A Spectrum of Possibility: Dual-type Moves

Introduction

Once there was Pokémon. They fought, and at the heart of it was their attacks. Malevolent and fierce in nature, Pokémon would rip each other apart. Unfortunately, many would fall prey to type resistances. As petty as they are, type resistances can leave Pokémon walled, unable to function. It was then that Game Freak (well the Pokébeach rumors guy) thought it best to introduce a new feature to the next generation of Pokémon: dual-type moves.

Throughout Pokémon history, fans have yearned for dual-type moves but discarded them in all serious speculation. Surely such a feature was impossible—unfathomable even. Everything would get so complicated! How would damage be calculated? Would super effective power boosts stack? Dual-type moves were simply inconceivable as a concept. It was then, naturally, that all hope for their existence was lost. However, in a miracle of sorts, they have been rediscovered. A leaker who gave his information from beta testing to Pokébeach, much of which has been proven to be accurate, said that dual-type moves would be in X&Y. In the face of confirmed news, the leaker's discovery has fallen by the wayside. Meet dual-type moves.

Assumed Mechanics

In order to take a closer look at the possibilities of dual-type moves, we must first be operating with the same game mechanics. I hypothesize that dual-type moves would be one-hit attacks with STAB and weakness modifiers multiplied. So, if Earth Power was a Ground- and Fire-type attack and was used against Ferrothorn by Landorus, it would gain a 1.5x bonus due to STAB and a 4x bonus due to Ferrothorn's Fire weakness. Moves could even have double STAB, allowing moves to reach unimaginable heights in power. Now, it's time to go crazy speculating. Onward we go!

