Eight type matchups do no damage at all: Normal and Fighting moves on Ghost, Electric on Ground, Poison on Steel, Ground on Flying, Psychic on Dark, Ghost on Normal and Dragon on Fairy. On top of those, a long list of Abilities and one held item can grant more.
The type chart is covered in the type chart for kids. This page adds the immunities that come from Abilities, items and status rules, and how to get around each one. The counts below come from the pokee.si Pokédex data.
The eight type immunities
The "Pokémon with that type" column counts how many Pokémon are protected by each immunity.
| Attacking type | Has no effect on | Pokémon with that type |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | Ghost | 65 |
| Electric | Ground | 75 |
| Fighting | Ghost | 65 |
| Poison | Steel | 65 |
| Ground | Flying | 109 |
| Psychic | Dark | 69 |
| Ghost | Normal | 131 |
| Dragon | Fairy | 64 |
Ghost and Normal are the only two types immune to each other both ways. Immunities also carry over to dual types. A Pokémon with two types multiplies the two results, so one immunity makes the whole hit 0×. Our dual-type weaknesses guide shows the maths.
Of the 1,025 Pokémon, 531 have no type immunity, 360 have one, 119 have two and 15 have three. The 15 with three come from five typings:
- Ghost/Dark (Sableye, Spiritomb): immune to Normal, Fighting and Psychic
- Flying/Ghost (Drifloon, Drifblim): immune to Normal, Fighting and Ground
- Ground/Ghost (Golett, Golurk, Sandygast, Palossand, Runerigus): immune to Normal, Electric and Fighting
- Ghost/Steel (Honedge, Doublade, Aegislash, Gholdengo): immune to Normal, Fighting and Poison
- Ghost/Fairy (Mimikyu, Flutter Mane): immune to Normal, Fighting and Dragon
How to get around a type immunity
Most immunities have a counter.
| Immunity | Ways around it |
|---|---|
| Normal and Fighting on Ghost | Scrappy or Mind's Eye on the attacker; Foresight or Odor Sleuth on the target |
| Ground on Flying | Gravity, Smack Down or Thousand Arrows |
| Psychic on Dark | Miracle Eye on the target |
| Any type immunity | A Ring Target held by the defender |
Scrappy and Mind's Eye let Normal and Fighting moves hit Ghost types. Scrappy has an extra perk from Generation 8: the Pokémon is unaffected by Intimidate. Kangaskhan and Miltank both have Scrappy, and so does Bloodmoon Ursaluna with Mind's Eye. In all, 15 species or forms have Scrappy.
Ring Target is a held item that removes the holder's type immunities. It leaves other kinds of immunity alone, such as Grass types ignoring powder and spore moves. Thousand Arrows is the other odd one: a Ground move that hits Flying types and Levitate users and pulls them down to the ground.
Immunities from Abilities
Abilities grant their own immunities, and many come with a bonus. All counts are species or forms with that Ability.
| Ability | Immune to | Bonus | Species or forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Levitate | Ground moves | floats | 35 |
| Earth Eater | Ground moves | heals ¼ HP | 1 |
| Flash Fire | Fire moves | its own Fire moves get 50% stronger | 25 |
| Well-Baked Body | Fire moves | Defense +2 stages | 1 |
| Water Absorb | Water moves | heals ¼ HP | 27 |
| Storm Drain | Water moves | Sp. Atk +1 stage | 8 |
| Dry Skin | Water moves | heals ¼ HP | 7 |
| Volt Absorb | Electric moves | heals ¼ HP | 13 |
| Lightning Rod | Electric moves | Sp. Atk +1 stage | 18 |
| Motor Drive | Electric moves | Speed +1 stage | 4 |
| Sap Sipper | Grass moves | Attack +1 stage | 19 |
| Wind Rider | wind moves | Attack +1 stage | 3 |
| Soundproof | sound moves | – | 15 |
| Bulletproof | ball and bomb moves | – | 10 |
| Overcoat | powder and spore moves (and sand and hail damage) | – | 23 |
| Good as Gold | other Pokémon's status moves | – | 1 |
| Wonder Guard | every damaging move that is not super effective | – | 1 |
Among the Abilities that block a type, Levitate is the only one that gives no heal or boost when it stops a move. Storm Drain and Lightning Rod also give full immunity to Water and Electric moves from Generation 5. Earth Eater belongs to Orthworm, and Gholdengo is the only Pokémon with Good as Gold.
Wonder Guard belongs to Shedinja alone. Only super effective hits hurt it, and everything else does nothing. For a side-by-side look, see Ninjask vs Shedinja.
When Levitate stops working
A Pokémon with Levitate is "ungrounded", so it also avoids Spikes, Toxic Spikes and terrain effects. It loses that status under Gravity, while holding an Iron Ball, while under Ingrain, or after being hit by Smack Down or Thousand Arrows.
Gengar is a good example to watch. In our data its Ability is Cursed Body. Bulbapedia says Gengar had Levitate before Generation 7, so if an older guide tells you it floats over Earthquake, that guide is out of date.
Ignoring Abilities
Mold Breaker, Teravolt and Turboblaze make a Pokémon's moves ignore Abilities like Levitate. A Mold Breaker user can hit a Levitate target with Earthquake. 24 species or forms have Mold Breaker, including Pinsir and Excadrill, and Teravolt and Turboblaze belong to Zekrom and Reshiram and two Kyurem forms.
The Air Balloon
The Air Balloon is a held item that makes the holder immune to Ground moves. It pops the first time a damaging move hits the holder. It doesn't work under Gravity, Ingrain, Smack Down or Thousand Arrows.
Immunity to status
Types also protect against status conditions and some moves:
- Electric types can't be paralyzed (from Generation 6).
- Fire types can't be burned.
- Ice types can't be frozen.
- Poison and Steel types can't be poisoned, unless the attacker has Corrosion.
- Ground types are immune to Thunder Wave.
- Grass types are immune to Leech Seed, and to powder and spore moves like Spore and Sleep Powder from Generation 6.
- Dark types are immune to status moves boosted by Prankster, from Generation 7.
- Ghost types are immune to effects that stop a Pokémon switching out or fleeing, like Mean Look and Shadow Tag, from Generation 6.
There's more in the status conditions guide.
A note on Pokémon GO
Pokémon GO has no zero-damage rule. It treats an immunity as a double resistance, so those matchups still do some damage there.
Where to go next
- Try the Type Clash game to practise matchups.
- Take the Types 101 lesson first, then the Abilities basics lesson (a Plus lesson).
- Compare a Ghost/Poison Pokémon with a Psychic one in Alakazam vs Gengar, or browse every Ability.