The Pokédex - Extended Fanon Edition

grandphoenix, I'd agree with that whole 4-move limit being artificial idea. I'd always thought that in a real Pokémon world, it wouldn't make much sense for a Pokémon to just forget how to, say, use Tackle (do they somehow forget how to throw themselves at another Pokémon?). I'd figured that trainers who wanted to do official League or tournament battles would need to register their official team (complete with movesets) at the front desk or something — if they used a Pokémon or a move that wasn't registered, they'd get disqualified. Of course, battles outside of official facilities wouldn't be regulated, so if you wanted to use more than four moves per battle, you could.

Your ideas for the history of the regulations sound pretty legit to me.

We kind of already came up with the idea that the four move limit was simply a gameplay abstraction.

@Pokemon Ranger stuff: We have an article on the Altru Tower and some of the villains made it on our villain list.

Is this thing still on?

Good.

Okay, I'm going to try to go and make entries for the different TYPES of pokemon, using the Ghost Type entry by Thrombin as a basic format.

Normal Type

General Characteristics

The second most common type of Pokemon, Normal-Types tend to be either mammalian or avian in nature, though a not insignificant smattering of unique species can be found amongst their ranks. Normals are considered the "default" pokemon type, and there is evidence to suggest such a viewpoint; where all other types specialize in their field to a high degree, normal types are jacks of all stats with some species having a "gimmicky" ability. Their flexibility, however, comes at the cost of integration; the majority of Normal-Types are pure and of the hybrid types only five are not half flying.

Powers

Aside from species-specific gimmicks, normal types have only their intellect as an advantage. However, it is an advantage they use to great effect, able to assault any foe with equal ingenuity and skill. Their weakness against both Steel and Rock type opponents is only a result of the type's natural armor, and while none of their usual moves can affect ghost types, the same is true in reverse; due to their extremely level-minded nature, most ghost-types cannot directly scare them with their usual methods. Only Fighting types can outwit them in combat.

Morphology

Non-gimmicky Normal Types are generally mammalian in nature, although Normal-Flying types trend toward more avian builds. Beyond that, there is little similarity in morphology; in fact, a number of individual species break the mammalian trend for the sake of their individual natures.

Diet

Widely varied.

Breeding

Widely varied.

edited 7th Sep '12 12:33:19 PM by Masterweaver

Please remember to call Dibs before you write any articles.

Fighting Type

General Characteristics

Named for their prowess in Martial Arts, Fighting type Pokemon are incredibly potent battlers who specialize in physically disabling their opponents. They constantly seek new challenges and worthy foes, often finding a position defending some area or in competitive combat. A large number of them have a sense of honor, as they will not assault the helpless and in fact will go out of their way to assist injured comrades. Quite notably, a number of Pokemon can learn Martial Arts as they evolve, thus making Fighting Type a mostly secondary hybrid (though exceptions exist).

Powers

Fighting Types are experts in finding weaknesses in opponent's bodies and assaulting such nerve points with precise movements. This not only devastates normal types as well as the fragile Ice types, but makes the normally impenetrable bodies of Rock and Steel types work against themselves as the Fighting pokemon will make their eponymous armor collapse upon the user and often doging Rock type asaults. The level of mental training Fighting types have also allows them to predict the feral mindset of Dark type pokemon, giving them both offensive and defensive advantage.

For all their advantages, however, Fighting Types are still susceptible to the mind-reading abilities of Psychic types, who avoid their attacks and mercilessly assault the structured minds they have. Flying types also use their aerial maneuverability to evade and harass fighting types, which has caused more then a few incidents of fighting types declaring all birds evil. Their reliance on physical maneuvers makes ghost types invulnerable to their attacks, and they tend to reduce their power deliberately against Poison types in order to avoid being, well, poisoned. Their usual methods also cause confusion with the Bug type, whose bodies are usually quite different then other species; fortunatly, the bugs have an equally hard time adapting their own methods to a martial artist that can dodge their stings.

Morphology

With the sole exclusion of the legendary Musketeers, all fighting types are roughly humanoid. This makes sense, as a bipedual stance typically gives a pokemon a firm sense of balance from which to unleash a barrage of punches/karate chops/kickboxing/what have you. Some proponents of the "pokemon-descended humanity" theory believe humans were originally Fighting type pokemon for this reason.

Diet

While there are a few herbivorous species, the sheer energy required to substain martial arts activities makes most fighting type pokemon omnivorous if not out right carnivores.

Breeding

Due to their obsession with martial arts and physical prowess, most fighting type pokemon engage in ritual combat for mates.

edited 7th Sep '12 3:15:11 PM by Masterweaver

Oh sorry, I thought I made it obvious... Anyway, Dibs on Types! Sorry for the confusion.

I think Tagg meant putting it on the Dibs page.

There's a dibs page? Please direct me there.

