Electric-typePokemonhave always been held in high regard. The franchise’s resident rodent mascot, Pikachu, is an Electric-type, after all. That fact alone has probably done wonders for Electric’s reputation. Most importantly, Electric only has one weakness and offers great coverage offensively (just watch out for pesky Ground-types). It’s no surprise thathigh-ranking trainers in the franchise use them prominently.
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Pokemonof the lightning-imbued, yellow-hued persuasion always tend to be popular picks in battles, both casual and competitive. They’re often characterized as fast, heavy-hitters, such as common picks like Jolteon. As such, a lot of the best Electric moves are simple and straightforward powerful attacks, but Electric also offers some of the best supportive moves in the series. Let’s take a look!
Updated May 26, 2025 by Jeff Drake:There are so many great Electric moves in the Pokemon games, which probably explains why Electric-type Pokemon are among the most popular. Electric moves are among the most powerful in terms of damage dealt to the opponent. Many Electric moves can be spammed throughout an encounter with a rival trainer, and unless the opponent puts forward a Ground-type Pokemon this will probably be enough for the win. This update expands this list further by adding five additional entries and ranking them among the moves already here.
25Nuzzle
As far as damaging the opponent, Nuzzle is not the best move. It only has a 20 power rating; however, Nuzzle has a 100 accuracy. So, at least it never misses the target. As with many Electric-type moves, Nuzzle paralyzes the target. This has a 100% chance of occurring.
Theautomatic paralyzing makes Nuzzle a perfect opening attack. This will cause the opponent to possibly skip their turn. Even if the opponent isn’t forced to skip their turn, their speed is still lowered by 50%. This is the perfect move to use on speedy Pokemon to force them to act last in combat.
24Electric Terrain
Electric Terrain is unlike any of the other moves on this list. This move doesn’t directly damage opponents, nor does it cause any status effects on the target. Electric Terrain cause all non-flying, and non-levitating Pokemon involved in battle to beimmune to the sleep status effect.
This move alsoincreases the power of Electric attack moves by 50%. Against an opponent that’s already weak against Electric moves, this will turn middling attacks into devastating one-hit-faint moves. Electric Terrain lasts for five turns and can be used in conjunction with moves that affect weather.
23Thunder Fang
This is another great Electric-type move. It’sgreat as an initial strike move, and it’s also a great move for fainting a weakened Pokemon to conserve stronger attacks with lower PP counts. This move has a power rating of 65; not the best, but enough that the opponent isn’t going to shrug off the hit either. Thunder Fang’s accuracy is 95, so the chances of a miss are extremely low. The 15 PP count is also high enough that the player won’t have to ration this move use.
What makes this move a great opening move is its10% chance to make the opponent flinch. There is also a 10% chance of paralyzing the target as well. This makes Thunder Fang a great all-around Electric move despite its power being a bit on the average side.
22Thunder Cage
Thunder Cage does a moderate amount of damage when first used against the opponent. Then, over the next four or five turns, it continues to deal damage as well as trap the opponent — preventing them from fleeing combat. The move has abase power of 80 and an accuracy of 90.
Trapping an opponent is a sneaky way of eliminating an opposing trainer’s best Pokemon; at the very least, players will force them to waste their turn using an item. The only drawback to Thunder Cage is how few Pokemon learn this move via leveling-up. One. Only one Pokemon, Regieleki, learns this move. The upside is that Regieleki isn’t that bad.
21Thunder Punch
For a move that will pack a serious punch, Thunder Punch is one of three excellent elemental punches that were introduced in the very first Pokemon Generation, along with Ice Punch and Fire Punch. For a while, Thunder Punch was coveted because it was a move thatmany non-Electric-type Pokemon could learn.
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Pokemon Such as Clefairy, Mankey, Gengar, and even the Abra family could learn Thunder Punch via TM. Thunder Punch is less used in modernPokemongames and competitive play than it was previously, but it still stands as a good choice for those who need coverage across the board.
20Overdrive
Overdrive is new to thePokemonseries, having been introduced inPokemon: Sword and Shield. This move has a power of 80, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10. This move doesn’t have any additional effects on the target, like paralyzing or flinching.
This move made this list due to its ability tohit not only the target, but any adjacent opponent Pokemon as well. This makes Overdrive an invaluable move when fighting 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 matches. Unfortunately, Overdrive can only be learned by one Pokemon, Toxtricity, and it isn’t a TM or TR.
19Wildbolt Storm
This is another move introduced inPokemon: Sword and Shield. Wildbolt Storm is one of the more damaging Electric moves in the series with apower rating of 95. The downside to this high power rating is a lower than ideal accuracy of 80, and a PP count of only 5.
Wildbolt Storm also has achance of paralyzing the target. If the accuracy was just 10% higher this move would be ranked much higher, but a 20% chance to miss is just a little too high. Only one Pokemon can learn this move, Thundurus. There isn’t a TM or TR for Wildbolt Storm, so players need to train Thundurus if they want to use this move.
18Electro Ball
Electro Ball is an interesting move due to the way it calculates damage against the target Pokemon.The faster the user’s Pokemon is than the opponent, the more damage it will inflict. This is great, since Electric-type Pokemon are generally quite fast; just take beloved Eeveelution Jolteon with its 130 base Speed stat.
With anAccuracy of 100%, Electro Ball is reliable in some ways, but risky in others. It’s hard to guarantee that the player’s will be the fastest Pokemon on the battlefield, and in real life, there’s always someone better. That being said, the potential of doing 150 base damage against a very slow opponent is hard to pass up.
17Fusion Bolt
Fusion bolt is a great finishing move since it deals substantial damage to the opponent. Thebase damage of this move is 100, and its accuracy is also 100. This means it will unless something is affecting a Pokemon’s accuracy, hit every time - and hit hard. This move also works in tandem with another move; Fusion Flare, which is a Fire-type move.
When Fusion Flare is used before Fusion Bolt in the same turn, its power increases to 200. This works the other way around as well. There are only two Pokemon that can learn this move via leveling-up; Zekrom and Kyurem. This move would be higher on this list if not for its PP only being 5.
16Discharge
Most Pokemon types have moves that hit multiple targets simultaneously, and this has been true since Generation III’s introduction of double battles. Just like how Surf hits all Pokemon on the battlefield except the user, Electric move Discharge willattempt to shock everyone in the surrounding area, including any allies on the field.
Discharge has a sizable90 base power and 100% Accuracy, but does come at the risk of hurting one’s own Pokemon if not in a single battle. A great strategy is to have a Pokemon that is immune to or benefits from Electric-type attacks, such as Ground-type Pokemon or a Pokemon with Volt Absorb like Lanturn.
