The Best Psychic-Type Pokemon In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

BDSP has so very many Psychic Pokemon. Rush past the rest and train with the best.

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In the halcyon days of Pokemon Red & Blue, Alakazam alone could allow players to coast across Kanto. The spoon-wielding, Psybeam-flinging superstar was so absurdly overpowered that Game Freak went and created an entire type (Dark) for Johto tailor-made to curb its enthusiasm.

Those days are long past us, but Psychic has never been completely crushed by the delicate act of balancing. Taking a Psychic-type along for the adventure in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl is an excellent idea, unlike some types, there are plenty to choose from.

Here are several suggestions, each designed to suit a certain playstyle. One candidate is only available after the credits roll, but their power is such that they’re fashionably late and perfect for some hard-knocks post-championship challenges.

5 Bronzong (Sinnoh Dex)

Bronzong might not be the most popular Psychic-type Pokemon — or Steel-type, for that matter — but players in search of a bulky new friend should give love a chance. Its two major abilities are terrific; Heatproof halves Fire damage (essentially negating the weakness altogether) and Heavy Metal doubles Bronzong’s weight, making moves like Body Press next-level painful.

Rest will keep Bronzong going longer than some would suspect possible even with its high Defense and Special Defense stats. Iron Defense lets it spend a turn upping its physical protection by two further stages.

For Psychic STAB (“Same Type Attack Bonus”), the titular Psychic attack works just fine but Zen Headbutt’s 20 percent chance to make the target flinch, wasting an opponent’s turn entirely, is arguably worth the slight tradeoff in raw power.

4 Medicham (Sinnoh Dex)

Some Pokemon tout such sterling stats that their handiness is instantly apparent. Medicham is not one of them. A quick glance at sites like Bulbapedia and Smogon could turn players off from the yoga-practicing Pokemon entirely — each of the six core statistics is shaded either orange or red, neither of which are desirable colors in this regard.

Look a little further and the appeal slowly but surely emerges. For starters, Pure Power is a ridiculously good ability that doubles the Pokemon’s Attack without a single drawback. It’s like casting Swagger on one’s foe, except oops, Medicham isn’t inflicted with the Confusion debuff. It pushes Medicham’s Attack to 120, immediately painting reds into greens.

Alone, this wouldn’t be revolutionary. But the STAB potential in Zen Headbutt and the riskier High Jump Kick cannot be overstated. Yes, HIgh Jump Kick can miss one in ten times, damaging Medicham for half its HP. That hurts. But those other nine times, it’s a 150 base power technique that shoots up another 50 percent to 225. Simply put, that’s not going to leave a mark. That’s going to leave a corpse.

3 Jirachi & Mew (National Dex)

Whoa now, what’s the deal? Lumping together two Psychic-type Pokemon that ostensibly have nothing in common save for their rareness may seem highly questionable. And perhaps it is. But Jirachi and Mew are obtainable through almost-identical methods, share the absurdity of being overpowered cuties that some nice older person hands away willy-nilly, and even fulfill somewhat similar roles on a team.

These two are available for prompt and peculiar pickup as early as Floarama Town. There’s just one catch — Mew requires save data from Let’s Go Pikachu or Let’s Go Eevee, and Jirachi’s got the same gig for Sword or Shield. In other words, an argument can be made that each of these premium Pokemon costs $60. But considering how many Pokemon fans purchase each mainline game and prominent in-between installment, it could be far worse.

Mew has base stats of 100 in every category. Jirachi does, too. Right off the bat, that’s a bit wild. Neither of these charming critters has a single weak spot. They’re blank slates in this regard, and Mew takes that analogy all the way up to 11 by having access to every TM in the game. Give it a Psychic-type attack, of course, but the sky’s the limit otherwise.

Jirachi might be even better. Its move pool is more limited but still slightly on the excessive side. Jirachi also has nine type resistances and one full-blown immunity. You can lug both pals along from just one badge onward. Suddenly, Pokemon BDSP’s ten-year-old protagonist is packing pocket aces.

2 Alakazam (Sinnoh Dex)

Maybe Alakazam’s no longer the nuke it was in Red & Blue, but its star has never completely faded. Its Speed is 120 and its Special Attack’s a frightening 135. Bear in mind, apart from a solid Special Defense, the rest of its stats aren’t middling — they’re terrible.

Trainers don’t want to send out Alakazam against, say, Machamp. Or Blaziken. Or Rayquaza. (Though in fairness, that last part applies to just about everybody.) But if Alakazam can fire off a shot or two with Psychic, especially if it’s boosted by Nasty Plot, anything with low enough Special Defense is gone. Finished. Finito.

Fix it with a Focus Sash and you can prevent Alakazam from dropping in a single blow. For someone so frail, that’s a very good countermeasure, indeed. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast provide this spoony psionic with Ghost- and Fighting-type coverage that can eat multiple further types for breakfast. With those spoons, presumably. It’s like those foes get pulverized into porridge or something. We’ll stop now.

1 Latios (National Dex)

With full respect to Latias, the feminine-leaning member of the “Eon Pokemon” pair, Latios nudges her out of the ring. It’s a gentle nudge, not an arrogant shove, but it’s enough to give Brilliant Diamond’s post-game a slight edge over Shining Pearl’s in this particular regard.

Latios, like Latias, is of the Dragon/Psychic-type combination. This makes it susceptible to Ice, Bug, Fairy, Ghost, Dragon, and Dark. Ouch. The silver lining is that it’s “only” the normal degree of weak to each, meaning Latios is no Gyarados struck by Thunder or what-have-you. Defensively, Latios takes half-damage from just as many types: Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Fighting, and Psychic.

It’s noteworthy that those six types are all among the most commonplace in every generation of Pokemon. The first three are at least partly, and sometimes entirely, what you’ll face from fully-evolved starters. Electric-type attacks are all over the competitive scene, as are Fighting and Psychic. Oh, and Latios has the Levitate ability. All of a sudden, it’s impervious to Ground attacks such as Earthquake, otherwise known as an attack every serious online player carries. All this is to say, the strengths and weaknesses even out in Latios’ favor.

Latios is also packing very high Special Defense and Speed with an absolutely top-tier Special Attack stat to boot. It’s a special sweeper with the swiftness to outclass so many of its rivals. Psychic and Draco Meteor are practically mandatory here. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam give Latios cool coverage.

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