Types and STAB
How the 18 types work, what the chart multipliers mean, and why a Pokémon hits harder with moves of its own type.
Every Pokémon has one or two types, and every move has exactly one. The types decide who beats whom, so a small matchup choice can win or lose a whole battle. Learn the chart once and you can guess most matchups on sight.
The 18 types
The original games in 1996 had 15 types. Dark and Steel arrived with Gold and Silver (Generation II), and Fairy joined in Pokémon X and Y (Generation VI), making 18.
There is also a special Stellar type, added with The Indigo Disk expansion for Scarlet and Violet. No Pokémon or move is Stellar by nature. It only appears when a Pokémon Terastallizes into it, and it is treated as a very particular case (see the Terastallization guide).
Reading the chart
When a move hits, its type is compared with the type of the Pokémon taking it. There are four results for a single type:
- Super effective: 2x damage. - Not very effective: 0.5x damage. - No effect: 0x, so no damage at all. - Normal damage: 1x.
For dual-type Pokémon the two multipliers are multiplied together. That makes 4x ("doubly super effective"), 2x, 1x, 0.5x or 0.25x results, or an immunity if either type is immune. Ice is super effective against both Dragon and Flying, so an Ice move hits Dragonite for 4x. A Fire move against Fire/Rock Coalossal is 0.5x times 0.5x, or 0.25x.
The eight immunities
Eight matchups deal no damage at all. In the current chart they are:
- Normal and Fighting moves do nothing to Ghost. - Ghost moves do nothing to Normal. - Electric moves do nothing to Ground. - Ground moves do nothing to Flying. - Poison moves do nothing to Steel. - Psychic moves do nothing to Dark. - Dragon moves do nothing to Fairy.
Some Abilities and moves bend these. Levitate gives immunity to Ground moves, for example, and the Ability Scrappy lets Normal and Fighting moves hit Ghost types.
Best and worst defensive types
Looking at the chart, Steel is the toughest type on defence: it resists 10 different types and is immune to Poison. Rock and Grass are the opposite, since each is weak to five attacking types. On offence, Fighting and Ground each hit five types super effectively, while Dragon hits only Dragon, and Normal hits nothing super effectively.
STAB: same-type attack bonus
If a Pokémon uses a damaging move that matches one of its own types, the damage is multiplied by 1.5. Pikachu using Thunderbolt gets the bonus; Pikachu using Quick Attack does not. This is called STAB, for same-type attack bonus.
The Ability Adaptability raises the bonus from 1.5x to 2x. When a Pokémon Terastallizes, it keeps STAB on its old types and gains STAB on its Tera Type, and if the Tera Type matches one of its original types, that type's bonus becomes 2x.
What counts is the type of the move as it is used, not the type printed on its entry. If a Fire-type Pokémon uses Weather Ball in harsh sunlight, the move becomes Fire and gets STAB.
Odd cases to remember
A few moves break the usual rules. Freeze-Dry is Ice, but it is super effective against Water. Flying Press is a Fighting move that also takes Flying into account when checking effectiveness, and only Fighting-type users get STAB for it. Status moves can be blocked by an immunity too: Thunder Wave does not paralyse a Ground type.