Pokémon Type Effectiveness
REFType Effectiveness Chart (Attacking)
| ATK ↓ DEF → | NOR | FIR | WAT | ELE | GRA | ICE | FIG | POI | GRO | FLY | PSY | BUG | ROC | GHO | DRA | DAR | STE | FAI |
|---|
Understanding Type Matchups
Type effectiveness determines damage multipliers in Pokémon battles. Super effective (2×) deals double damage. Not very effective (½×) deals half damage. No effect (0×) means immunity. Dual-type Pokémon multiply both type interactions (4× super effective or ¼× resistant possible). Strategic type selection is crucial for competitive battles. Memorizing key matchups improves battle performance significantly.
Key Matchups Worth Memorizing
A few high-value rules cover a large share of battles. The starter triangle is the classic example: Water beats Fire, Fire beats Grass, and Grass beats Water. Three immunities (0× damage) come up constantly and are easy to forget — Normal and Fighting moves do nothing to Ghost types, Ground moves cannot hit Flying types, Electric moves do nothing to Ground, and since Generation 6 Dragon moves have no effect on Fairy. Fairy was added in Generation 6 partly to check Dragon types, and it also resists Fighting, Bug, and Dark. Steel is the best defensive type, resisting ten other types, while Ground, Rock, and Ice are strong offensive types that hit many common Pokémon for super-effective damage. Note that this chart reflects the current single-type interactions; older generations had a few differences (for instance, Ghost did no damage to Psychic before the chart was corrected, and Steel and Ghost were resistant to Dark and Ghost in earlier games).