The Fairy-Type

Introduction

The brand new Fairy-type was announced in CoroCoro on July 10, and so far there have been mixed reactions. On one side, a huge portion of the community can see the benefit in Fairies lessening the domination of Dragons to an extent in higher tiers. The other side of the competitive community questioned whether Fairies were needed and whether this would only further compound the issues they had with Generation 5.

Why Fairies?

There has been speculation as to whether there would ever be any new types after the Dark- and Steel-types were added in Generation 2. The "Light" type, and the "Sound" type were the main two types speculated for this generation. Many thought that the cover legendaries, Yveltal and Xerneas, would have one of those two types due to their designs. The Light-type theory was further fueled when Sylveon was announced, but Game Freak kept its typing under wraps for so many months. Fairies were not really at the front of anyone's minds, but when you think about it, there's a few reasons fairies could've been introduced over Light-type.

There were a load of Pokémon that always seemed like they had some greater purpose, such as Clefairy or Gardevoir; both were portrayed as elegant Pokémon, and they could easily fit into another type, other than Normal-type and Psychic-type. That's where Fairy came in. It filled the gap that the other types couldn't and wasn't too similar to another type, unlike the Light-type which would've been similar to the Fighting-type, for example. Another reason why the Fairy-type could have been introduced is because the Fairy Egg Group already exists, and it would seem easier to just re-type the majority of those in the Fairy Egg Group, rather than bring about a brand new typing nothing can fit into by default.

A Whole New World of Fairies

The confirmed Fairy-types from the already-released Pokémon are Gardevoir, Mawile, Marill, and Jigglypuff. In Generation 2, only two Pokémon from the past were re-typed when the new types were introduced: Magnemite and Magneton. This isn't to say that there won't be more than the four we already know, though.

Clefairy is perhaps the most obvious future Fairy-type, given that it has always been seen as the opposite of Jigglypuff and the fact that it has "fairy" in its name. In earlier games, Clefairy were also seen as fairies as they danced around Mt. Moon every Monday night. With this in mind, Clefairy is the most likely candidate to get a Fairy typing. Togepi's line could also become Fairy-type if they lose their Normal typing. The way they float and their manipulation of events around them through Metronome seem like the Fairy-type would be a good fit for them. It would also make sense for them to lose their Normal typing because they haven't exactly been portrayed as "normal" Pokémon, given Misty's Togepi had the power to change environments it was in, which is something that not all Pokémon can do.

Mew is another possible Fairy candidate, as throughout Pokémon it has been portrayed as the "good" Pokémon, and with its opposite, Mewtwo receiving at least one new forme, Mew could undergo changes itself and gain a Fairy typing. It is also pink, which so far seems to be a calling-card for the Fairy-type. The same could be said for the other legendary pixies of each generation. Celebi has the ideal fairy design, with the wings, the "grass" pixie image, and the fact that with a Fairy typing it could be interesting. One of Celebi's types, most likely its Psychic typing, would have to change for this to be the case. From both the movies and the games, Celebi has always appeared as the guardian of the forest, and to lose its Grass typing wouldn't make any sense. As a result it would be re-typed to Grass/Fairy, which would reflect both its design and role in-game and in the past movies better. Jirachi would also make sense, however, it most likely would keep its Psychic typing rather than its Steel one. This is because Jirachi communicates telepathically in its anime appearances, and for the most part, Fairies can't really do that, while its Steel typing is only beneficial competitively—and the Fairy typing would make up for the loss of its Steel typing. Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf will likely face the same fate, as one of the trio, Uxie, represents a pixie, and in most folklore, fairies and pixies are quite similar, so this could be likely.

There are also other Pokémon that may also get a Fairy typing; those in the Fairy Egg Group. These Pokémon include Chansey, Plusle, Minun, Audino, Pikachu, Jumpluff, Granbull, Breloom, Delcatty, Roserade, Castform, Glalie, Pachirisu, Cherrim, Froslass, Phione, Manaphy, and Whimsicott. Given that everything that has a Fairy typing thus far other than Gardevoir is in the Fairy Egg Group, chances are any of these could also get a new Fairy typing.

The type chart!

