"Why is Gyarados Water/Flying?"

[Darverses]

I see this question a lot and apparently some people still don't know the true answer. Most people say he should be Water/Dragon, and I do agree on this, however, it'd be incredibly imbalanced if he were at the time period he was released (first generation).

Let me explain.

The ONLY Dragon-tyoe move in First Generation was Dragon Rage, which only does 40 Damage every time. Were Gyarados to be Water/Dragon, his only weakness would BE Dragon. And if the only move that was ever super-effective against him only did 40 Damage, it could and WOULD make him--and I do NOT use this term lightly--the most powerful Pokemon in the game.

"But.. but... but Kingdra is Water/Dragon!!"

Yes, it is, but look at its stats. And Kingdra also came out when newer Dragon moves were also available. To change a Pokemon's type EVER would incredibly mess up the Pokedex.

"They changed Magnemite's! So why don't they just change Gyarados now at this point?"

Because he still has a formidible Attack stat and having only one weakness, I believe, would make one of the most, if not THE, most powerful Pokemon in the game.

So they made him Water/Flying to prevent him from creating a "Pokemonopoly," so to speak.

Tentacruel was also meant to be Water/Electric, (along with Gyarados being meant to be Water/Dragon). They changed a lot of types to add some "balance" to the games.

Hope this has been of use to you. :D

 

[GymLeaderMisty]

I call Gyarados a "lightning rod" because of its water/flying type.

Water/Poison works better for Tentacruel though. It doesn't have any electric attacks. I do not know if it could learn them with TMs.

 

[Darverses]

Well if you think about a jellyfish, do most of them poison you or just sting you? I'd imagine they'd give it Thunder Wave instead of Poison Sting or something...

 

[coolcatkim22]

Well if you think about a jellyfish, do most of them poison you or just sting you? I'd imagine they'd give it Thunder Wave instead of Poison Sting or something...

A sting isn't electricity at all.

Spoiler:

Sting:
Zoology. any of various sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organs of insects and other animals capable of inflicting painful or dangerous wounds.

 

[Negative-Zero]

THE STING FROM A JELLYFISH ACTUALLY IS POISON BEING INJECTED INTO YOUR BODY

 

[Pokeyomom]

I really am kinda confused by this thread lol. Not in a bad way, and no offense Darverses, but it's like the the first post is rhetorical/informative in nature. I like your observation about the gen one problem, I would have never thought about that.

There is only really one good reason to answer this question of semantics, and that is that it would be 2 freaking powerful. You're right when you mention Kingdra's stat diffrences- it makes all the difference in the world. Plus Kingdra is a freaking beast itself... Can you imagine having something with insane type coverage and BSA of 125, and those good defenses coming in and DD'g up on you? Not something I would like to try and phaze/counter:p

 

[coolcatkim22]

Now that I think of it, it also helps your case that Kingdra is way harder to get then Gyarados.

 

[Lady Gaga]

Now that I think of it, it also helps your case that Kingdra is way harder to get then Gyarados.

Actually, isnt Gyarados harder to get? Training a Magicarp is harder than training a Horsea. =/

 

[Ayselipera]

Actually, isnt Gyarados harder to get? Training a Magicarp is harder than training a Horsea. =/

When you look at it from that point then yes. It could be, but Gyarados can usually be caught by a rod while Kingdra isn't even in the wild of any of the games. Also you could catch a level 18 magikarp and only have to level it up 2 levels. Sometimes I catch them at level 20 so I only need to raise it one more level.

 

[Luck]

The ONLY Dragon-tyoe move in First Generation was Dragon Rage, which only does 40 Damage every time. Were Gyarados to be Water/Dragon, his only weakness would BE Dragon. And if the only move that was ever super-effective against him only did 40 Damage, it could and WOULD make him--and I do NOT use this term lightly--the most powerful Pokemon in the game.

You make it sound like type advantage is the only thing that matters. Mewtwo could still probably kick Gyarados's ass considering its movepool flexibility and speed.

Because he still has a formidible Attack stat and having only one weakness, I believe, would make one of the most, if not THE, most powerful Pokemon in the game.

You know, they could just nerf its movepool. They did it in G/S/C, so I don't see why they can't do it again. And it doesn't have the most spectacular of defenses either :/
They could also mess with its stats, but the only reason they did it once is because of the special split in the second generation. They can still do it, but there is little reason to, other than to piss off the screeching Gyarados fanboys.

So they made him Water/Flying to prevent him from creating a "Pokemonopoly," so to speak.

Then they wouldn't make Pokemon like Mewtwo and Arceus. Yes, they are legendary, but they actually deserve it, considering the circumstances you have to go through to get them. They also wouldn't make infernape, considering that you can get the first form at the beginning of the game. It isn't fair when one of the strongest Pokemon can be caught as soon as you get an old rod and a pool of water. Well what do you know? There is a reason to nerf its stats.

And then you're paralyzed from that sting for a good while(the sting from a jellyfish is meant to paralyze it's prey to prevent them from escaping. Toxins are then released to kill it).

Amazing how nature works, right?

