Pokémon's type system debuted nearly complete all the way back with the release of Red and Blue. The various types and their interactions offer players a robust battling system that is easy to learn but difficult to take full advantage of. Since those initial games, only three new types have been added to the franchise. Steel and Dark were added straight away in the Generation II games, and another type wouldn't be added until 2013's Generation VI introduced the Fairy type, the most recently added type to date.
RELATED: Every Bear Pokémon, Ranked From Cutest To ScariestThe Fairy type was introduced, in part, to provide another weakness to the powerful Dragon type, which Fairy is immune to. Fairy types have stood the test of time, and have now been a part of the Pokémon franchise for nearly a decade. Even so, there may be some things about the Fairy type that some players haven't yet picked up on.
10 They Are Strong In Special, Weak In Physical
The Fairy type is one of extremes. Fairy type Pokémon have the highest average Special Defense among all types, with Sylveon, Togekiss, Florges, and Gardevoir all boasting Special Defense stats well above 100. On the flip side, they have the lowest average Attack stat in the entire series. There are only two physical Fairy type moves, not counting Z-Moves or G-Max Moves. One of these moves, Spirit Break, is Grimmsnarl's signature move, meaning no other Pokémon are capable of learning it. The only remaining physical Fairy move is Play Rough, making it a must-have for the few physical-based Fairy Pokémon like Azumarill and Zacian.
9 The Work Well With The Ground Type
Three types resist Fairy type moves: Steel, Fire, and Poison. Interestingly, these are the three types with the most resistances, and they all also resist Grass and Bug type moves. This makes Fairy/Bug types like Ribombee very risky to use.
RELATED: 10 Pokémon Based Around MusicOn the flip side, all three of the types that resist Fairy are weak to Ground type moves. Having a combination of Fairy and Ground type moves provides excellent coverage, but unfortunately there has yet to be a Fairy/Ground type Pokémon that can capitalize on this powerful combination.
8 They Are Very Rare
As the newest type, it makes sense that Fairy is one of the rarest. There are a total of 60 Fairy types as of Generation VIII, including alternate forms. This accounts for 6.61% of all Pokémon, making Fairy the second rarest type, tied with Ghost. Of those 60, 20 are purely Fairy types. Each new generation since the addition of the Fairy type has included a handful new ones, but it's unlikely that Fairy will ever be anything other than an extremely rare type.
7 They Changed The Most Pokémon
The introduction of a new type is a rare event in Pokémon history, but the Fairy type's debut had some precedence to follow. The Steel and Dark types, both introduced in Generation II, modified the typing of existing Pokémon (like Magnemite) and moves (like Bite) as well as introducing new Pokémon and moves. Fairy did all of these as well, but took it a step further. A total of 22 Pokémon had their types altered with the introduction of the Fairy type, including several, like Snubbull, that completely lost their original typing to become pure Fairy types. Only three moves were changed to be Fairy moves: Charm, Moonlight, and Sweet Kiss, all of which were introduced in Generation II as Normal type moves.
6 They Have No Gender Differences
A surprising number of Pokémon have designs that vary slightly with gender. Some are obvious, like Nidoran's totally different colors and evolution lines or Pyroar's maned and non-maned forms. Others are extremely subtle, like the fact that male and female Gyarados have different color whiskers or that female Ambipom have slightly longer head hair.
RELATED: 10 Pokémon Evolutions That Make No SenseFairy is the only Pokémon type with no gender differences in any of its members, a fact that can be explained by a change in design philosophy. The sort of extremely subtle differences between Pokémon genders all but stopped after Generation IV, and subsequent gender variations have been extremely obvious rather than subtle. Since Fairy wasn't introduced until Generation VI, it missed the boat on this old tradition.
5 Protean And Libero Don't Work
The Fairy typing has an interesting interaction with the Libero and Protean abilities, both of which allow the Pokémon in question to change its type to match the moves it uses. The only Pokémon capable of having these abilities are the Greninja line and Kecleon for Protean and the Cinderace line for Libero. None of these Pokémon can learn any Fairy type moves, and the move most famous for changing type, Hidden Power, is incapable of becoming Fairy type because it was introduced before the Fairy type existed. This means that it is functionally impossible for a Protean or Libero Pokémon to become the Fairy type.
4 They Have Very Few Held Items
As the youngest type, Fairy has some glaring lacks that have yet to be rectified. One of these is that Fairy has the fewest held items that boost its power, as it only has the Pixie Plate. In addition to boosting the power of Fairy type moves by 20%, the Pixie Plate allows Arceus to become a Fairy type. Fairy is the only type not to have an associated Gem, a single use item that boost the power of the holder's move. Generation VI seems to have been the death of the Gem in Pokémon, as only the Normal Gem has been obtainable in the core games since then. A Fairy Gem exists in the code for Pokémon X and Y, but it was never implemented.
3 It Hasn't Been The Same For Them Since Generation VI
Several generations have passed since the Fairy type was introduced, but none of them quite supported it like Generation VI did. Gen VI introduced a grand total of 37 Fairy Pokémon, while Generation VII had only 13 and Generation VIII a mere 10.
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A similar pattern is true of Fairy type moves, as Generation VI introduced 14 new moves, while Generations VII and VIII had only seven each. It is unlikely that any Generation will surpass Gen VI as having the most new Fairy types, though that generation had very few Pokémon overall, so it's not completely impossible.
2 They Have No Flinch Moves
Fairy types are not known for their aggressive nature, so it makes sense that they, along with Poison, are the only type not to have any moves that can cause the target to flinch. Flinching is a powerful mechanic, as it allows fast Pokémon to potentially get a hit in and cause their opponent to miss a full turn. Fairy type Pokémon can still learn other types' moves that cause flinch, and items like the King's Rock and Razor Fang are still compatible with Fairy type moves.
1 They Were In The TCG, But Only Briefly
The type system in the Pokémon Trading Card Game works slightly differently than it does in the video games. For one, there are fewer types and some types from the main games get absorbed into others. The types are also a lot more fluid, with whole types changing which type they are categorized under. A Fairy type was added to the TCG to coincide with the release of Generation VI. The Fairy type included all the Fairy Pokémon from the video games, and replicated their effects by being weak to Metal (the TCG equivalent of Steel), resisting Darkness, and being effective against Dragon. Starting with the Sword & Shield expansion, the Fairy type was essentially removed and folded into the Psychic type.
