21 Most Powerful Psychic-Type Pokemon

As fun as it is to build rosters out of Pokemon that you may not usually use or are not considered the strongest, sometimes the best strategy is to go for all-out power. If that’s what you’re looking for, then this list of the best Psychic-type Pokemon might be helpful.

Psychic Pokemon are usually strong special attackers and, while Psychic is only super effective against Fighting-type, they are only weak to three other Pokemon types. As said earlier, this list is all about power and which Psychic Pokemon deliver the hardest punch (or telekinetic blast). While this list accounts for raw strength, the notoriety of the Pokemon will also be taken into account in the rankings.

Updated December 13, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: Choosing the best Psychic Pokemon is difficult due to the sheer quantity of high-quality options to choose from throughout the generations. While the throne for the best Psychic-type Pokemon is already hotly contested, we have more legendary contenders to add to the fray.

21

Victini

Victini is the definition of perfectly balanced, as all things should be. It has a huge 600 base stat total, but those are evenly distributed across the board. It’s identical to Mew, in that regard. However, it also boasts one of the most powerful signature attacks, V-Create, which easily sweeps teams.

Unfortunately, 100s across the board is both a blessing and a curse. Since it doesn’t specialize in a particular strength, it gets outshone in every aspect by other more specialized Pokemon. When using Victini, it’s all about making the most of V-Create. Its ability is mostly useless, but at least fun in Doubles. It has more power than others, but maybe not enough.

20

Tapu Lele

Tapu Lele is pink and adorable, but don’t let that trick you. This Pokemon is an absolute beast, capable of defeating even the bulkiest of tank Pokemon. Its ability, Psychic Surge, combined with an incredible 130 base special attack allows it to do some serious damage with ease. Psychic Terrain also negates priority moves, blocking out attacks that would normally make Tapu Lele afraid.

The worst part of Tapu Lele is that it lacks bulk and isn’t too fast, but it’s fast enough to serve a good role in battles. In the right team composition, it can absolutely shine in ways the other Tapus can’t.

19

Calyrex

One of the newer additions to the pantheon of Psychic-type legendaries, the big-headed Calyrex comes in two different flavors. The first is a bulky ice-type form with an absurdly powerful attack stat. The second is a fast, hard-hitting ghost-type that seems just ridiculously overpowered on the surface. Even Calyrex alone is no slouch, but a king needs its steed.

The different forms of Calyrex also combine two different abilities of Calyrex and its steed, something never before seen in the Pokemon series. Unnerve isn’t an amazing ability, of course, but the concept of it on such a powerful Pokemon seems a bit much. In terms of ruining game balance, the Calyrex forms do a great job.

18

Galarian Slowking

In a non-legendary addition, Galarian Slowking has been seeing some use in competitive battles following the release of The Crown Tundra. Its base stats aren’t much different from regular Slowking, but its movepool is. Galarian Slowking is capable of a ton of different techniques, giving it a varied offensive presence.

Its ability, Curious Medicine, is a doubles-ability only, but a very useful one. The ability to reset applied debuffs without switching is an interesting prospect. The effectiveness of it still needs to be seen, but it certainly sounds like a powerful ability on paper.

17

Wobbuffet

Wobbuffet is one of the most iconic gimmick Pokemon. Its ability traps opponents into battles that become a coinflip of predictions. If the Wobbuffet reads correctly and gets the right counterattack off, it’s almost certainly guaranteed destruction. If the Wobbuffet reads wrong, then it’s a big, blue, useless punching bag.

Wobbuffet is always as strong as the Pokemon facing it. That’s what makes it unique, and even other Pokemon that learn Mirror Coat or Counter don’t fill its niche as well as it does. Even if it doesn’t inflict damage onto the opposing Pokemon, it almost certainly inflicts psychic damage onto the opposing trainer. That power should be respected and appreciated.

16

Alakazam

When you recall some of the best original 151 Psychic-type Pokemon, Alakazam probably comes to mind for many trainers. This Pokemon is the definition of a glass cannon. It has an incredible base special attack stat of 135 and a speed stat of 120.

