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In the earlier Pokemon games, Psychic moves were very popular; this was due to only Bug Pokemon being strong against Psychic-type Pokemon, and they did not have very powerful attacks. The more recent Pokemon games have corrected this by also making Psychic Pokemon weak against Dark and Ghost-types, and by giving the Bug-type some more damaging attacks.
Updated on September 24, 2021, by Jeff Drake: In the main Pokemon series, from Red and Blue to Sword and Shield, there is a total of 70 Psychic-type moves. This means that a “best of” list that’s limited to only fifteen entries is going to leave out a lot of verypowerful Psychic moves. In an effort to make this list a little more comprehensive, five entries have been added and ranked according to their usefulness in battle. Even with twenty entries, there are still a few of the best Psychic-type moves being left out, but honestly, after the twenty best the rest are all fairly similar in damage output and effect.
20 Agility
Sometimes, in the heat of battle, whoever has the faster Pokemon will determine the outcome of the battle. This is why increasing one’s speed can be so helpful, and many choose to do it using the Psychic-type move Agility. This is a move that is not exclusive to Psychic-type Pokemon, as many flying and bug-types are able to go fast by using Agility.
Nobody wants to end up in a battle with a faster Pokemon that can take out most threats in a single hit, especially since it makes trainers feel powerless to stop the carnage of their carefully raised team of Pokemon. Luckily, Agility goes both ways, so may the fastest Pokemon win.
19 Dream Eater
Healing moves have become a little more prevalent with each subsequent Pokemon game, but they are still far from common. In fact, there are only two healing Psychic-type moves. Healing Wish heals one Pokemon fully at the cost of making the user faint. The other healing Psychic move is Dream Eater.
Dream Eater has a power and accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 15. When used on a sleeping Pokemon, Dream Eater will heal the user by 50% of the damage dealt. The drawback is this move only does damage to sleeping Pokemon. This move is best paired with the move detailed in the next entry.
18 Hypnosis
Hypnosis can be a battle-winning ability, permitting it hits. This move puts an opposing Pokemon to sleep for 1 – 3 turns. While asleep, Pokemon are unable to perform any of their moves, with very few exceptions. The accuracy rating for Hypnosis is 60, but at least this gives a better chance than not of it working.
Along with simply being a sound strategic option in battle, Hypnosis combines well with Dream Eater and the Ghost-type move Nightmare.
17 Zen Headbutt
Zen Headbutt is a very reliable Psychic attack move. It has a power of 80; which is average – the upper end of average for Psychic moves anyway. This move has an accuracy of 90. Missing with this move isn’t likely, but it will happen from time to time.
Some people might be asking themselves why Zen Headbutt makes the cut when its stats are similar to so many other Psychic-type moves. The answer is that Zen Headbutt can cause the opponent to flinch; every use has a 20% chance of making the target lose their next turn. This only works if a Pokemon goes first in a round.
16 Teleport
This is a useful move that has two effects. One of these effects is used in battle, the other while exploring the world. Teleport’s effect in battle is to essentially run away; however, Teleport is always successful, unlike the risky proposition of making a normal attempt to flee. Bear in mind that this effect does not work when fighting another trainer; it only works when fighting wild Pokemon.
The other effect of Teleport is that it can transport the trainer back to the last Pokemon Center they visited. This move fails if it is used while underground or in a building. This move will save the player quite a bit of time – real and game time.
15 Synchronoise
This move was introduced in Generation 5 in the Unova games on the Nintendo DS. This generation included new battle modes allowing for battles with teams of up to three Pokemon. This new battle system allowed for some interesting new moves and strategies.
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Synchronoise allows the user to hit all Pokemon in the opposing group that share a type. This includes multi-type Pokemon; so a Psychic-type Pokemon would hit a grass/Psychic Pokemon in the opposing group. Synchronoise has a respectable power rating of 120, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 15.
14 Extrasensory
Extrasensory is a fantastic standard Psychic attack to weaken an opposing Pokemon for a follow-up coup de grâce move. This move has a power rating of 80, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 20. Additionally, Extrasensory has a 10% chance of making the opposing Pokemon flinch. When a Pokemon flinches it loses its move for the turn; so flinching can’t be inflicted on a Pokemon that moves before the user.
his move, like many Psychic attacks, becomes devastating when the user is holding Psychium Z; at which point it is called Shattered Psyche and has a power of 160.
13 Telekinesis
This move lifts the opposing Pokemon into the air, with the main benefit being that every subsequent move performed against it always hits – regardless of any modifiers. Suddenly moves that are very powerful/useful but have a low accuracy rating are guaranteed to work. Hypnosis (followed by Dream Eater) is a good example of how effective this combo can be.
The only drawback to lifting the opponent into the air is that ground-based attacks, like Dig, will automatically miss. The lifting effect has a duration of three turns and is best used at the outset of a battle. Telekinesis has a PP count of 15.
12 Psycho Cut
This is possibly the best Psychic-type move for a Pokemon’s standard attack. It is one of the few Psychic attacks that is a Physical, rather than Special, attack, so it uses the opponent’s Defense instead of Special Defense. Psycho Cut has a power of 70, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 20.
Psycho Cut’s special ability is that it has an increased chance to score a critical hit. Normally, attack moves have a 1 in 20 chance of being a critical hit; Psycho Cut has a critical hit ratio of 1 in 8. Critical hits do approximately double damage. So 1 in 8 uses of Psycho Cut has a chance of being at 140 power instead of 70.
