How many Pokemon type combinations are there?
There are 18 types, and a Pokémon can have one type or two. That gives 324 ways of assigning types if the order of the two types counts, or 171 unique combinations if it doesn’t: 18 single types plus 153 pairs [1]. In the games the order only changes how the type is displayed, not how battles work, so 171 is the number that matters.
Of those 171, nine have never been given to any Pokémon [2]:
- Normal/Ice
- Normal/Bug
- Normal/Rock
- Normal/Steel
- Fire/Fairy
- Ice/Poison
- Ground/Fairy
- Bug/Dragon
- Rock/Ghost
The same nine are missing on the u/VestOfHolding chart on this page, which counted 1,230 Pokémon and forms in October 2024, and they were still missing when we checked the full Pokémon Database list of 1,261 Pokémon and forms on 6 November 2026 [3]. A further 18 combinations have only ever been given to a single Pokémon [2].
The most common Pokemon type combinations
Single types are far more common than any pair. Pure Normal and pure Water lead by a long way, and Normal/Flying, the type of the early-route birds in almost every game, is the most common dual type. Counting every Pokémon and alternative form on Pokémon Database in November 2026 [3]:
| Type combination | Pokémon and forms, November 2026 | On the chart, October 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 82 | 82 |
| Water | 81 | 81 |
| Psychic | 48 | 47 |
| Grass | 47 | 47 |
| Electric | 41 | 37 |
| Fire | 37 | 37 |
| Normal/Flying | 31 | 28 |
| Fighting | 31 | 30 |
| Grass/Poison | 16 | 16 |
| Grass/Ghost | 16 | Not in the top ten |
Bulbapedia, which counts species and only counts a form separately when its type differs, puts the top five combinations at about 27% of all Pokémon [2]. Its counts are a little lower than ours for the same reason, for example 27 Normal/Flying species.
Which types are most and least common?
Counting how many Pokémon have each type as either of their two types, Water is the most common type, with 180 Pokémon and forms, followed by Normal (155), Grass (150), Psychic (139) and Flying (137) [3]. Ice is the rarest at 68, with Fairy next at 79. The chart’s figures from 2024 give the same order at the top, with Water on 181.
Flying is a special case. It is one of the most common types overall but is almost always the second type: only 10 Pokémon and forms list Flying first, against 127 that have it second [3]. Pure Flying Pokémon are rare too: only Tornadus, Rookidee and Corvisquire have it [3]. The chart shows the same pattern, with Flying as the primary type of 13 Pokémon and the secondary type of 125.
New generations shift the balance. The chart’s generation breakdown shows Poison and Water dominating the first 151 Pokémon, Dragon and Fairy rising in Generation VI when the Fairy type was added, and Grass leading in Generation IX. As its creator points out, Generation VI also looks bigger than it really is because every Mega Evolution is counted as a new form, and all Pokémon are shown with their current types, so Generation I appears to include Dark, Steel and Fairy types that did not exist in 1996.
What is the best Pokemon type combination?
There isn’t one best type, because it depends on what you are facing, but some pairs are clearly better defensively than others. Working from the type chart [1][2]:
- Ghost/Steel has the most immunities and resistances of any combination: immune to Normal, Fighting and Poison, and resistant to nine more types (Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, Psychic, Rock and Steel) [2]. Aegislash is the best known example.
- Steel/Fairy is weak only to Fire and Ground, is immune to Poison and Dragon, and resists most other types. Magearna, Klefki, Mawile and Tinkaton have it.
- Water/Ground has just one weakness, Grass, although that does four times the damage. Swampert, Quagsire and Gastrodon are Water/Ground.
- Fire/Steel has the most double resistances of any combination, five in total: Bug, Fairy, Grass, Ice and Steel [2]. Heatran is the classic example.
- Ghost/Dark, the type of Sableye and Spiritomb, had no weaknesses at all until the Fairy type arrived in Generation VI, and now has just one. Normal/Ghost is the only combination immune to both of its own types [2].
For attacking, what matters more is having moves whose types cover each other’s gaps. Ice and Ground moves together, for example, hit most types for at least normal damage, which is why so many strong Pokémon learn moves outside their own types.
Rare and unique type combinations
Thirteen combinations belong to just one Pokémon or form on the current Pokémon Database list, including Fire/Water (Volcanion), Normal/Water (Bibarel), Bug/Ghost (Shedinja), Steel/Water (Empoleon), Fire/Ice (Darmanitan in its Galarian Zen Mode) and Dragon/Fairy (Mega Altaria) [3]. Four of the nine unused combinations involve Normal, and two involve Fairy, the newest type. Generation X, Pokémon Winds and Waves, is due in 2027 [4], and new generations have often filled one or two gaps.
Questions about Pokemon type combinations
What is the most common type combination in Pokémon?
Pure Normal, with 82 Pokémon and forms, just ahead of pure Water on 81. The most common dual type is Normal/Flying, with 31 [3].
What type combinations don’t exist in Pokémon?
Nine: Normal/Ice, Normal/Bug, Normal/Rock, Normal/Steel, Fire/Fairy, Ice/Poison, Ground/Fairy, Bug/Dragon and Rock/Ghost [2].
How many Pokémon type combinations are there?
171 if order is ignored (18 single types and 153 pairs), or 324 if order counts. 162 of the 171 have been used [1].
What is the most common Pokémon type?
Water, which 180 Pokémon and forms have as one of their types. Normal is second with 155 [3].
Does the order of a Pokémon’s types matter?
No, not for battles. Water/Ground and Ground/Water take damage in the same way. The order only affects how the type is shown in the games.
Sources
- Bulbapedia, Type.
- Bulbapedia, List of type combinations by abundance.
- Pokémon Database, Pokédex with stats, the data source of the chart on this page (our counts of all 1,261 Pokémon and forms listed on 6 November 2026).
- Bulbapedia, Generation X.
- u/VestOfHolding, [OC] Pokemon Types Breakdown, r/dataisbeautiful, October 2024.
Last reviewed 6 November 2026
