There are eighteen different types in the Pokemon series, all with weakness to different types and resistance to another. It's similar to a very convoluted game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, but unfortunately there are more Pokemon types than this three-option game, and there are some options like Psychic-types that are strong against far more options than any other Pokemon type.

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There are just under one hundred psychic Pokemon when you factor in Mega Evolutions, and building powerful teams with Psychic Pokemon usually means you’ll have to look for the very best. We’re here to share fifteen of the strongest Psychic Pokemon in the entire series, many of which are still competitive staples or banned from official tournaments to this very day.

Updated June 22st, 2021 by Gene Cole: The best Psychic Pokemon continue to be some of the strongest in the entire series, with new legendaries and competitive staples providing more strength and variety to any Psychic trainer's team. Whole new regions have been explored since this article was first written, so we felt it would be worth adding some of the newest and strongest Psychic Pokemon to go with these other classics.

15 Mewtwo

pokemon mewtwo

Mewtwo is easily the Pokemon that deserves to be on this list most, but what might surprise you is just how high it is compared to other Psychic-type legendaries. It’s hardly a sign of this Pokemon being weak, as it excels as a famed Psychic-type fighter both in and out of its Mega Evolutions.

Mewtwo’s only lacking feature is in its creativity, which is somewhat lower than many legendaries thanks to it having such fame as a pure Psychic-type fighter. It certainly has access to a wide range of moves, but it does very little that other Psychic-type sweepers like Alakazam can’t do in similar regards, making Mewtwo one of the least exciting options compared to these other overpowered Psychic Pokemon.

14 Latios

Latios Flying, Pokemon Heroes Movie Anime

Long-time players of competitive Pokemon are sure to know that Latios is still one of the best Psychic-type Pokemon for online battles, having solid stats in nearly every category from offense to defense. Its Dragon and Psychic-type combo is also quite rare, giving it access to tons of Super Effective attacks that can wipe the floor of any non-legendary Pokemon.

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It’s fallen out of favor now thanks to some heavily-pushed non-legendary Dragons like Dragapult and classics like Dragonite, but Latios still has enough Speed and Special Attack to be worth using in nearly any team that needs a special sweeper. It does everything a Psychic-type wants to do, all while having the moves and resistances of a powerful Dragon-type.

13 Calyrex

Shadow Rider Calyrex on a Spectrier in Pokemon Sword & Shield

Much like Mewtwo, the Crown Tundra's new Calyrex is not the fanciest legendary Pokemon, or the most spectacular Psychic-type Pokemon, but it’s worth mentioning for having some of the most objectively powerful stats of any Pokemon in the game. This Pokemon has relatively mediocre stats at first, but when riding its steed of Glastrier or Spectrier, it quickly hits the top of many lists of legendary Pokemon stat totals.

Calyrex ends up feeling more like a mistake than a proper Pokemon built for competitive play, and in the few instances where it’s allowed, its strength while using Dynamax to boost its moves can take down nearly any foe in a single hit. Even if it somehow can’t, its defenses in either of these Rider Forms is significant enough to take super effective hits like a champion.

12 Cresselia

Cresselia looking at the moon at night in Pokemon Go

Cresselia is one of the most famous tanks among Psychic-type legendaries, having a powerful standard ability in the form of Levitate to protect it from all-too-common Ground-type moves. This is only one piece of its bulk, though, as its Defense and Special Defense stats are enough to rival both pseudo-legendaries and more commonly banned legendaries.

Its damage might seem lackluster, but by raising its stats through moves like Calm Mind and restoring health through Moonlight, it can be extremely hard to deal with unless you have a remarkable amount of stable damage or critical hits. Alternately, it can even learn Double Team for some evasiveness tricks that make it impossible to hit in the first place.

11 Mew

Mew floating near a missed Fire Blast from the Pokemon anime

Mew is a legendary psychic Pokemon that was only ever obtainable from events held by Nintendo. Despite being introduced in Generation 1, Mew is one of the hardest Pokemon to obtain without an internet connection or attending certain local events, but in most battles it shows up in, Mew cleanly earns its place as one of the best Psychic Pokemon in the series.

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Mew’s stats are broadly powerful, but its unique and overpowered trait is that it can learn any TM or HM move in the series history. This means it can be set up in any way you want to play Mew, be it defensive or offensive, and thanks to its neutral stats it can be an all-star player in nearly any team you put it in.

10 Gardevoir

Gardevoir posing for battle in the Pokemon Anime

Gardevoir started as a pure Psychic-type Pokemon in Generation 3, but it would later have a dual-typing of Psychic and Fairy in Generation 6. Gardevoir quickly became a fan-favorite Pokemon, largely in part due to its gorgeous appearance, but she also has very high Special Attack that makes her a tough foe to fight against.

In many competitive formats, Gardevoir and her Mega Evolution were quick to become used quite frequently, as it simply had a wider range of moves and greater ceiling of stats than nearly any Psychic-type in the series. It definitely had its weaknesses from low physical defenses to a wide set of weaknesses, but these have hardly held it back from being a dominant force among other strong Psychic-types throughout the series.

9 Gallade

Gallade fighting in a castle from the Pokemon anime

Somewhat tied with Gardevoir is its Sinnoh sibling, Gallade, who swaps the Special Attack stat for a physical Attack that puts it above and beyond most Psychic-type Pokemon. These types tend to be associated with magical moves that can be used from a distance, but Gallade breaks that trend by having an aggressive style and movepool that your opponents aren’t usually prepared for.

Gallade also is extremely gifted through its overpowered Egg Moves and TMs, getting great utility attacks like Trick and Shadow Sneak alongside unexpected attacks like Leaf Blade. It’s quite niche thanks to some poor defensive stats, but it still gets the job done and has a unique presence among nearly every one of these other great Psychic-types.

