Choosing Your Types

When building a team of six Pokémon for battles, pay close attention to the types of each Pokémon.

Understand Type Match-Up possibilities; a team of a single type can be vulnerable to opposing types (e.g., a Fire-type team against Water, Ground, or Rock types).

Consider the inherent properties of Pokémon types: Fire types cannot be burned, Grass types are unaffected by Leech Seed, Ice types cannot be frozen and are unaffected by Hail, Poison types cannot be poisoned and disable Toxic Spikes, Ground types are unaffected by Sandstorm, Flying types are unaffected by Spikes or Toxic Spikes, Rock types take no damage from Sandstorm and gain boosted Sp. Def, and Steel types cannot be poisoned and are unaffected by Sandstorm.

When using dual-typed Pokémon, be aware that while they offer double type coverage, they can also introduce additional weaknesses.

Evaluate dual-typed Pokémon carefully: Swanna (Flying/Water) is very weak to Electric attacks and also weak to Rock, despite Flying canceling out a Grass weakness.

Consider dual-typed Pokémon where the second type covers the first type's weakness, or vice-versa. Galvantula (Bug/Electric) has only Fire and Rock weaknesses, with its Electric type negating a potential Flying weakness and its Bug type being effective against Psychic or Dark types. Spiritomb (Dark/Ghost) has no weaknesses.

Dual-types can be advantageous for strategic play and surprising opponents, but avoid Pokémon with shared weaknesses that can be exploited.

Exceptions exist for extremely powerful Pokémon where a 4x weakness is manageable. Volcarona (Bug/Fire) is 4x weak to Rock but powerful with Quiver Dance and high Special Attack. Garchomp (Dragon/Ground) is 4x weak to Ice but is fast and powerful.