Psychic Pokémon have been a mainstay of the series and at times have proved to be some of the trickiest to beat.
There have been many trainers in the games that have used Psychic-type pokémon, such as the gym leader Sabrina, and Elite Four member Caitlyn.
With high Special Attack power and access to a wide range of moves, Psychic Pokémon can really pack a punch if you are not careful.
Here is our guide on how to beat Psychic Pokémon.
Psychic Type Pokémon Weaknesses & Strengths Chart
| Weakness | Strong Against |
|---|---|
| Ghost, Bug, Dark | Fighting, Poison |
Psychic Type Pokémon Weaknesses
Psychic-type Pokémon are weak against Ghost, Bug, and Dark-type moves. They take double damage from these moves.
Ghost and Bug-types take normal damage from Psychic Pokémon, but Dark-type Pokémon take no damage from them at all! This is true even if they have a secondary type that is weak to them, such as the Dark/Fighting-type Pokémon Scrafty.
The Steel-type is not super effective against Psychic Pokémon, but it can resist Psychic-type moves, taking half damage from them. Other Psychic-type Pokémon also takes half damage from Psychic moves, but they’ll also do half damage back to them too!
Psychic Pokémon also often have a low Defense stat. This means that a powerful physical attack move, so long as it is not resisted, can also do heavy damage to them.
Also read: 20 Pokemon Quiz Questions for Ultimate Fans
Psychic Type Pokémon Strengths and Resistances
Psychic-type Pokémon are super effective against Fighting and Poison-types, inflicting double damage on them. This can spell trouble for some Pokémon who are also strong against them, such as Beedrill (Bug/Poison), and Gengar (Ghost/Poison).
Fighting-type moves also only do half damage to Psychic Pokémon as they resist them. As stated previously, they also resist moves of the same type as them.
Psychic-type Pokémon also often have a high Special Attack stat. This means that Pokémon with low Special Defense can get hurt pretty easily if they take a Psychic move.
Pokémon Good Against Psychic Types
There are plenty of Pokémon that can be good against Psychic-type Pokemon, that either can exploit their weaknesses or resist their moves.
Here are 5 Pokemon to use against Psychic:
1. Scizor
Scizor resists Psychic-type moves and has high attack. This means it can do a lot of damage, especially as its ability Technician allows its moves to have more power.
Bullet Punch can also be used against faster Pokémon, or to quickly finish them off when weakened.
2. Umbreon
Umbreon has great defensive stats, meaning that a lot of moves barely make a scratch on it. As a result, it can recover damage taken using Wish, while sapping away an opponent’s health using Toxic.
If a Pokémon tries to set up on it, Foul Play is there to punish them.
3. Blissey
Blissey may not be a super-effective typing against Psychic-types, but it has 2 great things going for it.
Blissey has great Special Defense, meaning it can tank a lot of special moves. Alongside this, it has a massive HP stat making it hard to take down!
Blissey can heal itself with Softboiled and wear down its opponents with Toxic and Seismic Toss.
4. Golisopod
First Impression is Golisopod’s move of choice which is super effective against Psychic types and almost always moves first. It also has a great attack stat, meaning it can cause a lot of damage with its other moves.
Emergency Exit helps Golisopod to get out of danger if its HP is lowered to half or less.
5. Gengar
Gengar has always been a top choice as a Pokémon who is good against Psychic-types. It has amazing Special Attack and Speed, meaning it can use super-effective moves before the opponent can react.
It does need to be careful though as Psychic moves are also super effective against it!
