Mindgames: The Psychic-Types Of OU

Introduction

You have to feel bad for the Psychic-type. What was once known as the best type in the game has really fallen from former glory, though it's rather easy to see why. In the good ol' days of RBY, Psychic was renowned as the hands-down best type in the entire game, due to the fact that the only type that resisted it was itself and its weakness was never exploited, as the only Bug-type moves were generally too weak for a place in competitive battling in that era. Bluntly speaking, Psychic was simply the perfect type, and it seemed like that was how things would always be. But for better or for worse, GSC came along and Dark- and Steel-types were introduced, carrying an immunity and resistance to Psychic-type moves, respectively. Of course, this marked the end of the Psychic-type's reign of supremacy, and things have more or less remained that way for years now. But this doesn't mean that Psychic-types overall have become obsolete; not in the slightest. In fact, some of the most threatening Pokémon in the game are Psychic-types, a great example being Mewtwo, which has Ubers wrapped around its little finger. But let's stop talking Ubers and talk more OU. Most Psychic-types in OU have some difficulty performing their roles with the Ghost- and Dark-types such as Gengar, Bisharp, Tyranitar, and Greninja roaming around in the tier, however, there are some Psychic-types that can stand tall in battle, despite the threats around them. The reason why most Psychic-types in OU are still relevant is because of a number of things, such as having above average stats, an excellent ability, a beneficial secondary typing, and a wide movepool. So without further delay, let me introduce you to the Psychic-types of OU!

Alakazam

Typing: Psychic
Stats: 55 / 50 / 45 / 135 / 95 / 120

Typing: Psychic
Stats: 55 / 50 / 65 / 175 / 95 / 150

Enter Alakazam, the original Psychic-type. Alakazam has had an interesting life, starting out as one of the best Pokémon in the game all the way back in the olden days of RBY, and while the next three generations were bumpy after that, it's been smooth sailing from then on. Back in RBY, Alakazam was one of the defining forces of OU, being one of the bulkiest hard hitters in the game due to its massive base 135 Special stat. For those who don't know, Special was both Special Attack and Special Defense back in RBY, so with a high Special stat, things could both hit hard and take special attacks well. Alakazam's access to such a massive Special stat, Recover for taking advantage of its great special bulk, Thunder Wave for crippling every non-Ground-type slower than it, an almost unrivaled base 120 Speed stat, and with Psychic-type moves only being resisted by opposing Psychic-types, it was plain as day that it was one of the defining forces of OU at the time. But Game Freak feared that the Psychic-type was too powerful for its own good, so they created two new types to counteract it in GSC, which were the Steel- and Dark-types. With Pokémon such as Skarmory, Forretress, Steelix, Tyranitar, and Umbreon constantly getting in Alakazam's face, as well as the bulky nature of the metagame, it was hard for Alakazam to get any work done, and was thus an underwhelming force. Sure, Alakazam received the elemental punches, which were special attacks at the time, so it could threaten Steel-types, and sure, it still had one of the best Speed stats in the game, but its playstyle just didn't fit with the bulky environment and stall tactics that GSC was mostly about. Alakazam was a bulky Pokémon back in the day, but as of GSC, the Special split took effect, thus greatly diminishing its bulky presence, so Alakazam couldn't join the ResTalk club and was relegated to being a full-on sweeper. Things were relatively the same for ADV, with the metagame becoming less stall oriented, but it still didn't take too kindly to Alakazam. With Calm Mind introduced, one would think that Alakazam had found its calling, but with the likes of Celebi, Suicune, Raikou, and Jirachi abusing Calm Mind better, Alakazam was simply outclassed as a setup sweeper. Alakazam did find a calling as a decent revenge killer, thanks to its massive Special Attack, Speed, and good movepool that included the elemental punches. DPP came around, and while Alakazam gained a powerful new move in Focus Blast, it lost the elemental punches that it needed so dearly. The metagame once again kicked it off the OU radar due to both bulky and offensive foes alike, with major obstacles being Scizor, Jirachi, Dragonite, and Gyarados, and was even dropped to UU. But BW was quite generous to Alakazam by giving it a Dream World ability in Magic Guard, thus protecting it from damage caused by entry hazards, sandstorm, and status conditions, thus allowing it to preserve its Focus Sash, making it a powerful revenge killer. Furthermore, the metagame evolved into a much more offensively oriented metagame, which meant its revenge killing prowess was a highly valued trait. And just like that, Alakazam was back where it started as one of the more prevalent forces of OU.

