Though what is he to do, when the Regional Dex only has 151 Pokemon in it? Anyhow, if the point of this topic wasn't already implied, what do you think of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four, such as Candice with her Medicham and Volkner with his Octillery and Ambipom, that didn't use completely monotype teams? This was most likely because the Pokedex lacked a certain number of each type of Pokemon (although this was fixed with Platinum), but I liked the diversity in the leader's teams and wouldn't mind if it was done/were to happen again.
Candice had a Medicham in DP? That seems
way too random. Although upon looking at the Ice-type's defensive weaknesses, Medicham's Psychic-type, used offensively, can counteract Fighting-type Pokemon; while Medicham's Fighting-type, used offensively, counteracts Rock-type and Steel-type Pokemon.
I'm assuming Volkner used the Water-type Octillery to fend off any Ground-type Pokemon he faces, but Ambipom is just stupid. >_>
To explain the Drifblim affair with Flint for those of you who do not frequent the PO server (which is all of you methinks):
The main reason I can think of has to do with the fact that Drifblim is a flying type, and thus, offsets the ground weakness that Flint's fire types carry. Drifblim is also a hot air balloon. Note the "hot" part of the name. The reason it is called this is because hot air balloons use fire to create warm arm (which, according to physics laws, rises) inside the balloon canvas. This also explains why Drifloon's/Drifblim's new Dream World ability increases special attack when burned. :]
Alright, now that my criticisms are out of the way, I like non monotype teams because they actually require more than one pokemon to beat. In Unova in my white version, I used one pokemon for each gym battle as that one type beat all of the leader's pokemon. It was disappointing to say the least. Bring back non-mono. Kthnkx. :] Hopefully Gray will do this.
I rationalized the Drifblim inclusion earlier, but the insight on Drifblim's Dream World ability is nice. Just as Steelix apparently is
strengthened from intense heat, according to one of its Pokedex entries.
Although not all of Flint's Pokemon are Fire type, they all can relate in some form. Like Drifblim is based from a hot air balloon, and Lupunny is seen to be "hawt" by some. That is how I see it XD.
I liked the variety, though it made the battles a little awkward. :S
LOL; I just realized the "Lopunny = (visually) hot" thing. XD
Well, I didn't play DP, so I didn' get frustrated by this problem. Hmm...I like the idea that you have to use more than one Pokemon/move, but I think mono-typing is the specialty of the Gym Leaders. Pokemon party variety seems more reserved for Frontier Brains, whose facilities feature unorthodox methods of battlings. Likewise, you wouldn't expect them to use the traditional "mono-typing" of the Gym Leaders and the Elite 4; their teams utilize variety with different motifs (such as Lucy's team exhibiting serpentine Pokemon; or Brandon's team showcasing legendaries, the darn CHEATER).
Not to mention that recent Champions are leaning more toward the variegated team structure rather than type-specializing - heck, Blue/Gary Oak kicked off the whole darn concept of the Champion having a variety of Pokemon, which subsequent Champions seem to emulate.
The non-mono-typing for Gym Leaders/Elite 4 seems like it would be a nice little curveball in rematch teams, though. Maybe the Gym Leaders/Elite 4 could use one or two unexpected Pokemon during rematches, as opposed to their initial official battles. I actually prefer it when Gym Leaders still adhere to their known typing, yet still manage to have their Pokemon "resist" foes in a way (usually by using a secondary typing). A few examples coming to mind:
Wallace
-In
Emerald, the Champion Wallace retains his Water-typing specialty. However, there are three Pokemon he has specifically to screw you over:
-- Thinking of running through Wallace's Pokemon with only electricity? NOPE! Whiscash is there to shut you down with a type immunity! Granted, it has the additional drawback of a 4x Grass-type weakness, just like Swampert does.
-- Maybe you feel that you'll be able to pwn Wallace with only a Grass-type move? WRONG AGAIN! Say hello to Gyarados, who already messes with you with the Intimidate ability just by being sent out. He's resistant to Grass-type offensives and manages to avoid any powerful Earthquakes you throw at it, forcing the player to likely use a doubly-effective Electric-type attack to finish him off.
-- Oh, managed to get past Whiscash, you Electric-type users? Or Gyarados has fallen to the might of you Grass-type users? HA! Meet the resistant-as-heck LUDICOLO! He dances carefreely as your Water-trumping moves hardly scratch him, as his Grass-typing thwarts you! He actually forces you to resort to other tactics that Water
isn't weak to.
Winona
-- "Bye, bye, birdie! x5 Heh, this battle is in the
bag-WTF?! A DRAGONITE! WHERE'D SHE SNAG ONE OF THOSE?
I loved this part of Winona's final rematch team - after sicking all those cawing birds on you, she unleashes a freaking unexpected
Dragonite, which happens to be resistant to
four of the starting elemental types: Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric. Not to mention that it comes with heightened attack, due to its status as a "pseudo-legendary". Though if you've been Ice-Beaming Winona's Pokemon and one-shotting her team, Dragonite likely isn't going to be much of a threat...
-- Skarmory taunts Rock-type and Ice-type users who try combating the Flying-type, though Thunder typically one-shots it anyway.
-- Tropius also manages to discourage Electric-type users, though it also comes with the disadvantage of a 4x weakness to Ice-type moves.
-- The move Earthquake (TM26), known by three of the Pokemon of Winona's final rematch team, can obliterate Trainers who solely rely on Electric-types and don't anticipate on the attack. FFUUUUUUUUUU indeed, especially if Dragonite is your foe.
Agatha
-- Her Gengar and Misdreavus warrant much mention. Woe to Trainers of RBY who still thought Ground-type moves could do her in. XD
I know the teams of the Striation City Gym Leader trio annoyed me when I found out that they use a random Lillipup. >_>
In short, deviation from mono-typing can work well, but not if done poorly. And the
majority of a Gym Leader/Elite 4's team should follow their type specialty - Flint's DP team, while unique, poorly represents the actual Fire-typing, and I'm very glad that it was fixed in
Platinum. I mean, at least
ensure that the regional Pokedex has enough of a certain type before crafting an Elite 4 member who specializes in said type. >_>
