Summary
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetfans are going to soon have more content to sink their teeth into thanks to The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk expansions, both set to release in the coming months. It may be soon forPokemonGen 10 to be announced, and yet it’s not unlikely that some hints might show up as early as next year, especially with the big tradition of Pokemon Presents held in February for the series' anniversary to reveal new games. Still,Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s successor will have to fix some of the biggest flaws of the game or even the series as a whole, and it might want to start taking notes on how to improve Bug-type Pokemon.
While there are some Bug-type critters among the best type combos inPokemongames, there are also several that are just not doing any favors to their counterpart by adding Bug to the mix. This is because of the suboptimal type charts in terms of offense and defense for Bug-type critters, which can be made all the more glaring when one factors in how strong some other types can be and how often Bug mons receive the short end of the stick in terms of stats. As such, aGen 10Pokemongameshould work with at least one of the two to make Bug-types better and more viable, even competitively.
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Pokemon Gen 10 Needs Better Bug-Type BST and Type Charts
Right off the bat,Bug-type Pokemonare weak to three types and resist three others, which is not too bad on paper. However, the weaknesses include Flying, Rock, and Fire, which are all fairly common both throughout the story and in competitive battles, with the resistances only including Grass, Ground, and Fighting. Offensively, Bug-type Pokemon are not in a much better spot, with them only being strong against Grass, Psychic, and Dark.
More importantly, Bug moves are ineffective against seven types, meaning it’s hard to ever land a supereffective hit against many Pokemon, including types such as Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ghost, Steel, Fire, and Fairy. Even ifPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s nineteenth typeremains a one-time battle gimmick tied to Tera forms, rebalancing the current type chart could help some really underwhelming critters shine more, with Ice-types being a close second after Bug for the worst type in the game. Bug could, for example, deal effective damage to Fairy-types or Ghost-types, opening up some offensive avenues.
Another big problem with Bug-type Pokemon is that they often tend to have very low BST (short for base stat total), and that’s probably tied to the way Bug mons have always been depicted in the series, which is early-game critters. A great example of this isPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Lokix, which was considered very interesting for its design and type combination, being the first ever Bug/Dark creature in the series, but it was let down by its BST being extremely low compared to other Paldean Pokemon. This has been a trend since the first games in the franchise, and Gen 10 should break the mold.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetbroke many traditions, and it would only be fair for Gen 10 to try and do the same with traditions that have made the gameplay loop or the options players have more limited or less enjoyable. This is not to say that Bug-types are bad on a general level, but unless they pack great stats or type combinations, they are rarely used or even considered in terms of teambuilding, which is a missed opportunity. Many Bug-type Pokemon have unique and interesting designs or Abilities, too, but they are not allowed to truly shine by their type chart, stats, or a combination of both.
Pokemon ScarletandVioletare available now for the Nintendo Switch.
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