How Pokemon Ruined the Psychic Type 

Go to buyraycon.com/wolfey for 15% off your order, plus free shipping! Brought to you by Raycon.

Psychic type paid for Mewtwo’s sins.

"Even though back in gen one when there weren't as many fighting or *poison* types-" Gen 1's 33 poison types: "Say that again. I dare you."

Another minor point to add - in Gen 1, there was a LOT of poison types. It was actually the most common type for that generation. So at the time, Psychic hit super effective damage against the most common type.

I’m actually a bit surprised that Knock Off wasn’t mentioned. I feel like that also had a major role in Fairy’s rise to success since Fairy-types resist the move while Psychic-types are weak to it. Gen 6 really was not a kind one to Psychics.

Don't let Wolfey trick you. He's definitely running an expanding force team

Everywhere they show people/pokemon with psychic powers bending spoons, cars, etc. But apparently STEEL RESISTS PSYCHIC

As I see it, Gamefreak has always wanted Dragon type to be the strongest "type", a type that is hard to raise, but rewards your effort with pure destruction. Meanwhile, Psychic type was meant to be more of a rare, mysterious, second strongest type, which you have difficult finding Pokemon of. Both of these followed the same pattern: The one major battle with a Type master of that type would happen only slightly after reaching an area full of the types countering them (Pokemon Tower for Psychic, Seafoam Islands for Dragon). Furthermore, Dragon was the type of the champion, and has since always been the type of either the final Gym Leader or one of the Elite Four, while Psychic has always been in a close follow-up, but never quite the Champion. However, Psychic turned out to be stronger due to ghost not actually successfully countering them, and their ability to hit everything without worry for type matchup. Meanwhile, Dragon only had one representative in Dragonite, and they had no STAB to spam, given the only Dragon move dealt fixed damage. In generation 2, they saw these issues and nerfed Psychic with the new types, and buffed Dragon with actual offensive moves, notably Outrage. It still wasn't enough though, given they still only had Dragonite and Kingdra as representative. Then starting in gen 3, they really tried to restore Dragon as the strongest type, with the addition of a new Dragon Pseudo-legendary and actual Dragon legendaries. And they have kept doing this for every generation since then. They went a little overboard in gen 5 though as they had mostly become what Psychic was in gen 1: monsters that can just destroy everything with their STAB alone, including the type that's actually supposed to counter them, Ice. So they felt they needed a real counter, and therefore they added Fairy. But unlike Psychic, Fairy was never intended to be a second strongest type. Gamefreak continues to release strong, mysterious Psychic legendaries, but due to how every other type has kept evolving, Psychic types can no longer keep up with the metagame. Meanwhile, Fairy was a little too overtuned, and despite barely having any Legendary, it has been making weaker Pokemon very powerful.

1:12 I’m a Christian, and I simply CAN NOT see why some people think the game is evil or demonic or teaches witchcraft. Ah yes, I used thunderbolt with my electric rat and I suddenly feel like worshiping Satan. The game was creating because the creator liked collecting bugs and wanted to make a game similar to that. The idea that it’s evil is so stupid

5:05 One small correction. Jynx actually had her special attack increased during the special split, being 95 special in gen 1, and 115 special attack and 95 special defense in gen 2.

13:32 He will never escape this clip

I’ve been subscribed for years… the jokes don’t get better, you just appreciate them more.

The fact that Kieran uses an Incineroar is hilarious. This is self-awareness at the highest level. Game Freak knows which Pokemon they choose

I have gen 1 brain, to me, a single kadabra (unevolved because no link cable) can beat any pokemon

Petition to give psychic type a resistance to fairy type attacks

I think an important addition would've been that some of the most easily spammable moves of all time all hit Psychic for super effective damage: U-Turn, Knock Off, Shadow Ball, Pursuit

Changing cresselia’s type to fairy in gen 6 would have gone crazy.

I got you guys. U-Turn, the Dark Type and consistent fragility of Psy-Mons! Edit: my first 1k comment, thank you all!!

My biggest problem using especially pure psychic types is so many pokemon get coverage moves that are super effective against psychic.

