Alongside Steel, Poison is a traditionally defensive type. In fact, Poison-type Pokémon only have two weaknesses overall and can’t be poisoned except by enemies with a particular ability. They even remove the Toxic Spikes debuff when they enter a battle. Poison types also have perfect accuracy with the move Toxic, a cornerstone in various competitive strategies. It’s safe to say that Poison-types have a strength to them.
While many might look dangerous or unapproachable, Poison-type Pokémon can be powerful and fun allies to use on the battlefield. Besides having a natural inclination toward inflicting the poison status condition, Poison-type Pokémon also have an incredible amount of dual-type diversity: Poison pairs with just about every other type in the franchise, and it’s worth exploring every combination to see what works best for your competitive team.
Poison Pokémon have plenty of fortitude, but taking them out is not impossible.
All Poison-type Pokémon weaknesses explained
Poison-type Pokémon are weak to both Ground and Psychic types, suffering double damage to moves of each type. However, Poison-types also boast resistance to Fighting, Poison, Bug, Grass, and Fairy types.
| Poison – Type Weaknesses | Poison – Type Resistances |
| Ground – x2 Damage | Fighting – .5 Damage |
| Psychic – x2 Damage | Poison – .5 Damage |
| Bug – .5 Damage | |
| Grass – .5 damage | |
| Fairy – .5 Damage |
Poison weakness: Ground
Like Electric-type Pokémon, Poison-types have a weakness to Ground moves. The counter isn’t quite as strong as the Electric-Ground matchup, in which Ground-types are entirely immune to Electric-type moves, but it’s still a type Poison-types should be wary of. Powerful moves like Earthquake, High Horsepower, and several others can quickly destroy a Poison-type. Many non-Ground-type Pokémon can also learn Ground-type moves, with Earthquake being a common move teachable by TM.
Ground Moves to counter Poison-type Pokémon
- Earthquake
- Earth Power
- High Horsepower
How to handle Ground-type Pokemon with Poison-types
The best way to negate Ground-type moves is to use a Poison-type with the ability to Levitate or a dual Flying-type. While both remove the Ground weakness, they also potentially add new weaknesses in Ice and Rock-type moves. This applies to almost all dual-type Pokémon: though they may gain new type advantages by adding a second type, they also often gain more weaknesses.
Poison weakness: Psychic
Unfortunately, Psychic is a powerful type to have a weakness to since there’s a massive amount of Psychic-type Pokémon out there, and many adjacent types like Ghost and Fairy can learn Psychic-type moves. While Poison-types are generally strong against Fairy-types, they should watch out for powerful moves like Psychic, Extrasensory, and Psyshock from Fairies. Psychic types are another obvious source of trouble since they have more access to these moves than most other types.
Psychic Moves to counter Poison-type Pokémon
- Psychic
- Psybeam
- Zen Headbutt
How to handle Psychic-type Pokémon with Poison-types
Poison types can use their incredible propensity for the poison status condition to outlast or out-damage Psychic-types. Combined with their frequently high defense, tank-inclined Poison types can await a psychic assault.
Others can use some of Poison’s most powerful moves, including Sludge Bomb and Poison Jab, to beat a frail, glass cannon Psychic-type before they get a chance to land an attack.
Starting with Scarlet and Violet, you can rely on your Poison-type Pokémon’s Tera Type to avoid both weaknesses. However, that still risks adding additional weaknesses in return, depending on which Tera Type you choose.
Poison types used to be helpful only for their defensive characteristics and a high chance of inflicting the poison status condition, but those days have changed. Now Poison is super effective on the powerful Fairy-type, its status has been elevated to critical importance. Chances are much better that you’ll come across Poison-types in competitive play, but with these strategies, you won’t need to worry.
Don’t expect Toxic to be thrown around as commonly in competitive play in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
