Flying-type Pokémon are pretty common in the Pokémon games.
Often they can be found in the first routes you travel through. Common ones include Pidgey, Starly, and Spearow.
Although they are easy to find, that doesn’t make them weak!
For example, they have been used by Gym Leaders like Winona and Falkner, and Elite Four member Kahili.
Learn how to keep this type grounded with our guide on how to beat Flying-type Pokémon!
Flying Type Pokémon Weaknesses & Strengths Chart
Weakness | Strong Against |
Electric, Rock, Ice | Grass, Bug, Fighting |
Flying-Type Pokémon Weaknesses
Flying-type Pokémon are weak to Electric, Rock, and Ice-types. These types of moves will do double damage to them.
The Electric and Rock-types also take half damage from Flying-type attacks, meaning that they are good against Flying Pokémon.
The same can be said for Steel-types too, but their moves just do normal damage in return.
Although Flying-types come in all shapes and sizes, their Defense stat is often a little bit lower than their Special Defense.
This means physical attacks are often the best way to go!
Also read: 20 Pokemon Quiz Questions for Ultimate Fans
Flying-Type Pokémon Strengths and Resistances
Flying-type Pokémon are super effective against Bug, Grass, and Fighting-type Pokémon.
This can often spell trouble for many trainers early on in the games as Grass and Bug types are common to have on your team!
They also take half-damage from Bug, Grass, and Fighting-type attacks.
Not only this, but Flying types are completely immune to Ground-type moves!
It’s easy to see why they don’t take any damage from them given the fact that they are flying above the ground.
Pokémon Good Against Flying Types
There are plenty of Pokémon that can be good against Flying-type Pokemon, that either can exploit their weaknesses or resist their moves.
5 of the best Flying-type counters are:
Jolteon

Often Flying-type Pokémon can be fast, so a speedy Pokémon like Jolteon can be really useful in taking them down!
As Jolteon is an Electric-type, it means that its moves are super-effective against Flying-type Pokémon.
Jolteon can also use the move Volt Switch. Not only is this Electric-type move good against Flying Pokémon, but it can also help it to get out of trouble and switch out!
Weavile

Weavile is a lot like Jolteon in the fact that it has a really good Speed stat. This means that it can often outspeed Flying-type Pokémon and move first.
Unlike Jolteon, Weavile is an Ice/Dark type. Ice-type moves do double damage against Flying-type Pokémon.
Not only this, but Weavile is a physical attacker with a good Attack stat. This allows it to be able to hit at the Defense stat of the opposing Pokémon.
Omastar

Omastar is a Rock/Water-type Pokémon. The Rock-type means it takes half damage from Flying-type attacks.
While it is not as quick as Jolteon or Weavile, Omastar can use the ability Weak Armor.
When it is hit with an attack, it can drop its Defense stat by one level in order to raise its Speed by one level in exchange.
Omastar can also use Shell Smash. This move sharply raises the Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats for a drop in Defense and Special Defense.
When you pair this with Weak Armor it makes Omastar super powerful!
Electivire

Electivire is a pure Electric-type which means it is good against Flying-type Pokémon.
Electivire is a great choice if you are not sure what you need on your team or what you will struggle most with.
The reason for this is that it has good Attack and Special Attack so it can use either physical or special moves easily.
With a good move pool alongside this, it means you have plenty of good attacks to choose from!
Aurorus

