InPokemongames the poison attack type has not traditionally been the most popular among players. For starters, it lacks a serious offensive presence. It’s only super-effective against Grass-types and (eventually) Fairy-types. Steel-types negate Poison moves entirely unless the user has Corrosion. Generation 1 didn’t have a Poison attack that caused significant damage, and bugs in the code made it weaker than it should have been. Generation 2 only added one Poison move, Sludge Bomb, which at least had a high attack rating of 90, and could Poison the opponent. Unfortunately, many of its best Poison-type Pokemon didn’t have the right stats to actually let Sludge Bomb shine.
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It wasn’t until Gen 4 that Poison-type moves began to compete with the other damage types in terms of damage potential. Now that this type has more damaging moves in its collection it’s become a viable option when choosing a party; despite lagging behind many Pokemon types in terms of offensive potential.
Updated on August 12, 2025, by Jeff Drake:The Poison-type Pokemon is a type that all players want to like. Many of them look cool. Some of them have impressive stats. Some of the Poison-types, for fans of the anime or players of the early Pokemon games, have nostalgia tied to them as well. The problem with Poison-type moves, however - the thing that keeps players from liking them - is that the Poison-type seems to be the most neglected. There really aren’t that many “must-have” Poison moves available, and the few that exist pale in comparison to the best Fire, Water, Fighting, or Psychic-type moves. That said, there are still some great options for those looking to include Poison-type Pokemon in their teams.
20Poison Gas
There isn’t much to Poison Gas. It doesn’t directly damage the opponent; all Poison Gas does is give them the poison status ailment. The silver lining is that this move has 90% accuracy, so, chances are, the opponent is going to be poisoned at the end of the turn.
Poison is a nuisance in battle. It removes 1/8th of the opponent’s hit points in damage every turn. This forces the opponent to either switch out their Pokemon, attempt to have them endure the poison damage, or waste a turn using an item or move to cure the poison. The latter opens up a window of opportunity; which, inPokemongames, is often crucial.
19Acid Spray
Acid Spray has an impressive name that brings to mind deadly things such as Xenomorphs and black dragons. If only Acid Spray lived up to its name. This isn’t a bad move - it has a power of 40, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 20. Acid Spray also lowers the target’s Special Defense by two stages.
Sadly, a power of 40 isn’t actually that bad for Poison-type moves. Overall it’s pretty low, but for the Poison-type, 40 is about average. At least it does more damage after every use. A PP count of twenty is a little low for a move this weak, though, players should absolutelyneveruse their PP Up and PP Max on Acid Spray.
18Sludge
Sludge is a decent Poison-type attack move. It has an attack power of 65, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 20. Sludge also has a 30% chance of poisoning the target. The average damage and chance to poison make Sludge an okay option for an opening move. It will allow a player to gauge how much damage the opponent can take while also offering a good chance of leaving the opponent poisoned.
In the end, Sludge is simply a weaker version of Sludge Bomb and Poison Jab. If this is the most powerful attack move a Pokemon receives, it might be a good idea to use a TM in order to improve its move-set.
17Gastro Acid
Abilities were introduced in Gen 3;Pokemon: RubyandSapphire(andEmerald). These are passive abilities, separate from move-sets, which aid Pokemon and hinder their opponents. Many of these abilities seem underpowered, however, there are some abilities that can make a Pokemon much stronger than they would otherwise be.
Gastro Acid cancels an opposing Pokemon’s ability. It doesn’t do any damage or inflict a status ailment, but, usually, canceling the opponent’s ability is enough. This can prevent an opponent from changing the weather in their favor, or remove any defensive buffs granted by an ability. Players should therefore never underestimate the usefulness of Gastro Acid.
16Shell Side Arm
Shell Side Arm is an excellent attack move. It has a power of 90, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10. This move has two effects. The first is that it has a 20% chance of poisoning the opponent. Shell Side Arm’s second effect is a choice of using either Special Attack or Attack when calculating its damage; whichever causes more damage is used.
