Justifications: This is meant to be the Ground to Grass' Rock. There are some obvious overlaps, but I feel like Wood not only as a physical material but also as a mythological element, has enough potential to make it its own type. I chose Wood over something like Fungus because although fungi are not plants and technically don't belong in the grass type, I don't see much change to their playstyles (besides maybe being super effective against bug, but again, in terms of how grass types and fungi grass types both function, there isn't really much difference). Having a bulkier cousin to the Grass type opened up a lot of doors. The organic Steel type. This also created a comfortable spot for Pokemon based off of wood products. Grass type wouldn't really feel too fitting on a Pokemon that's a walking 2×4 you can buy at Poke Depot.
Wood's Umbrella: I like to view every type as an umbrella that could represent multiple things. For example; Flying consisting of both wind moves as well as just bird beaks and talons, Psychic consisting of telekinetic powers as well as cosmic forces, Dark being consisted of dark negative energy or just dirty tactics, Normal being the most basic of basic or the miscellaneous type, Fighting being martial arts as well as chi energy, Fairy being more dainty fae magic, nature, light, or lunar energy. You get the idea. Types should have a diversity to what they can embody. Wood has a lot more potential than just being "hard grass". A lot of the reasons for the type effectiveness comes from how Wood as an element functions in the Chinese Zodiac. Wood can be the physical trees themselves, but it's also a representation of altruism, life, and community. It can also be considered to have "Ether energy" which covers a lot of the special moves I made.
Divergence from Grass: I'll acknowledge the overlap first, Wood beats out Earth in the Chinese Zodiac, so being super effective against Ground seemed obvious. Its resistance to Ground also still feels justified because rooted trees prevent dust bowls and landslides. Wood shares Grass' ability to absorb Water, but also Wood is extremely effective that rerouting water ways and forming dams. Look up the Great Raft online, impressive natural wonder that's no longer around. Wood floats in water so being Water resistant still made sense. Trees can ground lightning so it still shares the Electric resistance. Now the differences, super effective against Ghost as mythological life energy purposes. It doesn't resist Ghost on the fact of haunted forests being such a common trope, but it does resist Dark on the matter of Wood element representing altruism which is the opposite of evil. Resists Normal like Rock and Steel as a normal person punching a wooden door or tree would hurt themselves first. It is weak to Fighting because karate boards. It is weak to Fire because- I don't need to explain why. It is weak to Bug because termites and wood beetles being pests that kill trees and eat wood. It is weak to Steel because an iron ax will fall a tree. I didn't make Steel resist it, because A) Steel doesn't need ANOTHER resistance, and B) a falling tree can easily cave a car in like a tin can. It resists Ice as a reference to evergreens that are trees designed to survive freezing temperatures whilst keeping their leaves. I don't believe other plants have that. Ice in turn resists it because Ice needs some kind of defense and I also can't imagine sprouts popping up in the dead of winter, evergreen or not. It resists Flying as being rooted takes a LOT of wind to knock them down. The resistance to Dragon is a reference to the Wood element sometimes being associated with dragons. It resists itself but I made it neutral to Grass and vice versa because parasitic ivy and fungi can kill and suffocate trees, but in turn the shade a tree produces can block the sun from smaller plants that need it. Making them both neutral to each other felt like a good compromise because outright beating each other felt like a stretch.
by RynnHamHam