Narrowing Down Pokémon Types

The 18 types of Pokémon species in the main series games and some related ones didn't come all at once; the majority of them came first and a few were added later, as I had discussed early on in this blog. That's a lot of types to consider, and there may be the thought that some of these types can be narrowed down - in other words, simplified. That has in fact happened for other Pokémon game areas or realms, and that also prompts a bit of thinking and discussion on the approaches and their generality.

For those who are versed with the current TCG era (including the modern TCGP), they work with 10 types: Colorless, Leaf, Fire, Water, Lightning, Fighting, Psychic, Dragon, Darkness, and Metal. There is quite a bit of "subsuming" of main series types with these types - for example, Bug is subsumed in Leaf, Ice is subsumed in Water, and Ghost is subsumed in Psychic. Fairy had also been included in past years as a type, but its expected members are now just subsumed under different types (examples are Wigglytuff in Colorless and Gardevoir in Psychic). The narrowing down of types here seems to work well and explains its persistence.

Meanwhile, Pokémon Unite does have "types" too, although they're not all prominent; they can be seen in the screens that deal with emblems and their collection. The "types" are Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Black, White, Gray, Purple, Pink, and Brown - 10 of them, all based on colors rather than elementals. As would be expected, there are similar subsuming processes here, only with a few differences (like the Pink "type", which is an obvious nod to Fairy, while there is a bit of "vagueness" for dragons, proper or otherwise). It's even simpler yet seems to demand as much of the systematics of TCG.

Given the above, it seems that when narrowing down the types, the essentially persistent and necessary ones are the "common" and "starter" types - the ones that pertain or relate to Grass, Fire, Water, and Electric, plus Normal as a supplement. The qualities of darkness and metallicity are also an apparent modern persistence. The other types have some leeway for narrowing down in their regard, especially dragons - again, proper or otherwise - which even in regular Pokémon parlance are a source of contention. These types may be slightly superfluous.

Still, with the way that the Pokémon main series games (and their derivates) are, the 18 types will continue to persist in them for the challenges that they bring. In other Pokémon (game) realms, fewer of them might just suffice to bring similar challenges, and thus a narrowing down is not only workable but also practical for one reason or another. At least, whether many or few, the challenging presence of types in Pokémon is unquestioned.

One year ago: Remembering Past and Present Sponsored Locations

Two years ago: Holowear of Interest, Revisited

Three years ago: The Summer Cup of GBL

Four years ago: My Personal TCG Equipment Wishlist

Five years ago: On the Mining of Data

Six years ago: Mementos of...

Seven years ago: Cosplay Events, Wherefore Art Thou?

Eight years ago: Connection Issues?