Why is the flygon line not bug type?

The trapinch line, despite their insectoid appearances, do not actually exhibit any affinity for the bug element naturally, anonymous. (Or, well, vibrava is capable of learning Bug Buzz without assistance, but other than that, I mean.) Rather, the entire line exhibits a strong alignment with the ground-type at first, then with the dragon-type as it grows into its advanced stages. This goes for both its offensive and defensive capabilities. It’s not only true that members of the trapinch line are incapable of learning bug-type moves, but it’s also true that none of them display any of the weaknesses or resistances of a bug-type.

Remember, anonymous, a pokémon does not simply receive an elemental classification according to its physical appearance. What matters more is that pokémon are both capable of controlling a certain element and respond to other elements in a certain way.

Mudbray and Mudsdale

Mudbray
The Donkey Pokémon
Type: Ground
Official Registration #: 749
Entry: Despite its short stature, this donkey-like specimen is a noted work pokémon, capable of pulling up to fifty times its own weight. However, it’s also infamous for being extremely stubborn, going as far as to refuse to walk for such offenses as being denied the ability to frolic in mud, being interrupted while eating, or simply being in the same general vicinity as a human. It is perhaps due to this stubbornness that humans have found it easier to hunt down or capture wild instances of mudbray, causing mudbray numbers to drop sharply to the point where they may only be found in Alola. Once it was discovered that mudbray was essentially eradicated from every other region on Earth, humans then began to consider the possibility that perhaps killing an entire species is a bad idea. Which, of course, is our species’ standard response to nearly eradicating anything, to be honest.

Mudsdale
The Draft Horse Pokémon
Type: Ground
Official Registration #: 750
Entry: The evolved form of mudbray, by battle experience. Unlike its preevolved form, mudsdale is not a pokémon with a predilection of frolicking, especially in the mud. Instead, it’s known for its steadfast, reserved, and highly driven nature, which, combined with its stamina and ability to carry literal tons of weight, make it the ideal work pokémon. However, it also highly dislikes water (going so far as to coat its entire body with water-repellant mud-like spit) and is intelligent enough to refuse commands if it considers them to be detrimental to either itself or its work. These behaviors are the source behind the popular Alolan phrase, “You can lead a mudsdale to water, but honestly, that would make you a terrible person.”

Bunnelby and Diggersby

Bunnelby
The Digging Pokémon
Type: Normal
Official Registration #: 659
Entry: Because of bunnelby’s cute appearance and prevalence in the grassy fields throughout Kalos, Kalosean artists and cartoonists have used this rabbit-like pokémon as a basis for cartoon characters for decades. Most notable of these characters is Barnaby Bunnelby, cultural icon and star of Silly Symphonies cartoons since the 1940s. Since the rise of Barnaby’s popularity, bunnelby has become one of the most sought-after pets for children in western regions such as Kalos and Unova. While this is certainly good news for bunnelby (who were previously often only kept to be raised as food), the bad news is that the Barnaby Bunnelby cartoons have also introduced the misconception that bunnelby enjoy eating carrots, based on Barnaby’s own habit. Unfortunately, real bunnelby do not eat carrots at all … and, in fact, the sugar content of said carrots have been the leading contributor to tooth decay in tame bunnelby since, well, the 1940s.

Diggersby
The Digging Pokémon
Type: Normal/Ground
Official Registration #: 660
Entry: The evolved form of bunnelby, by battle experience. Although small (just over three feet in height and only 94 pounds at that), diggersby is capable of heavy-duty work, including lifting loads of up to one ton and pounding through thick bedrock with its ears. They also adopt a less-active lifestyle and have a tendency to do heavy work (such as, for example, lifting one’s car and throwing it) in quick bursts before settling down for rest. This, of course, also comes as a surprise for children who might have adopted a bunnelby thanks to Barnaby Bunnelby cartoons.

The Tympole Line

Tympole
The Tadpole Pokémon
Type: Water
Official Registration #: 535
Entry: As a note for future reference and therefore of more use to the author himself than his readers, when this tadpole-like pokémon vibrates its cheeks, it often emits a sound wave designed to warn other tympole of danger at a frequency imperceptible to humans. You, of course, already know this. What you may have forgotten by the time you consult this entry again is the fact that if you can hear a tympole’s vibrations, this is not a sign that your hearing has gotten inhumanly sharp but instead that the tympole feels that your presence is just enough of a threat to warrant summoning an army of seismitoad.