This classic Pokemon has come a long way since its Abra days when it teleports away or flees from everything. On top of that, Alakazam gets a mega evolution which boosts its special attack to 175. Though a very fragile Pokemon, its attack power means that Alakazam can blast through opponents with a wide variety of attacks.

15

Gardevoir

Gardevoir (Psychic/Fairy-type) is one evolution option from Kirlia while Gallade (Psychic/Fighting-type) is the other from Generation III. However, it can also evolve into Mega Gardevoir using Gardevoirite. Fans will recognize it mostly as Diantha’s Pokemon.

Though its other stats are fairly low, Gardevoir has a special attack score of 125 with a defense against special attacks score of 115. It has access to powerful Psychic-type abilities like Dream Eater and Psybeam but can learn Fire, Electric, Ice, Water, Dark, Ghost, Fairy, and even some Grass-type moves. This versatility combined with its large fan base earns it a spot on this list.

14

Lunala

Lunala is the Psychic/Ghost-type legendary from Pokemon Moon. What’s interesting is that Lunala, along with Solgaleo, is one of the only legendary Pokemon that has to evolve.

Lunala has a big HP pool, powerful special attack, and decent speed to make it an offensive threat. It also has a special ability named Shadow Shield that reduces the damage taken from damage-dealing moves by half when Lunala is at full HP. Its signature move is Moongeist Beam, which ignores abilities that affect its accuracy or damage.

13

Malamar

Malamar possesses superior mind-control abilities. In A Conspiracy to Conquer!, one evil Malamar initiated a plan of world conquest, though that ultimately failed. On the other hand, it took a group of six to stop the evil Malamar.

What makes Malamar even more unique is its host of Fighting-type and Flying-type abilities to pair with its Psychic-type abilities. It can even learn some Rock, Fire, Water, and Poison-type abilities. With such a versatile skillset and dangerous mind-control abilities, Malamar positions itself as a formidable foe in the lore of the franchise.

12

Jirachi

With such a cute face, it’s hard to imagine that Jirachi is such a strong Pokemon, but it’s legendary for a reason. For instance, it has a base stat of 100 for every stat. On top of being a statistical jack-of-all-trades, its Psychic/Steel-type makes it resistant to nine different types.

What makes Jirachi stand out is its ability, Serene Grace, which doubles the chance of secondary effects on all of its moves. Jirachi also has access to Iron Head which, with its ability, has a 60% chance to flinch opponents. To further cement its S-tier skillset, Body Slam has a 60% chance to paralyze.

11

Hoopa

Hoopa is one of the legendary that has two different forms, with each form having a different type. Its default form, Hoopa Confined, is a Psychic/Ghost-type with a massive special attack stat of 150 and a special defense of 130. That alone would be good enough to earn it a spot on this list.

However, its other form, Hoopa Unbound, is even stronger. Along with changing to a Psychic/Dark-type, Hoopa Unbound gets a boost to special attacks and a huge boost to attack. The ability, Magician, can also tap into the “mental” game regarding opponents.

When a Pokemon with the Magician ability hits another Pokemon with a damaging move, it steals its item. This can get rid of pesky items like Leftovers and use them to your advantage.

Metagross is a pseudo legendary from the third generation with the same type as Jirachi, making it very hard to damage. It is one of the rare Psychic-types that focuses on attack as opposed to special attack.

With a base attack of 135 and defense of 130, it’s hard to imagine that Metagross has a mega evolution that makes it even stronger. But it sees large boosts to its attack, defense, and speed.

Metagross also gets access to the Tough Claws ability. This boosts the power of all of its contact moves by 30% which, when added to a base attack of 145, means Metagross can plow through many opponents with ease.

9

Latios

Fans will recognize this dual-type Dragon/Psychic Legendary Pokemon from Generation Three of the franchise. Using Latiosite, trainers can even evolve the base form into a Mega Evolution for more power.

With powerful resistances to Fighting, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, and Psychic on top of immunity to Ground-type, Latios packs a great skillset, as well. Its special attack stat is an impressive 130 with other base stats near or above 100. With access to powerful Dragon moves like Dragon Pulse and Psychic moves like Telekinesis, Latios is a must for any Psychic-type team.

