These 2 Pokémon are officially one of a kind after almost 20 years

i played Pokemon games for over 27 years and I think I've racked up close to 11,000 hours in the series – especially with how much I've played Pokemon Legends: ZA and Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen in the last few months. One of my favorite aspects Pokemon of the game is that I can befriend critters I find while exploring new places and can train them in many different ways to win battles against NPCs and other players. This kind of freedom is hard for me to overcome, even if it comes with some limitations. For example, each species of Pokemon has its own distinct abilities, stats, and moves, and while I can customize them to some extent, the same is not true for types.

You can't really change Pokemon types at the same time Pokemon Scarlet and VioletTerrastalization provided a way to do this temporarily, obviously not permanently. This isn't really a problem, and the best way to deal with it is to build teams with multiple overlapping types and weaknesses. However, some of the best types of combinations in Pokemon games are locked to very few, if any, pets. Some types have spread to other Pokémon over the years, but a few have never received representation other than a single pocket monster, which is the case with Empoleon and Heatran.

Say hello to the only Pokémon of its kind

Empoleon and Heatran are some of the best Gen 4 Pokemon due to their type combinations, being Water/Steel and Fire/Steel. These types of combinations are powerful for several reasons:

• Empoleon

  • Weaknesses: Fighting, Ground, Electric (2x)

  • Resistances: Normal, Flying, Rock, Bug, Water, Psychic, Dragon, Fairy (x0.5); Steel and Ice (x0.25)

  • Immunity: Poison

• Heatran

  • Weaknesses: Ground (x4); Combat, Water (2x)

  • Resistances: Normal, Flying, Psychic, Dragon (x0.5); Beetle, Steel, Grass, Fairy, Ice (x0.25)

  • Immunity: Poison

It is undeniable that steel is one of the best types Pokemon games, if not the best, as it offers incredible defense with many resistances at the cost of reduced offensive ability. Combined with water and fire, two other incredibly good types, it's all the more powerful. This is especially good with Empoleon and Heatran because of their abilities.

Empoleon gains access to Torrent, a standard ability for all Water-type starters Pokemon games, but also has a hidden Competitive ability. This increases the user's special attack by two phases whenever one of its stats is reduced, making Empoleon great against Pokemon with Intimidate. As for Heatran, he has Flash Fire and Flame Body, and while the latter is decent for burning opponents, Flash Fire gives Heatran a second immunity and even a way to heal himself if hit by a Fire move.

Empoleon and Heatran are the only Water/Steel and Fire/Steel types

Despite being so unique, Empoleon and Heatran are unfortunately the only Water/Steel and Fire/Steel types in the series so far. It's hard to say if that will change with the arrival of the starters Pokemon winds and waves or new pokemon in general, but for now these two pokemon are the only ones of their kind for 19 years — since Pokemon Diamond and Pearl launched.

These aren't the only Pokemon with this problem, another big example is Mega Altaria as the only Dragon/Fairy Pokemon in the series. However, both are nearly 20-year-old Pokemon, and it's strange to think that no other Water/Steel or Fire/Steel pets have ever been produced. Whether the new one ends in Pokemon winds and waves The Pokedex remains to be seen, but I doubt starters in Gen 10 will have any of these type combinations.