Every single creature and move that exists in the large and wild cast of the Pokémon franchise has a type that affects their powers and abilities. Type matchups are also a key component to Pokémon battling as some types of Pokémon are strong or weak against specific other types.
For the most part, Pokémon's type advantages make sense. However, some of them seem like a bit of a stretch and there are plenty that seem like random choices to give certain Pokémon types more advantages.
10 Bug Type is Super Effective Against Dark Type
Dark type was originally introduced in order to balance out Pokémon typing after the huge advantage went to psychic type during the fan-favorite generation one. Suddenly, Pokémon like Alakazam or Mewtwo weren't so invincible. Of course, dark types had their own weaknesses too and one they ended up sharing with psychic types was bug type.
While there are a couple of theories for why bug type has the advantage over dark, there's nothing that makes it inherently obvious. Is the implication that bugs thrive in the dark or that darkness doesn't really stop them? That's unclear and still wouldn't entirely explain how they work as effectively as fighting types do against the dark.
9 Ice Types, One of the Original Weakness of Dragon Types
Another type of Pokémon that was originally pretty overpowered, especially in generation one, was dragon type. They were pretty rare, a lot of them were considered pseudo-legendary and had few weaknesses. One of them was ice type. Ice was the main kryptonite for dragon types for a long time, though the reason why it works so well seems to require suspension of disbelief, considering dragons are known for breathing fire.
Knowing that, one would assume ice type would actually be no match for dragon type, but that's not the case. Perhaps the insinuation is that dragons are cold-blooded and therefore would be weak to the cold but it still doesn't take into account fire breath or even the occasional ice dragon.
8 Steel Types Are No Match For Fighting Types?
One Pokémon type with the most number of advantages is the strong and battle-ready fighting type. Fighting types are strong against rock, ice, dark, and normal types. They also have a big advantage against steel type, though this seems like it should be more of a hurdle for them than it actually is.
With rock and ice types, it's easy to surmise that fighting types can just easily break through them, like a karate chop to a cinder block. However, that same logic doesn't apply to steel. Usually, when someone tries to punch through steel with their bare hands, they end up getting really hurt. For some reason, it's not even a challenge for fighting types.
7 Ghost Types and Dak Types Should Go Hand in Hand
Another advantage to adding dark types during generation two of Pokémon was that they also ended up having the upper hand against ghost types. Much like psychic, it added some much-needed balancing to a type of Pokémon that didn't have a lot of weaknesses. However, the reasoning behind it isn't exactly clear.
Since ghosts are restless spirits that are known for going bump in the night, one would think that ghost type Pokémon would actually thrive in the dark or at least be a little more resilient to dark type attacks.
6 Shouldn't Ground Actually Benefit From Water?
Where there's water, there is life. This is a fact that remains true in the Pokémon world as well as the real one. Simply put, water is very beneficial to land in many ways. With that in mind, why is it that ground-type Pokémon (essentially the land equivalent) are so weak against water types?
It could be because water can overtake the land in natural disasters. However, it's not as though the land itself is destroyed completely during these instances as the ground can absorb water, and undersea quakes are possible. So it seems like ground types would actually be strong or resistant against water types, rather than the other way around.
5 Fairy Types Can Beat Fighting Types... But Why?
Despite their fighting spirit and tough look, fighting types have weaknesses like any other Pokémon. Their weaknesses include flying and psychic types. They are also weak against fairy types, though this one seems to be the more head-scratching weakness of the bunch since there's no official or clear-cut reason for it.
It could possibly be inferred that fairy represents magic, something that can't be fought in a traditional sense. Though even that reason could be argued against since the feats of fighting-type Pokémon can defy what's physically possible, according to the Pokédex.
4 Dragon Type's Weakness is...Itself?
Some fight fire with fire, and in the case of dragon-type Pokémon, that ends up being a valid strategy. For the longest time, other than ice type, dragon type's only other weakness was dragon type itself, but the reason for why it's that was isn't clear.
Since dragon type is so resilient to a lot of other things, it's strange that it's weak to itself. Is the implication that only a dragon is tough enough to beat a dragon? Well, that doesn't check out either since it does have other weaknesses too.
3 Ghost Types are the Worst Enemies of Ghost Types
Surprisingly, dragon type Pokémon aren't the only ones that are weak to themselves. As it turns out, ghost types are very effective against other ghost types too. As for why they're so good at fighting each other, is even more unclear and makes less sense than the previous entry.
In truth, without this aspect, ghost types like Dusclops or Banette would only be weak to dark type, but the in-universe reason for why this is a weakness for them is left a mystery. What would one ghost care if it gets haunted by another ghost?
2 Fairy Type is the Bane of Dragon Type
With plenty of resistances and only a couple of weaknesses, dragon types used to be on top of the world and nearly unstoppable. That is, until Pokémon's sixth-generation added fairy type to its roster, bringing the mighty dragons down a peg with them as their new weakness. However, it is a little strange that fairies turned out to be the bane of dragon types.
Fairies are usually depicted as small and cute creatures, and a lot of the Pokémon under this type definitely fit that mold. And fairies don't typically beat dragons in fantasy stories, so it seems like a stretch for Pokémon like Jigglypuff or Slurpuff to be so effective against intimidating foes like Dragonite and Salamence.
1 Ground Type is Surprisingly Effective on Poison Type
Quite possibly the most random choice when it comes to Pokémon type advantages is how ground types are super effective against poison types. Pokémon like Rhyperior or Quagsire can do major damage to Pokémon like Muk or Drapion, but it seems there's no reason in particular for how that even works.
Ground and poison don't exactly have much to do with each other, and the closest it gets is pollution's relation to land, but that only makes the argument that poison would be strong against ground type. Otherwise, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense and seems like it was made this way just to give poison another weakness alongside psychic.