With Pokemon X and Y coming out in just a couple of short weeks, I
wanted to take a closer look at the new Fairy type, and to share my opinion on
why it’s a good thing.
The last time a new type was introduced was all the way back
in 1999 with the release of Gold and Silver. There were actually two types
introduced, Steel and Dark, which added one type each to the Physical and
Special typing pools. It seems rather incredible that it’s been nearly 15 years
since a new type was introduced, given that a new Pokemon generation comes out,
on average, about every three years.
Fairy is an interesting choice, but when you think about it,
it makes sense. The first thing you think of when you hear fairy may be the
tiny Tinkerbelle-esque figure, but really, the idea should be closer to Fae
(short for Faerie, go figure), a mythological classification of creature which
simply includes the stereotypical fairy (which is called a pixie, for those
curious parties). I almost prefer to think of this type as “Magic”. But for
now, let’s discuss why Fairy is such an excellent addition to the game.
The most popular idea is that it balances the Dragon type.
But I question why people think Dragon was so powerful to begin with. The only
thing it was (and is) super effective against is itself. And there are some
seriously high-powered Dragon-type attacks, but those all have some pretty
serious downsides. Outrage, for example, locks the user into using the same
move, then confuses the user at the end. Or Draco Meteor, which lands a
devastating blow, and then lowers the user’s special attack by two stages.
Granted, if they kill in one hit, those side effects hardly matter, but Dragon
as a type is not overpowered. Dragon-type Pokemon just happen to have enormous
stats. In fact, all the Dragon immunity serves to do is make Ice slightly less
viable as a type. That’s not to say it’s useless, but Ice is such poor typing
defensively that, with Fairy having only two weaknesses, it’s hardly worth
using. Fairy’s just a better option. Speaking of Fairy’s weaknesses, that
brings me to my next point.

Fairy being weak to Poison and Steel is absolutely a wonderful thing. Poison, apart from inflicting the status of the same name, has been darn near useless as an offensive type since the first generation. Adding Fairy to its list of type advantages literally doubles it (it was Grass and nothing else). That is how absolutely pathetic Poison has been. A big-shot type like Fairy being weak to Poison is just what the doctor ordered. Steel also needed some help, having only two types weak to it (Ice and Rock). Steel’s primary use may be defensive, but making it an all-around better type couldn’t hurt anyone. Except Fairies. And while Fairy isn’t weak to Fire, Fire being resistant to Fairy also helps it recover from its devastating Rock weakness.
Given the lore behind Fae creatures, the type weaknesses
also make sense. In folklore, iron as a metal has been said to be resistant to
magic, and even to harm Fae more than anything else, supposedly draining their
magic from them. The term you’ll want to search for in your fact-checking is
“Cold iron”, in case you wanted it.

Those are, of course, the Fairy type’s weaknesses. We talked
about its most popular strength already, but the other types that it’s super
effective against are Fighting and Dark. Fighting did need to be taken down a
peg. Super effective against five types and weak against two? Sure, there are
some types that resist fighting, but they’re all pretty uncommonly used (Poison
resist Fighting! There’s another thing it’s good at!). This isn’t counting the
Flying type, partially because many Flying type Pokemon are part Normal, and
that cancels out the weakness, but mostly because most Flying type Pokemon are
just really, really fragile, and Fighting type Pokemon have enormous attack
strength.
As for Fairy’s strength against the Dark type… It makes
sense, but Dark didn’t need to be any worse, really. It’s in the same boat as
Steel was, but without an enormous list of resistances. I genuinely feel bad
for Dark, as a type, because its only real use is making Psychic-type Pokemon
cry (until they learn a Fighting-, Bug-, or, hey, Fairy-type move to counter).
Sure, Dark-type moves almost all have secondary effects to make them more
useful (lots of flinching), but if it was a little bit more useful, maybe its
attacks wouldn’t have to double as stalling tactics?
Also, Fairy resists Bug. Don’t ask me why… Just reaffirming
its unfortunate position as a primarily early-game type.
All in all, I, personally, am happy with the Fairy-type. And
I look forward to seeing how it holds up against the other 17 types in
practice. After all, this all sounds good on paper, but nothing will compare to
the first time Jigglypuff uses Sing on an unsuspecting Salamence, letting it go
gently into that good night.
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