The Pokemon types are not just part of a type chart. Their names carry weight. They carry some sort of image and stereotype that is typically grounded in some type of reality.
Some of those stereotypes are reinforced by their stat averages, while others fall by the wayside. Regardless, these averages will set things straight; when you see a particular type of Pokemon on the battlefield, you should know what to expect. This list will showcase the highest average stats per Pokemon type and hopefully show some sort of pattern between stat and type.
Note: The averages listed out are allocated from fully evolved Pokemon.
18 Normal: Attack
While the Normal-type’s one of the weaker ones stat-wise, its last-place ranking here is more a testament to the type’s all-around stat distribution. That makes sense, as Normal is more of a wildcard type conceptually.
Fully-evolved Normal-types average out to 88.96 Attack. HP (88.12) and Speed (84.13) come close, and the former even surpasses Attack when including non-evolved Pokemon (75.87 HP, 73.76 Attack). Among the Normal-type roster, Regigigas, Slaking, and Ursaring do the most to pull up the Attack stat average.
17 Poison: Special Defense
The Poison-type is even more all-around when it comes to stats, with all average stats hovering around the 80-89 range. The one stat that stands out just a bit more than the rest is Special Defense, at an average of 89.56.
Toxapex, Nihilego, and Dragalge make a great top three among high Special Defense Poison-types. Toxapex in particular has been known to be an incredible defensive wall, thanks to also having 152 Defense.
16 Bug: Attack
The Bug-type may be the worst type statistically, having a subpar average base stat total of 471.12. The one shining light in that pool is a very good 90.59 Attack stat average among those fully-evolved (71.89 overall).
Don’t let that fact fool you, though; the Bug-type has some of the best physical attackers out there. Even without Ultra Beasts Buzzwole and Pheromosa stealing the spotlight, taking a claw from a Scizor or a horn from a Heracross would really hurt.
15 Water: Attack
Another jack-of-all-trades type, Water has almost every other stat come close (aside from Speed) to the leading 90.90 Attack. In fact, when including non-fully evolved Pokemon, its 74.72 Attack is just second, behind Defense (74.89).
Some of the best Water-types are physical attackers, after all. Greninja, Swampert, and Gyarados have all had extended premier stints in at least the Singles metagame thanks to their Attack stats.
14 Grass: Attack
It’s also a bit bizarre that the Grass-type’s best average type is Attack (94.54) despite Grass-type special moves being much more abundant and commonly used than physical moves.
It certainly helps that the Grass-type Pokemon with the highest Attack stat, Kartana, is the non-Mega Evolved Pokemon with the highest Attack stat, period. While no other Grass-type comes close, the type’s roster still has quite a few hard hitters.
13 Flying: Speed
This type is the only one to have Speed be its highest average stat. Its 94.56 average Speed is also the highest among all types, which might be a bit surprising depending on who you ask. Granted, Flying-types that are slow are hard to find, if you think about it.
Regardless, it’s thanks especially to Pokemon like Ninjask, Crobat, and Aerodactyl that the Flying-type averages out to that much Speed.
12 Ghost: Special Attack
The Ghost-type is also pretty close to all-around, but its average HP and Speed lag behind just a bit compared to its other stats. Regardless, the one stat that stands out the most is Special Attack, at an average of 94.66.
That makes sense for a type consisting of Pokemon with an eternal connection to the afterlife and lacking physical bodies. A bunch of Legendaries dominate this stat for the type such as Shadow Rider Calyrex, Spectrier, Dawn Wings Necrozma, and Hoopa Confined.
11 Ice: Attack
With moves like Ice Beam and Blizzard being so commonly referred to when talking about the Ice-type, it might be a bit of a surprise that the average physical Attack of the type (94.78) is actually better than its Special Attack (87.43).
That’s mainly thanks to Pokemon like Black Kyurem, Ice Rider Calyrex, and Glastrier flaunting spectacular Attack stats (170, 165, 145 respectively). Among regular Pokemon, Galarian Darmanitan and Crabominable take the ice-cream cake.
10 Electric: Special Attack
This stat-to-type correlation is one of the more expected ones, as the Pokemon under this typing actually have the stats to back up its stereotype. Special Attackers reign supreme among the Electric-types, averaging out to 100.37.