5:05 small detail but Jynx's base stats were actually _buffed_ in the transition from Gen 1 to Gen 2. It previously had a 95 special stat in Gen 1, but In Gen 2 it was given an extra 20 points in special attack, while its special defense remained at 95. Compare that to Alakazam and Exeggutor, who had their Gen 1 special stats converted into their special attack stat, but they each _lost_ 50 points of special defense.

Silly looking pink blob : exists Angry old man : "the devil!"

Bro really making this video while psyspam is viable

Psychic Types in Gen 1: *exist* Dark Types and Steel Types in Gen 2: "and I took that personally..."

Gardevoir erasure in the gen 3 section is crazy - it's UUBL in ADV but has been a strong psychic type for the majority of its lifespan

That one kid on the playground who battled you with 6 Mewtwos 💀💀💀

I think the main reason why psychic type has gotten worse is how op dark types have become, incin alone makes it hard to use psychic types. Yveltal in past gens,kingambit, dark Urshifu and the 3 treasure of ruin 😅 along with many others makes it difficult to justify using one on non psy spam teams.

All I want is for psychic to become neutral against steel, and psychic terrain to be spicier and honestly that feels like enough to me. Maybe also immunity to some kind of mental effect like confusion or taunt, like how grass got spore and powder immunity. The signature held item of the psychic type is a twisted spoon. Literally bending metal, so removing that steel resistance makes sense to me (though a move that is super effective makes sense too). And then for psychic terrain, more moves and abilities around it could be nice (like setting temporary screens while terrain is active, moves hitting twice but with 30% power, trapping foes, gaining new immunities, etc, I think there’s a lot of design space).

Probably not gonna do much but so flavor-based type quirks I can think of: 1. Immune to effects that Mental Herb cures except Infatuation (Hey, they can fall in love too). 2. Not confused by Flatter and Swagger (they still get the stat boost). 3. 2/3 chance to avoid priority moves. 4. When attacked with contact moves under Psychic Terrain (even when not grounded), attacker receives recoil.

I think the move pursuit bore mentioning here, because it basically put psychics in a catch 22 when a pursuit user switched in

My mother asked if I washed the dish’s I simply replied psychic type she knew they were washed

13:23 lmao, poor alpharad and kidd cant catch a break

I actually took part at the official Pokémon tournament back in 1999. First round was in a small town which I won. Second round was huge and was in Frankfurt (Germany) and I didn't get past that. I remember that they said that Pokémon boosted with Missingno glitch would lead to disqualification and the way they checked for that is that they loaded each cartridge into Pokémon stadium and if you had any item more than 99 times (which is the max without glitches) then you'd be out. Many players got dq's like that and most of the remaining still had used Missingno glitch, but were careful enough not to have such an obvious smoking gun. I think the tournament was supposed to be global, but I can't remember whether the winner at Frankfurt got to play another round somewhere else.

It’s so nice to hear a competitive player say fairy was haphazardly designed. I’ve hated it since it came out because it really is just a new busted bullshit type to take Dragon’s place. Steel type is defensive and has fewer attackers (less so now than when it was introduced), and poison type has been *notoriously bad.* Outside of Venusaur, poison types don’t see much play. It essentially means fairy has one real weakness in steel, and the damage isn’t going to be superb from a defensive mon. If we had a steel type Body Press, things could be different, but terastallization is pulling a lotttttof weight this Gen keeping fairies in check. Poor psychic being their paltry mirror…

Wolfey is a large influence for what got me into competitive Pokémon and into making my own videos. Please keep making amazing videos like this

What did I say Brayden?! WHAT DID I SAY?!

>there weren't that many poison types in gen 1 💀

4:32 "A major nail in weezing " I fucking love wolfey

Whenever Cresselia is mentioned, i get terrible flashbacks of PMD explorers of time.(a version of explorers of sky) She was such a reviver seed waster😭

Can’t stress how much I love these type history/overview videos! really enjoyed the ice type one and this one was phenomenal as well. Keep it up wolfe

Adding the quick claw clip was criminal 13:25

Celebi: clearly a celery Wolfe: "best I can do is onion"

19:09 Lmao the Wigglytuff throwback. The devil is real

13:24 its been TWO YEARS how HOW is this clip still going🤣

I was so excited to see this clip of Shadypenguinn and Drewby’s blind battles series at 6:35. Thanks for reminding me, Wolfe!

