The world of Pokémon is filled with many different activities to do, but the most prominent challenge is battles. No matter what version of the franchise you're playing, on what platform, you will encounter battles against both wild Pokémon and trainers. They require tactical decision-making and the leveling up of your own creatures to get one over on the others!
One of the most effective ways to win battles, however, is to consider type advantages. Each Pokémon has their own type (or multiple types!) that make it both strong against other types of Pokémon and weak against some of the rest. Some are common sense, and you can predict them before your Pokémon comes under fire; others make absolutely no sense.
10 Makes Sense: Water Against Fire
Perhaps the most obvious type advantage in the whole game is the advantage that Water has over Fire. In real life, Water is used to put out fires and can dampen the power of flames pretty easily, so it makes sense that Water Pokémon can force Fire Pokémon to their end pretty quickly.
9 Makes No Sense: Fighting Against Steel
Have you ever tried to punch through steel? It sounds like a difficult task and yet, Fighting-type Pokémon are particularly efficient against Steel. This is one that's never really been explained but it is a known thing throughout all of the games. If a trainer sends out their Steelix against Machamp, Steelix is going to have a hard time despite the sheer size of him and hard surface. Seems like an odd choice, but that's just the way it is.
8 Makes Sense: Fire Against Grass
Fire can do a horrible amount of damage to nature. It's seen time and time across the world where forest fires pop up and devastate entire animal populations.
It makes sense, therefore, that the Fire-type can decimate the Grass-type. In any real life situation, greenery has no real resistant to fire. Therefore, if you pick the Grass starter, your rival is going to pick the Fire one to make your life throughout the game harder.
7 Makes No Sense: Dragon Against Dragon
The Dragon-type is a strange one, because what are dragons weak against in real life? Since they don't exist — nothing.
But Pokémon doesn't introduce types that don't have any weaknesses. Otherwise, a trainer could fill up their team with Dragonite, Gyrados, etc., and be pretty good to go despite their dual types. So they've introduced a twist in that Dragon is weak to... Dragon. Huh?
It's understandable from a gaming tactics perspective, but it doesn't make much logical sense.
6 Makes Sense: Rock Against Fire
Fire is an extremely destructive force of nature that can burn through pretty much anything, but it needs weaknesses too. Therefore, it's weak to Rock-type Pokémon. Of all the potential types for Fire to be weak too, this makes a lot of sense but it is frustrating in the early games for those who choose Charmander and soon after encountered Brock's gym in Pewter City.
Time to level up and learn Metal Claw to give poor Charmander a chance.
5 Makes No Sense: Grass Against Water
it's another one that makes sense from a gaming tactics perspective. In the starter trio, the only link missing is Grass against Water and to make the whole thing fair, Water has to be weak to Grass. But it also doesn't make much real-world sense. After all, Water helps Grass flourish!
Unless there's too much of it, of course.
4 Makes Sense: Flying Against Bug
Since birds eat bugs — it's just the circle of life — it would make total sense for the Flying-type Pokémon to be strong against Bug-type, and that's exactly what the creators of the franchise thought too. If you're sending out a Weedle against a Pidgeot, that poor Bug-type is going to go down pretty quickly.
3 Makes No Sense: Water Against Rock
Sure — in the real world, rocks are kind of weak against water. If the ocean throws itself at cliffs for long enough, the rock will slowly deteriorate.
But that takes many years, and trainers don't usually have that kind of time in a Pokémon battle.
Despite the logistics, Pokémon have ensured that Rock is weak against Water. Rock has to be weak against something, so the thought process is understandable, but it's still a bit laughable that an Onix will suffer if put up against a Squirtle.
2 Makes Sense: Fighting Against Normal
Normal-types have a bit of a hard time in the Pokémon world, since so many things are effective against them — or at least, they aren't effective against very much. Put them against a Ghost-type and their attacks won't even land.
Fighting-types especially are highly effective against Normal-types. After all, Normal just can't compete with the punches they're packing.
1 Makes No Sense: Flying Against Fighting
If you combine your Normal-type with a Flying-type though, the story changes. Flying-types are extremely effective against Fighting, so while Pidgeot's Tackle might not do much, their Wing Attack certainly will. Why? Who knows. Perhaps it's going by the logic that Flying-types can easily get out of each of a Fighting-type's punches.