There is one major drawback to Shell Side Arm though: only the Galarain Form of Slowbro learns this move. This isn’t a TM or TR move either; theonlyway to use this move is to get hold of a Galarian Slowbro inPokemon: SwordandShield. A move this unique should be a little more powerful than Shell Side Arm. This move is made a little more useful by being a non-contact attack move.
15Corrosive Gas
Corrosive Gas is a new attack introduced inThe Isle of ArmorDLC, part of the Gen 8 (SwordandShield) experience. This attack can be taught to a variety of Poison-types through the move tutor on the island. This attack is a status move with 40 PP and perfect accuracy, like many status moves. However, the status ailment it inflicts isn’t traditional, but is quite crippling in the right hands.
Corrosive Gas will render the target’s held item unusable. The corroded item cannot be swapped, removed, or restored; it’s as if the Pokemon is holding a junk item. This effect lasts throughout the rest of battle and cannot be cured through moves like Aromatherapy or Heal Bell. Considering how many Pokemon are reliant onabusing powerful held items, Corrosive Gas can help to cripple both offensive and defensive Pokemon that rely on an item to succeed.
14Coil
Coil is an appropriately named technique, particularly due to being available for serpent-like Pokemon (and Furret, for some reason). The user coils themselves up and goes into deep meditation, focusing their power. This status move increases attack, defense, and accuracy by one stage. In many ways, it’s limitations to specific Pokemon helps to keep it balanced, as these sorts of stat buffs are hard to come by. Hone Claws may have more widespread use, but the defense increase is hard to pass up.
Unfortunately, despite how powerful the move sounds, its users don’t exactly spark joy. Many either have better options for stat buffs, can’t make use of the attack boost, or are simply too bad to actually make it worth learning. However, if your Pokemon can learn Coil, it’s still a solid option, and the most effective self-buff with the Poison-typing.
13Toxic
Toxic is arguably the definitive Poison attack. It has been in the game since Gen 1, and from the start, it was a powerful technique. It has 10 PP, imperfect accuracy, and doesn’t deal damage. Asa status move, it’s fairly one-dimensional. However, it inflicts one of the greatest status ailments to cripple both damage dealers and tanks alike: the badly poisoned status.
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A badly poisoned Pokemon will take damage at the end of each round, like traditional poison. However, badly poisoned Pokemon will take progressively more damage as they stay engaged in battle. This prevents stalling Pokemon from stalling, and puts a ticking timer onto buffed-up attackers. The timer resets upon switching out. There are other attacks that have a chance of inflicting this type of poison, but Toxic is the most reliable. Best of all, the move can be learned by just about every single Pokemon.
12Baneful Bunker
Toxapex isone of the strongest Water-typesever added to the series, and likewise it’s one of the strongest Poison-types. Its unassuming appearance may fool inexperienced trainers, but those who have been battling competitively post-SunandMoonwill know the terror. It’s a bulky Pokemon with great stalling techniques. This includes its signature move: Baneful Bunker.
Baneful Bunker is a specialty Protect-like move, with 10 PP and similar mechanics. It fails if used successively, and can be broken through by Dynamax moves. However, Baneful Bunker is powerful due to its special features. If a contact move hits the Baneful Bunker, the attacking Pokemon will be poisoned. This free poison puts it a step above other similar moves, and helps Toxapex reign as one of the premiere walls of top-tier play.
11Toxic Spikes
Toxic Spikes is arguably the best status move within the Poison-type as a whole. It isn’t locked as a signature move, meaning a large variety of Pokemon can use it. Plus, it works perfectly on Pokemon that are already the move effective poison-types to begin with.
Toxic Spikes are a hazard move added in Gen 4. They scatter across the field, and the opponent’s Pokemon will become poisoned when they switch in a new Pokemon. This excludes Steel-types and other Poison-types, who will absorb and remove the spikes. It can also be layered twice, applying Toxic poison onto the opposing Pokemon instead of regular poison. Although it has a fair number of counters, Toxic Spikes are wildly dangerous when left unchecked. It single-handedly cripples teams, and is part of the reasonhazard control is so valuablein the current metagame.
