Pokemon Type Chart 2026 — Gen 9 Scarlet & Violet

Tera Type: The Gen 9 Game Changer

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet introduced Terastallization, which changes a Pokemon's type to its Tera Type during battle. The 18×18 matrix above still describes the base game, but the row you read before Terastallizing is not always the row that applies afterwards.

How Tera Types affect matchups

• Offensive Tera: a Water-type Pokemon with Tera Electric can use Electric moves with STAB to surprise Ground-type counters.
• Defensive Tera: Terastallizing to a type that resists your weaknesses — for example Garchomp going Tera Steel to dodge Fairy and Ice.
• STAB stacking: if your Tera Type matches one of your original types, that type's moves get an extra boost.

Best Tera Types for competitive play

1. Tera Steel — 10 resistances, removes many common weaknesses.
2. Tera Water — only 2 weaknesses, great with Rain teams.
3. Tera Fairy — Dragon immunity plus strong offensive coverage.
4. Tera Ground — Electric immunity, and Earthquake becomes even stronger.
5. Tera Ghost — Normal and Fighting immunity, great for setup sweepers.

Tera Raid strategy

• Always bring Pokemon with moves super effective against the raid boss's Tera Type, not its original type.
• For 7-star raids, coordinate type coverage with your teammates before the timer matters.
• Use the Type Calculator to check the exact matchup before you commit a slot.

How the Type Chart Changed Across Generations

• Gen 1: the chart had 15 types; Dark, Steel, and Fairy did not exist.
• Gen 2–5: Dark and Steel were added, and the older matchup rules applied.
• Gen 6 onward: Fairy was added, and the modern Steel, Dark, Ghost, and Fairy interactions began.
• Gen 9 (Scarlet & Violet): Terastallization and Tera Type were added. Stellar Tera is a temporary battle mechanic rather than a normal type row in this chart.

Tera Raid decisions use the raid Pokemon's displayed Tera Type as the immediate defensive target. Paradox Pokemon can also pair unusual type combinations with their abilities, so the standard matrix above remains the baseline rather than the complete battle calculation.

Gen 9 Exclusive Mechanics

Stellar Tera Type (DLC)

Introduced in The Teal Mask DLC, Stellar Tera boosts all of a Pokemon's moves once (2× STAB) the first time it Terastallizes. After that first use it returns to the normal 1.5× STAB, so it is best used on mixed attackers that benefit from a one-time burst.

Paradox Pokemon

Scarlet and Violet introduced Paradox Pokemon — Ancient forms in Scarlet and Future forms in Violet — which often sport unique type combinations and synergize with the Booster Energy ability when Terastallized.

New Gen 9 type combinations

• Grass/Fire — Scovillain, the first ever Grass/Fire Pokemon.
• Normal/Poison — Grafaiai.
• Poison/Normal — the Maushold line.
• Electric/Fighting — Pawmot.

Tera Blast and Advanced Tera Strategy

Tera Blast (Gen 9 move)

Tera Blast is a Gen 9 move with 80 Base Power that changes to match your Tera Type and uses your higher offensive stat:

• Espathra (Psychic) with Fairy Tera — Tera Blast becomes Fairy.
• Dragonite (Dragon/Flying) with Ground Tera — Tera Blast becomes Ground and hits Electric-types.
• Gholdengo (Steel/Ghost) with Fighting Tera — Tera Blast becomes Fighting and hits Dark-types.

Best Tera Types by Pokemon

Competitive Tera Type tier list

• S-Tier: Fairy (removes Dragon/Dark/Fighting weaknesses, Dragon immunity), Steel (best defensive typing), Water (solid defense, boosts Water STAB), Ghost (immune to Normal/Fighting, great coverage).
• A-Tier: Ground (Electric immunity, hits Steel/Electric/Fire), Flying (Ground immunity), Fire (removes Ice weakness), Grass (removes Water/Ground weaknesses situationally).
• B-Tier: Electric, Dark, Dragon, Fighting.
• C-Tier (niche): Ice, Poison, Bug, Rock, Psychic, Normal — mostly for specific STAB boosts.

Tera Type prediction and counterplay

• Predict: check common sets, watch for a defensive Tera when an opponent stays in on a bad matchup, bait an early Tera, or scout with Protect.
• Counter: force an early Tera with a super-effective move, then switch to a counter for the new type; or save your own Tera to react. Run multi-type coverage such as Earthquake + Ice Beam + Thunderbolt to blunt defensive Teras.

VGC vs Singles

• VGC (Doubles): offensive Teras dominate for quick KOs; defensive Teras are reserved for support Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Torkoal; Tera timing can swing the whole game.
• OU Singles: defensive Teras are more common because they remove key weaknesses; Tera Blast sees use on special attackers; Tera prediction and timing are win conditions saved for late game.

Common Tera mistakes

1. Tera-ing too early — save it for critical moments.
2. Predictable Tera Types — mix it up to surprise opponents.
3. Ignoring the opponent's Tera — always play around the fact that they can Tera.
4. Bad Tera choices — match the Tera Type to the Pokemon's role, offensive or defensive.

Scarlet & Violet meta: top threats by type

• Dragon: Garchomp, Dragapult, Baxcalibur — still powerful; Tera often removes the Ice or Fairy weakness.
• Fairy: Flutter Mane, Iron Valiant, Clefable — dominate OU and check Dragon and Dark.
• Steel: Kingambit, Gholdengo, Corviknight — excellent defensive typing.
• Ghost: Gholdengo, Dragapult, Flutter Mane — immune to Normal and Fighting.

Quick Reference Tips

1. Always have a Steel type on your team — it checks Dragon, Fairy, Ice, and more.
2. Ground + Flying coverage hits every type for at least neutral damage.
3. Water/Ground (Swampert) has only one weakness — Grass, at 4×.
4. Ice is the best offensive type against the metagame — it hits Dragon, Flying, Ground, and Grass.
5. Never ignore Stealth Rock — it punishes Fire, Ice, Flying, and Bug types on every switch.