But paralysis isn't always electricity. Anyone with elementary knowledge would know that. And if they didn't, then they really shouldn't be working on a game.

 

[Kirbychu]

I agree. Anyone else think that this was the reason Charizard was given Flying instead of Dragon too? I think it was to balance out the starters.

 

[GlitchCity]

tentacruel wouldve been so BA if it were an electric/water type

 

[Mynden]

I read on a website (not sure about how "official" it is) that the lore reason for Gyarados being flying type is the legend of the japanese (or it was chinese?) dragon.

Supposedly there is a legend in the pokemon world about how in ancient times the red gyarados could fly thanks to their great wings, and they caused many havoc wherever they went and destroyed many towns, even risking the existence of the rest of pokemon and humans. For this reason the gods decided to sent them to the deep of the seas and remove their wings. The gyarados had to adapt and became blue, developed scales, and their fins are a old reminder of their past wings, currently they can glide with them but not fly any longer. The gods also made their preevolution (Magikarp) much weaker, so they had much less chances of evolving and surviving to become Gyarados. That would explain why in the Pokédex it mentions that they were more powerful in the past and that the today descendants have nothing to do with the old ones.

 

[Pikachu2007]

Spoiler:

I read on a website (not sure about how "official" it is) that the lore reason for Gyarados being flying type is the legend of the japanese (or it was chinese?) dragon.

Supposedly there is a legend in the pokemon world about how in ancient times the red gyarados could fly thanks to their great wings, and they caused many havoc wherever they went and destroyed many towns, even risking the existence of the rest of pokemon and humans. For this reason the gods decided to sent them to the deep of the seas and remove their wings. The gyarados had to adapt and became blue, developed scales, and their fins are a old reminder of their past wings, currently they can glide with them but not fly any longer. The gods also made their preevolution (Magikarp) much weaker, so they had much less chances of evolving and surviving to become Gyarados. That would explain why in the Pokédex it mentions that they were more powerful in the past and that the today descendants have nothing to do with the old ones.

That's actually the best explanation I've ever heard on this odd topic. :)

 

[ReiXMinako]

I read on a website (not sure about how "official" it is) that the lore reason for Gyarados being flying type is the legend of the japanese (or it was chinese?) dragon.

Supposedly there is a legend in the pokemon world about how in ancient times the red gyarados could fly thanks to their great wings, and they caused many havoc wherever they went and destroyed many towns, even risking the existence of the rest of pokemon and humans. For this reason the gods decided to sent them to the deep of the seas and remove their wings. The gyarados had to adapt and became blue, developed scales, and their fins are a old reminder of their past wings, currently they can glide with them but not fly any longer. The gods also made their preevolution (Magikarp) much weaker, so they had much less chances of evolving and surviving to become Gyarados. That would explain why in the Pokédex it mentions that they were more powerful in the past and that the today descendants have nothing to do with the old ones.

That reeks of fan-madeness...

 

[Ochigi]

No...Because he took his daily crack.

 

[coolcatkim22]

Actually, isnt Gyarados harder to get? Training a Magicarp is harder than training a Horsea. =/

Yeah but Magikarp you can get nearly every where and in some places it's already at a high level making evolving it is easy.

While Horsea on the other hand is really hard to find (except in FR/LG but in most other games it's hard to find). Then you have to evolve it to Seadra which can be much harder then evolving Magikarp and then you have to get a Dragon Scale which is very difficult to get since there are only three places in game to get them and the only Pokemon you can get the item off of are Horsea, Seadra, Dratini, Dragonair and Bagon. (and trust me, trying to get a Dragon Scale from these Pokemon is very difficult).

 

[Superficial Mycosis]

I still see Gyarados more as a sea serpent/water spirit than a dragon. A spirit would have a closer affiliation to air than to dragons.
Even if the idea of Magicarp becoming Gyarados came from a legend about dragons, I don't feel that that automaticly makes Gyarados a dragon either. Surly thats what Pokemon does best anyway, taking different ideas and mixing them into one being.

 

[Luck]

I still see Gyarados more as a sea serpent/water spirit than a dragon. A spirit would have a closer affiliation to air than to dragons.
Even if the idea of Magicarp becoming Gyarados came from a legend about dragons, I don't feel that that automaticly makes Gyarados a dragon either. Surly thats what Pokemon does best anyway, taking different ideas and mixing them into one being.

But apparently almost all dragons can fly inherently. Flygon can learn fly(when Gyarados can't?)despite not even being flying type(it having levitate has no point) and Garchomp was told to have flied in the pokedex data, despite it not learning fly or even having levitate.

I read on a website (not sure about how "official" it is) that the lore reason for Gyarados being flying type is the legend of the japanese (or it was chinese?) dragon.

You are probably thinking of the Japanese, because there are gates in China where koi(?) fish supposedly jumped gates to become dragons. Allegory of course, but it still fits the myth nonetheless.

 

[coolcatkim22]

It's electricity so long as you're pertaining to the Pokemon world, however. No poison type move can paralyze, so yeah.

There are attacks that aren't electric type that cause paralyzes.