Type match-ups are not important for winning at Pokémon

IN recent Pokémon adventures your rivals, Hop and Nemona, like to praise you every time you use a super-effective move. “Wow! You’ve really learnt your type match-ups.”

However, this praise feels shallow. Because the truth is I don’t know my type match-ups. I never learnt my type match-ups.

In Pokémon there are 18 different types, and each one has a different effect on the other. This can be super-effective, effective, not very effective, or no effect.

That means knowing your type match-ups is like a multiple choice quiz with 324 questions. Do you really expect me to get 100% on that test, Hop?

The thing is while I will never live up to Hop’s very exacting standards, I am very good at Pokémon.

Despite what you have been told since Pokémon Red and Blue, there are other aspects to Pokémon that are a lot more important than the double damage you deal from a super-effective hit.

Let’s use an example. Say you have a Weavile, and your opponent has an Alakazam.

You seem like you have a good chance to win, after all, your Weavile is Dark-type which is super-effective against Alakazam’s Psychic-type.

Your Weavile has three moves: the 80 power Normal-type move Extreme Speed, the 80 power Dark-type move Dark Pulse, and the 85 power Ice-type move Icicle Crash. 

Which one do you choose?

There are two multipliers we have to consider. One is same-type attack bonus (STAB). Moves of the same type as the user have a 1.5x multiplier so this will apply to Dark Pulse, and Icicle Crash.

Then there is the super-effective bonus applied to Dark Pulse, changing its multiplier to be 3x overall.

So Extreme Speed is now 80 power, Dark Pulse is 240 power, and Icicle Crash is 127 power.

Therefore, Dark Pulse is the strongest move right?

Well actually it’s the worst move you could choose. Despite Hop’s continued insistence that you should learn your type match-ups, here they have led you astray.

There are actually only two types of Pokémon that really matter. special Pokémon and physical Pokémon, and moves are also broken down by these two types too.

Weavile is a physical Pokémon and Alakazam is a special one. So using the special move Dark Pulse works in Alakazam’s favour. 

Despite the 3x multiplier, Dark Pulse will only take 35% of Alakazam’s health.

The other two moves are physical moves, and Weavile is almost 3x stronger physically then specially.

Alakazam is also twice as weak physically as it is specially, giving a much more impressive 6x multiplier.

Extreme Speed will do around 75% of Alakazam’s health, and with Icicle Crash’s STAB you’d be able to pick up a one-hit knockout.

I’m sorry Hop. I never learnt all of the 324 type match-ups. But I will tell you what I have learnt.

I have learnt that Pokémon like Weavile, Dragonite, and Garchomp are physical attackers, and Charizard, Gardevoir, and Gengar are special attackers.

While Blissey, Alakazam, and Jynx have weak physical defence, Stonjourner, Cloyster, and Kingler have no special defence.

And above all Hop, I have learnt to never use Dark Pulse on an Alakazam.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.