There are plenty more Pokémon out there good against Psychic-types. See our list below for some top choices and some suggested moves.
| Pokémon | Type | Moves |
|---|---|---|
| Scizor | Bug/Steel | Bullet Punch, Swords Dance, Bug Bite, U-Turn |
| Spiritomb | Ghost/Dark | Sucker Punch, Will o Wisp, Substitute, Poltergeist |
| Skuntank | Poison/Dark | Sludge Bomb, Dark Pulse, Flamethrower, Nasty Plot |
| Umbreon | Dark | Foul Play, Wish, Toxic, Protect |
| Gengar | Ghost/Poison | Sludge Bomb, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Substitute |
| Blissey | Normal | Softboiled, Toxic, Seismic Toss, Reflect |
| Mimikyu | Ghost/Fairy | Swords Dance, Shadow Sneak, Play Rough, Shadow Claw |
| Bisharp | Dark/Steel | Swords Dance, Sucker Punch, Iron Head, Stealth Rock |
| Volcarona | Fire/Bug | Quiver Dance, Bug Buzz, Fiery Dance, Roost |
| Magnezone | Electric/Steel | Flash Cannon, Thunderbolt, Volt Switch, Body Press |
| Aegislash | Steel/Ghost | Substitute, Shadow Sneak, Iron Head, Swords Dance |
| Grimmsnarl | Dark/Fairy | Thunder Wave, Reflect, Play Rough, Foul Play |
| Ribombee | Bug/Fairy | Quiver Dance, Sticky Web, Bug Buzz, Dazzling Gleam |
| Golisopod | Bug/Water | First Impression, Knock Off, Liquidation, U-Turn |
| Sharpedo | Water/Dark | Protect, Crunch, Liquidation, U-Turn |
Attacks Super Effective Against Psychic Type Pokémon
As we’ve spoken about, the best moves to go for are ones that are Bug, Dark, or Ghost-type. This is especially true of physical type moves, to take advantage of the low Defense stat of Psychic-types.
It’s always key to remember that you don’t need a Pokémon that has Bug, Dark, or Ghost 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.
- Dark Pulse (Dark)
- Sucker Punch (Dark)
- Shadow Ball (Ghost)
- Shadow Sneak (Ghost)
- Poltergeist (Ghost)
- U-Turn (Bug)
- Knock Off (Dark)
- Crunch (Dark)
- Bug Bite (Bug)
- X Scissor (Bug)
Tips on Defeating Psychic Type Pokémon
It is always key to remember that lots of Pokémon can learn super-effective moves against Psychic types and be good against them.
If you can’t find a Bug, Ghost, or Dark-type, then try looking for a Pokémon that learns a move of this type.
If all else fails, a good, powerful physical attack can pack a punch. This is because Psychic-types often have low Defense.
Some Psychic Pokémon are also slow with low Speed. As a result, you should be able to outspeed them before they hit you.
Remember that some Psychic-types may carry moves to counter your super-effective Pokémon. They may have a Fighting-type move such as Focus Blast for Dark-types, or a Ghost-type move such as Shadow Ball to hit Ghosts.
You can always scout out their moves by using Protect or Substitute to see whether you are in danger.
Psychic-type History
The Psychic-type has been around since the first generation of Pokémon. There weren’t many of them to choose from back then, with only 13 out of the entire 251 Pokémon strong Pokédex.
This didn’t stop the games from featuring notable Psychic-type trainers, including the gym leader Sabrina, and the Elite Four member Lucian in Generation II.
In Generation I, Psychic-types were particularly deadly because they did not have many counters or weaknesses.
The Dark-type was only introduced in Generation II, meaning that only Bug and Ghost-type moves were effective against them back then.
It didn’t help that most Pokémon that could leverage these moves were part Poison-type (the Gastly line and Beedrill). This meant that Psychic-types were super effective against them in return!
Psychic-type moves were purely special attack-based until the typing split in Generation IV. This meant that a wider range of possibilities opened up for them being able to use physical moves, as demonstrated by Gallade.
Over time and with more Pokémon being created, this led to more Pokémon having dual typing. As a result, the range and capabilities of Psychic-type Pokémon were enhanced.
To this day Psychic-types remains both a mainstay on many trainers’ teams and also fearsome opponents to the unprepared!
We hope you enjoyed our guide on how to beat Psychic-type Pokémon. If you are still struggling, why not ask a question in the comments and see how fellow trainers can help you!