Type Match-Ups

Learn how to effectively battle in Pokémon Sun and Moon by understanding type match-ups, including double-type Pokémon and other factors like Abilities and held items.

After defeating a particular Pokemon species, the game will helpfully inform you how your moves fare against the same Pokemon species. “Effective” means it works, “Not very effective” means it deals half or less damage, while “Super effective” means it deals twice or more damage.

When facing a new and unidentified species, you won’t have this luxury though. In addition, it’s honestly a lot more satisfying if you learn the Type Match-Ups yourself. Which is where Our Handy Type Match-Up Table (TM) comes in!

The numbers shown are the damage multipliers. So 2x means twice the damage.

Double-Type Pokemon

When battling against a Pokemon that has two Types, things get a bit more complicated, but not by much if you keep your logic straight. All that happens is that the damage multipliers for both Types are multiplied together.

For example, say, you’re facing off against Pelipper, which is a Water and Flying type Pokemon. Grass moves normally do 2 times damage to Water-types, but Pelipper is also a Flying type and Grass moves do 0.5 times damage against those. 2 times 0.5 is 1, which means Grass moves do standard damage.

Likewise with Ice moves. They’re good against Flying, but sub-par against Water. Rock moves still do 2 times damage though, since they’re good against Flying and neutral against Water. The kicker is that Electric moves do 4 times damage since they’re double damage against both Types!

Other Factors

For the majority of situations, you need only consult the Type Match-Up chart to plan your way to success. However, be warned that it’s not completely full-proof. You also need to pay attention to other things such as the Pokemon’s Abilities or held items.

The biggest thing to watch out for, especially if you love using Ground-type moves is the Levitate Ability, which confers full immunity to Ground-type moves. If a Pokemon doesn’t have wings, but seems to be floating, it may have Levitate, so watch out.

On the flip side, Normal and Fighting moves are normally useless against the sinister Ghost-type. But if a Pokemon has the Scrappy Ability, their Normal and Fighting types will successfully connect. The moves Foresight and Odour Sleuth have a similar effect as well.