Aurorus is an Ice/Rock-type which means it has two types that are super-effective against Flying-type Pokémon.
Aurorus also has two great abilities it can use.
Refrigerate turns any Normal-type move it uses into an Ice-type move. This then means they will be super effective against a Flying-type!
The other ability Aurorus has is called Snow Warning. This starts the hail weather effect as soon as it joins the battle.
Not only does this help increase the accuracy of Blizzard, but it also will hurt non-Ice-type Pokémon at the end of every turn!
There are plenty more Pokémon out there good against Flying-types.
See our list below for some top choices with some recommended movesets.
Pokémon | Type | Moves |
Jolteon | Electric | Shadow Ball Thunderbolt Volt Switch Hyper Voice |
Weavile | Ice/Dark | Triple Axel Swords Dance Night Slash Ice Shard |
Omastar | Rock/Water | Shell Smash Surf Ice Beam Ancient Power |
Electivire | Electric | Wild Charge Earthquake Volt Switch Ice Punch |
Aurorus | Rock/Ice | Freeze Dry Blizzard Hyper Voice Ancient Power |
Coalossal | Rock/Fire | Stealth Rock Rock Blast Flamethrower Rapid Spin |
Lycanroc | Rock | Accelerock Stone Edge Psychic Fangs Close Combat |
Togedemaru | Electric/Steel | Zing Zap Iron Head Wish Spiky Shield |
Kabutops | Water/Rock | Swords Dance Liquidation Stone Edge Superpower |
Rotom-Wash | Water/Electric | Hydro Pump Thunderbolt Volt Switch Nasty Plot |
Cloyster | Water/Ice | Rock Blast Icicle Spear Shell Smash Pin Missile |
Alolan Sandslash | Ice/Steel | Rapid Spin Swords Dance Triple Axel Iron Head |
Aerodactyl | Rock/Flying | Stealth Rock Dual Wingbeat Stone Edge Taunt |
Toxtricity | Poison/Electric | Boom Burst Overdrive Volt Switch Sludge Wave |
Arctozolt | Electric/Ice | Bolt Beak Blizzard Low Kick Substitute |
Attacks Super Effective Against Flying-Type Pokémon
Ice, Rock, and Electric-type attacks will be your moves of choice to defeat Flying-type Pokémon quickly and easily.
It’s always key to remember that you don’t need a Pokémon that has Ice, Rock, or Electric typing to use a super effective move.
Lots of different Pokémon can learn them and help you out in a pinch.
Here is a list of some of the top 10 moves to look out for.
- Stone Edge (Rock)
- Triple Axel (Ice)
- Thunderbolt (Electric)
- Power Gem (Rock)
- Ice Beam (Ice)
- Volt Switch (Electric)
- Rock Slide (Rock)
- Blizzard (Ice)
- Thunder (Electric)
- Wild Charge (Electric)
Tips on Defeating Flying-Type Pokémon
Flying-type Pokémon can prove a challenge to beat, as they can learn the move Roost. Roost allows them to heal 50% of their HP.
You might think this is something that might stop you from beating them, but you can use this to your advantage!
When using Roost, Flying-types lose their Flying typing during that turn. This can leave them vulnerable!
For example, Ground-type moves can hit them, and Normal/Flying-types will take double damage from Fighting-type moves as they would be considered just to be Normal-type on that turn!
Always remember that Ground-type moves will not hit Flying Pokémon. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule!
One of which is when the Flying Pokémon uses Roost, which will remove their Flying-typing, which we just spoke about.
Another is that the Rock-type move Smack Down will remove their ability to dodge Ground-type moves.
Finally, there is the Ground-type move Thousand Arrows, which completely ignores Flying-type immunity.
Flying-type Pokémon can also learn the move Fly. This is a two-turn attack.
On the first turn, the Pokémon will fly into the air, meaning they can’t be targeted by any attack. On the second turn, they dive down to attack the foe.
However, you can get past this, so don’t worry! The move Thunder will hit Pokémon using Fly even when other moves can’t!
If you don’t have Thunder, you can use the move Protect on the second turn when the opponent would attack you to nullify the damage. This means they have basically wasted 2 turns trying to hit you!
It is very rare to find a pure Flying-type, and almost all of them have dual-typing.
This means if you don’t have a move that is good against Flying-types, you can target its other type instead!
For example, Talonflame is a Fire/Flying-type. You can ignore the Flying-type and hit it with a Water-type move instead for double damage!
We hope you enjoyed our Flying-type guide and you can now bring them back to earth with ease!
Are there any other types you are worried about facing? Let us and your fellow trainers know in the comments.