Where does Alakazam stand now? Well, it's not so much that Alakazam holds a presence in OU nowadays as it is its Mega Evolution. Mega Alakazam is a pretty good Pokémon in OU right now, as after the ban of Aegislash and the rise of powerful wallbreakers such as Mega Heracross, Mega Medicham, and Mega Gardevoir, the metagame became less stall oriented and geared a bit more towards offense. Mega Alakazam is easily able to take advantage of this, thanks to its blistering base 150 Speed and monstrous base 175 Special Attack and can thus rip offensive teams apart if given the chance. What's better, Mega Alakazam is so fast, ir can afford to run a Modest nature and still cap out at 399 Speed, narrowly outrunning base 130s, and a Modest Mega Alakazam can actually deal slightly more damage than a Timid Life Orb Alakazam, thus making up for the lack of an offensive item. What's more, its access to Trace can really screw over opposing teams after copying a good ability, with notable examples being Prankster Thundurus, Sheer Force Landorus, Protean Greninja, Sand Rush Excadrill, and Swift Swim Kabutops and Kingdra. But Alakazam doesn't rely solely on its ability to stand out in battle, unlike Pokémon such as Mega Scizor, Azumarill, Greninja, and Talonflame. No, Mega Alakazam relies mainly on its excellent stats to get the job done, and whatever ability that Trace provides it is simply equipment stacked onto power. Alternately, regular Alakazam still has use as a revenge killer, thanks to Magic Guard + Focus Sash being an almost guaranteed one-time stop to a sweeper, though that set isn't as good as it used to be, as Talonflame is a much better revenge killer that isn't effected by most forms of priority.

Mega Alakazam isn't the perfect Pokémon though, as its flaws do show themselves at times. First, its Psychic typing burdens it with unwelcome weaknesses to Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type moves and leaves it with only two resistances, so it's unable to switch in as frequently as it'd like to. Second, Mega Alakazam has a slim offensive movepool, so it has to use the inaccurate Focus Blast to handle Dark- and Steel-types, and either Shadow Ball to threaten Latios, Latias, and Slowbro, or Hidden Power Fire to threaten Mega Scizor. Third, Mega Alakazam costs the team its Mega Evolution, meaning you can't use Mega Venusaur, Mega Heracross, etc...; there's a bit of a team building cost here. Finally, despite receiving a buff to its defenses, Mega Alakazam still isn't very good at taking hits, meaning if it fails to KO the target, it's going to take sizable amounts of damage, if not get KOed entirely.

The road to get to where it is now was a bumpy one, but Alakazam has found its place in OU, and it's likely going to stay that way for quite a while.

Gardevoir

Typing: Psychic / Fairy
Stats: 68 / 65 / 65 / 125 / 115 / 80

Typing: Psychic / Fairy
Stats: 68 / 85 / 65 / 165 / 135 / 100

Gardevoir is good nowadays more because of its popularity than anything, and the road that led to its current status was a rough one indeed. Gardevoir debuted in the days of ADV, and was a decent Pokémon at that. It had severe competition with Alakazam, as it had more power and Speed than Gardevoir. However, Gardevoir had some valuable traits over Alakazam, such as better overall bulk and more diversity with its set due to the numerous support moves at its disposal, including gems like Will-O-Wisp, Hypnosis, Destiny Bond, Mean Look, and Wish. Things stayed like this for a long time, but when DPP came around, there were drastic changes, most of which weren't in Gardevoir's favor. Offense was more commonplace, with new Pokémon like Infernape, Weavile, and Rotom giving Gardevoir a migraine, while old threats like Scizor, Tyranitar, and Kingdra were enjoying new mechanic changes. Speaking of mechanic changes, Gardevoir suffered greatly, not only because it lost the elemental punches through the physical/special split, but because its old foes such as Tyranitar, Gengar, and Gyarados finally got a STAB attack or two to come off of their better offensive stat, which added to offensive pressure on Gardevoir. It got Focus Blast to threaten Steel-types, but the move is both unreliable and has little PP, meaning defensive teams could tank or dodge enough hits to render Gardevoir useless. B/W was even worse, as there were major offensive threats everywhere you turned, which made Gardevoir's life in OU unsustainable, and as an extra spit to the face, Alakazam was actually doing very well in OU, acting as an efficient revenge killer and sweeper.

Things seemed like they were going to stay this way forever, but fans still liked Gardevoir, not for its battle worth, but as a Pokémon in general. Due to this popularity, Game Freak was generous enough to give Gardevoir a Mega Evolution, and thus, what is now one of the premier OU wallbreakers was born. Aegislash and Mega Mawile were obstacles that constantly got in its way, but after their banishment, it received the fame and glory that it deserves as a wallbreaker. Mega Gardevoir is a powerful wallbreaker with a massive base 165 Special Attack, as well as Pixilate to turn Hyper Voice into a 117 Base Power Fairy-type STAB attack, allowing it can deal massive amounts of damage to physical and even some special walls. Its movepool, while not exactly expansive, is just wide enough for it to get the job done, with Will-O-Wisp to cripple physical attackers and deal passive damage, Taunt for some stallbreaking, Focus Blast to hit Steel-types, and Psyshock to threaten special walls. It Speed is also fairly good, as base 100 is enough to outrun the commonly seen walls of OU, even when using a Modest nature. Its additional Fairy typing and high base 135 Special Defense lets it take special attacks fairly well, allowing it to punish special sweepers that choose not to switch out. Also, Gardevoir has Trace before Mega Evolving, which can potentially provide an advantageous matchup against Pokémon such as Flash Fire Heatran, Sand Rush Excadrill, and Intimidate Landorus-T. Speaking of regular Gardevoir, it has minimal use outside of its Mega Evolution as a surprise Choice Scarf sweeper. Everyone expects Mega Gardevoir, so they'll let their sweeper take a shot at it, and then you can surprise them by outspeeding their sweeper and potentially KOing or forcing them to switch out at least, though Scarf Gardevoir has almost no use after that.

