore, animals tend to be less susceptible to dark influences and even totally impervious to evil spirits, so Normal's immunity to Ghost could be a reference to that.

I never understood why Rock is good against bugs. Either the bugs have some formation in the ground/under rocks or you try to hit a bug with a rock - have you ever thrown a rock at a wasp's nest?

Also poison. Poison should corrode steel, ice and rock, ruin water, cause fire-y reactions, eat out electrical circuits, etc, and yet it's only good against grass?

Erm... if you throw a large enough boulder you can crush any bug?

Hmm, with enough water you can dilute any solution, including acids. Do not recommend it, but it's doable.

Stainless steel and some other metal alloys are corrode resistant.

And for the most part, Poison is about venoms and toxins and such. So a (rare) venomous snake bite won't do anything to a rock, and biting a cord is just going to fry a snake.

edited 25th Mar '12 9:30:15 PM by hnd03

Well the simple answer is that poison is not acid, and therefore only works on things with metabolisms.

Also, what exactly is Dark type? Based on its moves, it seems to be primarily "cheating" and is sort of the opposite of fighting. It's unclear how that makes it immune to psychic though.

edited 26th Mar '12 11:10:25 AM by Clarste

Because they are calculating and deceptive. Psychic mind tricks don't work on them unless the psychic can see through their ruse(hence miracle eye). Exactly why dark is a type though? Obvious Rule Patch. Fighting was too weak and Psychic too strong.

I wish bite wasn't a dark move though, given anything with teeth can learn it makes raising a psychic pokemon a pain at low levels. Why not leave it normal and come up with a dark equivalent that isn't so widespread. Gnash or Dark fang or something?

I'm not sure I buy the "bugs have an alien mindset" viewpoint. Even ignoring the anime which has things like Ash's Caterpie basically acting like a miniature-human being, the "happiness" stat still kind of gives all Pokemon a generally sentient feel among other things. Also note that Bug doesn't actually resist Psychic. It's solely super effective, hence why the phobia explanation probably works better.

Poison's resistance to fighting makes sense I guess, although if works by the logic of toxins in the body undermining its strength then there's no reason why poison shouldn't also be super effective against fighting. It's not like it'd be completely game breaking either. Fighting could use an easier weakness to target (psychic is an awful attacking type and flying moves are extremely niche) and poison desperately needs something to boost its offensive capabilities.

I'd also hazard that ghost/normal immunity can be simplified to this: We live in the real world, while ghosts are on the "other side," and as a result, neither can make direct contact with the other.

It is kind of weird for bite to be a dark attack, although I thought it was more annoying when it was a special attack, considering how many physical Pokemon get it. Bite being special used to make finally evolving your Gyarados fairly underwhelming compared to what it should have been.

edited 26th Mar '12 12:39:50 PM by Vellup

Bite is a dark attack when you think of it in terms of human fighting. It's a foul. No one expects the martial artists to bite each other when wrestling, even though it would clearly do more damage. It's kind of silly to apply that logic to cats and dogs, but bites certainly are the trump cards of most animals.

Poison-Fighting makes sense to me. You're going to be cautious punching something with venom or poison but people resist toxins better when they are in good shape and healthy.

Though Pokemon could do with another type. I can't think of what it would be but it would beat, resist or be mutually weak to dragon, beat water, resist steel and be weak to grass and poison. The addition of sap sipper made grass as pathetic at attack as poison while poison is poison and dragon is what psychic was, water right behind it with ice beam.

Steel also seems rather strong right now; Ferrothorn, Metagross, Scizor, Heatran, Lucario, Forretress, Magnezone, Jirachi, and Skarmory are all OU staples. The type is amazingly defensively, and all it needs is an offensive associative type.

Fighting isn't weak to poison largely for the same reason normal isn't. Grass is weak to it since pollution screws with plant life(which makes you wonder why they didn't apply this logic to water like they should have).

A drunken fist poison/fighting mon would be awesome.

edited 26th Mar '12 2:39:11 PM by VertigoHigh

Isn't there already that poison dart frog fighting pokemon?

He's not drunken fist though, he's muay thai. He just shares the typing.

Why is Flying resistant to Grass?

Because plants are generally rooted and birds are like all the way up in the air most of the time. Or because birds eat plants, I dunno.

That works. Now why is Poison resistant to Fighting? I makes sense for something like Muk or Gulpin which is blob of poison, but why do venomous animals take less damage from martial arts?

Because fighting types are less wary to attack something poisonous, as someone else guessed before. Or maybe poison types' bodies are built differently in such a way to where fighting techniques wouldn't be as effective as they would be on the bodies of other types.

How about Psychic and Ground being effective against Poison?

We're getting into Page 1 and 2 stuff

Psychic>Poison, Post 26: "Poison represents "evil spirits within the body", or the excuse given when someone got sick in old times; they'd claim a demon or spirit was doing something to their overall health. Some psychics are shown to be mediums/priests/priestesses. The psychics were depended on to remove those "spirits" (poison)."

Ground>Poison: Covering up trash in a landfill?

edited 26th Mar '12 4:37:29 PM by hnd03

It has something to do with dirt diluting poisons. I think.

I can see how that works. I think.

edited 26th Mar '12 4:55:40 PM by hnd03

Of course, if that's the case, I don't see why water doesn't work the same way, but whatever.

Probably because you might need a lot of water to dilute a really concentrated poison. It's doable, but it takes more to get results.

edited 26th Mar '12 4:59:13 PM by hnd03