One of the things i enjoy the absolute most about Wolfe's videos is all of the music choices that run in the background. It feels so nice and inclusive outside of just pokemon. My personal favorite is hearing all of the Rain Code and Danganronpa music that has been sprinkled in there :)

Honestly, IMO, make it so Psychic resists a type that Fairy doesn't and I think it'd be in a GREAT spot. Maybe resist Ground. Thematically, it could make sense since there are so many "psychic" things in TV shows and stuff can fly. But don't give them immunity of course. Ground is still very strong and is Earthquake is accessible on almost everything, so giving Psychic the ability to switch in to a strong ground type move might be pretty good. Adding to this, psychic types commonly get Energy Ball, which could help a lot.

Crunch to me is the biggest issue at the moment. So many pokemon have access to it. Most of those pokemon are physical attackers, so it does even more damage to frail glass cannons. During my playthrough of Violet, my Skeledirge was getting hit hard all the time it felt like. Now i know the fire croc is a ghost type, but it plays much like a psychic type in high special and lower defenses. I think the way you counter that is to have an ability, say pschic barrier, that cuts 25% off of physical moves. Psychics aren't bad per say, they just need some more survivability.

My favorite thing about this video is all the featured content creators. Well done!

11:05 Over a fifth of the pokémon in Gen1 are poison type.

Psychic types when the most popular pivot and priority moves is super effective against them.

"Why use psychic type when fairy exist" So true wolfy

Great video! I’ve always loved psychic types, mainly for their unique designs, and this video did a great job of analyzing their weaknesses. Still gonna be be favorite type, though :)

Wolfey you have become one of my favorite Pokémon Profs. Turn champion. Between you and Austin John I truly appreciate yall content. I wish Austin were more battle savvy cause I'd love to see that match up

Im so conflicted! I want MORE WolfeyCringe jokes but I don’t want to unsubscribe!

A Psychic move that’s specifically super-effective on Steel (spoon bending being the example of Psychic ability) would be cool.

There's two thing that never miss. Wolfey's hatred for Incineroar and your rival's focus blast.

Wolfie: Fighting is a type that is never at the top of the Foodchain Fairy type: : I Owe Half of my existance to them, don't you dare speak like that of my fathers.

Ave Attorney’s Steel Samurai music starting at 6:05 such a fun reference!

Correction: Ghost was not super effective in Gen 1 on Psychic, it was in fact, immune to Ghost. Granted, there was only Lick, as Night Shade and Seismic Toss didn't check type effectiveness when dealing damage, and Confuse Ray didn't inflict damage directly. But yeah, if you use Lick on a Psychic type in Gen 1, it'll fail.

Love these essays! Thanks Wolfe!

Impressive video to compile this whole arc together! Though I will say, you left out a couple of important psychic Pokemon that would counter your thesis - Metagross was called out as a steel type in a point of adding Pokemon of types that counter psychic...yet is also Psychic type itself Similarly, Gardevoir wasn't mentioned until the fairy type portion...also completely ignored in the Gen 3 additions

Can't wait until they make a Wolfe pokemon & we get a video "How I took my favorite Pokemon into a tournament"

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Psychic needs to be made resistant to, and super effective against, Fairy. It just makes sense to me intuitively and in terms of improving the game's balance.

Loved that a song from the Pokemon Conquest soundtrack made an appearance as background music in your vid. Made me so happy. ;-; 10:13

13:29 Jacob can never get a break lol

They really made it so over powered accidentally then now it's sometimes benched

I think what Psychic has become is a neat compromise. A strong type that, while reasonably weakened by the strengthening of it’s weaknesses, got it’s own strengths. Psychic Terrain being a good asset for Psychic Mons who don’t want priority making their mix of Speed and Power made irrelevant by strong Priority, and the heavy lean on Bulkier Psychic Mons being the ones having Trickroom, the opposite form of Speed-Control to allow slower Psychic Mons to blast through Mons who otherwise Glass-cannon through

wolfey managed to use the Onyx clip again, what a legend

10/10 content, every video I’ve seen of yours is quality. Worth the watch.

