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ALRIGHT! So, I've understood/thought about this for a while, but Pokémon's Type system is not what it appears to be on first glance. Most of us think of a Type as being an "element", but it's more nuanced than that. So in order to suggest a change to the Type system, let me shed some light onto what a Type even IS.
A Type is 1 of 3 things. There are 3 different TYPES of Types. Keep in mind all Types contain aspects of all 3 categories, but obviously lean into one of them. The 3 Types of Types are:
ELEMENTAL EMBODIMENT
Usually what we think Types are. These Types tell us what sort of force the Pokémon generates/has magical control over.
>fire
>water
>ground (Earth basically)
>ice
>steel
>electric
SKILL BASED / BEHAVIOR
These Types tell us something about WHAT the Pokémon can do, what special skills it has, or, HOW it behaves in battle.
>normal
>fighting
>dark (they use nasty tactics and cruel tricks to win, it's not literally darkness)
>psychic
>flying (if Flying focused more on air manipulation, it would be elemental. But Flying mostly describes something airborne, so it's skill/behavior based.)
SPECIES CLASSIFICATION // PHYSICAL COMPOSITION
"Species" Types tell us what KIND of organism we're dealing with. Be it a dragon, a fairy, or a rock-based life form. Being of a certain type of creature can imply certain qualities. So these Types tells us what sort of creature it is, or what it is made of.
>dragon
>rock (usually literally made of rocks)
>bug
>fairy
>ghost (also good in the Elemental category, because they do a lot of shadow-control stuff)
>grass (generally are plant life. somewhat elemental; they embody and control nature.)
>I'm not sure about Poison. It might be seen as skill based, but the games treat it more like a very non-traditional "element". Steel and Ice arguably could be the 3rd category since many Pokémon of those Types are literally physically composed of those things.
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