EDIT: Found it! And put dibs. Also, what's that nice blue bar code the Ghost Type post had?

edited 7th Sep '12 10:13:09 AM by Masterweaver

You might also want to learn to use the proper syntax…

Plus, we haven't quite figured out what to do about Type articles.

edited 7th Sep '12 10:21:06 AM by Sixthhokage1

Well, that's kinda why I'm doing this. So we have a base. Speaking of which, what do you think of my two concepts thus far?

The issue, as far as I know, is whether or not we should consider types as Gameplay and Story Segregation.

yes, if we consider types to be a hard fact of the verse, then we have to start explaining why certain types are not/very effective against other types. This is a discussion we have had more than once in the past, and that never comes to a conclusive agreement.

That is why I am attempting to incorporate reasoning behind strength/weaknesses into the type descriptions. Logical reasoning, utilizing this chart as a reference:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Type_chart

I put my rational behind the strengths and weaknesses in the Power section. The point, of course, is to see what you think of said rationalizing. Simply saying the idea is difficult and then refusing to have any more to do with it strikes me as decidedly lazy for a venture of this type; the only way to work out the problems is to actually do it and then review the results. Which is why I, again, am requesting opinions on my current entries.

Regarding the Type Articles

While they're a good start, there's a few matters that seem a bit off to me... The biggest thing that makes it seem off to me is that it doesn't really read like a bio article, and more like something that you'd expect from a technical raw data-crunching side (essentially Smogon). The second thing that seems off to me is the explanation for why types can tank or are weak to certain moves. For instance, being able to predict an opponent's feral Dark-type fighting style simply because you are a Fighting-Type, regardless of your level of experience with the Dark-type in question.

It seems to me that perhaps "Types" might not be so much a biological category as a organizational category. A shorthand that's used for grouping mons based upon their weaknesses and their particular strengths movewise as opposed to taxonomical relation, but that's just my opinion on the matter.

Regarding These Fancy Headers

"!! (Whatever)" is the winning combo you want.

Yeah, I see types as more like the food groups/food pyramid. A classification system that is heuristically useful, but not necessarily rooted in any inherent characteristics of the organism. And prone to revision; as I see it, during Red's adventure the prevailing classification had 15 types, but (like the replacement of the food groups with the food pyramid, or the demotion of Pluto) the system was adjusted around that time to resolve some previous notable incongruities.

Such as, many then-Rock-types had a weakness to fire due to thermal conductivity, and a notable poison immunity; this group (plus Magnemite, and maybe other non-Rock types) were moved into the new Steel type.

Similarly, the Dark type drew from former Psychic types (awkwardly classified due to Psychic resistance but not much Psychic attack ability) and Fighting types (similarly awkward, initially placed in Fighting pragmatic battle ruses, but having unexpected advantage against Psychics).

Even the 17-type system is a rule of thumb, and has failures; presumably Durant actually is resistant to Fire.

Thanks for the assist!

Yeah, it makes sense that types are more categorization then hard laws, seeing as all species are capable of learning moves outside their type. In fact, aside from STAB, types tend to only matter in a defensive context when you're doing number crunching. I suppose it could be said that these are the Hats of the various pokemon, instead of hard and fast laws.

Regarding the Fighting/Dark relationship... Dark pokemon are immune to psychic moves, which led me to believe that the defining feature of dark pokemon is not a physical attribute but a state of mind. This, in combination with other details, make me believe that Dark pokemon are feral (for lack of a better term); not unintelligent, but ruthless and instinctive like The Berserker. When put up against the highly analytic and calm mindset of Fighting pokemon, it puts them at an extreme disadvantage. Think Oogway versus Tai Lung.

It is rather unclear, though, so if you could help me clarify it...

Flying Type

General Characteristics

A common misconception is that all pokemon that can fly are automatically Flying type, but in fact the Flying type is distinguished by aerial maneuverability and speed. While it is the third most common type of pokemon, the flying type is strictly secondary in nature and with the exclusion of one legendary pokemon always appears paired with another type. This makes defining flying types as difficult if not more so than defining the more common Normal type; still, a general rule of thumb is that if it uses flight to its advantage, it's flying type.

Powers

The majority of Flying type pokemon have evolved as insectivores and granivores, so they tend to be built toward destroying both Bug and Grass types with little resistance. Their three-dimensional manuvering also provides them a distinct advantage against fighting types; when they engage in combat, the flyer typically wears the fighter down by dodging its attacks and assaulting it from unplanned angles. The true strength of the flying type, however, is their immunity to Ground type attacks; for somewhat obvious reasons, ground attacks simply cannot hit a flyer unless they are roosting, and given the raw power that Ground attacks have this is considered a distinct advantage.