1:19 People who make Smash Melee content should start using that clip!

16:34 LMAO THE LEBRON HIGHLIGHTS HAD ME ROLLING

I've been saying this for so long! I'm glad you covered it! A Pokemon's type doesn't necessarily define it but it can definitely make it obsolete. Unfortunately, that's what has happened to psychic and there goes another set of people's faves they can no longer play with.

Love the video it would be cool to see similar videos for the other types 😊

I know Wolfey focuses on doubles, but i was a little surprised there was no mention of Knock off and U-turn

All these psychic types and wolfe still has the biggest brain 🧠

I appreciate the raincode music used at the start, underrated ost

13:25 Brayden is never going to live this down, is he? 🫠

Cresselia: Strongest banana-themed pokemon Metapod, Tropius & Lopunny: "Am I a joke to you?"

They wouldn't have needed to introduce the dark type if ghost types actually hit psychic types and if bugs had a decent damaging move.

"Nail in the weezing..." Cofagrigus: "Bro what?!?"

Awesome video and great research. The type has fallen hard - but there have still been some great mons in recent years that succeeded despite the type.

“Gen five had no new psychic legendaries for the first time” Meloetta: 😢

I was not expecting alpharads onix clip here of all places

Literally screamed at 14:43 with the introduction of Cresselia. Such a fantastic Pokémon that’s on majority of my teams to this day and was slept on by casuals but worshipped by competitors!

there's no way you found a place to fit that alpharad clip in. im convinced that was all you wanted from this experience

they unpower creeped psychic fr

Indeede +Armarouge/Hatterene expanding force: *Hey*

I like how the other cover mon is a pre-evaluation for one of the funniest Uber sweepers

14:33 I had a straight face until "nail in the wheezing", that got me good haha

The shady penguin clip is gold😂

Lugia was planned to be a movie Pokemon, not like the contrary of Ho-oh :v

Wolfie: When I was a kid "everybody knew" **proceeds to show a bunch of his clones**

I, a Scarlet player, have also been very visibly confused when seeing a Misdreavus with non-extended tendrils, due to my Flutter Mane PTSD. And also because it's a Violet exclusive, last time I checked.

Making steel not resist it, or be outright weak to it (Spoon bending and such) would be enough imo Maybe it could be a move like freeze dry

Lets give Psychic a fairy resist!

For generation 2, there were only 3 really good psychic types (Exeggutor who had explosion, and status, Starmie who was a water type with recover and hazard removal, and Jynx who had sleep, great stab, and could take advantage of the sleep being everywhere). The amount of viable psychic types are very limited, because Snorlax in Gen 2 was the best special wall who can actually hurt opposing mons back with strong psychic attacks. Hence why psychic types had to serve some other role to justify a team slot.

I love that picture of Mewtwo in the thumbnail. Badass.

I haven’t even watched the vid but badmouthing psychic is a win

I feel like the fact that Fighting-Types were extremely common and powerful in Gen 5 was overlooked here. In a way, it was a potential indirect buff to Psychic-Types, since they were the single most reliable way to deal with Fighting-Types. There was also the addition of Magic Bounce and Magic Guard to a few Psychic-Types, which boosted their viability. The Fairy Type, I think, was more of a band-aid fix in how it was implemented. It's a type that was meant to help with the Dragons and Fighting-Types wrecking the game, and it also gives people a reason to actually use Poison-Type and Steel-Type STAB, two types that weren't really used offensively outside of a few specific cases like Bullet Punch Scizor. It also made Fire-Types more useful defensively, since they now had another type to resist. Even after all of that, I'd still say I'm not exactly mad about what they did to Psychic-Types. They still have their uses, to be sure, and in a game series that has increasingly avoided proper balancing, I'd say Psychic-Types have been in a decent place for a while now.

There were a ton of poison types in Gen1, because most grass and bug types were poison, too, which made psycic super effective against dozens of pokemon.