8 Metagross

Metagross in a stadium

Metagross is a dual Psychic and Steel-type Pokemon that entered into the Pokemon world in Generation 3, and it’s been famous in competitive battles ever since thanks to some remarkable move resistances. Ten different types of moves will be resistant or immune to Metagross, and even though its four weaknesses are quite significant, its defensive stats make it almost invincible.

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It only becomes stronger when given an added form of Mega Evolution or Dynamax, making it one of the best slow fighters of the entire Pokemon series. If you're unfortunate enough to encounter one in battle, you better hope your Pokemon is able to either outlast or out-damage the incredibly OP Metagross.

7 Tapu Lele

Tapu Lele In Night Sky, Pokemon Sun And Moon Anime

Tapu Lele was introduced in Generation 7 of Pokemon and is a Psychic type with Fairy typing as its secondary type. It is one of the four deity Pokemon from Sun and Moon, but undoubtedly had some of the best offensive options thanks to the overlap of Psychic and Fairy-type threats.

Tapu Lele's ability was also quite unique in the generation it debuted in, as its automatic Psychic Terrain effect will boost the power of Psychic type moves and makes it immune to priority moves like Quick Attack and Fake Out. This meant it could run over opponents with no trouble whatsoever, as it could often be the fastest Pokemon in the room without breaking a sweat.

6 Indeedee

Both genders of Indeedee from Pokemon Sword & Shield

Tapu Lele has fallen quite far out of favor in the eighth generation of Pokemon thanks to Indeedee, a non-legendary Pokemon that can gain the same ability to create Psychic Terrain upon entry. Indeedee doesn’t have as strong a stat total as Tapu Lele, but it makes up for it by having several utility moves like Follow Me and Trick Room to help support teams, rather than just dealing raw damage.

Indeedee can definitely still pack a punch, though, as moves like Expanding Force and Mystical Fire let it hit super effective strikes on all manner of opponents. To top it off, having a Normal-type body also lets it be immune to ever-popular Ghost-types, giving Indeedee a huge edge over many Psychic-types that suffer from this particular weakness.

5 Hoopa Unbound

Unbound Hoopa preparing open a wormhole in the Pokemon anime

Hoopa is one of the small handful of Pokemon that have a different form leading to its overpowered state, and that form is what's on the list. In Hoopa’s Unbound Form, the Ghost-type turns into Dark-type and it grows massively in its size and stats, turning it into one of the strongest Psychic-type Pokemon of all time.

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This leads to an unfortunate weakness to Fairy and Bug-type moves, but it has no other downsides. Hoopa Unbound comes with a very powerful moveset, and a uniquely powerful Attack stat that few Psychic-types tend to receive, putting it in the list of highest stat totals for nearly any Psychic-type in the game.

4 Alakazam

Pokemon Generations Alakazam Using Psychic Type Attack

Alakazam is a pure psychic type Pokemon that was introduced in Generation 1 that was infamous for its lack of weaknesses and absurdly high Speed and Special stats. It ended up being one of the most difficult opponents in the game because of these traits, and it’s likely that its common use in competitive play was what led to the introduction of Dark and Steel-type Pokemon, being a nerf to Psychic-types like Alakazam.

What’s amazing, though, is that Alakazam is still one of the strongest Psychic Pokemon you can get if you want a fast sweeper. Nearly any Pokemon will have trouble outrunning it, and with great elemental moves like Thunderbolt and Energy Ball, it works great as a Pokemon that can reliably hit Super Effective strikes.

3 Starmie

Pokemon Anime Starmie

Starmie is maybe better-described as being tied with Alakazam, as it has extremely similar strengths in the form of high Speed and Special stats. What puts it apart, though, is that having a Water-type trait gives it access to Water and Ice-type moves that give it slightly more range than the more objectively powerful Alakazam.

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Starmie has also managed to be a little more popular thanks to this range, as it fills the role of Water-type sweeper in many teams alongside its Psychic-type abilities. It’s even gained new tools recently with moves like Meteor Beam that raises Special Attack before dealing Rock-type damage, something that would put any of the best Psychic-type Pokemon into a much higher stat total than almost any other.

2 Deoxys

Deoxys In Space, Pokemon Anime

Deoxys comes with four different forms it can be in, but unlike other multi-form Pokemon, nearly every one of these is considered overpowered by most Pokemon fans. Nearly all forms of Deoxys are in the top tier of battles that allow it, with the most commonly used being Attack and Speed Deoxys forms.

The stats in these forms especially are amazing, but even its neutral form and pure Psychic-type body can be hard for many foes to deal with. Its moveset isn’t too unusual from other Psychic-type Pokemon, but much like Hoopa Unbound, its stats make it a threat no matter what attacks you teach it.

1 Lugia

lugia pokemon anime

It’s impossible to talk about Psychic-type Pokemon without mentioning Lugia, one of the most famous Pokemon of the series that’s known just as much for being a strong Psychic-type Pokemon as it is for its movie appearances. Its fame and love only grew with its Shadow Form in Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, and ever since it’s been regarded as one of the most beautiful and powerful Psychic-type Pokemon in the series.

Unlike many of the other speedy fighters that make up Psychic-type Legendaries, Lugia is much more defensive than others. This makes it greatly resistant to super effective attacks, but hardly lacks in offense thanks to remarkably strong moves like Aeroblast to make up for its poorer damage stats. It’ll be exhausting trying to take it down, and with its beautiful design on top of these stats, it’s impossible to consider Lugia anything but the best Psychic-type Pokemon of all time.

Next: Pokemon: The Most Powerful Psychic Abilities, Ranked