With a brand new type comes a brand new type chart. So far it's only confirmed that Fairy-type moves are super effective against Dragon-types. It has been announced that we'll know the official type chart in next month's CoroCoro; however, according to leaks posted on PokéBeach on May 11th (most of which have been confirmed), we can already assume what the new type chart will likely be.

According to the rumors, it will be weak to Poison- and Steel-types. This is interesting competitively, because other than Venusaur, Tentacruel, Gengar, and Toxicroak (none of which, bar Tentacruel, are really used for their Poison typing), the Poison-type hasn't had much relevance in the higher tiers at all, and with the Fairy-type being super effective against Dragon (forcing the type to be relevant to the higher tiers), the Poison-type is likely to see more usage. If this is the case, there will likely be more Poison-type attacks to cater for to the increasing relevance of the Poison-type. Steel-types, on the other hand, will become much better. If Steel-type attacks are super effective against Fairy-types, then dominant Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Jirachi will become even better as they can also resist Dragon-type attacks and support their Fairy-type teammates. This could see a return back to the playstyles of Generation 4 before the Lati twins and Salamence were banned, which meant partnering five Dragon-types with a Steel-type. The same could apply now, except there would be Fairy-types thrown into the mix to balance this triangle out.

Poison- and Steel-types could be super effective for a variety of reasons. For one, if you poison a fairy it generally cannot spend its energy spreading positivity around and rather loses all its energy. Or it could be due to the fact that fairies are human-like creatures in a way, and poison eventually drains all humans. As for the Steel-type weakness, that could be due to the fact that if you try to squash a fairy with steel it would generally die, as steel is such a heavy material.

The other interesting part about Fairies is that they are said to be immune to Dragon-type attacks. If this is true, Dragons will no longer be able to spam Outrages or Draco Meteors as often (and thus Choice sets will be less viable on Dragons with the presence of Fairy-types in the higher tiers). Defensive Steel-types will also be less warranted, as Fairies can instead be put in teams as a way to stop Dragon-types. Offensive Steel-types like Scizor will still be good, but the need for Steel-types to stop Dragon-types will be greatly decreased.

On the other hand, Fairy-types are also said to be super effective against Fighting- and Dark-types (and it's already been confirmed they are super effective against the Dragon-type). With this in mind, Pokémon such as Keldeo could become less relevant in the higher tiers, as people may be less likely to spam Fighting-types due to the initial "threat" of Fairy-types. As for Dark-types, this will mainly be applicable to Pokémon like Tyranitar and Darkrai. While Darkrai certainly won't be dropping out of Ubers, Tyranitar, on the other hand, could face some challenges in OU, as Fairy-types could present an issue for it, and Hippowdon could become the preferred Sand Stream user.

Fairies are likely super effective against Fighting-types because generally Fighting-types are seemingly aggressive, and fairies are seen as generally calm creatures. The calming presence could overpower the aggressive side of the Fighting-types, making their urge to fight much weaker. As for Dark-types, Fairies are likely super effective because Dark-types are "evil" and Fairies are seen to be "good"—which is also why Fighting-types are super effective against Dark-types.

In terms of resists, Fire- and Psychic-type Pokémon are said to take half damage from Fairy-type attacks. Fire-types could especially become more relevant for this reason. Heatran would resist the Fairy-type attacks with its Fire typing and be able to attack it super effectively with Flash Cannon (meaning it could have to find a spot on its normal set for Flash Cannon), so it could become even more useful in OU. With Fighting-types at a disadvantage versus Fairy-types, Fire-types would be used more often to take down bulkier Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, rather than outright spamming a Fighting-type to take them down. For Psychic-types, this will allow Latios and Latias to still have some relevance in a world of fairies. Jirachi will become even better, as it can both resist Fairy-types and attack them super effectively at the same time, as well as provide Wish or paralysis support for its team. Fire is one of the strongest elemental forces, so it makes sense why it would resist attacks from Fairies. As for Psychic-types, it could be due to the fact that Psychic-types can control minds and the environment around them, while Fairies try to manipulate the environment with natural magic. Therefore, the Psychic-types could have better control over the magic of the mind than the Fairies do with the magic of the environment.

Conclusion

This article had a conclusion but a Fairy wished it away, oh well!

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