Uncategorized

Pokémon: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Electric Types

As the type of the Pokémon franchise's mascot, the Electric type has a lot of fun facts that some fans might not know.

Pokémon’s type system has been integral to its success since the franchise’s beginning. Every Pokémon has one or two types, and these types interact differently with one another in battle to create a combat system that is easy to learn but deceptively deep and strategy-driven. The Fire, Water, and Grass types are some of the best known because of their usage in every new generation’s starter trio, but the Electric type is one of the more popular as well.

The franchise mascot Pikachu is one of the most recognizable characters in the world, and almost every generation introduces a new Electric type Pokémon that somewhat resembles Pikachu, known by fans as Pikaclones. Even with the immense popularity of Electirc types, there is a lot that some fans might not know about them.

10 They Could Once Be Paralyzed

Ever since Generation VI, Electric type Pokémon have been completely immune to the paralyzed condition. This condition is often inflicted by Electric type moves like Nuzzle, Thunderbolt, and Pikachu’s signature Volt Tackle. However, before Gen VI, their immunity worked slightly differently. Since Generation I, Electric Type Pokémon have been immune to paralysis, but only from Electric type moves.

Moves like Tri-Attack, Body Slam, or Dragon Breath could still paralyze Electric types. This leads to an interesting situation with the Gen V Pokémon Stunfisk, an Electric/Ground type with the Limber ability, which prevents paralysis and is now completely redundant.

They’re Capable Of Evading All Weaknesses

Every type in Pokémon has at least one weakness to another type. Electric and Normal are tied for the fewest weaknesses, being weak to Ground and Fighting respectively. However, Ground is one of the easiest types to work around and get immunity to.

The Levitate ability, the Air Balloon item, and the Magnet Rise and Telekinesis moves all render a Pokémon immune to Ground type moves. This unique trait has led to the only Pokémon in the entire franchise with no weaknesses being the Eelektross line, pure Electric types with the Levitate ability.

They Go Well With Ice

The Electric type is extremely powerful offensively, so much so that even non-Electric types will often carry an Electric type move for type coverage. Electric type moves pair extremely well with Ice type moves, as Ice can hit the Electric-immune Ground type, as well as the Electric-resistant Grass and Dragon types, while Electric can hit Water for super effective damage. This powerful combination gave rise to the fan-term “Boltbeam,” the potent combination of the moves Thunderbolt and Ice Beam on a special attacking Pokémon.

They Are Not Very Common

As of Generation VIII, there are a total of 61 Electric type Pokémon, including all regional variants and alternate forms. This accounts for just 5.72% of all Pokémon, making Electric the fifth-rarest type in the franchise. Out of those 61 Electric types, 37 of them, or about 60%, are pure Electric with no second type.

This is one of the highest proportions of pure types in the series, just barely behind the Normal type. The Pikachu line also takes up a good portion of the total number of Electric types, because that 61 includes alternate forms like Gigantamax Pikachu, Cosplay Pikachu, and Pikachu in a cap.

Gen V Had A Lot Of Them

Each Pokémon generation has only included a handful of Electric types, which has made them one of the rarest types. Generation V introduced the most new Electric types with a total of 11, while Generation VI only introduced four new Electric types in Helioptile, Heliolisk, Dedenne, and Mega Ampharos.

However, Generation VI introduced the most new Electric type moves with a total of seven, while Generation II included only two new moves, Spark and Zap Cannon. Some fans point to a trend starting in Generation II where each new Generation introduces a Pikachu-like Pokémon, also called a Pikaclone, though this has not been officially recognized by Game Freak.

Some Games Have All Pure Electrics, Some Have None

Electric types are extremely inconsistent with how they are introduced, which is perhaps to be expected with a type so uncommon. Generation III, for instance, is the only Generation to not include any dual-type Electric Pokémon, instead featuring pure Electric types like Manectric, Plusle, and Minun. Generation VI, on the other hand, is the only generation to not include any purely Electric type Pokémon. Instead, it paired Electric with the new Fairy typing, as well as with the Normal type for the first and so far only time in the Heliolisk line.

The Anime Made Their Relationship With Rock Types Confusing

Fans of the Pokémon anime’s first season heading into the games were probably pretty surprised to discover that Rock types are not, in fact, immune to Electric types. This false assumption comes from the fact that many of the most common Rock types in Generation I, like the Geodude line, the Rhyhorn line, and Onix, were all Rock/Ground types, making them immune to Electric type attacks.

Rock, in fact, doesn’t even resist Electric types. The only non-Ground Rock types in Generation I were the Fossil Pokémon, which were all actually weak to Electric type attacks thanks to their secondary typing.

It’s Missing The Fighting Type Combo

As of Generation VIII, the Electric type has been combined with every single other type except Fighting. This counts alternate forms like the Electric/Dragon Ampharos or the Electric/Fire Rotom Heat, so not every combination is easily accessible in every game.

If an Electric/Fighting Pokémon were to be released, it would make Electric the fourth type to have been combined with every other type, after Flying (whose last combination was also Fighting) and Water in Generation VI and Psychic in Generation VIII.

It Got Very Few Mega Evolutions

Generation VI’s big gimmick, Mega Evolution, was somewhat similar to the Dynamaxing presented in Sword and Shield in that it was a way for Pokémon to take on alternate forms in battle to enhance their strengths and change the tide of battle. Every type got some Mega Evolutions, but Electric and its close ally Ice were the least fortunate.

These two types are tied for the fewest Mega Evolutions with only two apiece. The Electric/Dragon Mega Ampharos and the pure Electric Mega Manectric were the sole Electric type representatives of that generation’s core mechanic.

It Works A Bit Differently In The Card Game

The type system in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, while still very important, works quite differently than in the video games. The Electric type is replaced in the TCG by the Lightning type, which includes all Pokémon that are Electric types in the main games. Interestingly, Lightning types are mostly weak to Fighting types, which might seem counter-intuitive. But in the TCG, the Fighting type includes most Fighting, Rock, and, most importantly, Ground types from the video games.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button