Pokémon: The 15 Best Psychic Moves, Ranked | Game Rant
The psychic moves in the Pokémon games have always been wild-cards to some degree. For the most part, the damaging psychic moves all have fairly good accuracy ratings, making them very reliable. The non-damaging psychic moves, of which there are many, are quite varied in how they affect the game/opponents. Most inflict a status effect on the enemy, raise stats of the user, lower the stats of the opponent, or have a unique ability like swapping stats or items with the opponent.
In the earlier Pokémon games psychic moves were very popular; this was due to the only Pokémon type that was strong against psychic Pokémon, bugs, did not have very powerful attacks. The more recent Pokémon games have corrected this by also making psychic Pokémon weak against dark and ghost-types, and by giving the bug-type some more damaging attacks.
Updated November 29th, 2020 by Hayley Mullen: Psychic moves are some of the most powerful and reliable moves in the Pokémon games. In Generation I, Psychic Pokémon had no suitable counter due to Ghost not being super-effective against Psychic. Ever since then, Psychic Pokémon have carried on the legacy of being tough and feared, mainly due to the amazing variety of moves they can use. We've added more to round out the list and acknowledge some fan favorites.
15 Agility
Sometimes, in the heat of battle, whoever has the faster Pokémon 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 Pokémon, 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 Pokémon 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 Pokémon. Luckily, Agility goes both way, so may the fastest Pokémon win.
14 Hypnosis
Hypnosis can be a battle winning ability – if it hits. This move puts an opposing Pokémon to sleep for 1 – 3 turns. While asleep, Pokémon 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.
Although it didn’t make this list, there is a psychic move called Dream Eater (TM #85) that only works on sleeping Pokémon. Dream Eater not only inflicts significant damage, but also heals the user by half the damage amount. Hypnosis has a PP count of 20.
13 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 Pokémon.
The other effect of Teleport is that it can transport the trainer back to the last Pokémon 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 or time – real time and game time.
12 Synchronoise
This move was introduced in generation V in the Unova games on the Nintendo DS. This generation included new battle modes allowing for battles with teams of up to three Pokémon. This new battle system allowed for some interesting new moves and strategies.
Synchronoise allows the user to hit all Pokémon in the opposing group that share a Pokémon type. This includes multi-type Pokémon; so a psychic-type Pokémon would hit a grass/psychic Pokémon in the opposing group. Synchronoise has a respectable power rating of 120, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 15.
11 Extrasensory
Extrasensory is a fantastic standard psychic attack to weaken an opposing Pokémon for 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 Pokémon flinch. When a Pokémon flinches it loses its move for the turn; so flinching can’t be inflicted on a Pokémon 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.
10 Telekinesis
This move lifts the opposing Pokémon 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 is a good example of how effective this combo can be.
The only draw-back 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. Hypnosis has a PP count of 15.
9 Psycho Boost
This is the most powerful psychic move that doesn’t require a condition be met, or the user to sacrifice a turn to be used. 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.
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”.
8 Glitzy Glow
Glitzy Glow is not the most damaging of attacks, but the 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. This move’s secondary effect is to reduce damage from special attacks by half. The ability to effectively double the user’s special defense s is normally move by itself, like the psychic move Light Screen. Glitzy Glow allows the user to combine this effect with a powerful attack. Only the Pokémon 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 an power rating of 160, an accuracy rating of 100, and a PP count of 10. The power-to-accuracy ratio is almost unseen in Pokémon 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 set-back, but at least it happens after the move is used and not before.
6 Calm Mind
If you allow your opponent to get off a stat boost like Calm Mind and they survive until the next turn, danger is certainly incoming. Pokémon who get off several stat raises using Calm Mind can be an unstoppable powerhouse that will decimate an entire team unless trainers have a massively strong defensive Pokémon 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 Pokémon such as Chansey and Miltank are so memed and feared by players: not being able to make a dent in the HP of a Pokémon that is steamrolling through your team is a terrifying feeling nobody wants to experience.
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 Pokémon takes from special attacks and physical attacks (respectively) by half. This allows the Pokémon 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 V and has become a staple for some Pokémon teams in the competitive play scene. This isn't just because of its attacking power, which is a solid 80, but 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 Pokémon'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 your opponent, which is what makes Psychic powers so cool in the first place. Upon using Future Sight, the Pokémon 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 Pokémon 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 Pokémon who use Protect and Pokémon with Wonder Guard, which makes it a great Trojan Horse for difficult situations. It also has a base power of 120 ever since Generation VI, 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 Pokémon in need of powerful attack.
This move also has a small (10%) chance of lowering the opposing Pokémon’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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