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Description
Study of the Dark-type
By: Professor Cycad

As I continued on my journey to research Pokémon typing and their origins, I have been drawn to the discovery of new types. There are claims of new typings dating throughout history. Recently there were rumors of a Sound-type Pokémon, but there has been no real evidence to support that. I focused my attention away from the fake Sound, Light, Glass, and Candy-types, to the Dark-type. The Dark-type is the second most recently recorded type, but, like the Fairy-type, it clearly dates back to ancient times.

Brief History

The Dark-type was first observed long ago in Johto, when natives traveling through the Ice Path were attacked by "savage creatures that seemed to be one with the darkness". Today we know those creatures as Sneasel, though I think the description is spot on. So the villagers near present day Blackthorn City and Mahogany Town tried to fight the Sneasel. The Pokémon on Route 44 were mostly Grass-types, so it made sense to the natives (who at the time had a very primitive idea of typing advantages). There were stories passed along through Blackthorn natives that the Jynx of the Ice Path were powerless to the Sneasel, but the story has been laced with imagination and misinformation, as most old legends are.

Now you may think it strange that the natives were not used to the Dark-types. After all, Johto had been home to Murkrow, Houndour, and even Umbreon. Well Umbreon's discovery is a bit more recent than the Dark-type, and Murkrow were considered bad omens. Houndour are only found in one location in Johto, and many aborigines considered them more demon than Pokémon. Dark-types were avoided until the early fifties when the Tyranitar fad had begun.

Tyranitar, the Armor Pokémon, was first thought to be a Dragon/Ground-type when it was first encountered. It wasn't until after a Tyranitar rampaged through a village in Johto that locals discovered it was immune to Psychic type attacks. This Pokémon, with its powers over the earth and darkness, as well as its dragon-like form, made it a hit. Larvitars were bred and sold by the thousands, although interestingly enough, they didn't possess the Dark typing.

So how did this typing go undiscovered for so long? Pupitar, the pre-evolved form of Tyranitar, were often sought as a living shield. There was no need to use them offensively, so many people caught and evolved them purely for their hard shell-casing which is bulletproof, fir-proof, but notoriously weak to water. Combine this trend with the fact that Pupitars take at least a year and a half to evolve, and you have very few Tyranitars.

It's amazing how one Pokémon can change the way the world views a type. This isn't as uncommon as it sounds. Eevee shaped the way the world saw Normal-types. Instead of being viewed as useless pests, they were respected as adaptable and resourceful creatures. The point is, Dark-types were now one of the most popular types of Pokemon in history. They weren't scrutinized by science until a decade after the Tyranitar fad.

On a small side note, many Dark-types are still revered as evil and malicious. As a scientist, I try and cast aside these superstitions as I believe it is unlikely a Pokémon is born evil and all species should be given a fair chance regardless of type.

Physical Characteristics

It's amazing how similar Dark-types are to Fairy-types by physical structure. Like the Fairy-type, Dark has very little effect on the physicality of a Pokémon. Most primary Dark-types have some sort of dark markings on their body which help absorb light to power their attacks. Dark-types as a whole have the ability to blend themselves into shadows (the success of this skill is determined by the species). This makes them effective ambush predators and keeps them hidden, to some extent, from predators.

Pure Dark-types have relatively simple body structures. Their dark colored, mammalian, and aggressive. Everything else you know about dual Dark-types comes from secondary typing.

In terms of behavior, it can be surprising to some that most Dark-types are nurturing parents. There are a few exceptions; Sharpedo, Crawdaunt, and Drapion lay their eggs and then leave, but most Dark-types stay with their young until they are a mature age. Afterwards, the adults usually remain with a pack or live solitary lives until it is time to mate again.

Special Characteristics

As I said before, Dark doesn't have a large effect on a Pokémon's physicality, but it does influence almost everything else. Fairy-types produce positive energy from their hypothalamus, Dark-types are unable to do this. Instead, they absorb darkness through this organ and use it to maintain their power. Darkness itself, negative emotions, or dark energy from another Dark-type is easily absorbed and then released after it is used.