Palpitoad
The Vibration Pokémon
Type: Water/Ground
Official Registration #: 536
Entry: The evolved form of tympole, by battle experience. There is an old wives’ tale in Unova that states that touching a palpitoad’s bumps will cause a human to break out in warts. This is resoundingly not true; however, some subspecies can secrete liquids from their bumps that irritates human skin. Of course, this is less important than the fact that palpitoad vibrate these bumps at such a high frequency that when said bumps come in contact with water or earth, they can generate massive waves or mild earthquakes, respectively, but to be fair, having poison shoot out from these vibrating bumps shortly before contact with water or the ground would just be adding insult to injury—quite literally, even.

Seismitoad
The Vibration Pokémon
Type: Water/Ground
Official Registration #: 537
Entry: The evolved form of palpitoad, by battle experience. This large, frog-like pokémon is very much the culmination of its previous evolutionary stages. It possesses bumps that can vibrate, these vibrations can trigger waves or earthquakes, and, most importantly, it shoots poison from glands within these bumps to paralyze prey. It’s just that many of these abilities are much stronger than they were in seismitoad’s previous stages, and it’s very willing to use all of them in tandem with six other seismitoad to protect the tympole and palpitoad one happens to be studying.

Hippopotas and Hippowdon

Hippopotas
The Hippo Pokémon
Type: Ground
Official Registration #: 449
Entry: A small, hippopotamus-like pokémon native to deserts and mountains. Although it looks docile, it is actually a fiercely defensive pokémon in the wild. It often forms herds of ten or more, and each member of these herds is apt to defend their herd with a vicious Bite or Sand Tomb. Unlike its mammalian counterpart, hippopotas dwells exclusively in dry, arid areas, as it doesn’t like being wet. This—in combination with the actual, non-pokémon hippopotamus’s predilection for wet, swampy areas and their penchant for forming herds that they protect by charging and biting invading territories—means very little territory on the planet is safe from the dangers of a hippo.

Hippowdon
The Heavyweight Pokémon
Type: Ground
Official Registration #: 450
Entry: The evolved form of hippopotas, by battle experience. It’s extremely important to b cautious whenever dealing with this pokémon. Hippowdon may look bulky and slow, but make no mistake. It can charge a target at speeds of up to twenty miles an hour, it routinely conceals itself by half-burying its body in the earth, it weighs over 660 pounds, and wild members of this species do not take kindly to most interactions with humans. This makes traversing its native mountains and deserts rather awkward for travelers, as it is prone to emerging and charging at humans on sight for seemingly no reason at all (besides simply existing), even if those humans happen to be studying entirely different pokémon a football field’s length away.

Baltoy and Claydol

Baltoy
The Clay Doll Pokémon
Type: Ground/Psychic
Official Registration #: 343
Entry: In the decades following its discovery deep within the ancient desert ruins of Hoenn, multiple experiments have been conducted by the topmost researchers in the field of pokémology to study the limitations of baltoy’s balance. Baltoy have been subjected to everything from rain to earthquakes to being forced to balance on quicksand, yet no matter what terrain or conditions it’s put through, baltoy never falters or wavers as it spins about on a single foot. It does, however, get rather angry when one attempts to throw it off-balance—specifically, the sort of angry that leads to Self-Destruct.

Claydol
The Clay Doll Pokémon
Type: Ground/Psychic
Official Registration #: 344
Entry: The evolved form of baltoy, by battle experience. According to anthropologists, paintings on the temple walls of a variety of ancient civilizations indicate that baltoy had been created for either religious or magical purposes. Some cultures used them to “absorb” illnesses, while others used them as effigies of fertility goddesses. Whatever the reason for baltoy’s creation may have been, one thing is consistent among all accounts: the more a baltoy was used, the stronger it became until it evolved at last into a larger, more potent form. From what anthropologists can gather, resulting claydol were often revered within ancient societies, as the increase in both size and power were seen by primitive humans as the gods’ attempts at literally embodying the idols that had been crafted for them. …Of course, the fact that all claydol are telekinetic and capable of shooting destructive beams from both hands likely helped this perception too.

Sandygast and Palossand

Sandygast
The Sand Heap Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Ground
Official Registration #: 769
Entry: The angry souls of the departed have taken control of a sand heap built by children, resulting in this pokémon. While its control over sand is formidable in and of itself, it’s more known for its ability to possess living humans who stick their hands in its mouth. In other words, if you think about it, nothing about this pokémon makes sense, from why the souls of the departed chose a half-formed sandcastle for a vessel to why anyone would put their hands in the mouth of a clearly sentient and angry living thing. The author would also like to take the time to clarify to the editor that he did it once and only once for science and that almost every other human in existence has no excuse.