But Mega Gardevoir has some problems that get in the way of its wallbreaking prowess. Much like Mega Alakazam, Mega Gardevoir only has so many moves to choose from, so it also shares the predictability issue that its predecessor has, with the inaccurate Focus Blast being mandatory for hitting Steel-types like Heatran, Excadrill, and Ferrothorn, and Taunt for stallbreaking and Will-O-Wisp for crippling physical attackers. While base 100 Speed is great for wallbreaking, it can leave quite a bit to be desired when against faster offensive teams, so she's often only checking offensive foes, and even if Gardevoir can live a hit from the special side, its ability to take physical attacks is simply pitiful and it leaves its vulnerable to the plethora of faster physical attackers in the tier, with some of the biggest threats being Mega Pinsir, Talonflame, Terrakion, Sand Rush Excadrill, and Swift Swim Kabutops, so long as Gardevoir doesn't Trace the abilities of the latter two before Mega Evolving. Mega Gardevoir is a Pokémon that doesn't have many flaws, but the flaws that it does have are pretty glaring at times.

Mega Gardevoir isn't a wallbreaker that you can slap onto any team unless you have the proper support, but she'll carry the team for quite a distance when it does get the support it needs.

Jirachi

Typing: Steel / Psychic
Stats: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100

At first, Jirachi was a defensive threat not to be taken lightly. Its Steel / Psychic typing and respectable 100 / 100 / 100 defenses were very formidable to face in ADV, and having Calm Mind made it into a bulky tank while being immune to both Toxic and sand were incredible traits for a defensive Pokémon back then. Jirachi could even hit back fairly well with base 100 Special Attack, and having good moves such as Psychic and the elemental punches to abuse made it a big threat to offensive and defensive teams alike. But for DPP and BW, Jirachi had been the source of many rage quits, and people called it a demon that should have been banned, but can you blame them? Due to Serene Grace, Jirachi has been able to abuse Iron Head and either Body Slam or Thunder for paraflinch strategies to absolutely annoy the living crap out of its enemies, often creating win-win scenarios just by pure luck alone. Can I use Focus Sash Mamoswine to revenge kill Jirachi? Nope, Jirachi made it flinch. How about Hippowdon, which can stall Jirachi out with recovery and massive defenses? Flinch. As long as Jirachi was faster than the foe at hand, no one was safe from flinch hax.

For a good while during XY, Jirachi fell down the viability rankings faster than a shooting star due to the prominence of Aegislash, and everyone breathed a deep sigh of relief. But after Aegislash was banned, Jirachi experienced a very sharp rise in viability, and it is once again a fairly potent threat, though instead of being a flinching demon from hell, Jirachi has found a main niche as a defensive force. Aegislash's banishment did indeed play a significant part in Jirachi's return to former infamy, but another reason that Jirachi's found usage now is because of other Pokémon that benefit from Aegislash's banishment, such as Latios and Mega Gardevoir, which are fairly powerful in the current metagame. As far as Jirachi's current standing in OU goes, things are actually looking pretty good for this once-fallen star. Thanks to its previously mentioned 100 / 100 / 100 defenses, its Steel / Psychic typing, an immunity to Toxic, and semi-reliable recovery in Wish, Jirachi can be a very sturdy and reliable teammate to take hits for the team from big threats such as Mega Gardevoir, Latios, Latias, Thundurus, Mega Manectric, and non-Dark Pulse Greninja. Jirachi is more than just a defensive force, as it can run fairly effective offensive sets thanks to its decent base 100 Attack and Speed stats, access to the elemental punches for coverage, U-turn to maintain offensive momentum and to scout, and Trick to cripple a check or counter, thus making Choice Scarf Jirachi a pain for both offensive and defensive teams to face. Jirachi even has Healing Wish to provide a safe switch for an ally and restore them to full health.

