Each type of Pokemon significantly affects the battles in which it is used. Their strengths and weaknesses can make them totally useless or capable of taking out an enemy with a single hit. If you have trouble remembering what the strengths are between types, here is a guide that will help you memorize and understand strengths and weaknesses.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Memorize Strengths
Step 1. Use this nursery rhyme
It will help you remember all the weaknesses and advantages of Pokemon types. This nursery rhyme is reliable down to Pokemon X / Y.
- Normal always attacks normal, whatever Pokemon in play
- Grass, Ice, Beetle, and Steel are burned by the Fire
- Water floods Fire, Rock and even Earth
- Electricity wins the war with those who fly and those who swim
- The Flight hits the Grass and Beetle, and also defeats the Fighting
- While Grass, Psychic, and Beetle Dark take a big hit
- Grass is not afraid of Earth and Rock and of Water it resists every drop
- Fire, Ice, Flying, and Beetle are weak to solid Rock
- Ice freezes the Earth and whoever flies, and breaks the claws of a Dragon
- While a Dragon faces another Dragon, like a magician's fireball
- Fighting Man gets the better of Normal, Ice, Rock, Dark, and Steel
- The poison hits the fairies, and the grass and beetle are another couple
- Ghosts scare psychics and often themselves
- Steel against Fairy, Ice or Rock makes them shabby
- The Earth shakes Electricity, Rock, Poison, Fire and Steel
- Psychic hunts Fight and Poison in trouble
- The Dark scares the Psychic and terrifies the Ghost from beyond
- Against Fight, Dragon and Dark, Fairy wins with ease
- Now that you know how to memorize the weaknesses of all Pokemon
- You can go into battle without having to worry.
Part 2 of 3: Understanding Weaknesses and Strengths
Step 1. Understand the weaknesses of Fire:
water, earth, rock, fire and dragons.
- Fire cannot burn water, earth or rock, which is why it is weak against Pokemon of this type.
- It is weak against other fire and dragon type Pokemon.
Step 2. Understand the weaknesses of water:
electricity, grass and dragons.
- Water conducts electricity very well and is absorbed by grass, which is why it is weak against these types.
- Water is not effective against dragons.
Step 3. Understand the weaknesses of electricity:
electricity, grass and dragons.
- Electricity is weak against Pokemon of the same type (like many, but not all).
- Electricity is weak even against grass. It may seem hard to believe, but try to imagine a very sturdy plant. Nothing bothers her, it's a bit of a shock certainly wouldn't hurt her.
- Finally, electricity is also weak against dragons.
Step 4. Understand the weaknesses of weed:
fire, grass, poison, flying Pokemon, insect and dragons.
- What are the things a plant cannot defend itself against? Plants are burned by fire, killed by poison and eaten by insects. Just remember the natural enemies of weed and you are well on your way.
- Grass is weak against flying Pokemon, beetles, and dragons because the first two types and even some dragons possess the entire domain of the sky, while plants need to be in the ground.
- This type of Pokemon is not effective against those of the same type. To remember this, imagine two trees trying to overwhelm each other. They have similar bark and it is impossible to tell if they are fighting against themselves or against other trees; they would just wrap around each other, blocking themselves in the process.
Step 5. Understand the weaknesses of Ice:
fire, water, ice and steel.
- The ice is melted by the fire; even if the heat of the water does not reach that of the fire, it is still hotter than the ice, which will melt anyway. Think about how ice cubes melt in the glass in the summer.
- The ice is hard, but it breaks easily. Remember the opening of the Frozen movie, when men break the ice? This element is weak against steel.
- Ice is ineffective against Pokemon of the same type because it has no power. It cannot freeze ice because it is already frozen and it cannot even melt it.
Step 6. Understand the weaknesses of the struggle:
poison, flying pokemon, psychic and beetles.
- The types of Pokemon that fight are clueless - so strong, but they get scared easily. This is the reason they are weak against ghost Pokemon … they are terrified of them.
- This type of Pokemon is always fit, so the blood circulates fast. This feature is useful in combat, but if they are poisoned, the action of the poison will be even faster. Against poison Pokemon they will therefore always have to defend themselves, in order not to be points.
- If another Pokemon is too small to hit or is too fast, then it won't take much damage. This is the reason why Pokemon of this type are ineffective against flying or insect Pokemon, these being too small, light or fast to be hit with ease.
- Who wins in a battle between strength and brain? Sure, strength can beat the mind, but eventually the mind will find a strategy to win. This is the reason why Pokemon of this type are weak against those of Psychic type - they are beaten because they rely too much on brute strength.
