Every Pokemon Type, Ranked From Worst To Best

The philosophy of the Pokemon series states that everyone should be able to use whatever Pokemon they want. A good trainer doesn't care about what's weak or strong but rather what feels good to them. It's about becoming personally attached to the digital animal enough to care for it. That's a beautiful notion, but unfortunately flawed.

The reality of Pokemon as a semi-competitive game is that, of course, some Pokemon are better than others. This includes Pokemon types, which are vitally important to the metagame. The rock-paper-scissors element of battles is part of what makes them so engaging. Some types are useful in any team composition. Other types are lacking and fulfill niche roles. They're all useful, but some are much more versatile.

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Updated September 5, 2024, by Blaise Santi: It can often be a topic of debate among Pokemon fans which type is the best and which type is the worst. Of course, every type deserves its place in the game, and there are worthwhile Pokemon of every variety. There are incredible Pokemon with bad type combinations, and there are terrible Pokemon with outstanding type combinations. There's so much more to each and every Pokemon than just their typing (movesets, abilities, form changes, etc.), but when analyzing how well each type fares on its own in the competitive scene, some are just more versatile than others. Scroll to read up on why these are the best types in the game, and check out new image galleries showcasing all these unique types have to offer.

19 Stellar

There's Not Much Use For Terapagos' Type

The final DLC expansion for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, The Indigo Disk, introduces a brand-new type to the series for the first time since Fairy-type debuted in Gen 6: Stellar. However, this type is not like others in the franchise. As of the Gen 9 games, no Pokemon are naturally Stellar-typed, nor are any moves. Instead, Stellar-types are only super-effective against Terastallized Pokemon.

Pokemon in Scarlet & Violet can Terastallize into the Stellar-type and use it to take advantage of two moves that are usually Normal-type: Tera Blast and Tera Starstorm. Given how mechanics like Dynamaxing, Mega Evolution, and Z-Moves have been left in the past, Stellar probably won't have any relevance to the series beyond Scarlet & Violet. It's a neat gimmick, but ultimately one that will be forgotten.

18 Bug

Their Frequency Early On Is A Disadvantage

Despite having some powerful Pokemon in their midst, the Bug type is by far the worst of the traditional eighteen. While moves like Megahorn and Bug Buzz can hit fairly hard, they hit resistances far more often than they do weaknesses. It also doesn’t help that many fully-evolved Bug Pokemon have fairly weak stats overall, especially those met early in each game.

Bug types are fairly common, particularly in grassy areas, and can be quite useful in the early game grind; however, most players don't carry these guys through to the end. Although considered the weakest Pokemon type, some Bug types give their class a good name, and the typing has even been held by some powerful Mythical Pokemon like Genesect.

17 Ice

Ice-Types Easily Crack Under Pressure

Ice is by no means a bad type offensively, but unfortunately, it has many weaknesses, and its only resistance is against itself. Some examples of powerful Ice types exist, but they typically have a good secondary typing to cover their plethora of weaknesses. All in all, slapping an Ice move onto a Pokemon with a better type combination usually does the job.

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On the bright side, Ice-types are some of the few Pokemon capable of taking down a Dragon-type, so it is always beneficial to have at least one of these glacial contenders around, if they can be caught. These extremely rare Pokemon generally hang out near water sources or high mountains, and generally occur later in the game, so it may be hard to fit one onto a team. It's especially good to find one with a strong secondary type, like Ice/Fairy-type Alolan Ninetales or Water/Ice-type Lapras.

16 Rock

Their Use Is Limited, But They Still Rock

Many Rock-type Pokemon have bulky defenses, which can make them powerful tanks in the competitive scene. However, they often lack effectiveness against Water and Grass, both of which find ample representation in Pokemon teams. They also tend to have poorer Special Defense stats, though this gets boosted by fifty percent during a Sandstorm.

Despite the common misconceptions, Rock-types can often find usage thanks to their familiarity with Ground-type moves and, often, secondary typings. They can also have devastating attacks against the common Flying-type and Fire-type Pokemon. Additionally, most Fossil Pokemon fall into this category, which can be ideal for players exploring the main story.