What made Jirachi have a horrible start this generation wasn't purely Aegislash, but was its newfound weaknesses to Dark- and Ghost-type moves. This weighs heavily against Jirachi in the current metagame, as Pokémon such as Bisharp, Tyranitar, Crawdaunt, and Gengar can easily threaten it with their STAB attacks and crush the defensive set. In fact, there are actually quite a few Pokémon that can make Jirachi's life in OU difficult, such as Garchomp, stallbreaker Talonflame, Mew, Gliscor, Mamoswine, Landorus-T, Landorus, Heatran, Excadrill, and Mega Charizard X and Y, all of which can either 2HKO or stall out defensive Jirachi. As for offensive Jirachi, it has a case of four-moveslot syndrome. Without Fire Punch, (Mega) Scizor and Magnezone can switch in with impunity; without Ice Punch, Garchomp, Landorus-T, Landorus, and Gliscor only have Trick to worry about; and without Zen Headbutt, Keldeo and Mega Venusaur can switch in without fear. Its base 100 Attack is also somewhat lacking, especially for a Choice Scarf sweeper, and having the elemental punches as its strongest coverage options can leave a bit to be desired in terms of power.

It was a rough start for Jirachi, but it's safe to say that its finish was pretty strong.

Latios

Typing: Dragon / Psychic
Stats: 90 / 90 / 80 / 130 / 110 / 110

Latios has been a powerful force in OU thus far and was an outstanding force last generation as well, but he was too good for the first two generations he was in. He was banned for the first two generations he was in, due to having very well-rounded stats - tied with Latias as the second fastest Dragon-type in the game after Arceus-Dragon - a powerful movepool with both offensive and defensive options, and having an insanely powerful Draco Meteor in DPP, thus being an extremely unhealthy presence in OU. But Latios did find a home in OU during BW, as the offensive nature of the metagame that weather caused was enough to give Latios a challenge. Latios was a very helpful teammate at the time, as he had very convenient resistances to Water-, Electric-, and Fire-type moves and was also a reliable check to Keldeo, one of the most dominant forces in BW OU, so naturally Latios was considered a top tier threat.

For the most part, Latios is just as threatening now as he was back in BW. Noivern may have stolen the title of being the fastest unbanned Dragon-type in the game, but Noivern doesn't see much action in OU anymore so some people still consider Latios the fastest in OU. His other stats are simply amazing, with a massive base 130 Special Attack and decently bulky 80 / 80 / 110 defenses, allowing him to take special attacks pretty well and check some powerful threats, with good examples being Keldeo, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Venusaur, Mega Alakazam, and Mega Manectric. Latios is different from the rest of the Dragon-types in the tier by not carrying a 4x or a Stealth Rock weakness, thus giving him more staying and switching power compared to the likes of Dragonite, Charizard, and Garchomp. His Draco Meteor is the second strongest in the entire OU metagame, second only to Mega Ampharos, a Pokémon that's uncommon in OU, and he can put it to great use in a revenge killing role; in addition, he also has Psyshock for getting past special walls that think they can sponge a Draco Meteor. Latios also has a decent movepool outside of his STAB moves, including Surf for Heatran, Thunderbolt for Azumarill, Trick for a nasty surprise Choice set to catch both walls and sweepers off-guard, Defog to clear hazards, and Roost to preserve his good health; he can even run Light Screen, Reflect, and Memento for a surprise supporter set that can provide an amazing setup opportunity for one of your sweepers.

Latios may be a powerful Pokémon, but his typing can leave him with some crippling weaknesses to Fairy-, Ice-, Dragon-, Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type moves, with the latter three weaknesses leaving him open to Knock Off, Pursuit, Shadow Ball, and U-turn, some very common moves seen in OU. Latios also has a bad case of four-moveslot syndrome, as he needs Surf for Heatran and Tyranitar, Hidden Power Fire for Ferrothorn and Scizor, and Thunderbolt for Azumarill. Without Surf, Tyranitar can switch in for free and Heatran can sponge every attack thrown at him and can stall through burn damage. Without Hidden Power Fire, Ferrothorn can lay down entry hazards, stall with Leech Seed, and can even paralyze with Thunder Wave, and without Thunderbolt, Azumarill can easily OHKO Latios with Play Rough or even set up with Belly Drum on the switch. On another move-related issue, Fairy-types have an immunity to Dragon-type moves, so Draco Meteor can't be spammed nearly as often now. Great Pokémon to use against Latios include Bisharp, which can take any attack aside from the rare Hidden Power Fighting, use Sucker Punch to easily OHKO Latios before he gets the chance to attack, and can punish Latios for using Defog with Defiant. Tyranitar can Pursuit trap Latios and take anything thrown his way, Thundurus can outrun even Choice Scarf Latios thanks to Prankster Thunder Wave and OHKO with Knock Off after Stealth Rock damage, and Greninja can outrun Latios and OHKO with Ice Beam.

Latios may have a few flaws here and there, but his strengths have made him into one of OU's most dangerous threats, and is one that teams must have an answer to.