Part of that is thanks to Xurkitree, the Pokemon with the highest Special Attack among those available in Sword and Shield. Speed comes in second but lags behind thanks to a few Pokemon like Alolan Golem being quite slow.
9 Fairy: Special Defense
This stat-to-type pairing also makes a lot of sense. Fairy magic can deflect other, inferior types of magic. Therefore, they should have high Special Defense, which is the case when averaging everything out, to the tune of 101.20.
There are a ton of excellent special defenders in the typing, with five above 130 (Florges, Carbink, Diancie, Tapu Fini, and Sylveon).
8 Fire: Special Attack
The Fire-type is a very offense-oriented type based on its matchups, so one of the attacking stats was naturally going to take the spot here. Ultimately, the average Special Attack (105.48) is a bit higher than the average Attack (98.71).
The special attacking Pokemon of the type are some of the best in the game, with Blacephalon, Reshiram, and Chandelure all racking up Special Attack stats of at least 145.
7 Ground: Attack
While there are a few great special attackers to come from the Ground-type such as Seismitoad and Palossand, the Ground-type mainly makes its money on the physical end. Groudon, Garchomp, Landorus, Swampert, Excadrill, and Rhyperior can all vouch for that.
This results in the type averaging out to 108.02 Attack, which is massive compared to the other Attack-specializing types mentioned so far. It also proves its physical preference by averaging to a high Defense stat (100.69).
6 Dark: Attack
If you think about the Attack stat and the Dark-type together, it makes sense why they’d come together on this list. The Dark-type is mainly based on menace and evil, and acts of that nature are often done through physical means.
The type proves to be an excellent one on the physical attacking side thanks to Pokemon like Hoopa Unbound, Ash-Greninja, Tyranitar, Urshifu, Yveltal, and Absol all having sky-high Attack stats.
5 Psychic: Special Attack
This is the point of the list where most of the entries onward are blatantly obvious, the first of which is the Psychic-type. While the most powerful minds can change the physical world, its main path of attack is through the special side (110.28).
Aside from Special Defense (99.51), no other stat comes remotely close. That shows through Pokemon like Alakazam and Mewtwo that kind of go all-in with their Special Attack stats.
4 Rock: Defense
Similarly, they don’t call objects that are difficult to break “rock-hard” for no reason. While the type is actually not great defensively when looking at type matchups — the five weaknesses will make you wince — the Pokemon tell a different story, averaging out to 114.70 Defense.
Just like with the Psychic-type and Special Attack, no other stat comes close to Rock-type’s Defense stat aside from Attack (101.75). In fact, its average Special Defense is 98.34, which, while still good, is significantly lower.
3 Dragon: Special Attack
No matter what the Fairy-type might tell you, the Dragon-type is still incredibly powerful. The stats tell it all, especially the high-octane Special Attack at 116.33.
While any particular stat could have made sense to be the strongest for the Dragon-type, the conceptual mythos surrounding the type does license this spot to Special Attack. Even without mentioning Legendaries, certain Pokemon like Hydreigon, Drampa, and Duraludon put their high Special Attack stats to incredible use.
2 Fighting: Attack
There are no surprises here. Almost every Fighting-type is way, way better on the physical side than the special side. No other stat averages out to a number anywhere close to the 120.64 average the Attack stat reaches.
If you want to look at the absolute standouts of the Attack stat from the Fighting-type, you have Conkeldurr, Buzzwole, Pheromosa, Sirfetch’d, Crabominable, Urshifu, Breloom, Machamp, and Zamazenta as Pokemon you do not want to take a punch, kick, tackle, or blade from.
1 Steel: Defense
If there’s one type that can out-Defense the Rock-type, it’s the Steel type, and its top-spot ranking on this list proves that point.
While the type is also great on the physically-offensive end (111.08 Attack), the Steel-type’s 122.88 average Defense is the highest average stat any type can claim. Some of the very best defensive Pokemon represent this correlation, namely: Stakataka, Steelix, Aggron, and Bastiodon.
NEXT: The 15 Best Pokemon Stone Evolutions