Earth Power: Earth Power would be Ground- and Fire-type with dual-type moves in existence. Think about it. The very name of the move implies this, as it infers power coming up out of the Earth, and since magma is the only thing that would burst out of the Earth and magma equals fire, it only seems logical. One could imagine Sheer Force Landorus roasting Ferrothorn and Kyurem-B being able to rip apart Custap Berry Forretress without resorting to Hidden Power Fire. Imagine the in-game animation, too. The current one is the color of fire that originates from the Earth. With the improved graphics in X&Y, there could very well be fire erupting from the ground below and enveloping the opposing Pokémon. Then think of the cries of "OP" (not One Piece) when Ferrothorn is dead. Well, I can say one thing—Honedge certainly won't appreciate the attack!
SolarBeam: Ah, SolarBeam—an attack quite literally created for the sun. Unfortunately, it just lacks the coverage of, well, a coverage move and the healing powers of Giga Drain. However, being so based around photosynthesis and the word "Solar" being in its very name, it is likely that it would be Grass / Fire in X&Y. All of the Steel-types would be roasted, with nothing being able to escape from the wrath of Chlorophyll sweepers. Venusaur would let out a cry as the almighty sun god, while ~~the true deer god~~ Sawsbuck would be the master of the sun. Once again, it would be one hell of a "fuck you" to Steel-types!
Stealth Rock: Stealth Rock's name epitomizes that of a Rock / Ghost move. One could imagine Gengar the trickster stealthily creeping over to the opponent's side and laying a trap there. Making spinblocking literally impossible would be quite the shake-up as well. Shedinja would be 4x weak to Stealth Rock, so it would lose 400% to the hazard as opposed to the usual 200%. Psychic-types would forever be cast into obscurity, requiring Rapid Spin support akin to that of Volcarona. Starmie would have to sacrifice a great deal of its HP just in order to spin! Hidden in the shadows, Stealth Rock would pierce the hearts of even the most Hardy and Serious foes, which one might assume would fall for no tricks.
Muddy Water: If dual-type moves existed, Muddy Water would be the first on the list as a Water / Ground move. After long being outclassed by its sister move—Surf—Muddy Water would catapult in popularity, lacking the drawbacks of a pure Ground-type move and thus being able to nail foes like Landorus and Gliscor where it really hurts. Unfortunately, Muddy Water has a case of Fire Blast syndrome, meaning it has a decent but unreliable accuracy in 85%. Due to this, Muddy Water might eventually fall behind in terms of popularity and usefulness in lieu of the more reliable Surf and Earthquake/Earth Power.
Fusion Bolt: Fusion Bolt was destined to be the signature move of Zekrom—an all-powerful killing attack. Eventually the move spread to Victini and Kyurem-B, but it was still meant for Zekrom, which means it is only fitting that it bear both of its types—Dragon and Electric. No more would bulky Water-types have but a mere hope of switching into Kyurem-B, as with the added STAB bonus Fusion Bolt would undoubtedly KO even the sturdiest of said. Gone would be the setup opportunities given up by the weak Fusion Bolt. Finally, Bolt Strike would become a thing of the past on Zekrom, as double STAB trumps a slight increase in Base Power. With Fusion Bolt in its arsenal, Zekrom would be ready to exert its will against the universe and destroy everything in site.
Fusion Flare: Like its sister move—Fusion Bolt—Fusion Flare was made just for Reshiram. It was the perfect move; however, Reshiram also got Blue Flare, casting Fusion Flare into the usage abyss. With an added Dragon typing, Fusion Flare would not fail to demolish anything. Heck, Reshiram might be almost too powerful for Ubers, unleashing the power of its yang upon the entirety of the tier and yanking it up at its core. It's a damn good thing Kyogre is in the tier.
Eruption: Eruption is literally freaking magma rocks falling from the sky in the in-game animation. There is no reason for it not to be Rock/Fire with the introduction of dual-type moves. Typhlosion would be able to demolish Moltres without having to predict with the weak and nigh unusable Hidden Power Rock. No Fire-type would ever be able to wall it. Not much else significant would come of a Rock/Fire Eruption, but hey—at least Groudon's Eruption would have really cool flavor!
Lava Plume: A plume of lava would make total sense to possess a Rock/Fire typing. For once, defensive Heatran would have a weapon against Volcarona. It could do more to Gyarados than burn it—specifically hitting it for neutral damage, which would probably be a 2HKO after Stealth Rock damage. Many Fire-types, especially ones running more defensive sets like most Ninetales, would appreciate the extra coverage against their own selves. You could totally imagine Lava Plume being spewed out of a volcano and rocks being shot up in the air. Heck, Groudon, which is recognized as a deity that volcanoes are connected with, could use the move to nail Ho-Oh and stop the phoenix right in its path. Not that any non-stupid Ho-Oh user would switch it into Ground, but... it never hurts to have coverage when you just might need it sometime!
Hurricane: A real-life hurricane is a swirl of powerful winds and heavy rainfall with unimaginable destructive power. The move is similar in Pokémon, except it is lacking in one key component: the water. A Flying/Water Hurricane would therefore make complete sense and would be an amazing weapon against common Pokémon that can take Hurricanes. Think about it—Moltres would have a perfectly accurate STAB and rain-boosted attack. It would unfortunately cause Hurricane users to lose out to bulky Water-types, especially those like Jellicent that have the ability Water Absorb. Hurricane would honestly take a loss in becoming a dual-type move except in a few rare cases like Moltres's. While it might actually for once resemble a true Hurricane, it would come at the cost of a Katrina-tier downgrade—completely and utterly causing its users to be useless against bulky Water-types.
