Of the 171 possible Pokémon type combinations, 9 have never been given to any Pokémon or alternate form: Normal/Ice, Normal/Bug, Normal/Rock, Normal/Steel, Fire/Fairy, Ice/Poison, Ground/Fairy, Bug/Dragon and Rock/Ghost. The other 162 are all in use.
That count follows Bulbapedia's list of type combinations, and the other numbers on this page come from the pokee.si Pokédex data.
Where 171 comes from
A Pokémon has one type or two different types. With 18 types, that makes 18 single types and 153 pairs. Type matchups don't care which type is listed first, so Sableye and Spiritomb, both Dark/Ghost, count as the same combination. Counting that way gives 18 + 153 = 171.
Bulbapedia counts a form as its own entry when its type differs from the base form. That's how Alolan Ninetales and Mega Altaria earn combinations that no regular species has. If you want a refresher on how two types combine in battle, read dual-type weaknesses explained.
The nine missing combinations
Worked out from the type chart, this is what each one would be weak to and resist:
| Combination | Would be weak to | Would resist or be immune to | Weak / resists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal/Ice | Fighting (4×), Fire, Rock, Steel | Ice; immune: Ghost | 4 / 2 |
| Normal/Bug | Fire, Flying, Rock | Grass, Ground; immune: Ghost | 3 / 3 |
| Normal/Rock | Fighting (4×), Water, Grass, Ground, Steel | Normal, Fire, Poison, Flying; immune: Ghost | 5 / 5 |
| Normal/Steel | Fighting (4×), Fire, Ground | Normal, Grass, Ice, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Dragon, Steel, Fairy; immune: Poison, Ghost | 3 / 12 |
| Fire/Fairy | Water, Poison, Ground, Rock | Bug (¼×), Fire, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Dark, Fairy; immune: Dragon | 4 / 8 |
| Ice/Poison | Fire, Ground, Psychic, Rock, Steel | Grass, Ice, Poison, Bug, Fairy | 5 / 5 |
| Ground/Fairy | Water, Grass, Ice, Steel | Fighting, Bug, Rock, Dark; immune: Electric, Dragon | 4 / 6 |
| Bug/Dragon | Ice, Flying, Rock, Dragon, Fairy | Grass (¼×), Water, Electric, Fighting, Ground | 5 / 5 |
| Rock/Ghost | Water, Grass, Ground, Ghost, Dark, Steel | Poison (¼×), Fire, Flying, Bug; immune: Normal, Fighting | 6 / 6 |
Normal/Steel would resist 12 types and have only three weaknesses, which is the most resistances of any combination in this table. Rock/Ghost would be the opposite, with six weaknesses to go with its two immunities.
Normal has the most gaps
Normal appears in four of the nine missing pairs. In the Pokédex data it has been paired with 13 of the other 17 types, and the four it has never met are Ice, Bug, Rock and Steel.
Fairy, Ice, Bug and Rock each miss two partners. Fire, Poison, Ground, Ghost, Dragon and Steel miss one. Water, Electric, Grass, Fighting, Flying, Psychic and Dark have been paired with every other type.
Eight combinations that only a form has
Eight more combinations exist, but only because of an alternate form. Take away the forms and they would be missing too.
That is why the answer is 9 missing and not 17. Counting regular species only, 154 combinations are used and 17 are not, and the forms above fill 8 of those 17. There is a full rundown of the Hisuian, Alolan and Galarian forms in the regional forms list.
Combinations filled in recently
New games keep closing gaps. Counting regular species only (not forms), these pairs got their first species in Generation 8: Normal/Dark, Electric/Ice, Electric/Poison, Electric/Dark, Grass/Dragon, Ice/Bug, Psychic/Bug and Dark/Fairy. Some had already appeared on a form: Frost Rotom was Electric/Ice from Generation 4, Mega Sceptile and Alolan Exeggutor were Grass/Dragon, and Alolan Rattata was Dark/Normal.
Generation 9 brought the first regular species for these:
- Normal/Poison, with Shroodle and Grafaiai
- Fire/Grass, with Scovillain
- Electric/Fighting, with Pawmo, Pawmot and Iron Hands
- Electric/Rock, with Iron Thorns
- Fighting/Ground, with Great Tusk
- Fighting/Fairy, with Iron Valiant
- Poison/Psychic, with Munkidori
- Poison/Steel, with Varoom and Revavroom
- Poison/Fairy, with Fezandipiti
- Bug/Dark, with Lokix
Three of those had a form first: Alolan Geodude is Rock/Electric, Galarian Slowbro and Slowking are Poison/Psychic, and Galarian Weezing is Poison/Fairy. Bulbapedia's table also lists Ogerpon's Hearthflame Mask form as a second owner of Fire/Grass. Nothing in the rules blocks a future game from using the nine that remain.
The most common combinations
Single types dominate, because most Pokémon have only one. These are the ten most common combinations by number of species:
| # | Combination | Species | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Normal | 75 | Rattata, Raticate, Meowth |
| 2 | Water | 74 | Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise |
| 3 | Grass | 47 | Tangela, Chikorita, Bayleef |
| 4 | Psychic | 39 | Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam |
| 5 | Fire | 36 | Charmander, Charmeleon, Vulpix |
| 6 | Electric | 35 | Pikachu, Raichu, Voltorb |
| 7 | Fighting | 28 | Mankey, Primeape, Machop |
| 8 | Normal/Flying | 27 | Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot |
| 9 | Bug | 23 | Caterpie, Metapod, Pinsir |
| 10 | Fairy | 21 | Clefairy, Clefable, Cleffa |
Normal/Flying is the most common pair, with 27 species.
Combinations with only one species
At the other end are pairs that belong to a single species. In our data, counting species, there are 21 of them. Bulbapedia counts forms too and gets a slightly different total, 18, so don't be surprised if you see both numbers.
Our 21 are: Normal/Water (Bibarel), Normal/Dark (Obstagoon), Fire/Water (Volcanion), Fire/Grass (Scovillain), Fire/Steel (Heatran), Water/Steel (Empoleon), Electric/Ice (Arctozolt), Electric/Rock (Iron Thorns), Electric/Ghost (Rotom), Electric/Dark (Morpeko), Ice/Fighting (Crabominable), Ice/Ghost (Froslass), Fighting/Ground (Great Tusk), Fighting/Rock (Terrakion), Fighting/Fairy (Iron Valiant), Poison/Psychic (Munkidori), Poison/Fairy (Fezandipiti), Ground/Bug (Nincada), Bug/Ghost (Shedinja), Bug/Dark (Lokix) and Rock/Dark (Tyranitar).
Why Terastallization doesn't fill the gaps
In Scarlet and Violet, Terastallization lets a Pokémon take on a Tera Type. Bulbapedia says it changes the Pokémon's defensive types to its Tera Type and removes all the others. A Pokémon can only have one Tera Type, so the result is always a single type. The Pokémon keeps a damage bonus on moves of its old types, but it doesn't become a Normal/Ice anything. See Tera types explained for the details.
Where to go next
- Try the Type Clash game to practise how two types stack.
- Learn the multiplication in the Dual types and 4× damage lesson (a Plus lesson).
- Browse every typing on the dual types page.
- Check the list of all 18 types if you need the basics first.