Fighting Type in Pokémon GO: present and future

The Fighting type was among the first types to be introduced in the Pokémon universe. As early as Generation I, 8 Fighting type Pokémon were introduced, but it was not until Generation IV that the biggest release of this type would take place with the introduction of 9 Pokémon and the implementation of Special Fighting Attacks. Up to this point, Fighting type moves were exclusively physical attacks.

While we still have to expect many Fighting type Pokémon in the future of Pokémon GO, we should not expect the same from its pool of movesets. In the main series games, more than half of the Fighting type moves were introduced with Gen I, II, and III. But let’s focus on Pokémon for now. Below is a list of all (mention-worthy, in our opinion) Fighting type Pokémon already released in the game, and those to keep an eye out for in the next few years.

Discussion

I can hear some of you shouting at me already. “What the hell are Mew and Mewtwo doing there?! They are Psychic type! Do you even know Pokémon?!” The reason for them to get a special mention is because of their potential to learn Focus Blast, a Fighting type charge move, which can prove to be very useful against those sneaky Tyranitars. However, let’s focus on actual Fighting type Pokémon, mostly on those comparing or surpassing the current Fighting type leader: Machamp!

Gallade
Gallade has a lot of potential in the future of the game, so it is highly recommended to put your hands on a good male Ralts (Gallade evolves from a male Ralts, Gardevoir from either a male or female one) before the release of Gen IV. Gallade will certainly compete with Machamp, and possibly do even better due to its dual-typing (Psychic and Fighting) which will prevent it from taking Super Effective damage from Psychic type Pokémon, but also due to its higher Defense stat. Furthermore, if we ever get Mega-Evolutions, with Gen VI, Mega-Gallade will potentially fight its way to the top of its type!

Conkeldurr
Conkeldurr is another contender for the title of the best Fighting type Pokémon. Not only will it have higher stats than Machamp (on all three counts), but it will also have a higher CP at 3305. Its low Defense still makes it a fairly bad gym defender, but it will definitely be a good gym attacker, provided the gym system remains as is or similar to what it currently is, i.e. filled with Normal type Pokémon like Blissey, Snorlax or Slaking.

Terrakion
Terrakion! Its stats, as shown above, should be the highest of its type (until Mega-Evolutions arrive, should we get them in Gen VI). 260 ATK makes it one of the very fiercest Fighting type Pokémon. In addition, it should have more DEF and STA than Machamp, so what you should comprehend from all of this is that by Gen V, Machamp will no longer be the optimal Fighting option. It will, however, remain a very great option, so it is not a waste of dust investment.

Buzzwole
Buzzwole is an Ultra Beast from Gen VII. Buzzwole is another Pokémon likely to surpass Machamp. Unfortunately, without statistics, we cannot speculate much more on the matter, but it certainly is a Pokémon to keep an eye out for (in a couple years most likely).

Move predictions

As we stated earlier, most of the moves have already been introduced in the game, so only a few additional moves have been considered in our speculations, should Niantic decide to implement them. However, two of them (Focus Punch and Revenge) were introduced with Generation III in the main series games, so it is unlikely, yet still possible, that Niantic would introduce them at some point in the future.

Unlike other types, Fighting already has a large selection of movesets, which allows for several already existent possibilities. Our table below contains moves that were obtainable in the main series games through evolution or the use of TMs. Although we are surprised that Revenge has not (yet?) been introduced, our hope for the addition of Aura Sphere remains strong.

* : Signature Move
(?) : Not yet in the game

Fighting Types in the Meta

Fighting type Pokémon are currently one of the most (if not the most) useful type in the game. Considering that they are Super Effective (SE) against the most frequently used gym defenders (Chansey, Blissey, Snorlax, Slaking, and Tyranitar) since Fighting is SE againt Normal and Dark types, you should not pass an opportunity of putting your hands on a decent Fighting Pokémon team.

Fighting types Pokémon, with Fighting moves, are SE against the following types:

• Normal
• Rock
• Steel
• Ice
• Dark

The pure Fighting type is weak to a few types, as per the table below. We have included Fighting type exceptions to the said SE types, based on current or upcoming (italics) dual-typing Fighting Pokémon. Please note that these exceptions take into account that the Pokémon being fought against also has Flying, Psychic or Fairy moves, hence being SE against Fighting.

The Fighting type is boosted in Cloudy weather, so when the in-game weather turns to Cloudy, one can expect to see more Fighting type spawns with their IVs and CPs boosted. In addition, their Fighting type attacks will do more damage in raids and gym battles.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the Fighting type generally has Attack (ATK) as its dominant statistic. Defense (DEF) and Stamina (STA) will normally have lower statistics, as can be seen in the first table of this article.

History and Trivia

The Fighting type was among the first types introduced into the game. One interesting piece of trivia about Fighting in Pokémon is that most of the Fighting type Pokémon have human-like figures since they represent experts of various martial arts, which are mostly associated to actual humans.

Although there hasn’t been much changes made to Fighting since Generation III, it remains a constant source of reliable high damage input throughout the Generations; and we certainly hope that moves like Aura Sphere, Focus Punch, and/or Revenge can make their way into Pokémon GO.

Related Articles:

• What is the Meta?
• What is a meta-relevant Pokémon