Medicham

Typing: Fighting / Psychic
Stats: 60 / 60 / 75 / 60 / 75 / 80

Typing: Fighting / Psychic
Stats: 60 / 100 / 85 / 80 / 85 / 100

Medicham was always either a mediocre Pokémon or a terrible one in previous generations and it's fairly easy to see why. In ADV, Medicham was a monstrous attacker thanks to Pure Power and its unresisted Fighting + Ghost coverage in Brick Break and Shadow Ball, which let it break through many of the sturdy OU walls such as Swampert, Claydol, Forretress, Porygon2, and Skarmory. However, its low Speed and terrible defenses left it hopelessly outclassed by other hard hitters such as Tyranitar, Salamence, Flygon, and Snorlax, and Medicham was thus deemed mediocre. One would think that DPP gave Medicham a better fighting chance in OU, as High Jump Kick received a generous power buff and Medicham benefitted from the physical/special split, thus getting the elemental punches to come off of its mighty Attack stat. However, things remained relatively unchanged in terms of Medicham's viability, as the likes of Azelf, Scizor, Mamoswine, and Rotom made its life in OU very hard to maintain, and it was even dropped to NU. Things remained that way for BW, and despite the meaty buff in power that High Jump Kick received, Medicham was a Pokémon that faded into obscurity.

What happened in XY was nothing short of a miracle: Medicham received a Mega Evolution. With this Mega Evolution, Medicham has become famous as one of the greatest OU wallbreakers to date. With a Jolly nature, Mega Medicham reaches a phenomenal 598 Attack factoring in Pure Power, and with High Jump Kick, Mega Medicham can bust through so many walls; even some walls that resist High Jump Kick won't want to recklessly switch into this monstrosity. As for the other stats, 100 base Speed is enough to outrun most defensive Pokémon and Mega Medicham has passable defenses to take a light hit. It also has a fairly wide movepool, with Ice Punch to vaporize Gliscor and Landorus-T, Thunder Punch to threaten Gyarados, Skarmory, and Azumarill, and Fake Out to break a Focus Sash or Sturdy, as well as to get some free damage against everything that isn't a Ghost-type. Mega Medicham is capable of single-handedly destroying stall teams that lack a resistance to High Jump Kick, which makes it a great teammate to those that need certain walls to be destroyed or severely weakened.

Mega Medicham is indeed a powerful wallbreaker, but there are some pretty apparent flaws that limit its effectiveness. First off, Mega Medicham's stats aren't all that impressive once you look past its Attack, as 100 Speed doesn't outrun any common sweeper and those 60 / 85 / 85 defenses are very limiting, meaning if it's going to live any powerful attacks, it has to be at full health just to have a chance. Due to its underwhelming defenses and Speed, it's incredibly easy to force Mega Medicham out with a faster Pokémon that hits hard, so Keldeo, Latios, Gengar, Landorus, Mega Pinsir, Mega Aerodactyl, and several others are a serious problem. While not a commonly seen issue, High Jump Kick costs the user half their max health if it doesn't hit the foe, so if your opponent has a Ghost-type or something with Protect on their team, then it's possible that Mega Medicham's most powerful weapon can completely backfire on you. Being vulnerable to burns is also a massive pain for Mega Medicham, and with the likes of Gengar, Mew, Rotom-W, and stallbreaker Talonflame as common as they are, it can be somewhat challenging to find a safe switch.

Mega Medicham can feel a little lacking for a wall breaker at times, as it does have competition with other wallbreakers. However, its raw power should never be ignored or overlooked.

Mew

Typing: Psychic
Stats: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100

When you hear the phrase "jack of all trades" during a Pokémon-related conversation, Mew is one of the first Pokémon that come to mind. It is one of two Pokémon in the game with bragging rights to having access to every TM and tutor move in the entire game and an expansive movepool that's second only to Smeargle. In RBY, Mew was a very prominent threat due not only to its very well-rounded stats, but also due to its unpredictability, as it could be using BoltBeam, Swords Dance, Thunder Wave, etc..., and was thus deemed Uber. Mew remained banned for the next three generations and its chance to shine in OU never came. But in BW, Mew actually found trouble standing out because everything was so fast and strong and variety just didn't cut it. In fact, even UU didn't have all that much trouble adapting to Mew, and it wound up joining the UU club. This doesn't in any way mean that Mew was a bad Pokémon in OU; far from it. It comes to no surprise that Mew could fulfill multiple roles, such as being a Baton Pass teammate, a lead, a supporter, and even a Nasty Plot sweeper, so it was fairly easy to put Mew on a team, and it actually did its given job pretty well.

This generation was rough on many Psychic-types, and it was especially rough on Mew. The biggest factor that led to its lowered viability at the time was Aegislash, the bane of many Psychic-types in OU, which made it hard for Mew to perform its role consistently. Another huge downgrade to Mew was the clause placed on Baton Pass, limiting the number of Baton Pass users per team to just one. Because of this, Mew is relegated to being a quick passer, a role that is greatly challenged by Smeargle, which can boast the combination of Cotton Guard + Geomancy, and Scolipede, which can sweep with its own stat boosts before passing. Speaking of sets, Mew has also lost a lot of its surprise factor because many of its sets lost a lot of viability, so it's not that hard to guess what's up Mew's sleeve.