Step 7. Understand the Poison's Weaknesses:
poison, earth, rock and ghost.
- The poison is ineffective against soil and rock, because it cannot penetrate through rocks and too hard ground.
- Did you know that snakes resist the venom of other snakes? This is the reason why poison Pokemon are not effective against those of the same type - after all they must be, otherwise they would be poisoned by their own poison.
- The poison penetrates the body of a Pokemon. However, if this does not have a physical body, how can it ever be effective? This is why poison doesn't work against ghost Pokemon… there is nothing to poison.
Step 8. Understand the weaknesses of the Earth:
grass and insect.
- Grass Pokemon are perfectly rooted in the ground, so things like earthquakes wouldn't be as effective as with other Pokemon.
- Insect Pokemon spend a lot of time on land, so they're used to it. This is why ground Pokemon are not effective against them.
- Grass.
Step 9. Understand the weaknesses of flying Pokemon:
electricity, rock and steel.
This type of Pokemon are weak against attacks that cause a lot of damage to flying creatures. Lightning (electricity), blizzards (ice) or landslides (rock) can all severely affect a bird, for example
Step 10. Understand the weaknesses of the Psychic type
Pokemon of this type are weak against things that scare you (Beetles, Dark, Specters). This is one of the easiest weaknesses to remember.
Step 11. Understand the Beetles' weaknesses
This type of Pokemon is weak against things that can get rid of bugs in real life (Flying, Fire, and Rock).
Step 12. Understand the weaknesses of the Rock
This type of Pokemon is weak against things that can break it in real life (Water, Grass, Fighting, Earth, and Steel).
Step 13. Understand the Weaknesses of the Specters
Ghosts use tricks that are not known to most living creatures. The evil forces (Dark) and the other Ghosts, however, know them. That's why the Ghost-type is weak against Dark and himself.
Step 14. Understand the weaknesses of the Dragons
Dragons are so powerful that they are only weak against other dragons and the forces of nature (represented by fairies). The last weakness was introduced to symbolize that even the strongest creatures depend on nature. Furthermore, dragons are often represented as reptiles, and many reptiles cannot stand cold (Ice), which is why Dragons are weak to Ice.
Step 15. Understand the weaknesses of Steel
Steel is weak against Fire and physical strength (Fight), which can shape it. Furthermore, it is weak against the Earth, which contains the crude iron.
Step 16. Understand the weaknesses of the Dark
Dark is weak against wrestling because it represents dirty tricks, while wrestling represents a noble and disciplined technique. In practice, evil versus good. For the same reason it is weak against the Fairy type. It is also weak against the Bug-type to correct some balance problems that arose when the type was introduced, but you can try to enforce the previous explanation for this weakness too: Dark cannot scare small, innocent insects.
Step 17. Understand the weaknesses of the fairies
Fairies represent the force of nature. Steel, however, is an artificial creation of man, and that is why the fairies are weak against it. The fairies are also weak against poison, because this can pollute nature.
Part 3 of 3: other factors
Step 1. Don't overlook ineffectiveness
There are some types of Pokemon that are completely harmless against others. There are only a few such immunities, and they're pretty easy to understand (Normal and Ghost Pokemon can't interact, Earth can't hit whoever flies, etc.), but you should always keep them in mind. You don't want to be surprised when your attack has no effect!
Step 2. Take advantage of the attack bonus of the same type
In the game, when a Pokemon uses an attack of the same type as at least one of its own, that attack is boosted by 50%. For example, you'll get the bonus if you use an attack like Iron Claw with a Steel Pokemon like Aron. You should always try to take advantage of this bonus, as it can make a big difference in battle.
Step 3. Pay attention to the weather conditions
Weather can also affect Pokemon's effectiveness in battle. Sunny Day, for example, increases the power of Fire-type moves, while reducing that of Water-type moves.
Step 4. Get some special skills
Some abilities can also help or harm your Pokemon in battle, depending on their type. Levitation, for example, negates the effectiveness of Ground-type attacks. Get skills that help your Pokemon and watch out for those of your opponents. If the Pokemon you have on the field is weak against the opponent's ability, replace it immediately!
Step 5. Get some special items
There are items you can assign to Pokemon to improve their attack strength, or the strength of all attacks of a type. The Black Belt, for example, increases the effectiveness of Fighting-type moves.
Advice
The more time you play, the easier it will be to remember the strengths and weaknesses of the various types. Over time it will become natural
Warnings
- If something goes wrong in a battle, take a break and check! You are probably using a Pokemon of the wrong type.
- Be careful to use super effective moves on Pokemon you want to catch. You could defeat them with one hit!
