Psychic Type Pokemon: Why is this Type So Unique?

When the battle comes down to choices, Psychic type Pokemon become strong. Psychic moves have STAB against Fighting and Poison, and Pokemon of this type are vulnerable to Bug, Ghost, and Dark. The true essence of the type, however, is the abundance of stat-enhancing, field-changing, healing, prediction, and controlling moves available for Psychic Pokemon.

Psychic isn’t just another type Pokemon

Some Pokemon types can be defined in a single sentence.

Fire burns things.

Water extinguishes Fire.

Ground takes advantage of Electric.

Not so Psychic.

A Psychic Pokemon can be a quick special attacker like Alakazam. It can also be a sturdy Pokemon like Slowbro. A Psychic Pokemon can manipulate the speed of the battle with Trick Room, provide screens to the team, enhance itself with Calm Mind, or modify the battlefield using Psychic Terrain.

This variability is intrinsic to the type.

At the moment, DittoBase lists 141 Pokemon and 79 moves of this type in its main-series database.

Therefore, it would be more helpful to start from the questions, not from the list of Pokemon.

What makes Psychic different from other types?

First, understand the two matchups that Psychic is designed to take advantage of

Psychic-type attacks are super-effective against:

Fighting and Poison.

This is the core offensive role of Psychic. The Fighting matchup is particularly significant.

A Fighting-type Pokemon taking a Psychic-type attack is going up against one of the classic type matchup problems of the game. The same is true of Poison. But Psychic-type attacks are not always strong. They cause reduced damage against Psychic and Steel Pokemon, and are ineffective against Dark-type Pokemon. This means that thinking about Psychic is different than thinking about many other types.

A Dark Pokemon is not just “resistant” to Psychic;

Psychic attacks do no damage at all to it.

A Psychic attacker needs to have another way to deal with Dark Pokemon.

This is one of the reasons why coverage moves are so important for Psychic Pokemon.

The Psychic type has only three weaknesses

A pure Psychic Pokemon is weak to:

• Bug
• Ghost
• Dark

Nothing else.

It is also immune to:

• Fighting
• Psychic

Based on the type chart, Psychic will have an easy time defending against these two types. Though, when combined in dual-typing, the matchup could become very different.

What sets Psychic apart from a type like Grass?

While Grass has a multitude of weaknesses, it doesn’t affect its offensive capabilities as much as Dark and Ghost, which are extremely important to Psychic because they counter the limitations of its attacks.

A Psychic-type Pokemon won’t be able to just use its best Psychic move against everything and succeed.

Everything changes with the Dark problem

You’re about to use your Psychic move.

• The opponent decides to send a Dark-type Pokemon.
• The move is not resisted.
• It is not halved in damage.
• It deals no damage at all.

That changes things.

• Switch?
• Use coverage?
• Get a boost?
• Try to predict the opponent?

One of the reasons why Psychic-type team building favors those who keep an eye on the opponent’s potential switch-ins.

The type chart says something essential here: don’t rely solely on the STAB Psychic attack.

Psychic Pokémon that has another offensive type that can be used is more difficult to wall.

Especially important for dual-typed Pokémon.

One word can completely change a Pokémon: Dual typing

Gardevoir.

It is a Psychic/Fairy dual-typed Pokémon in the modern games. Gallade, by contrast, is a Psychic/Fighting Pokémon. The current Psychic-type Pokémon list on Bulbapedia covers both of these Pokémon under the Psychic type.

But these Pokémon are very different.

They have different secondary types that affect their offensive capabilities and defensive coverage.

Which is precisely the idea behind analyzing Psychic-type Pokémon:

Don’t analyze a Pokémon based only on “Psychic” type.

Look at its secondary type.

Look at its ability.

Look at its movesets.

It should only be after that point that you make any decisions on if the Pokemon is good for your team.

But Psychic moves are where things get odd

And that’s the part that most straightforward type guides fail to explain properly.