While Mew only has one or two good sets, its best set, the stallbreaker set, is second to none. Having such a wide movepool is a blessing, as no other OU viable Pokémon aside from Smeargle can brag the ability to use Knock Off, Will-O-Wisp, and Roost (or whatever teachable recovery option strikes your fancy, really), making it an amazing teammate for taking on stall teams. Mew poses a threat to many of the physically offensive threats in the tier, such as Azumarill, Garchomp, Landorus-T, Mega Scizor, Dragonite, Mega Gyarados, Mega Heracross, Mamoswine, Mega Medicham, Terrakion, and Diggersby, thanks to its good bulk, which lets it survive a hit and and use Will-O-Wisp to cripple the foe. Its second set is a Defog set, used more for the surprise factor because stallbreaker is usually considered the better set, but is still useful in its own right. Lacking a Stealth Rock weakness is great for a defensive Defogger, and having reliable recovery, Will-O-Wisp, and Knock Off still makes it fairly annoying to face.

While Mew had to go through some misfortune at the start of the generation, it's made quite a name for itself now, and its presence in the tier is one that should always be accounted for.

Slowbro

Typing: Water / Psychic
Stats: 95 / 75 / 110 / 100 / 80 / 30

Slowbro has been around since RBY and started out as an OU threat, however, things were rough for it in the beginning. With access to Amnesia, which allowed it to raise its Special, Slowbro very quickly became a juggernaut, taking hits like no one's business and dishing them out as well. With its bulk, Slowbro could survive the turns it spent asleep after using Rest to regain its health over and over again. Sure, a random critical hit would make all that hard work for naught - and critical hits were fairly common given the mechanics of RBY - but Slowbro was one of those Pokémon that could take on the world if given a turn to set up. The physical/special split ruined this strategy in GSC, though, and Slowbro was no longer considered an OU Pokémon for the next four generations. It was still an effective user of Thunder Wave and its defensive presence was still undeniable, so all wasn't lost. ADV and DP were when Slowbro was more of an offensive Pokémon, since its defensive role was done better by Suicune, which had much better overall defenses, actual Speed, and lacked Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type weaknesses. But in BW, Slowbro received quite possibly the best ability for a defensive Pokémon in Regenerator, which heals a Pokémon's HP by 1/3 of its max health upon switching out, and this led to Slowbro's infamy for being next to impossible for a physical attacker to take down. But even with this, its time in OU still wasn't the best considering that many threats were special attackers, thus making Slowbro's job of taking hits hard to pull off.

In XY, Slowbro's defensive presence has truly become a formidable force in OU. Thanks to Regenerator, repeatedly switching into entry hazards isn't such a pressing issue, as the extra health gained easily outdoes the damage received, making Slowbro a Pokémon that doesn't mind hazards too much. 95 / 110 / 80 defenses are quite respectable, and with Slack Off providing immediate recovery and acting as a source of recovery without having to switch out, Slowbro can be a really tough Pokémon to approach. Slowbro also has a surprisingly wide movepool, with access to Scald, Ice Beam, Thunder Wave, and even Flamethrower of all things, so it can be hard to predict what it'll attack with. Slowbro is capable of taking on powerful physical attackers such as Assault Vest Azumarill, Garchomp, Landorus-T, Dragonite, Mamoswine, Mega Medicham, Terrakion, Diggersby, and Mega Tyranitar thanks to its great bulk, numerous helpful resistances, and chance of burning them with Scald. Alternatively, Thunder Wave can be a big problem for sweepers, so if they aren't getting burnt, then they could wind up paralyzed and become useless against most faster foes.

But Slowbro suffers a bit from its Psychic typing, as the usual Dark- and Ghost-type weaknesses allow Pokémon such as Dark Pulse Greninja, Gengar, and Lum Berry Bisharp to pressure it with their powerful STAB attacks. Due to Slowbro's vulnerability to status such as Taunt, burns, and Toxic, it is threatened by Pokémon such as stallbreaker Talonflame, Chansey, Mega Gardevoir, Mew, and Jirachi. Its somewhat low Special Defense also leaves it wide open to special attackers such as Latios, Mega Charizard Y, Clefable, Thundurus, Mega Venusaur, and Mega Manectric, all of which are capable of landing a 2HKO at worst. Slowbro's base 30 Speed is also a big problem, as pretty much everything except for Ferrothorn will be outrunning it, so its ability to wall really demands good health at all times.

Slowbro can have it rough at times, but it doesn't go down without a fight, and trust me, it can put up one hell of a fight.

Honorable Mentions

Bronzong

Typing: Steel / Psychic
Stats: 67 / 89 / 116 / 79 / 116 / 33

Bronzong was a pretty good OU Pokémon in DPP, as it was a good Trick Room sweeper and pivot, and was also able to reliably set up Trick Room, Light Screen, and Reflect thanks to its great bulk. During BW, Bronzong lost a large chunk of viability due to how offensive things got, but was still worth the teamslot at times when making a Trick Room team. To this day, Bronzong isn't quite as good as it once was, but still has some usefulness in checking the likes of Sand Rush Excadrill, Latios, Mega Pinsir, and Garchomp. Bronzong can prove to be a good screen setter by using Explosion to provide a safe switch to a teammate; it can even abuse STAB Gyro Ball to do a little sweeping itself after setting up a Trick Room.

