Dark (type)

Template:ElementalTypes Template:TypeNotice Some notable trainers of Dark-types include Karen of the Indigo Plateau Elite Four and Sidney of the Hoenn Elite Four. Notably, the Dark-type is the only type that has not had at least one Pokémon Gym dedicated to it.

Statistical averages

Overall

Stat
HP: 66
Attack: 93
Defense: 59
Sp.Atk: 76
Sp.Def: 60
Speed: 71
Total: 0

Fully evolved

Stat
HP: 75.69
Attack: 103.06
Defense: 75.75
Sp.Atk: 85.19
Sp.Def: 73.81
Speed: 77.25
Total: 0

Battle properties

Dark-type moves:

• Are super-effective against: Ghost, Psychic
• Are not very effective against: Dark, Fighting, Steel
• Have no effect against: None

Dark-type Pokémon:

• Resist: Dark, Ghost
• Are weak to: Bug, Fighting
• Have immunity to: Psychic

Characteristics

Dark-type Pokémon were added in Generation II.

Dark-type Pokémon are notable for the fact that they don't have any strong stat trends other than Attack (which is in and of itself modified by a few powerful outliers and slightly ironic as Dark was a special type, not a physical type.), but usually have relatively poor defenses, with the exception of Umbreon and Tyranitar (the second is probably due to Template:T2). Just the same, Pokémon that are both Dark-type and Template:Type2 have no true weaknesses, as the resistances of the Dark-type cover the weaknesses of Ghost, and vice-versa. One of the greatest advantages of the Dark-type is that they are immune to Template:Type2s.

Dark-type moves, when combating Psychic-types, are especially useful due to their secondary effects; Crunch lowers Defense (an already low stat among Psychic-types), Bite causes Flinching, Faint Attack never misses, while Pursuit hits Pokémon as they switch for double damage. Many Dark-type moves also involve stealing or deception, such as moves like Thief, which steals an opponent's held item, and Snatch, which steals the beneficial effects of an opponent's moves.

Interestingly, despite the fact that in generations prior to Generation IV, all Dark-type moves were special moves, there is only one special Dark-type move in Generation IV (Dark Pulse), which itself was actually introduced in that generation, meaning all Dark-type moves from before are actually considered physical moves.

In total, there are 23 Pokémon with the Dark-type.

Pokémon

Pure Dark-type Pokémon

#		Name
197		Umbreon
261		Poochyena
262		Mightyena
359		Absol
491		Darkrai

Half Dark-type Pokémon

Primary Dark-type Pokémon

#		Name	Type 1	Type 2
198		Murkrow	Dark	Flying
215		Sneasel	Dark	Ice
228		Houndour	Dark	Fire
229		Houndoom	Dark	Fire
302		Sableye	Dark	Ghost
430		Honchkrow	Dark	Flying
461		Weavile	Dark	Ice

Secondary Dark-type Pokémon

#		Name	Type 1	Type 2
248		Tyranitar	Rock	Dark
274		Nuzleaf	Grass	Dark
275		Shiftry	Grass	Dark
318		Carvanha	Water	Dark
319		Sharpedo	Water	Dark
332		Cacturne	Grass	Dark
342		Crawdaunt	Water	Dark
434		Stunky	Poison	Dark
435		Skuntank	Poison	Dark
442		Spiritomb	Ghost	Dark
452		Drapion	Poison	Dark

Moves

Damage-dealing moves

Name	Category	Contest	Power	Accuracy	PP	Target	Notes
Assurance		Beauty	50	100%	10	One foe	If the target has already taken some damage in the same turn, this attack's power is doubled.
Beat Up		Smart	10	100%	10	One foe	Does more damage the more Pokémon are in the user's party.
Bite		Tough	60	100%	25	One foe	Has a 10% chance of causing the opponent to flinch.
Crunch		Tough	80	100%	15	One foe	Has a 20% chance of lowering target's Defense.
Dark Pulse		Cool	80	100%	15	One foe	Has a 20% chance of making the target flinch.
Faint Attack		Smart	60	—%	20	One foe	Never misses.
Fling		Tough	Varies	100%	10	One foe	Throws held item, power and effects depend on held item.
Knock Off		Smart	20	100%	20	One foe	Prevents the target from using its held item.
Night Slash		Beauty	70	100%	15	One foe	Has a high critical hit ratio.
Payback		Cool	50	100%	10	One foe	Power doubles if used after opponent attacks.
Punishment		Smart	Varies	100%	5	One foe	Power increases the more the target has powered up with stat changes.
Pursuit		Smart	40	100%	20	One foe	Deals double damage if target is switching out of battle.
Sucker Punch		Smart	80	100%	5	One foe	Attacks first. Fails if target is not preparing an attack.
Thief		Tough	40	100%	10	One foe	Steals target's held item if user has no held item.

Non-damaging moves

Name	Category	Contest	Power	Accuracy	PP	Target	Notes
Dark Void		Smart	—	80%	10	Both foes	Puts the target to sleep.
Embargo		Cute	—	100%	15	One foe	Prevents the target from using its held item. Also prevents Trainers from using items on it.
Fake Tears		Smart	—	100%	20	One foe	Sharply lowers the target's Special Defense.
Flatter		Smart	—	100%	15	One foe	Confuses the target. However, it also raises the target's Special Attack.
Memento		Tough	—	100%	10	One foe	The user faints. In return, it sharply lowers the target's Attack and Special Attack.
Nasty Plot		Cute	—	—%	20	User	Sharply raises the user's Special Attack.
Snatch		Smart	—	—%	10	Reaction	Steals the effects of any healing or status-changing move the target attempts to use.
Switcheroo		Cool	—	100%	10	One foe	The user trades held items with the target.
Taunt		Smart	—	100%	20	One foe	The target can only use attack moves for two to four turns.
Torment		Smart	—	100%	15	One foe	The target can't use the same move twice in a row.

Trivia

• Dark Void is the only Dark-type move that does not have 100% accuracy.
• There are no Dark-type moves with a base power more than 80, and is the only elemental type without a single move with a base power of 100 or more.
• None of the main characters of the anime own a Dark-type Pokémon. However, Ash, James and May own or have owned Pokémon that can evolve into a Dark-type; Larvitar, Corphish, Cacnea and Eevee respectively.
• Before Diamond and Pearl, damaging Dark-type moves were all considered Special, but all damaging Dark-type moves that existed back then became Physical in Generation IV. There is currently only one Special Dark-type move, and it was created in Generation IV: Dark Pulse. (barring Hidden Power)
• The Dark-type is the last of the 17 types to appear in National Pokédex order, at number 197. This is due to the fact that this type was introduced in Generation II, and the other new type introduced in that generation, Steel, was added as a secondary typing to Magnemite and Magneton. If Magnemite and Magneton were not counted, Steel would be last as Umbreon, the first Dark-type, comes before Forretress, the first Steel-type.
• Dark-type is the only type not to have a Gym that specializes in it. It does however, have Elite Four members that specialize in it.
• While holding the Dread Plate, Arceus's Judgement becomes the strongest Dark-type move.

In other languages

• Dutch: Duister
• French: Ténèbres
• German: Unlicht
• Hebrew: אפל affel
• Italian: Buio
• Japanese: あく (悪) aku
• Korean: 악 ak
• Spanish: Siniestro