The Psychic type has ordinary moves, like any other type.

Psychic has 90 base power and 100% accuracy in the current main games listed on DittoBase, and is able to reduce Special Defense.

However, Psychic-type moves become far more unusual than the typical list of moves would suggest.

For example, there is Calm Mind that boosts Special Attack and Special Defense.

• There is Agility that sharply boosts Speed.
• There is Trick Room that changes the natural order of Speed such that slower Pokemon get to move first for 5 turns.
• There is Stored Power whose power increases with boosts in stats.
• There is Psyshock which uses the user’s Special Attack stat but does physical Defense stat-based damage.
• And finally, there are such moves as Skill Swap, Trick, Magic Room, Wonder Room, Power Swap, Guard Swap, and Speed Swap.

It is quite the opposite of having just a powerful move.

Psychic loves messing around with the laws

Probably the most fascinating thing about Psychic.

Many Psychic moves are asking:

“And how about we mess up one of the rules?”

• Trick Room is reversing Speed orders.
• Magic Room nullifies all the item bonuses for 5 turns.
• Wonder Room swaps Defense and Special Defense.
• Speed Swap swaps Speed stats between two Pokemon.
• Skill Swap swaps Abilities.
• Power Swap and Guard Swap swap the stat boosts.
• Those are not simple moves.
• They manipulate the battlefield to make it different from what the opponent might have been expecting.
• That is why there is such a great link between Psychic and strategy teams.
• With Psychic moves you get many opportunities to manipulate the battlefield around the battle, instead of attacking everything that appears right in front of you.

Trick Room makes “slow” an advantage

Usually, Speed is simple.

Fast Pokemon go first, unless some other battle factors change the order.

Trick Room messes it all up.

During 5 turns slow Pokemon go first. It presents an unusual chance for effective team building.

A Pokemon with low speed under ordinary circumstances could become a dangerous opponent in Trick Room. Therefore, when seeing a Psychic Pokemon with Trick Room, don’t immediately see its Speed as a disadvantage.

It may be used to create an advantage for the team.

This is an example of the interplay that makes Psychic Pokemon unique: a statistic that is traditionally a weak point can be utilized in the gameplan.

Psychic Terrain establishes the unique battlefield for the type

Psychic Pokemon also has an unique interaction with the terrain.

Psychic Terrain generates Psychic Terrain for five turns. It enhances Psychic-type attacks and prevents grounded Pokemon from being hit by priority attacks.

It offers two bonuses at once.

A team of Psychic Pokemon could not only increase the power of their Psychic attacks but also modify the way priority moves work on grounded Pokemon.

The Ability Psychic Surge does exactly this. Bulbapedia considers Psychic Surge as a unique Ability to Psychic-type Pokemon, creating Psychic Terrain on battle entry. So Psychic isn’t just a type to stick on a Pokemon.

It can be used as a team strategy.

There are many good setup moves available in the type

Psychic has a whole bunch of great moves that allow a Pokemon to set itself up before attacking.

Calm Mind boosts Special Attack and Special Defense.

Thus, it is good for a Pokemon which will be able to become both hard to hit with special attacks and strong with them.

• Cosmic Power raises both Defense and Special Defense.
• Amnesia heavily raises Special Defense.
• Agility heavily raises Speed.
• And finally Stored Power grows stronger based on the stats of the user.

All of this adds up to a very distinct Psychic strategy:

set up → boost stats → attack.

This is not always the best way, but Psychic certainly has enough resources to allow for such strategy.

Psyshock is an interesting example of how important move descriptions are

Here comes a move that confuses newbies.

Psyshock is a special move, however, its damage depends on the Defense of the target, not on its Special Defense.

Why is it important? Because Special Attackers are expected to attack on the Special Defense stat.

Psyshock provides an alternative move to Psychic.

A Pokemon with strong Special Attack does not need to rely only on the opposing Pokemon’s Special Defense stats. Psyshock allows it to target the physical Defense stats instead.