Blizzard: BlizzSpam is already a pain to all who face it today—how much worse would it become if a Flying typing was added to it. A blizzard is a storm with ferocious winds, much like a hurricane with snow replacing the rain component. Blizzard would become even more difficult to counter, with the Flying typing enabling it to nail Keldeo, Conkeldurr, Heracross, and other Fighting-types. BlizzSpam may not be utterly broken in RU now, but a Flying typing could push it over the edge in whatever tier it may manifest itself in next generation.
Heat Wave: Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you were a bit confused when you saw the heading for Heat Wave. After all, there really isn't any type that could obviously be attributed to it other than Fire. However, if you think about it, Heat Wave resembles Ominous Wind—which has the word "wind" in it, clearly. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Heat Wave could be part Flying-type. In general, Heat Wave is typically outclassed by Flamethrower, which sacrifices a measly 5 Base Power for perfect accuracy. However, with an added Flying typing, this is completely flipped around. While Flamethrower wouldn't be powerful enough to KO Fighting-type targets like Conkeldurr due to hitting only neutrally, Heat Wave would be super effective, still boasting a great 90% accuracy. Heat Wave would likely replace Flamethrower on many sets due to this additional typing, which comes with essentially no downsides and even double STAB on Moltres. It would become a staple STAB for Fire-types in a similar way as Fire Blast and the aforementioned Flamethrower, which are currently among the best Fire-type moves.
Bug Bite: Bug Bite and Megahorn are currently rather frustrating moves against Ghost-types, as said Ghost-types can easily take a hit and often KO back with great ease. These issues would be gone with the addition of a Dark-type to Bug Bite. Bug Bite gets rid of the opponent's Berries in a similar vein as Thief, which provides sufficient justification for the secondary typing. Scizor could actually 2HKO Jellicent with Bug Bite. Imagine not having to resort to Pursuit and likely getting burned in the process; that would be just great, right? In lower tiers, I could feasibly see Scyther taking great advantage of it against Pokémon like Misdreavus, Golurk, and co. Pretty much everything else learns Megahorn, and a resisted Megahorn hits for the same damage as a neutral Bug Bite, so the extra damage would be net useless. Overall, it'd be a minor buff to certain Pokémon, but a useful one.
U-turn: U-turn just begs to be a Fighting-type move—could you imagine being in a fight, getting off a quick hit, and running right back out in order to get a quick new plan? Well, it wouldn't honestly be the smartest move, but it's not implausible. U-turn would actually lose quite a bit of its usefulness with a Fighting typing. When not being used simply to scout and gain an advantage, it can currently hit Psychic-types hard; with a Fighting typing, it would lose that. Additionally, Ghost-types are now immune to it. There is just so much bad that would come with U-turn gaining a Fighting typing that honestly I don't think there's any good. It would definitely be one of the losers.
Thunder: Thunder only occurs after lightning, which almost always occurs solely in rainstorms. For this reason, it's fairly fitting that Thunder would gain a Water typing. Honestly though, this would be a complete loss. Thunder and Electric-type attacks in general are mainly used to nail bulky Water-types for Pokémon walled by them to be able to sweep. Thunder would become inferior to Thunderbolt, but the latter is just a tad too weak to punch holes as well as Thunder ever could. Electric-types in rain would no longer have an advantage. Starmie would no longer be anywhere near OHKOing Jellicent. Galvantula would become neutered due to lacking its prized Compoundeyes-boosted fairly accurate Thunder. Like U-turn, Thunder would be a net loss if it became dual typed.
Petal Dance: Finally, we get to Petal Dance. Petal Dance just screams Fairy-type, basically being a dance with pink petals. Dragon-types could never hope to wall Petal Dance again. It's like all Fairy-type moves evolved as well, nailing bulky Water-types with ease. You wouldn't even ever have to run Hidden Power Ice, as Petal Dance would deal with that for you. Just slap a Lum Berry on your Petal Dance user and watch good times roll. Unlike other dual typings, Fairy doesn't bring a lot in the way of super effective coverage, but all it really needs to do for its users is be able to hit Dragon-types for a solid amount of damage.
Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and ThunderPunch: The elemental punches are prime candidates for a dual typing makeover, and what type is more fitting than Fighting? Punches are after all characteristic of fighting, and despite their elemental ties, Pokémon's punches are the same. The animations are fists with elemental themes. Nothing is more fitting. Ice Punch could smack Kyurem-B and hit Jirachi and Heatran neutrally. Fire Punch would be 6x super effective on Ferrothorn. ThunderPunch... is the only loser here. It hits Flying-types, which resist Fighting, and Water-types like Jellicent, which is immune to Fighting. Overall though, the punches would gain a massive boost in effectiveness.

Conclusion

As you can see, if dual-type moves really did happen, there would be quite a few winners—but unfortunately winners come with losers, and there are multiple that have been covered in this article. Now that you're all hyped up for dual-type moves, pray that this isn't yet another Game Freak troll or one wrong PokéBeach rumor. Troll Freak.

« Previous Article

Home