Celebi

Typing: Psychic / Grass
Stats: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100

Celebi was a Pokémon that started off banned, mainly because of its great balanced stats and good movepool which consisted of Heal Bell to remove status for its teammates, Perish Song to force switches, and Recover to consistently stay alive. Simply put, it was just too hard to kill this thing, and it was banned accordingly. But from ADV to BW, Celebi remained a solid top tier threat in OU thanks to its unique defensive typing, overall good stats, wide movepool, and many sets that played quite differently from each other, making it a hard-to-predict threat. But like most Psychic-types, the dawn of XY cast two dark shadows over Celebi, one being Aegislash and the other being Steel-types losing their Dark- and Ghost-type resistances. While the former problem was eventually removed, the latter problem remains a big threat for Celebi today since Tyranitar, Bisharp, and Gengar are fairly common threats. The overall number of threats is high, with big threats including, but not limited to: Mega Charizard X and Y, Clefable, Mega Gardevoir, Landorus-T, Mew, Mega Pinsir, stallbreaker Talonflame, Mega Heracross, Mega Aerodactyl, and Kyurem-B. But even though things are kind of going against Celebi, it can still be an invaluable teammate to have since it still takes on Keldeo, Latios, Latias, Mega Manectric, and Rotom-W and it isn't all that hard to put on a team thanks to having several sets. All in all, not the best Pokémon, but it's good at what it does, and can be a threat when used properly.

Cresselia

Typing: Psychic
Stats: 120 / 70 / 120 / 75 / 130 / 85

When she debuted in DP, Cresselia was thought to be the next defensive juggernaut due to her intimidating 120 / 120 / 130 defenses. However, her lack of power and resistances made her surprisingly underwhelming in OU, and with powerful Pokémon such as Tyranitar, Scizor, Jirachi, and Heatran being quite common, she had a lot of pressure put on her. BW was just as bad, if not worse, because rain and sandstorms nerfed Cresselia's recovery in Moonlight, limiting her defensive might. Nowadays, though, Cresselia actually has the makings of a decent Pokémon, as she's capable of taking hits from Landorus, Keldeo, Latios, and Mega Charizard Y. She doesn't have to worry as much about weather limiting her recovery and she's one of the most reliable users of Reflect, Light Screen, and Trick Room, so her supportive presence is outstanding. Simply put, Cresselia's far from the best Pokémon in OU, but also far from the worst.

Espeon

Typing: Psychic
Stats: 65 / 65 / 60 / 130 / 95 / 110

Espeon was, to put it bluntly, a horrible Pokémon until BW, as it was pretty much a poor man's Alakazam. Upon entering BW, it received Magic Bounce, which gave it a niche as a great defensive pivot for Baton Pass teams. Baton Pass received a titanic nerf, limiting teams to one Baton Passer, thus destroying Baton Pass teams entirely. Espeon has some usefulness when facing stall teams thanks to Magic Bounce, which allows it to reflect Stealth Rock, Roar, Toxic, etc..., but generally speaking, Espeon is a Pokémon that greatly struggles in OU. It has a great base Speed and Special Attack, but it has a very slim movepool, thus limiting what it can approach. Espeon has good support moves in Wish, Heal Bell, and Baton Pass, but each of those roles are performed better by every other Pokémon that has access to the moves. Magic Bounce is really the only reason that it doesn't drop to UU, but the ability really isn't enough to justify its use in OU unless you absolutely need Magic Bounce, and even then, it's a pretty gimmicky ability, and you should heavily consider your other options before adding Espeon to your team.

Gothitelle

Typing: Psychic
Stats: 70 / 55 / 95 / 95 / 110 / 65

Gothitelle has always been a decent Pokémon in OU thanks to Shadow Tag. Gothitelle's capable of trapping a wall, using Trick to give it a Choice Scarf or Specs, and wearing it down either through Toxic or attacking moves. This would normally make Gothitelle an amazing Pokémon, but it just doesn't have the stats to threaten offensive teams. Furthermore, defensive teams aren't really that common these days, since it's easier to simply break through the walls with raw power with wallbreakers such as Mega Gardevoir and Mega Medicham. Gothitelle lacks the stats to abuse Shadow Tag properly, since it needs Choice Specs to break through sturdier walls and Choice Scarf just to outrun Bisharp of all things, so it can't threaten defensive and offensive teams at the same time, limiting its usefulness. Gothitelle needs too much support and just doesn't mix well with OU, and you should only use it on specialized teams.

