Pokemon Type Chart Explained: Every Strength, Weakness, and Immunity
Understanding the Pokemon type chart is the single most important skill in any format, from your first playthrough to high-level VGC competition. All 18 types interact through a web of 2x super effective hits, 0.5x resistances, and full immunities, and knowing these on instinct will win you battles before you even pick a move. This guide breaks down every key matchup, the logic behind dual typing, and how to build a team with no glaring weaknesses.
How Type Effectiveness Works
Every move has a type, and every Pokemon has one or two types. When a move hits, the game multiplies damage by the defender's type modifiers. A super effective hit deals 2x damage; a resisted hit deals 0.5x; and an immune type takes 0x damage. Against a dual-type Pokemon, these modifiers stack multiplicatively, so a Water move against a Ground/Rock type like Rhyperior deals 4x damage, while a Normal move against a Ghost/Steel like Aegislash deals 0x. At its core, type matchups decide which Pokemon trades favorably in a given matchup.
The Most Important Offensive Types to Know
Ground is widely regarded as the best offensive type: it hits Fire, Electric, Poison, Rock, and Steel for super effective damage, and only Flying-types and Pokemon with the Levitate ability are immune to it. Fighting is similarly powerful, hitting Normal, Ice, Rock, Dark, and Steel, making it the primary answer to Tera Steel threats in competitive Scarlet/Violet formats. Fairy has cemented itself as critical coverage since its Gen 6 introduction, dealing super effective damage to Dragon, Fighting, and Dark while being immune to Dragon moves entirely. Ice covers Grass, Ground, Flying, and Dragon but has notoriously poor defensive typing, making it best used as a coverage move rather than a primary type.
Best and Worst Defensive Typings
Steel/Fairy is the consensus best defensive dual-type in the game, boasting a theoretical defensive score of 13.25 out of a possible scale, with ten resistances, three immunities (Poison, Dragon, and any Steel ability-granted ground immunity from Levitate users), and only two weaknesses: Fire and Ground. Ghost/Steel (seen on Aegislash) stacks nine resistances and three immunities. On the other end, Ice is the worst single defensive type, being weak to Fire, Fighting, Rock, and Steel while resisting only itself and Water. Normal/Flying is also fragile, with weaknesses to Electric, Ice, and Rock. When team building, aim for complementary coverage so partners cover each other's weaknesses.
Key Immunities Every Trainer Should Memorize
Immunities deal 0x damage and cannot be modified by most in-game effects. Normal and Fighting moves cannot hit Ghost-types. Electric moves cannot hit Ground-types. Ground moves cannot hit Flying-types or Pokemon with Levitate. Poison moves cannot hit Steel-types. Dragon moves cannot hit Fairy-types. Psychic moves cannot hit Dark-types. These immunities are the foundation of pivoting strategies in both VGC doubles and GO Battle League; switching to an immune Pokemon on a predicted move is a free turn and a momentum swing.
Dual Typing and Stacking Weaknesses
Dual typing is where the math gets interesting. A Rock/Flying type (like Archeops) carries weaknesses to Ice, Rock, Steel, Water, and Electric due to stacking vulnerabilities from both types. Conversely, Water/Ground (Swampert) has only one weakness: Grass, which hits both types for 2x each, resulting in 4x. When building a team, map out all your team members' weaknesses on a spreadsheet or use a tool like the Pokelistic type chart calculator to catch overlapping vulnerabilities before they cost you a game.
Type Chart in Pokemon GO vs. Main Series
In Pokemon GO, the type effectiveness multipliers are slightly different from the main series. Super effective hits deal 1.6x damage (not 2x), resisted hits deal 0.625x (not 0.5x), and double super effective hits deal 2.56x (not 4x). Immunities in GO function as resistances at 0.390625x rather than a true zero, meaning a Normal move against a Ghost in GO still deals a tiny amount of damage. The underlying type relationships are identical, so the same countering logic applies, but the numbers feel less punishing than in the main games.
FAQ
How many types are in Pokemon as of 2026?
There are 18 standard types: Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, Steel, and Fairy. In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, a special 19th Tera-exclusive Stella type exists, but it cannot be held by Pokemon outside of Terastal battles.
What type has the most resistances?
Steel has the most resistances of any single type, with ten resistances (Normal, Grass, Ice, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Dragon, Steel, Fairy) and one immunity (Poison), making it the cornerstone of most top defensive dual-type combinations.
Is there a type that has no weaknesses?
No single type has zero weaknesses. The closest are Normal (weak only to Fighting) and Electric (weak only to Ground). However, certain dual-type combinations like Water/Ground (one weakness) and Steel/Fairy (two weaknesses) come close to being well-rounded defensively.
What is the strongest attacking type overall?
Ground is frequently cited as the best offensive type because it hits five types super effectively including the dominant Steel type, and is resisted by only Grass and Bug. Fighting is a close second due to its ability to hit Steel, Rock, Dark, Normal, and Ice for super effective damage.
Does Tera typing change weakness calculations?
Yes. When a Pokemon Terastallizes in Scarlet/Violet, its defensive typing becomes its Tera type alone, completely replacing the original type matchups for the duration. A Tera Flying Garchomp, for example, loses its Ground and Dragon typings and takes damage as a pure Flying type instead.