Modern Emerald Type Chart: Vanilla vs Improved, and What Changed

Modern Emerald lets you choose the type chart in the options menu, and the choice is real: two of the three options change matchups compared with vanilla Emerald. If you have been testing a move and getting a different number than you expected, you are probably on a non-default chart.

What the options actually change

Improved — the modern default. It buffs types that were weak in Gen 3 by removing some of their worst matchups.

Gen VI+ — everything in Improved, plus Steel no longer resisting Ghost and Dark.

(On version 3.2 the chart option was called "Original" and did not include these changes at all; the naming settled from 3.3 onwards.)

The changes the modern options make:

Gen VI+ adds two more, because the Gen 6+ chart drops Steel's resistance to them:

The practical effect is that Rock, Bug and Ice get noticeably better under the modern charts, and Steel gets worse as a defensive type — it loses its Ice resistance and, on Gen VI+, stops walling Ghost and Dark.

The type chart this site shows

The type chart on this site is generated from the game's own data and matches the Gen VI table — 18 types including Fairy, with Steel not resisting Ghost or Dark and every other matchup at standard values. Use it as your baseline, then apply the Improved changes in the table above on top for the pairs listed. The extracted table does not distinguish between the in-game options, so the ten entries above are the only places the options differ.

Types that catch people out

• Electric into Ground is 0×. Nothing has changed here, but it is still the most-forgotten immunity in the game.
• Ground and Rock stop being each other's problem under the Improved chart — Rock types are much harder to break with Ground, and Ground types take Rock moves at full damage.
• Ice no longer removes half your damage against Water, and Water still does neutral damage to Ice on the Improved chart, so Water types are better against Ice than you may remember.
• Steel is no longer a safe switch into Ghost or Dark on the Gen VI+ chart.

Should you turn Fairy on?

"Add Fairy Type" is a separate option and it changes typings for the Pokémon that gained Fairy in Gen 6 as well as adding the type to the chart. If you want the classic Gen 3 balance, leave it off; if you want modern matchups — and the buffs to Gardevoir, Azumarill and friends — turn it on. Pokémon Meganium is Grass/Fairy in this hack with the modern typings option.

Type data read from the extracted game data (type_chart.json); option behaviour and the eight Improved changes and the two Gen VI+ changes from the hack's official documentation and PokeCommunity feature list.