Seeing as how they deal with emotions so often, it should come as no surprise that Dark-types have high empathy levels and can pick up on emotions very easily. They use this to gauge the actions of potential predators or prey. If they sense high levels of fear, they know the prey is most likely to run. If they sense high levels of anger, they know there's going to be a fight. Like Fairy-types, Dark-types project this negative energy outward in the direction of other organism. This helps them intimidate their opponents and scare off anyone that wants to mess with them. This negative energy is the key factor in Dark-type attacks.

Dark-types can see in the dark and rely on their senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Sense of smell varies by species (Sableye actually have no sense of smell!).

Attack Properties

With over 30 known Dark-types moves, each of them varying in effect, it may seem like a daunting task to find a similarity between all of them. Well it's actually quite simple. All of them are plays on emotion. The negative energy that Dark-types possess is either used inside of them to produce the viciousness with which they attack, or to cause distress to opponents in order to deliver actual damage. Here are a few key examples.

Parting Shot, a signature move of the Pangoro family, consists of a rude (and surprisingly vulgar) remark which lowers both attack stats and causes the Pokémon to switch out. As the Pokémon says the remark, it blasts the target with its invisible negative energy. This causes the opponent to focus on the content of the remark so much that they quickly become disheartened and less likely to do more damage. The switching of Pokémon occurs when the Pokémon realizes it's struck a nerve and isn't going to get by without retribution. It should be noted that Dark-types have an unfortunately large sense of self-preservation.

Nasty Plot is a Status move where the Pokémon entertains its imagination with dark thoughts, boosting its negative energy levels. This results in an increase in Special Attack.

Memento, which is in my opinion one of the most sinister of moves. The Pokémon discharges all negative energy it possesses and fires it at the target. In the process, it's body shuts down and it faints. This fake suicide dishevels the target so much that it will often give up on the fight completely, or at least have its attack stats severely lowered. In the wild this can mean certain death for the Dark-type if it doesn't pull this off, but Trainers are almost always prepared.

Knock Off, the final example. I praise users of this attack for their ingenuity. Many Pokemon hold items in battle that will aide them in fights. This causes a small part of their brain to focus on keeping that item with them so it can be used. Knock Off plays on that part of the brain. Through the use of body language, the user finds where the item is hidden, and strikes. A small burst of negative energy is released during this attack to cause psychological distress to the victim. This gives the attack its Dark-typing. As a bonus, the item is knocked free from the victim's grasp and no longer effective.

Without this negative energy, Dark-type attacks would be rendered Normal or Fighting-type attacks. It's this ability of Dark-types that give them an added strength and similarity to Fairy-types.

Abilities

"Dark-type" abilities play on emotions rather than the physical world. Intimidate and Unnerve are prime examples. They use fear to prevent opponents from attacking as strong as they normally would or eat berries respectively. No further observations noted.

Type Matchups

Grass, Fire, Water, Electric, Ground, Rock, Normal, Flying, Ice, Dragon, Poison, and Steel: These eleven types are effected normally by Dark-type attacks. They do not deal extra or less damage to Dark-types.

Psychic: Psychic type attacks work by altering the physical world on multiple different frequencies and wavelengths. This can be used to propel objects, condense energy into a physical projectile, or control another being entirely. Dark-types are able to intercept these wavelengths and scatter them into another frequency giving the illusion they've been absorbed or destroyed. This can be combated by the move Miracle Eye, which allow the user to hone in on a single wavelength a keep the attack on its course.

On the offensive hands, Dark-type attacks disrupt Psychic barriers just as well as they disrupt Psychic attacks, making their moves super-effective.

Psychics and Psychic-types describe using their powers on a Dark-type like trying to look for something in a dark room. You know it's there, but every time you reach for it you find yourself combing back empty-handed.

Dark: Most Pokémon can resist their own typing, and Dark-types are no exception. Dark-types can feed off the negative energy in Dark-type attacks or at the very least send them to another frequency.

Ghost: Much like Psychic-types, Ghost-types utilize frequencies and wavelengths to hop between planes of existence. Dark-type energy has a vacuum effect, forcing Ghost-types into a single plane in a very short amount of time, causing immense pain. This is why dark charms are particularly effective in dispelling spirits. If a Dark-type is strong enough, it can use a Dark-type attack to send a Ghost-type into the Spirit World, but this is an extremely rare occurrence.

In the defensive state, Ghost-type attacks can be waved off in the same aspect as Psychic-types.

Please note that this study applies to Ghost-type Pokemon, and not actual spirits of living beings. That is a subject for another time, and another professor...