15 Grass

Their Many Weaknesses Can't Counter Healing Moves

While Grass is a fairly common type, it still has a lot of flaws. For starters, it has five type weaknesses, many of which are abundant in the competitive meta. Its attacks may demolish Ground, Water, and Rock types but fare poorly against many others, including Fire and Steel. Some dual-type Pokemon work as walls, but the Grass type struggles to find much offensive representation.

These nature-loving Pokemon are quite easy to find, as each Generation so far has included a Grass-type among their starter Pokemon options. Their HP draining capabilities can be quite advantageous, with several options available, namely Leech Seed, Absorb, Mega Drain, Horn Leech, and Giga Drain, among many other useful status Attacks. While some trainers may favor Grass-types, using them in battle is sadly an uphill climb.

14 Normal

They Rely On Other Types Far Too Much

On one hand, Normal-type Pokemon have access to many moves of widely varying types that make them fairly unpredictable offensively. However, their lack of STAB for these moves makes them weaker than the types they try to emulate, since Normal-type attacks also don’t deal any super-effective damage against any Pokemon, but they can still fill some niche roles competitively.

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By  Smangaliso Simelane

In Pokemon terms, the word "Normal" is not synonymous with average, as there are some formidable forces within this category capable of utilizing an extensive variety of skills that have stolen the spotlight on more than one occasion. Interestingly enough, these guys receive a classification change-up in the Pokemon TCG, whereby they get grouped in the Colourless class.

13 Poison

As Long As Opponents Aren't Steel-Type, They're Toxic

Ever since Gen 6, Poison has received a boost in popularity as a counter against Fairy-types. Even so, it remains fairly weak offensively, as four types resist it, and Steel is completely immune to it. Defensively, however, it serves as a viable option thanks to its minimal weaknesses, as well as status moves such as Toxic and Toxic Spikes that whittle away at the opponent’s health over time.

These toxic Pokemon can be found in an assortment of places but generally prefer to gather around marshy or industrial areas and are about as common as Fire-types. Thankfully, the broken mechanics promptly got fixed after Generation One, whereby Bug- and Poison-types were super-effective against each other, making battles rather redundant.

12 Dark

It Was Designed To Nerf Psychic-Types

Dark is average both offensively and defensively, but its type has a wide array of useful moves at its disposal, from status moves like Taunt and Torment to attacks such as Knock Off and Throat Chop. While these can cause great hindrance to opponents, Dark types still lose out to more commonplace types like Fighting and Fairy.

The relatively rare types do not follow the evolution process with ease, so trainers have their work cut out for them if they wish to see these Pokemon reach their full potential. Their main purpose in life is to balance out the overpowered Psychic forces, for which they have immunity. There are certainly great Dark-types for trainers to add to their teams, but it's not a huge deal if players forego including a Dark-type in exchange for other, stronger types.

11 Psychic

Special Attackers Reign Supreme

Psychic-types tend to be frail physically, but many Pokemon belonging to this type are special-attacking powerhouses. Their mysterious powers deal heavy damage despite their overall lack of longevity, and Psychic types make short work of opposing physical walls. The only advice is to be wary of opposing Dark, Bug, and Ghost Pokemon, who are all super-effective against it.

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Psychic-type Pokemon were originally so overpowered that they were practically invincible, so the creative team had to come up with some new categories (Steel and Dark) in Gen 2 just to counteract them. Of course, the Mythical Mew and Legendary Mewtwo take the cake as the strongest Psychics ever.

10 Flying

Not Many Pokemon Are Purely Flying For A Reason

While Flying can take out Grass and Fighting types handily, it often struggles against other common types like Rock and Electric. However, most Flying-types have a secondary typing to circumnavigate this. There wasn't even a pure Flying-type Pokemon in the franchise until Tornadus in Gen 5, and Flying wasn't a primary type until Gen 6's Noibat and Noivern.

Nevertheless, Flying-types also have access to great moves, such as Roost, a recovery move . Generally speaking, a Pokemon's Flying-type duality can be as much of a positive to a Pokemon's viability as it is a negative. Nevertheless, some worthwhile competitors have emerged from the Flying class, including the incredible Corviknight, and even Gen 3's Pelipper, thanks to its access to the ability Drizzle that summons rain upon switch-in.