Type Logic: Of Light and Darkness

While it's not too late and still relevant, I'd like to discuss another facet of "type logic". As with the discussion of a different facet yesterday, this one came out of the same discussion with the same friends. As we brought up the three types we brought up, we also brought up two other types, Psychic and Dark. After we moved on from the "folklore" aspect, we discussed these two types along with the Fairy type under a different aspect - or rather, two of them - which would be the ones also contained in the title of this post, "light (brightness) and darkness". These represent common themes in many kinds of stories, but it especially ties in well to the three types we brought up.

According to our discussion, the Psychic type can be said to be the original "light", being one of the 15 types that initially came to be for Pokémon, in the first generation. Indeed it was: Pokémon of the type tend to be stronger than most, it has a dedicated Gym for the type, and even one of the most well-known Legendary Pokémon from that generation is of that type. Simply put, the type is very strong, and few other Pokémon of other types can stand up to it; it was a "light" in many ways, and a very bright one in many ways; even today, it's still bright in some ways.

As such, then there was the Dark type from the second generation onwards. It is powerful in some ways just like the Psychic type, but it could also counter it, which helped to decrease its dominance. At this point, the battle was "won" by the Dark type by way of having achieved near-parity with the Psychic type, but the two types would still have influences in many ways. One of those influences would be the evolved forms of Eevee, Espeon and Umbreon, which evolve by day and by night respectively, and are Psychic and Dark types respectively. Beyond anything, the two establish the connection between the light that is Psychic and the shadow that is Dark.

The Fairy type, then, could be regarded as a "second light" given that it deals with Dark types easily, and in a way, Fairy becomes a buffer or foil for the partial dominance of the Dark type over the Psychic type. Moreover, in the same generation that it was introduced, it also came with an evolved form of Eevee to represent it, being Sylveon. Like the Espeon and Umbreon introductions above, the introduction of Sylveon puts things in perspective as well as in place, as the "second light". Today, the Fairy type has gained its own following as a modern "strong type" by itself, a little like Psychic in the past.

This part of the discussion on "type logic" in a way tells a story about how the themes of "light" and "shadow" are intertwined and interrelated. It's a little abstract to follow because of the nature of the two themes, but much of the relationships can be discerned. In the beginning there was light (Psychic), but then this light became obscured by shadow (Dark) before becoming tempered by another source of light (Fairy). This helps to explain the "type logic" aspect of it in a succinct way. However the types play out, the benefits are rather clear in that they give the world of Pokémon the dynamics that are necessary for things to be challenging... as well as a little story for some of its fans to tap into.

One year ago: One-Upping Ash

Two years ago: Dilemma of Colors

Three years ago: Pokémon XY Pikachu Freezer Bottle