What kind of power do the Fairy moves draw from?

[moon]

These are the names and specifics for the confirmed Fairy type moves in pokémon.


Aromatic Mist 20 -- 100 The user raises the Sp. Def stat of ally Pokémon with a mysterious aroma.

Baby-Doll Eyes 30 -- 100 The user stares at the target with its baby-doll eyes, which lowers its Attack stat. This move always goes first.

Charm 20 -- 100 The user gazes at the target rather charmingly, making it less wary. The target's Attack is harshly lowered.

Crafty Shield 10 -- -- The user protects itself and its allies from status moves with a mysterious power. This does not stop moves that do damage.

Dazzling Gleam 10 80 100 The user damages opposing Pokémon by emitting a powerful flash.

Disarming Voice 15 40 -- Letting out a charming cry, the user does emotional damage to opposing Pokémon. This attack never misses.

Draining Kiss 20 50 100 The user steals the target's energy with a kiss. The user's HP is restored by over half of the damage taken by the target.

Fairy Lock 10 -- -- By locking down the battlefield, the user keeps all Pokémon from fleeing during the next turn.

Fairy Wind 30 40 100 The user stirs up a fairy wind and strikes the target with it.

Flower Shield 10 -- -- The user raises the Defense stat of all Grass-type Pokémon in battle with a mysterious power.

Geomancy 10 -- -- The user absorbs energy and sharply raises its Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, and Speed stats on the next turn.

Misty Terrain 10 -- -- The user covers the ground under everyone's feet with mist for five turns. This protects Pokémon on the ground from status conditions.

Moonblast 15 95 100 Borrowing the power of the moon, the user attacks the target. This may also lower the target's Sp. Atk stat.

Moonlight 5 -- -- The user restores its own HP. The amount of HP regained varies with the weather.

Play Rough 10 90 90 The user plays rough with the target and attacks it. This may also lower the target's Attack stat.

Sweet Kiss 10 -- 75 The user kisses the target with a sweet, angelic cuteness that causes confusion.


I think some of these are a bit weird. Geomancy? Shouldn't that be a Rocky type move or maybe Ground type? And Moonlight and Moonblast, stuff that has got to do with the moon has been called Normal or Bug type before gen 6 I think. And Flower Shield sounds like a Grass type move.

Basically, I think most of the Fairy type moves could fit into other types and I don't really understand what this "fairy power" is or does. Dark type can be understood - it's called Evil type in Japanese and generally has to do with sneaky, unfair or plain dark actions. Elemental types like Electric is even easier to grasp, and Fighting type is about (mostly) pure physical actions.

But what are the Fairy moves based on? Cuteness and some kind of magic that doesn't fall into the Psychic or Ghost or Dragon categories?​

 

[Gardevoir the Dragon Slayer]

I think its because they wanted a counter dragon type so they opted for fairy as in fairy tales dragons are bad and Fairy's are good.

 

[pompayyy]

I feel it should've been Light type instead of Fairy. A Light type is easier to work with.

 

[Atomic Pirate]

Here's my two cents at the reasoning behind the Fairy type's place in the type chart.

Good against:
Fighting - Magic over might
Dragon - Dragons are enemies in fairy tales, good trumps evil.
Dark - Good beats evil.

Weak to:
Poison - Same reason Poison beats Grass, because fairies are often natural spirits.
Steel - Knights, I guess.

I've no idea why Bug-types are weak to Fairy. I guess GF just wanted to further ruin the Bug type. Ditto with Fire resisting Fairy.

 

[大輔]

Maybe they draw from 'light' energy or in general just magic for their moves? I mean most of these moves just seem mystical in general. I mean, it's kind of the same concept as dark pokemon, where do they get their moves from... the darkness? But then again, why can floating magnets shoot lighting bolts, or large birds shoot energy beams from the beaks? Pokemon is pokemon lol

 

[bobandbill]

But what are the Fairy moves based on? Cuteness and some kind of magic that doesn't fall into the Psychic or Ghost or Dragon categories?

I liked this response in part:

Maybe they draw from 'light' energy or in general just magic for their moves? I mean most of these moves just seem mystical in general. I mean, it's kind of the same concept as dark pokemon, where do they get their moves from... the darkness?

On dark types... well, maybe not the darkness as much as it being a style of fighting. Dark, dirty, not clean, etc. (Similarly, Fighting types don't have power from Fighting, they're just good at it.) Look at the movesets for Dark type Pokemon - Bite, Crunch, Sucker Punch, Faint Attack, Foul Play, Beat Up... there's nothing noble in those moves at all. It's a style relying on dirty tricks. You could then argue that's why they beat Psychic types - while they beat Fighting (brain over brawn), they can't outwit rough and tough tricks like that.

Back to fairy types... well, I suppose it's their own kind of magic. There's a bunch of folklore, especially in Japanese culture, that fits the general idea, and there's also the notion here and there that fairies/faeries are able to defeat dragons. My personal thinking is that they also have some tie to nature, rather than being ghostly or 'psychic' in nature.

Given that, I think a lot of their advantages make sense - they beat Dark and Fighting with their 'natural' magic powers, and Dragons is from the apparent basis in various folklore (that and let's not forget the gameplay reason Game Freak stated they were in as well. =p). But Fire is not an easy thing to tame and a danger to nature, as is poison, so they suffer to that. Steel can be thought of as manmade (Steelix, Magnemite and Scizor, among the first Steel types, certainly require Metal Coats for evolution ingame or are based of manmade objects, or the like), and hence foreign to the Fairy types. Bug being resisted by it is curious, but maybe one can think of fairies as a different sort of natural force than Grass types, more knowing about simple minded Bug creatures.

I feel it should've been Light type instead of Fairy. A Light type is easier to work with.

...How so? I don't quite follow, really (I think a Light type doesn't work as an obvious counter to Dark type given Fighting is already arguably that counter, but that's another discussion, and if you mean actual light, how would it differ from a few fire/electric types?)