However, Flying types have very delicate physiology, generally having more nerve endings then none-flyers of their primary type due to the complexities of wings and sustained aerial maneuvering. For this reason, electric types are the bane of flyers, as they cannot stand their natural charge and are usually forced back from assault due to the pain. Ice types also hurt their wings (or other flight mechanisms) and rock type moves can take the wind out of a flyer's weak body. Steel type moves are, fortunately, slow enough to be partially dodged by flyers.

Morphology

Aside from pokemon whose primary type is the Bug type, Flying-type pokemon tend toward avian body structure for obvious reasons. There are, however, exceptions to the rule, usually in cases of Legendary or Dragon type pokemon. Bug type pokemon in this class resemble bugs. With the sole exclusion of Fighting type pokemon, Flying type pokemon can be found in every other type class and in fact are the dominant hybrids of Normal type pokemon.

Diet

As previously stated, flying type pokemon are usually insectivores or granivores. This is not a hard and fast rule, however; flyer diets are usually tailored to their home environment.

Breeding

It is not unusual for fliers to perform aerial dances when seeking mates.

Poison Type

General Characteristics

Venom, acid, smog, spores, toxic sludge... some individuals have suggested that the Poison type be renamed the Chemical Warfare type, as it would be more accurate. However, common nomenclature has already cemented their identity, so these pokemon are stuck with the name of poison even in cases where this would not be entirely accurate. Almost every poisonous pokemon has bright purple or blue markings on their body as a warning to potential threats; the few that don't are immature, predatory, or social in nature.

It should be noted that some out of date pokedexs record poison types and bug types to be mutually lethal to each other. This misunderstanding arises from the fact that, while poison attacks affect bug types normally, the bug's smaller body usually succumbs quicker then larger organisms; in retaliation, many social bug types preemptively swarm poison types, leading researchers to find their corpses and reach the wrong conclusion. Most modern pokedexs have clarified this error.

Powers

The various acids, venoms, and spores of the poison type allow them to affect their opponents in a myriad of ways ranging form inducing hallucinogenic visions to temporary blinding, from melting off their skin to poisoning their blood, from paralyzing agents to artificially induced seizures. Their near instinctive understanding of biochemistry only furthers this power, as they are resistant to each other's poisons. Fighting type pokemon pull their punches to avoid these effects, and while bug type pokemon hate poison types they find their attacks are somewhat ineffective against the double layer of skin poison types tend to have to contain their venoms. Grass types are especially vulnerable to poison types, as their plant-like cardiovascular systems increase the flow of venom and their usual methods of assault are partially neutralized by the poison type's internal poison.

However, the poison type's biochemical mastery comes at the price of over-specialization. Their reliance on their venoms to induce status effects makes pure poison types rather unused to pure aggression, and rock, ground, and ghost types can protect themselves from venoms to some degree, while Steel types use their armor to prevent ever being injected in the first place. The ludicrously powered Ground type assaults typically have more impact on the poison type, who are not designed to fight the environment. Psychic types also take advantage of the poison type's specialization, fiddling with the mental processes that control their venoms and opening safety valves, which cause poison types to fall prey to their own powers.

Morphology

Because poison type pokemon are overspecialized, the vast majority of poison types are in fact hybrids; ironically, their foes in bug type and grass type pokemon are the ones that most often take poison type as their secondary group. The relatively rare pure types tend to have fangs, be covered in quills, or actually be amorphous forms containing their powerful acids and spores.

Diet

Due to widespread hybridization, their foods vary widely, but the more amorphous species can and do consume anything up to and including toxic substances.

Breeding

Varies widely, but amorphous species reproduce through fission.

Perhaps you should leave some articles for other people.

The Types articles are technically several articles so you should probably only have dibs on certain ones.

If anybody else lays claim to a specific type, I will of course back down.

Continuing "grandphoenix's random Pokemon ideas"

I had the idea that Evolite, the item that powers up pokemon that are not fully evolved, works by drawing on the energy reserves that are normally used exclusively for evolution and turing it into strength for use now. Side effect could include delayed evolution, evolite should not be used on cocoon Pokemon.

Also, if we were willing to throw the canonical weights out the window, what do we think that some pokemom should weigh.

edited 10th Sep '12 6:56:30 AM by grandphoenix

It's less a case of throwing the canon weights out the window more a case of saying that the weight listed in the Pokedex is a rough average due to the fact that it's nonsensical to assume that every single individual of a species will weigh the exact same as every other individual.

Not every human weighs 70kg which is the average human weight therefore neither would every Charmander for example weigh 8.5kg there will be individuals that a heavier and ones that are lighter.

The same goes for height the average human height is usually said to be about 170cm but most people are taller or shorter and again same with Pokemon not every Charmander is going to be 60cm tall there will be taller and shorter individuals.

That's the way I see it any way and I think most of the rest of us are of similar minds.

I was actually referring to the ones that don't make sense like Onix being less dense than water.

Look at all complaints in No Sense Of Mass under Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale and similar trope pages

edited 10th Sep '12 4:23:07 PM by grandphoenix