11 Freezing Glare
This is a rare Psychic-type move. Freezing Glare was introduced in Sword & Shield, and only one Pokemon, Articuno, has the ability to add it to its move-set. Freezing Glare has a power of 90, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10.
The main reason this is considered one of the best Psychic moves is that it has a 10% chance of freezing the opponent. This may not seem like much, but there is a reason the freezing status ailment is one of the least seen – it is probably the most powerful. Frozen opponents cannot move, and must skip their turn in battle. So freezing is similar to putting an opponent to sleep, but opponents have a lower chance of thawing than waking up.
10 Psycho Boost
This is the most powerful Psychic move that doesn’t require a condition to be met or the user to sacrifice a turn. Psycho Boost has a power rating of 140, an accuracy rating of 90, and a PP count of 5. The PP count of only 5 is overly restrictive considering the negative effect of using Psycho Boost, but the PP count can be increased to 8 with certain items.
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The negative to having such a high power is that every use of Psycho Boost lowers the user’s special attack by two stages, to a minimum of -6. This makes the move better suited to being used exclusively as a “finishing move”.
9 Psystrike
This is a reliable all-around attack for Psychic-type Pokemon. Psystrike has a power of 100; this is high, but not high enough that the move suffers from a lowered PP count (it has a PP of10). It also has an accuracy of 100, so unless the Pokemon’s accuracy has been lowered, Psystrike isn’t going to miss.
What sets Psystrike apart from other Psychic-type moves with similar stats is that it uses the opponent’s Defense rating, rather than Special Defense, when determining damage. This is quite useful since most Psychic attack moves are Special attacks rather than Physical ones. When taken along with a powerful Special attack (like Psybeam) it makes a Psychic-type Pokemon formidable against nearly any opponent.
8 Glitzy Glow
Glitzy Glow is not the most damaging of attacks, but its other stats and secondary effect more than make up for this. This move has a power rating of 90, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 15. Glitzy Glow’s secondary effect is to reduce damage from special attacks by half.
The ability to effectively double the user’s Special Defense is normally a move by itself, like Light Screen. Glitzy Glow allows the user to combine this effect with a powerful attack. Only the Pokemon Eevee can learn this move.
7 Prismatic Laser
In addition to having a really cool name, Prismatic Laser is one of the most powerful attacks that doesn’t require special conditions to be met beforehand. This has a power rating of 160, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 10. The power-to-accuracy ratio is almost unseen in Pokemon games, and for such a powerful attack the 10 PP count is beyond generous.
The only negative to Prismatic Laser is that it requires the user to skip the following turn. Losing a turn is a serious setback, but at least it happens after the move is used and not before.
6 Calm Mind
If the opponent gets a stat boost like Calm Mind and survives until the next turn, then danger is certainly incoming. Pokemon who get off several stat raises using Calm Mind can be unstoppable powerhouses that will decimate an entire team unless trainers have massively strong defensive options up their sleeve.
Calm Mind is a move that raises the user’s Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage each, making them hard to survive and hard to take down. Sometimes, the key to success really is all in the mind.
5 Amnesia
There’s a reason why Pokemon such as Chansey and Miltank are so memed and feared by players: not being able to make a dent in the HP of a Pokemon that is steamrolling through your team is a terrifying feeling nobody wants to experience.
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This is why you should never let your opponent get off an Amnesia, let alone two Amnesias. This move raises the special defense of the user by two stages, making it significantly harder to take down using Special moves. It’s always best to have both Physical and Special moves for this kind of nightmare scenario, but in your hands, Amnesia can be part of a real powerhouse strategy.
4 Psychic Fangs
This is a decent attack move that has a secondary effect that can come in extremely handy in the right situations. Psychic Fangs has a power rating of 85, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 10.
The secondary effect of Psychic Fangs is that it can tear down the protective barriers Light Screen and Reflect. These barriers reduce the damage a Pokemon takes from special attacks and physical attacks (respectively) by half. This allows the Pokemon using Psychic Fangs to deliver a decent amount of damage and remove the protections of the opponent in one turn.
3 Psyshock
Psyshock is a move that was introduced in Generation 5 and has become a staple for some Pokemon teams in the competitive play scene. This isn’t just because of its attacking power, which is a solid 80, but also because of its special condition. Psyshock calculates the damage done based on the target’s defense, rather than its special defense.
This is excellent for attacking types that often have high special defense because it still utilizes the attacking Pokemon’s special attack stat in the damage calculation. It’s good to have such tricks and workarounds for when battles get dicey.
2 Future Sight
Future Sight is all about seeing two steps ahead of the opponent, which is what makes Psychic powers so cool in the first place. Upon using Future Sight, the Pokemon will “foresee an attack,” but nothing else will happen in that turn. Two turns after this, the Future Sight will hit the opponent, or any Pokemon on the opposing side if the original target is gone.
Future Sight technically has no type and isn’t affected by STAB, but it also means it can hit Pokemon who use Protect and Pokemon with Wonder Guard, which makes it a great Trojan Horse for difficult situations. It also has a base power of 120 ever since Generation 6, which is nothing to sneeze at, either.
1 Psychic
Psychic has been an all-around great attack since it was introduced in Generation I. This move has a power rating of 90, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 10. Psychic’s stats make it one of the best TMs (#29) to teach a Pokemon in need of a powerful attack.
This move also has a small (10%) chance of lowering the opposing Pokemon’s special defense by one stage, to a maximum of -6. This will, of course, rarely happen, but when it does it usually ensures the battle will be over next turn. The PP count of 10 is higher than most moves with a similar power-to-accuracy ratio.
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