How does typing work in this game?

[mokonasakura]

I've seen pigeots doing normal type moves deal not very effective damage to vaporeons a water type. I've seen a lot of very strange things like this so would like to know whats going on.

 

[Regeneration]

As long as I remember, the type works the normal way. Do you remember what move the Pigeot used?

 

[VisualJae]

I've seen pigeots doing normal type moves deal not very effective damage to vaporeons a water type. I've seen a lot of very strange things like this so would like to know whats going on.

The Pidgeot was probably using Steel Wing.

Many Pokémon in Pokémon GO can learn moves that they don't naturally learn in the cores series games/other mainstream media.

 

[Squirrel]

As Jae said typings work mostly in the normal way and you probably had Steel Wing on the Pidgeot, but there are some exceptions. Normals can be hit with Ghost types, 4x super effective isn't a thing and a lot of people have reported cases of certain Pokémon counting as only one of their two typings for type effectiveness (I've mostly seen this with Lapras). I'd assume the latter is probably a bug but in general type match-ups are just a slightly toned down version of how they work normally.

 

[Grokus]

What happens when you get random abilities that don't match the pokemon's type?

I'm unfamiliar with Pokemon in general, but I'm getting into Pokemon GO.

 

[Squirrel]

What happens when you get random abilities that don't match the pokemon's type?

I'm unfamiliar with Pokemon in general, but I'm getting into Pokemon GO.

There's a mechanic called STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) in the main series games which means that if your Pokémon uses a move which is the same type as it, it'll do extra damage. In this game that damage amplifier is x1.25 so it's worthwhile having a move which is the same type as your Pokémon. You then have to focus on type match-ups where super effective moves will deal x1.25 damage and resisted moves will deal x0.75 damage but I'll assume you've learned these by now. If you haven't just say and I'll be very happy to explain this part too :)

 

[VisualJae]

What happens when you get random abilities that don't match the pokemon's type?

I'm unfamiliar with Pokemon in general, but I'm getting into Pokemon GO.

Abilities? You mean moves?

Side note: "abilities" in the Pokémon realm of games tend to mean something completely different. If you're talking about a Pokémon's attacks (like the Pidgeot's Steel Wing/Aerial Ace in the picture I provided above), then those are called "moves."

Anyway, moves aren't very straightforward in the Pokémon games, but in Pokémon GO they are fairly straightforward.

In core series games (found in handheld consoles), moves that match the same type as the Pokémon, for instance, Aerial Ace is a Flying move and Pidgeot is a Flying type, then that move deals 1.5x damage. We call this the "Same Type Attack Bonus" or STAB. In Pokémon GO (I had to double check this), STAB is 1.25x damage. Source from the Silph Road's testing.

Some moves hit harder per hit, but has lower DPS overall. That's a whole other conversation when you reach the point where you have to optimize your team.

 

[Grokus]

No, I'm still new. Level 17 but haven't chosen a team yet....

Weird that they wouldn't make move type matter in Pokemon GO.

 

[VisualJae]

They do matter, just not as much. Probably because it's a little more noob friendly so the masses can get into it more easily.

 

[Squirrel]

Move types do matter a fair bit - with STAB and super effective each giving a x1.25 bonus to the damage dealt you can start to hit pretty hard if you have the right move type on the right Pokémon against the right typing. That's Pokémon in a nutshell though; it can be a big game of rock paper scissors sometimes haha.

 

[EvaLiz666]

They do matter, just not as much. Probably because it's a little more noob friendly so the masses can get into it more easily.

And very thankful we noobs are for that too :-) and I really don't mean that sarcastically.