Bug: Bug-types are a unique case in that they are super-effective against Dark-types, but are unable to resist them. The latter aspect can be explained in that they simply aren't effected by negative emotions and differing wavelengths. Their super-effectiveness however, is a bit more complex.

Bug-types are huge users of pheromones to communicate and attack. Each attack they use is laced with them, allowing them to deal damage to those with a weakness to their typing. The pheromones used by Dark-types disrupt their ability to maintain homeostasis, causing distress to their bodies and therefore dealing extra damage.

Fairy: As stated in my previous typing report, the positive aura produced by Fairy-types has a draining effect on Dark-types' negative energy. This leaves them powerless to resist any sort of attacks thrown at them by Fairy-types, and also halves the damage they would normally deal. Due to that, being in the presence of a Fairy-type can be potentially hazardous to a Dark-type's health if the Fairy-type is unwilling or unable to control their aura.

Fighting: In teaching type advantages to young children, a common device used to explain Fighting and Dark's relationship is that of a superhero and villain. The superhero will "fight" the villain who is "evil" and always wins. Despite the rather negative connotations that gives Dark-types, it's a fitting explanation. Fortunately, there's also a scientific side to it, and it lies within the Dark-types' aura.

While Fairy auras relax the muscles of Fighting-types and lower the damage they deal, Dark-types do the exact opposite. Their negative aura is used to disrupt bodily functions via quickening of the heart and muscle contractions, which as a result allows Fighting-types to double the power in their punch. Or kick, hit, throw, etc. Dark-type attacks also allow Fighting-types to involuntarily brace themselves for attacks and resist them. It's a neat trick that evolution came up with to keep Dark-types in check.

Conclusion

I'll admit, I'm not a big user of Dark-types. I respect their natural abilities and have used Dark-types before, but none have really made my team. I'm glad for Dark-type moves when dealing with pesky Ghost-types. I do have an Inkay that likes to fool around when I'm working, an as a Grass-type enthusiast I have both a Cacturne and a Shiftry. This concludes my report, I hope you all enjoyed it, and remember not to judge a Pokemon based on what people a long time ago said about it!

Description
Study of the Dark-type
By: Professor Cycad

As I continued on my journey to research Pokémon typing and their origins, I have been drawn to the discovery of new types. There are claims of new typings dating throughout history. Recently there were rumors of a Sound-type Pokémon, but there has been no real evidence to support that. I focused my attention away from the fake Sound, Light, Glass, and Candy-types, to the Dark-type. The Dark-type is the second most recently recorded type, but, like the Fairy-type, it clearly dates back to ancient times.

Brief History

The Dark-type was first observed long ago in Johto, when natives traveling through the Ice Path were attacked by "savage creatures that seemed to be one with the darkness". Today we know those creatures as Sneasel, though I think the description is spot on. So the villagers near present day Blackthorn City and Mahogany Town tried to fight the Sneasel. The Pokémon on Route 44 were mostly Grass-types, so it made sense to the natives (who at the time had a very primitive idea of typing advantages). There were stories passed along through Blackthorn natives that the Jynx of the Ice Path were powerless to the Sneasel, but the story has been laced with imagination and misinformation, as most old legends are.

Now you may think it strange that the natives were not used to the Dark-types. After all, Johto had been home to Murkrow, Houndour, and even Umbreon. Well Umbreon's discovery is a bit more recent than the Dark-type, and Murkrow were considered bad omens. Houndour are only found in one location in Johto, and many aborigines considered them more demon than Pokémon. Dark-types were avoided until the early fifties when the Tyranitar fad had begun.

Tyranitar, the Armor Pokémon, was first thought to be a Dragon/Ground-type when it was first encountered. It wasn't until after a Tyranitar rampaged through a village in Johto that locals discovered it was immune to Psychic type attacks. This Pokémon, with its powers over the earth and darkness, as well as its dragon-like form, made it a hit. Larvitars were bred and sold by the thousands, although interestingly enough, they didn't possess the Dark typing.

So how did this typing go undiscovered for so long? Pupitar, the pre-evolved form of Tyranitar, were often sought as a living shield. There was no need to use them offensively, so many people caught and evolved them purely for their hard shell-casing which is bulletproof, fir-proof, but notoriously weak to water. Combine this trend with the fact that Pupitars take at least a year and a half to evolve, and you have very few Tyranitars.