Latias

Typing: Dragon / Psychic
Stats: 90 / 80 / 90 / 110 / 130 / 110

You might be questioning why I put Latias in the honorable mentions section when she's actually pretty good. The reason is... well... what can I say about her that I haven't already said about Latios? Not to say that Latias the exact same thing as Latios aside from two differences; better defenses and access to Healing Wish. Latias is much bulkier than Latios, so she works as a fast and sturdy wall, and while her Special Attack isn't as good, it's still plenty enough to threaten offensive foes with. Healing Wish is the biggest reason to use her over Latios, as she can give a crippled teammate a second chance in the fight. Other than that, everything I said about Latios pretty much applies to Latias; she's a good Defogger, she outruns a good portion of the metagame, her Draco Meteor hurts like hell, and she sucks against what Latios sucks against. Not much to say, but a great Pokémon nonetheless.

Slowking

Typing: Water / Psychic
Stats: 95 / 75 / 80 / 100 / 110 / 30

Slowking has always been a Pokémon that people overlook, as there already multiple specially defensive Psychic-types in the tier and Slowbro offers fierce competition as a Regenerator user, which likely won't change anytime soon. However, Slowking can find some uses over its relative, such as using an Assault Vest to check Keldeo, Greninja, Latios, and Mega Alakazam; all of these being foes that Slowbro would have difficulty with. In fact, it works as a good check to almost every special attacker when equipped with an Assault Vest, can abuse good coverage to hit what it needs to, and patch itself up with Regenerator. Its lack of staying power due to Assault Vest strips Slowking of its ability to use Slack Off, making it difficult to wall things consistently, and relying on Regenerator alone for recovery can make it easy for the opponent to force it out and make predictions. Slowking isn't a Pokémon that you can slap onto any team, but if you see someone use it over Slowbro, it's for good reason.

Starmie

Typing: Water / Psychic
Stats: 60 / 75 / 80 / 100 / 80 / 115

Before XY came out, Starmie was a Pokémon that was known for always having a home in OU every generation. It was a fairly powerful teammate to have, with a very impressive base 115 Speed - the only relevant Pokémon trumping it being Alakazam - access to great moves in Thunder Wave and Recover, its Psychic-type, which was an amazing trait to have at the time, and the ability to cleanly OHKO both Golem and Rhydon. Due to Special representing both Special Attack and Special Defense at the time, Starmie was a fairly bulky threat, and combined with its great Speed and respectable offensive presence, this was a Pokémon to look out for. The dawn of GSC was also the dawn of the Special split, thus reducing Starmie's bulk by a bit, but Starmie's presence in the tier was still fairly strong, and gaining Rapid Spin was also a big boon to its viability. Other than that, Starmie fared in GSC just about as well as it did in RBY. The next three generations were good times for it as well, as its offensive and defensive presence was excellent, making it flexible with team building and a threat in its own right. Then XY came out and Aegislash, along with the increase of Dark- and Ghost-type moves, made its life in OU horrible. But with the banishment of Aegislash, its viability quickly rose up again. Starmie now stands as an effective Rapid Spinner thanks to its great base 115 Speed, which allows it to outrun most relevant threats in the tier even without full Speed investment. Starmie is capable of being either an offensive or defensive Pokémon, capable of providing flexibility for team building and unpredictability when facing it. It still struggles in OU, but Starmie still does its jobs well.

Victini

Typing: Psychic / Fire
Stats: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100

When thinking about raw power, Victini usually isn't the first Pokémon that comes to mind, mainly because of its Attack stat, which is only average at best. However, Victini is known as a Pokémon with a brutally powerful STAB attack in V-Create, which has a whopping 180 Base Power BEFORE factoring in STAB. This turns Victini into a vicious wallbreaker that's capable of 2HKOing even Hippowdon, so anything with less defenses and lacking a resistance or immunity to Fire-type moves is easily going to be 2HKOed. While V-Create's side effect of lowering the user's defenses and Speed is a pain, this actually turns Victini into a powerful Trick Room sweeper, as there aren't that many sweepers that can avoid an OHKO and become a wrecking ball that gets faster and faster while in Trick Room. When not mindlessly breaking through walls, Victini also has a supportive presence of sorts, sporting moves like Will-O-Wisp and Taunt which allow it to do a little stallbreaking. Sadly, Victini's defensive typing is a curse, giving it a Stealth Rock weakness, Pursuit vulnerability, and weaknesses to common Water-, Ground-, and Dark-type moves. In addition, being forced to switch out from V-Create's stat drops is a common sight. It also has competition as a stallbreaker from the likes of Mew, Talonflame, and Mega Gardevoir; the former two having recovery for longevity, and the latter hitting much harder. Victini is a Pokémon that requires a good deal of support to function, but performs excellently when it does get said support.

Conclusion

And with that, that's all there is to say about the Psychic-types in OU. Psychic-types have been around since Pokémon began, and they've always had a place in OU, no matter how tough things wound up for them. Some Psychic-types may have some bad stats, or a bad secondary typing, or even a slim movepool, but the strengths of those on this list have certainly shown that their pros outweigh their cons and have proven themselves to be forces not to be taken lightly.

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