#now that i've posted this i'm super nervous that jello won't appreciate me undermining his point

[tokiro07]

Very mad at @jelloapocalypse for making the valid point that a new Pokemon type should have an established minimum example requirement for the contextual scientific community to accept it, cus now I’m going out of my way to read every Pokedex entry to hit 47 (905 current Pokemon/19 types= 47.63) for my own fan types

That said, for the sake of argument, this isn’t logic that was ever used in canon. Gen 2 introduced both Steel and Dark, and of the 151 Pokemon present before that point, only two were reclassified as Steel (Magnemite and Magneton) and none were reclassified as Dark. By Jello’s logic, at least 8 Pokemon of each type should have been reclassified to those two types (151 Pokemon/17 types=8.88)

If we expand to include the Pokemon included in the new generation and not just reclassified Pokemon, then both types should have had 14 (251/17=14.76). Again though, there were only six of both Steel (the two Magnes, Steelix, Forretress, Scizor and Skarmory) and Dark (Umbreon, Murkrow, Sneasel, Houndour, Houndoom, and Tyranitar). Even if you consider the addition of two new types and split the requirement between the two of them, that still leaves us two short

Meanwhile, Fairy type had 22 existing Pokemon reclassified out of 649 prior to Gen 6; with an 18th type, the requirement should have been 36 (649/18=36.06). Within Gen 6′s 721, another 13 were introduced, giving us 35, falling just short of the new requirement of 40 (721/18=40.06)

Jello’s formula of (# of previously known Pokemon/# of potential types=# of required reclassifications) simply does not hold up to scrutiny based on the canon

HOWEVER! The data available may still be able to provide a usable formula

Looking at Gen 2′s numbers again, we had 12 Pokemon classified across 2 new types out of 251 Pokemon. 12/251=0.0478. Multiplied by 100, that gives us 4.78% total. The two types individually both had 6 Pokemon, so each was 2.39% of the total

For Gen 6, we had 35 Fairy Pokemon out of 721. 35/721=0.0485. Times 100, 4.85%

Though we only have two data points here, they are surprisingly consistent, so I think we can use that to establish a formula going forward

For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to round both of those percentages down to 4.5%, as that will guarantee that both of our previous examples go above the minimum requirement without requiring that we round down

0.045 (the total required proportion of Pokemon of the new type or types) x P (the current total number of Pokemon within the generation the type is being introduced) / T (the number of new types being added to the current generation) = M (the minimum number of Pokemon required for each type to be considered viable)

(0.045xP)/T=M

Gen 2: (0.045x251)/2=5.65. Both Dark and Steel had 6 Pokemon, greater than the required 5. Pass!

Gen 6: (0.045x721)/1=32.45. Fairy had 35 Pokemon, greater than the required 32. Pass!

How this formula is used for fans depends entirely on what their goal is

If the goal is to create a single new type solely based on existing Pokemon without creating any of their own, then yes, we need to look at the current generation’s 905 Pokemon (ignoring those already announced for Scarlet and Violet, because that number is about to change real soon)

(0.045x905)/1=40.73. Jello reclassified 49 total, so he well surpassed the minimum requirement of 40. Huzzah! (note: based on the video, he seems to be counting a new Rotom form as one, which I don’t count, but he did also count both Roggenrola and Boldore without counting Gigalith, so I think it’d be fair to replace that missing 49th with Gigalith)

Now, if Jello or any other totally hypothetical tumblr user had wanted to make, say, EIGHT new types without introducing any new Pokemon...

(0.045x905)/8=5.09

...then this random, no-name individual that definitely doesn’t exist would need to reclassify a minimum of 5 Pokemon per type

Of course, we could IGNORE the number of new types altogether if we really wanted. We could just consider it as 4.5% of Pokemon must be classified as at least one of the new types and not worry about each type specifically

By that logic, Steel could have just as well only introduced 1 new Pokemon and Dark could have introduced 10 (0.045x251=11.56) or vice versa and the new generation types would have been perfectly acceptable

The eight hypothetical types would still require at least 40 total Pokemon, but they could be distributed as necessary. If one of the eight only had, for example, one three-stage Pokemon filling out three slots but still missed two to hit the required 5, another type that has at least 7 would pick up the slack, and so long as all of them together totaled 40, it would be acceptable

If the goal is to make a new region and add a type, then the number would be determined based on the number of Pokemon the individual is willing to make up

Let’s assume that Jello’s Sound type Pokemon were the only ones being added to his hypothetical new region and, aside from the unmentioned starters and evolutions, no others. On top of the 21 he and his group created, we can add 8 for the starters, giving us 29 (if we count the Sound/Fighting cockatiel that Jello didn’t really land on but got a design anyway). I’m not going to count Pokemon he alluded to like the potential evolution of the Sound/Ghost theremin or pre-evolution of the Sound/Poison snake, so on top of the 905 existing Pokemon, we’re gonna call our total 934 with 78 Sound types. 78/934=0.0835, or 8.35%, almost double the required amount

If we assume that Jello added a total of 72 new Pokemon, equivalent to the smallest generation, Gen 6, then that would give us a total of 977 Pokemon. 78/977=0.0798, 7.98%

If 156, equivalent to the largest generation, Gen 5, that would put as 1061. 78/1061=0.0735, 7.35%

In other words, Jello went way above and beyond what was strictly speaking necessary, even in the most stringent feasible scenario

 In fact, if the total was 1061...

.045x1061=47.75

...Jello’s original estimate of 47 would have been perfectly accurate!

So yeah, if you hit 47, either by reclassifying Pokemon or making your own Fakemon, dividing it evenly among multiple types or using multiple to compensate for a lack of options, you can pretty much rest assured that you have more than you need!

...At least until Gen 9 throws off that number, but still! Consider adding 72 and 156 to the total to get an idea for the kind of range you want to be working with, and you’re golden!

TL;DR: to be in line with the established minimum set by Gens 2 and 6, a new Pokemon type should make up 4.5% of the total number of Pokemon, so either work with the current total or your goal to figure out how many you should reclassify or create of the new type