8

Mew

Mew is possibly the cutest legendary Pokemon ever created, with popularity that endures across games, but don’t let that fool you. Mew is said to have the DNA of every single Pokemon contained within its body, making it able to learn and use any attack. This means you can make whatever type of Mew you want, whether that be defensive, a special attacker, or a physical attacker.

Furthermore, Mew has a base of 100 in every stat meaning that no matter what build you make, it’s going to be a powerful one. As most fans know, Mew’s genetic code was used to make Mewtwo who also appears on this list.

7

Lugia

One of the two legendary Pokemon from Gold & Silver, Lugia is one of the most powerful walls in the entire game. With a defense stat of 130 and a special defense of 154, Lugia’s near-unbreakable defense is boosted by its ability Multiscale.

Pokemon with Multiscale take half damage from attacks when they’re at full health, meaning Lugia can even tank super-effective hits.

Though it’s not an offensive Pokemon by any means, Lugia is an incredibly bulky Pokemon that can absorb a lot of hits. The strategy most trainers take with Lugia is to whittle opponents down by hitting them with Toxic and using Whirlwind to force all enemy Pokemon onto the field.

6

Cresselia

Cresselia is a lunar Pokemon known for cleansing and calming your dreams, standing as the antithesis to Darkrai’s nightmare-inducing powers. While Cresselia’s stats fall short of the 600 BST that many legendaries have, it’s still incredibly effective at stopping opposing attackers in their tracks.

An impressive trio of 120 HP, 110 Defense, and 120 Special Defense make Cresselia one of the best Psychic Pokemon to take a hit. While other strong Psychic-type Pokemon like Alakazam specialize in hyper-offense, Cresselia offers a slower, more methodical playstyle.

5

Espeon

Perhaps one of the best known Psychic-type Pokemon next to Mewtwo, Mew, and Alakazam, Espeon is, as fans know, one of the many popular Eeveelutions available to trainers throughout the franchise.

In contrast to Umbreon, Espeon is a bit more fragile, but its notoriety as Sakura’s Pokemon earns it a spot on this list.

Appearing first in Generation Two, Espeon has a special attack score of 130 and an overall speed stat of 110. The Dark-type move “Fake Tears” is a must to pick up for any Espeon, as it lowers an enemy’s Special Defense. Paired with its already high special attack stat, this allows Espeon to do more damage.

4

Meloetta

Meloetta offers a unique type combination as a Normal/Psychic, limiting its weaknesses to Bug and Dark-type Pokemon, while completely nullifying damage from powerful Ghost-types, which normally would be a deadly matchup for a Psychic-type Pokemon.

Meloetta focuses on the Special side, boasting matching 128s in both Special Attack and Special Defense. Its 600 BST doesn’t stand out as particularly amazing, with so many other legendary Pokemon also boasting similar totals, but Meloetta’s unusual typing helps to distinguish it from numerous other contenders for the title of strongest Psychic Pokemon.

3

Necrozma

Necrozma’s Dusk Mane form was one of the most powerful Pokemon in the Uber tier of competitive play during its debut generation. It’s the third Pokemon on this list with the Psychic/Steel-type pairing, which is a great defensive type. It has access to a huge movepool that allows it to be built either defensively or as a super-strong sweeper.

Its attack of 157 is one of the highest in the tier, and it can be boosted even more when it uses Ultranecrozium Z to evolve into Ultra Necrozoma.

Although its stats may be higher than the last two on this list, it comes in at third because the last two are not only notorious in the world of Psychic Pokemon, they are purely Psychic-type.

2

Deoxys

Deoxys is the DNA Pokemon from the third generation. It’s special because it has three alternate forms other than its default form. Each one is incredibly powerful, but can only be attained by trading Deoxys to a particular Pokemon game cartridge.

There’s Normal Forme, Attack Forme, Defense Forme, and Speed Forme. Deoxys’ Attack Forme is probably the most statistically unbalanced Pokemon in the whole franchise. It has attack and special attack stats of a whopping 180 while its defenses are almost non-existent, with a base stat of 20. With such a huge move pool to choose from and off-the-chart stats, Deoxys can take out the bulkiest of defenders.