Pokemon Are More Than Just “Big = Strong”: How Types and Generations Shape Power

Most “strong Pokemon” discussions start with a simple intuition: bigger body, higher power. This post shows why that shortcut only works sometimes. Using the course Pokemon dataset (including some alternate forms), I walk through how type composition and generation design relate to base stats, and where the “big = strong” story breaks.

Types are not equally represented.Water and Normal lead the dataset, while many other types appear less often. This matters because any “average stats by type” comparison is partly driven by which types have more entries in the first place.

Generations don’t just add more Pokemon—they reshape the mix. The composition of primary types changes across Gen1–Gen7, which hints that “what gets introduced” is part of the balance story, not only how strong individual Pokemon are.

Median strength rises in later generations, but variability stays large. So “newer = stronger” is partly true on average, yet each generation still includes both weak and very strong Pokemon.

Types also differ in “how” they deal damage. Some types are more physical on average, others lean toward special offense—so strength isn’t one number, it’s a profile.

Animation makes the generational trend easier to feel. Instead of comparing seven static panels, the GIF reveals the “step-by-step” shift in typical strength across generations.

Closing thought

If I had to summarise the dataset in one sentence: strength is shaped by design choices—what types appear, which generations introduce them, and whether that power is expressed via physical or special offense. “Big = strong” is sometimes true, but it’s rarely the full story.