Why are Rock and Ground different types?

They shouldn't. But I guess the reason is """balancing""" and to have a good type for the eight Gym Leader back in the day. They're almost the same.

>>32961275

You could make that argument back in Gen 1 where nearly every Rock type was part Ground, but at this point, the two types are very different from each other

>>32961275
Rock is the jewel, stone and glass type. Ground is the mud, clay and sand type.

Both types noticeably overlap, specially on the sand aspect, as sandstorm is a rock move yet sand attack and all sandmons (palossand, hippowdon) are ground type.

>>32961275
You can throw rocks, but you can't throw... uhh... dirt? It crumbles in your hand...
Why doesn't Mud Shot or Bonemerang hit Flying types again? Why doesn't Earthquake work on a Flying type using Dig?

>>32961293
This is a good explanation.

>>32961275
cause there are rocks in space but no ground on space

>>32961293
>glass

Is there a pokemon based on glass?

>>32961500
Lusamine's fetish, the toxic rape alien jellyfish.

>>32961500

Nihilego is Rock type because it's stated to be made of glass (or at least, a glass-like substance)

>>32961293
This. Great descriptions.

That's why there will never be a "Crystal" type, which, as dumb as it sounds, has been on some "new type" lists.

>>32961275

Same reason Water and Ice are different

>>32961500
Nihilego is allegedly a glass-based lifeform. It is the only mon that fits that criteria but I thought I should include it. All rock type pokemon fall into one of 3 wide groups:

>Literal living boulders or space boulders (meteorites)
Geodude, graveler, golem, nosepass, probopass, onix, regirock, roggenrola, boldore, gigalith, lunatone, solrock, minior

>Sturdy-looking (boulders are embeded into their design somehow, be it a rock shell or rock plates, without the mon itself being a living rock, or the mon is just implied to be sturdy as fuck or a rock type because fossil, which usually fall into the sturdy-looking archetype too)
Bonsly, sudowoodo, cranidos, rampardos, rockruff, lycanroc, omanyte, omastar, kabuto, kabutops, larvitar, pupitar, tyranitar, aerodactyl, lileep, cradily, anorith, armaldo, terrakion, shieldon, bastiodon, archen, archeops, binacle, barbaracle, tyrunt, tyrantrum, amaura, aurorus, rhyhorn, rhydon, rhyperior, shuckle, magcargo, corsola, aron, lairon, aggron, dwebble, crustle, tirtouga, carracosta, relicanth

>Literal living gemstones
Carbink, diancie

>Glass
Nihilego


Thedesign archetypes are a bit more difficult to figure out for the ground type, which besides clay, sand and mud things, also includes earth-controlling gods, diggers, desert dwellers, scorpion flies and shit. It can't be summed up in as few categories as rock can.

>>32961695
>fall into one of 3 wide groups
>mentions 4
I wrote 3 because I meant to say that glass could just be merged with living jewels, but then forgot to say it.

>>32961695
I think Bonsly and Sudowoodo fall into the living boulder category

>>32962332
Rock is the opposite of grass, so it makes sense for those to be rock.

>>32961421
Bonemerang should be a rock move. It would give Marowak better coverage options since he wouldn't have to rely on Stone Edge.

>>32962392
well I mean they both are in the mineral egg group. And bonsly is a flower pot design-wise

>>32961643
Of course! Rock is just frozen ground! How obvious!

>>32962428
Ground is many kinds of rock, soil and dirt, all aranged in a specific way.

Ice is just a bunch of water, all arranged in a specific way.

it's actually not a terrible comparison.

>>32962446
You mean like Thousand Arrows?

>>32961286
Some early concept shows a random bug catcher-looking kid as Viridian's gym leader. Giovanni was a fairly late addition.

>>32961275
Rock is solid minerals and ground is a softer sort of dirt.
Rock is the mountain and Ground is a sandy desert.
Rock is the mine and Ground is the field.

>>32961286
>They're almost the same.
They have nothing in common besides grass and water weakness.

>>32962505
>both can damage Ice and Fire types

>>32962509
Oh yes I forgot about fire. Ground is neutral on ice though.

I think mechanically, Rock is the physical equivalent to Ice (effective against a lot of types, but with many weaknesses), and Ground is the physical equivalent to Electric (effective against a small number but important types, and with few resistances but few weaknesses).

>>32962548
>effective against a small number
Ground literally ties with fighting for hitting the highest amount of types for SE damage, at 5.

>>32962548
>Ground is the physical equivalent to Electric (effective against a small number
It hits 5 types for SE

>>32962548
lol

Why does no one here know this? It's because Pokémon types are roughly based on the chinese elements. The west had 4 elements, china had, like, 10 or 15. I don't know them all offhand but it's the origin of them.

Also, there was originally going to be a Wood type to go alongside Grass just like Rock/Ground

>>32964725
There's 5 Chinese elements you moron. Wood is one of them, sure, but there's no evidence it was ever going to be a type.