It's amazing how one Pokémon can change the way the world views a type. This isn't as uncommon as it sounds. Eevee shaped the way the world saw Normal-types. Instead of being viewed as useless pests, they were respected as adaptable and resourceful creatures. The point is, Dark-types were now one of the most popular types of Pokemon in history. They weren't scrutinized by science until a decade after the Tyranitar fad.

On a small side note, many Dark-types are still revered as evil and malicious. As a scientist, I try and cast aside these superstitions as I believe it is unlikely a Pokémon is born evil and all species should be given a fair chance regardless of type.

Physical Characteristics

It's amazing how similar Dark-types are to Fairy-types by physical structure. Like the Fairy-type, Dark has very little effect on the physicality of a Pokémon. Most primary Dark-types have some sort of dark markings on their body which help absorb light to power their attacks. Dark-types as a whole have the ability to blend themselves into shadows (the success of this skill is determined by the species). This makes them effective ambush predators and keeps them hidden, to some extent, from predators.

Pure Dark-types have relatively simple body structures. Their dark colored, mammalian, and aggressive. Everything else you know about dual Dark-types comes from secondary typing.

In terms of behavior, it can be surprising to some that most Dark-types are nurturing parents. There are a few exceptions; Sharpedo, Crawdaunt, and Drapion lay their eggs and then leave, but most Dark-types stay with their young until they are a mature age. Afterwards, the adults usually remain with a pack or live solitary lives until it is time to mate again.

Special Characteristics

As I said before, Dark doesn't have a large effect on a Pokémon's physicality, but it does influence almost everything else. Fairy-types produce positive energy from their hypothalamus, Dark-types are unable to do this. Instead, they absorb darkness through this organ and use it to maintain their power. Darkness itself, negative emotions, or dark energy from another Dark-type is easily absorbed and then released after it is used.

Seeing as how they deal with emotions so often, it should come as no surprise that Dark-types have high empathy levels and can pick up on emotions very easily. They use this to gauge the actions of potential predators or prey. If they sense high levels of fear, they know the prey is most likely to run. If they sense high levels of anger, they know there's going to be a fight. Like Fairy-types, Dark-types project this negative energy outward in the direction of other organism. This helps them intimidate their opponents and scare off anyone that wants to mess with them. This negative energy is the key factor in Dark-type attacks.

Dark-types can see in the dark and rely on their senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Sense of smell varies by species (Sableye actually have no sense of smell!).

Attack Properties

With over 30 known Dark-types moves, each of them varying in effect, it may seem like a daunting task to find a similarity between all of them. Well it's actually quite simple. All of them are plays on emotion. The negative energy that Dark-types possess is either used inside of them to produce the viciousness with which they attack, or to cause distress to opponents in order to deliver actual damage. Here are a few key examples.

Parting Shot, a signature move of the Pangoro family, consists of a rude (and surprisingly vulgar) remark which lowers both attack stats and causes the Pokémon to switch out. As the Pokémon says the remark, it blasts the target with its invisible negative energy. This causes the opponent to focus on the content of the remark so much that they quickly become disheartened and less likely to do more damage. The switching of Pokémon occurs when the Pokémon realizes it's struck a nerve and isn't going to get by without retribution. It should be noted that Dark-types have an unfortunately large sense of self-preservation.

Nasty Plot is a Status move where the Pokémon entertains its imagination with dark thoughts, boosting its negative energy levels. This results in an increase in Special Attack.

Memento, which is in my opinion one of the most sinister of moves. The Pokémon discharges all negative energy it possesses and fires it at the target. In the process, it's body shuts down and it faints. This fake suicide dishevels the target so much that it will often give up on the fight completely, or at least have its attack stats severely lowered. In the wild this can mean certain death for the Dark-type if it doesn't pull this off, but Trainers are almost always prepared.

Knock Off, the final example. I praise users of this attack for their ingenuity. Many Pokemon hold items in battle that will aide them in fights. This causes a small part of their brain to focus on keeping that item with them so it can be used. Knock Off plays on that part of the brain. Through the use of body language, the user finds where the item is hidden, and strikes. A small burst of negative energy is released during this attack to cause psychological distress to the victim. This gives the attack its Dark-typing. As a bonus, the item is knocked free from the victim's grasp and no longer effective.