However, it doesn’t necessarily make Psyshock superior to Psychic.

The reason is because the moves serve different purposes.

Which happens to be another common theme when dealing with Psychic.

There are Psychic Pokemon that are built for speed. Some others are not.

Take the classic examples.

According to Serebii’s current list of Psychic, there is a very fast Alakazam with great Special Attack and Speed and a rather slow Slowbro with great Defense and HP stats.

• They are both Psychic Pokemon.
• They are not meant to fight each other in battle.
• Alakazam naturally plays the role of fast attacker.
• Slowbro can perform much more defensively.

This is helpful in determining which Pokemon to add to your team. Don’t ask:

“Is this a good Psychic Pokemon?”

Ask: “What does this Psychic-type Pokemon do?”

That question eliminates a ton of bad team decisions.

History of the Psychic type beyond Generation 1

There is also some history behind the type.

The Psychic type was introduced during Generation I and quickly earned a reputation for being extremely powerful due to the way the early generations worked. Bulbapedia states that this imbalance was corrected during Generation II through the addition of Dark and Steel types, as well as more moves that resisted Psychic.

This helps explain why you will notice something while examining the modern type chart.

Psychic has an inherent advantage when attacking Fighting and Poison types.

But Dark provides a natural resistance to Psychic moves.

As does Steel.

These changes altered the way that Psychic was able to easily dominate battles.

So if you ever run into someone who talks about Psychic being “broken” in the original games, there is some context to the statement. The type isn’t broken in the modern type chart.

Why so many famous Pokemon are Psychic types

Psychic is represented on a wide variety of Pokemon. The older games granted players Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam, Drowzee, Hypno, Slowpoke, Slowbro, Starmie, Mewtwo, and Mew.

The newer generations introduced Psychics like Gardevoir, Metagross, Deoxys, Reuniclus, Hatterene, Indeedee, and more.

Both Serebii and Bulbapedia demonstrate just how diverse the list of Psychic types has grown over the generations.

They may not share similar designs, but the psychic type will always revolve around one theme:

power derived from unique mechanisms.

• This could be Special Attack power.
• This could be Speed.
• This could be terrain control.
• This could be stat modification.
• This could even be making your opponent play around an odd move.

So what are the things to look for in a Psychic Pokemon?

First off, don’t base your choice on the type itself.

Firstly, make sure you take note of the Pokemon’s second type.

That will determine whether the weaknesses and resistances of the Pokemon have changed from being pure Psychic.

Next up, pay attention to the Pokemon’s Ability.

Finally, check whether its stats can support your preferred role. A Psychic Pokemon that has high Speed and Special Attack will certainly engage in combat differently from a Psychic Pokemon that has high defenses and recovery.

Lastly, look through its move pool.

If it has Calm Mind, Trick Room, Psychic Terrain boosting, recovery, status moves, or some unique utility, its function can be far more interesting than what the typing would indicate.

The Psychic type shines when you make the opponent think

This really is the best way to comprehend Psychic.

Its basic type chart is straightforward:

Advantages over Fighting and Poison.

Disadvantages to Bug, Ghost, and Dark.

But this does not capture the essence of what has made the type unique throughout all the generations.

Psychic type moves have the capability to manipulate stats.

• Manipulate Speed.
• Manipulate Abilities.
• Manipulate held items.
• Manipulate terrain.
• Manipulate which stat will be manipulated.
• And even manipulate a seemingly useless stat into a tactical asset.

That is the important point to remember. Do not go for the Psychic type just because you have to beat some Fighting-type Pokemon when forming your team. Instead, think about all the things the Psychic type, with its typing, Ability, stats, and movepool, can do for you.

And if you want to find out yourself without preplanning, then use the Random Pokemon Generator by Type, select the Psychic type, and research the found Pokemon.

• Start with its secondary typing.
• Then check its Ability.
• And after that, look at its moves.
• Here comes the fun part.