Palossand
The Sand Castle Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Ground
Official Registration #: 770
Entry: The evolved form of sandygast, by battle experience. This giant sandcastle pokémon uses its legions of possessed humans to build its sand mound further. For this reason, the average palossand has the potential to grow to enormous sizes, sometimes even taking up an entire beach. Because of its power and size, many native people that share palossand’s tropical habitats have come to fear it, sometimes even worshipping it as a sort of sand guardian, guardian of the sand. The word is still out as to whether or not Poseidon quivers before it, however.

Barboach and Whiscash

Barboach
The Whiskers Pokémon
Type: Water/Ground
Official Registration #: 339
Entry: A long, loach-like pokémon native to freshwater rivers. Although it’s not technically amphibious, it shares one important trait with truly amphibious part-ground pokémon such as members of the mudkip line and wooper line: the ability to excrete a slimy film that makes it difficult to grasp. Of course, given the acidity and toxicity of the aforementioned pokémon, combined with barboach’s awkward shape and penchant for spitting dirt and mud at threats, there is a popular sport in Alola dedicated to grabbing as many barboach as humanly possible within a certain time limit. (There is, also naturally, a similar sport in Hoenn called “grabbing barboach,” but the context is entirely different.)

Whiscash
The Whiskers Pokémon
Type: Water/Ground
Official Registration #: 340
Entry: The evolved form of barboach, by battle experience. Despite its friendly expression and the fact that it’s not well-regarded as a battler, these large, catfish-like pokémon are actually formidable pokémon. They claim entire swamps as their territories, and in order to repel intruders, they execute incredibly powerful ground-type moves, including Earthquake. For this reason, it’s also a popular sport in Alola to enter their territories and go fishing for them, an act which is called “whiscashing.” Incidentally, there is likewise a similarly named sport in Hoenn, but the context also has little to do with actual whiscash (and everything to do with certain whiscashing victims’ hope that the partners they come across enjoy grabbing barboach).

And congratulations, Bill. You’ve just earned yet another three hours in the shame corner. —LH

Phanpy and Donphan

Phanpy
The Long Nose Pokémon
Type: Ground
Official Registration #: 231
Entry: Although this elephant-like pokémon is barely a foot and a half tall, never underestimate it. It’s still extremely strong and rather infamous for this. As a form of affection, it bumps others with its nose, including its human trainers. However, trainers who aren’t well-prepared for this may find themselves flung off their feet by an overzelaous phanpy. There is no punchline to this entry. That is literally what the official National Dex will tell you; the author just thought it would be appropriate after having broken one limb or another through this exact process no fewer than six times in his life. (It’s just so small and adorable.)

Donphan
The Armor Pokémon
Type: Ground
Official Registration #: 232
Entry: The evolved form of phanpy, by battle experience. Upon evolution, this elephant-like pokémon gains a hide of rugged, hard-as-steel armor. With the durability of this new armor and its sheer body weight and muscular body structure, a donphan’s favorite method of attack is by curling itself into a ball and rushing at an opponent like a rolling boulder. Incidentally, this is also its favorite way to show affection, so to the trainers who wish to add a donphan to their party … best of luck.

Gligar and Gliscor

Gligar
The Fly Scorpion Pokémon
Type: Ground/Flying
Official Registration #: 207
Entry: Those traveling through mountainous East Johto should beware. In this half of the region, where gligar are native and abundant, gligar are known to hunt by leaping at prey, latching onto their faces, and stabbing them with their highly venomous stingers—a method that kills either through poisoning or suffocation, depending on how hard the gligar is clinging to its prey. However, in addition to this, visitors to East Johto should also be aware that this part of the region is the home of Gligarman, a franchise which also suffocates and jams itself into readers’ lives through the power of sheer merchandising.

Gliscor
The Fang Scorpion Pokémon
Type: Ground/Flying
Official Registration #: 472
Entry: The evolved form of gligar, by battle experience if holding a razor fang at night. Gliscor is an infamous sanguivore—it thrives by feeding on the blood over others. When it spots potential prey, it swoops down, snatches up its victim, and carries it off to its castle-like cavern homes, where it will bite down on its prey using its elongated fangs to draw out its blood. The whole act is considered to be one of the most elegant hunting methods in the pokémon world, with gliscor’s hypnotic, fluid-like movements. These movements are so elegant and hypnotic to some people that there are novels and folklore based on human-like gliscor, some of which add certain, bizzare abilities to the pokémon’s arsenal—such as the ability to sparkle in the sunlight.