Without this negative energy, Dark-type attacks would be rendered Normal or Fighting-type attacks. It's this ability of Dark-types that give them an added strength and similarity to Fairy-types.

Abilities

"Dark-type" abilities play on emotions rather than the physical world. Intimidate and Unnerve are prime examples. They use fear to prevent opponents from attacking as strong as they normally would or eat berries respectively. No further observations noted.

Type Matchups

Grass, Fire, Water, Electric, Ground, Rock, Normal, Flying, Ice, Dragon, Poison, and Steel: These eleven types are effected normally by Dark-type attacks. They do not deal extra or less damage to Dark-types.

Psychic: Psychic type attacks work by altering the physical world on multiple different frequencies and wavelengths. This can be used to propel objects, condense energy into a physical projectile, or control another being entirely. Dark-types are able to intercept these wavelengths and scatter them into another frequency giving the illusion they've been absorbed or destroyed. This can be combated by the move Miracle Eye, which allow the user to hone in on a single wavelength a keep the attack on its course.

On the offensive hands, Dark-type attacks disrupt Psychic barriers just as well as they disrupt Psychic attacks, making their moves super-effective.

Psychics and Psychic-types describe using their powers on a Dark-type like trying to look for something in a dark room. You know it's there, but every time you reach for it you find yourself combing back empty-handed.

Dark: Most Pokémon can resist their own typing, and Dark-types are no exception. Dark-types can feed off the negative energy in Dark-type attacks or at the very least send them to another frequency.

Ghost: Much like Psychic-types, Ghost-types utilize frequencies and wavelengths to hop between planes of existence. Dark-type energy has a vacuum effect, forcing Ghost-types into a single plane in a very short amount of time, causing immense pain. This is why dark charms are particularly effective in dispelling spirits. If a Dark-type is strong enough, it can use a Dark-type attack to send a Ghost-type into the Spirit World, but this is an extremely rare occurrence.

In the defensive state, Ghost-type attacks can be waved off in the same aspect as Psychic-types.

Please note that this study applies to Ghost-type Pokemon, and not actual spirits of living beings. That is a subject for another time, and another professor...

Bug: Bug-types are a unique case in that they are super-effective against Dark-types, but are unable to resist them. The latter aspect can be explained in that they simply aren't effected by negative emotions and differing wavelengths. Their super-effectiveness however, is a bit more complex.

Bug-types are huge users of pheromones to communicate and attack. Each attack they use is laced with them, allowing them to deal damage to those with a weakness to their typing. The pheromones used by Dark-types disrupt their ability to maintain homeostasis, causing distress to their bodies and therefore dealing extra damage.

Fairy: As stated in my previous typing report, the positive aura produced by Fairy-types has a draining effect on Dark-types' negative energy. This leaves them powerless to resist any sort of attacks thrown at them by Fairy-types, and also halves the damage they would normally deal. Due to that, being in the presence of a Fairy-type can be potentially hazardous to a Dark-type's health if the Fairy-type is unwilling or unable to control their aura.

Fighting: In teaching type advantages to young children, a common device used to explain Fighting and Dark's relationship is that of a superhero and villain. The superhero will "fight" the villain who is "evil" and always wins. Despite the rather negative connotations that gives Dark-types, it's a fitting explanation. Fortunately, there's also a scientific side to it, and it lies within the Dark-types' aura.

While Fairy auras relax the muscles of Fighting-types and lower the damage they deal, Dark-types do the exact opposite. Their negative aura is used to disrupt bodily functions via quickening of the heart and muscle contractions, which as a result allows Fighting-types to double the power in their punch. Or kick, hit, throw, etc. Dark-type attacks also allow Fighting-types to involuntarily brace themselves for attacks and resist them. It's a neat trick that evolution came up with to keep Dark-types in check.

Conclusion

I'll admit, I'm not a big user of Dark-types. I respect their natural abilities and have used Dark-types before, but none have really made my team. I'm glad for Dark-type moves when dealing with pesky Ghost-types. I do have an Inkay that likes to fool around when I'm working, an as a Grass-type enthusiast I have both a Cacturne and a Shiftry. This concludes my report, I hope you all enjoyed it, and remember not to judge a Pokemon based on what people a long time ago said about it!