TYPE OF THE MONTH
BUG

HISTORY: Bug-types are a common type to find in the Pokemon universe. Not only are they accessible at the very beginning of the game, but they can be leveled up easily and evolve faster than most do. They can be very annoying with stat alternation moves and they can hit hard with moves like Megahorn, X-Scissors, and Bug Buzz.

In Generation I, Bug Pokemon... sucked. They had four moves: three of them being attacking moves and one being a speed reduction attack. Their most powerful attack was Twineedle, which had 25 base attack and 20% chance to poison, was practically useless as it would just 2HKO Psychic-types and easily destroy them with a Psychic. Not only that, but all the Bug-type Pokemon were UU Pokemon. Most of them set up with Swords Dance and Agility, though, so they were both strong and fast, but easily walled by a Ghost-type as they only had Normal moves. Scyther is the only one that stands out with its impressive 105 base speed and 110 base attack, tying in 10th for highest Attack AND Speed. Despite there only being 12 Bug-types, they were pretty okay.

Generation II was a better Generation for Bug-types. They introduced ten more Bug-types, but they only introduced three. However, one of those moves was Megahorn, the most powerful Bug-type move today. They became a bit better as two of the new Pokemon ended in OU tier (Forretress and Heracross) and one ended up in BL (Scizor). As a lot of Pokemon in G/S/C had Rest and Curse, Heracross, Pinsir, and many others destroyed their opponents with a Rest + Sleep Talk strategy and Cursing move. This generation was nicer to Bug pokemon, but still a jerk as only Megahorn was powerful.

Generation III became kind to Bug-types. They introduced three pretty good Bug-type moves (Tail Glow, Signal Beam, and Silver Wind) and fourteen Bug Pokemon. Unfortunately, Bug Pokemon weren't really that great in Competitive play. Only one ended in OU tier, four in BL tier, five in UU tier, and the rest in NU. Bug types were still not that special, but you couldn't underestimate them, especially Shedinja who could only be damaged by its weakness and Heracross, who was still feared by many.

Generation IV was pretty okay. They introduced nine Pokemon and seven moves, leading them to be pretty good. Four found its way into the OU tier, one in BL, another in UU, and the rest went to NU, which was about twenty-one. Scizor has become quite famous recently with its access to Swords Dance, Bullet Punch, and Technician, making it a feared Pokemon if there isn't a counter available while Forretress was a durable Rapid Spinner and Spiker, nothing could compete with its job. Not only that, but Yanmega was a huge threat with Tinted Lens, Bug Buzz, and Choice Specs, every move Yanmega used would either 2HKO or one hit KO a Pokemon.

STATISTICS: Defensively, Bug-types are weak in Defense but are strong in speed and attack. Their secondary types are mainly Flying, but it is also Poison. They're weak to Fire, Rock, and Flying and are strong against Fighting, Ground, and Grass, so having one with Pokemon that are weak to those types would be useful. Offensively, they're not so great as a total of six types resist Bug attacks, however, they're powerful against Grass, Dark, and Psychic attacks, proving to be useful against many Pokemon in competitive battling.

CONCLUSION: Bug Pokemon are quite average. Not only are they easily found in the beginning of the game, but they evolve fast and in different ways. They have grown stronger than most types in each passing Generation and they are quite great in terms of Speed and Attack. Not that great offensively, but they can hit the ones that are weak to Bug pretty hard. If you're adding a Pokemon like Swampert or Weavile to your team, consider adding a Bug-type to counter their weakness.

TRIVIA -- Here's some trivia concerning Bug-types!
All middle evolution Bug Pokemon are based on cocoons.
As of Generation II, the Bug-type (along with the Fighting-type) are one of only two pairs of different types to share the same interaction against each other (Bug resists Fighting and vice versa).
Until Platinum, several Bug-types, Shuckle, Kricketot, Burmy, Wormadam, and Combee, were unable to learn any Bug-type moves. Each of them is now able to learn Bug Bite by level, and Wormadam can learn Signal Beam by move tutor.
Each generation has introduced at least one Bug-type Pokémon whose name starts with the letter S.
Shedinja and Shuckle have the lowest amount of HP out of all fully evolved Pokemon.