??? (type)
For other uses of question marks in the Pokémon games, see Question marks.
Template:ElementalTypes The ???-type (Japanese: ？？？タイプ ??? type) was an elemental type which existed from Generation II until Generation IV.
Characteristics
The ???-type was the oddity among the types. Unlike the Template:Type2 and other glitch types, the ???-type did not exist in the coding of Generation I: it, along with the Dark- and Template:Type2s, was introduced in Generation II, though unlike its counterparts, it did not have as much fanfare. The ???-type existed solely to be the type of Pokémon eggs and the move Curse, a strange move which changed effect depending on whether or not it was used by a Template:Type2 Pokémon.
Unlike other types, the ???-type was not programmed to have weaknesses or resistances: it was effectively neutral. Due to this, however, issues arise if damaging moves are hacked to be of this type in the Generation II and Generation III games: since it was considered neither a physical type nor a special type, the damage dealt by a ??? move is minimal, even if the move has 255 power, the highest possible.
Arceus
Arceus, the final Generation IV Pokémon, has the ability Multitype, which lets it attain any of the types with the proper plate. When it attains these types, likewise, it will change appearance. Possibly as a precaution against those who would hack Arceus to change its type without a plate, a ???-type form of Arceus was included in the game, and sprites of it are present in Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver Versions.
Eggs
Pokémon eggs are displayed as having the ???-type in Generation III on their status screen; this is likely because, like all other data, information about a Pokémon egg is supposed to be sparse, including its Original Trainer and ID number. This information did not appear in Generation II, which used a special status screen for Pokémon eggs that was different from that of normal Pokémon, and was removed in Generation IV, when the section of a Pokémon's status screen that displays type was separated from where it was met. From Generation IV on, eggs are counted as Template:Type2 Pokémon by the game.
Curse
The move Curse was given the ???-type when it was introduced in Generation II likely because of its mysterious nature: it is so far the only move which differs in its use between Pokémon of different types. It was retyped with the Template:Type2 in Generation V.
Retirement
The ???-type disappeared with as much fanfare as it appeared with, being removed from the coding of the Generation V games. This was possibly because making exceptions for a type that was used solely by a single, non-damaging move in the case that hackers would alter a Pokémon or move and crash their game had become tiresome for Game Freak. Considering that the only other "official" use of the ???-type had been the unavailable form of Arceus, the type itself was essentially useless.
