The 10 Best Pokemon Best Against Dark Type Pokemon [Ranked]

Iron Valiant

A Future Paradox Pokemon from Pokémon Violet, Iron Valiant is probably the best bet for taking on Dark type Pokémon.

A robotic futuristic counterpart to both Gardevoir and Gallade, Iron Valiant is a Fairy and Fighting type Pokémon with a whole lot of power.

This Paradox Pokemon has massive Attack and Special Attack stats which allow it to use a range of physical or special moves, along with the varied movepool to really make use of its good stats.

Iron Valiant gets a brilliant spread of Fighting and Fairy type attacks like Dazzling Gleam, Spirit Break, and Aura Sphere, while also getting hard-hitting Bug type moves like X-Scissor.

With its wide movepool Iron Valiant is a great option for many scenarios, so it's a good all-rounder as well.

For me, Iron Valiant is almost the perfect Paradox design as it artfully blends the designs of both Gallade and Gardevoir into something new and awesome, giving it pride of place as the top choice in this list.

Zacian

One of the best Pokemon of all time, Zacian is a powerful Legendary Pokemon that's great in many, many scenarios. This Pokemon is strong in competitive play, makes for a good Tera raider, and sweeps the board in casual gameplay.

The undisputed Queen of her generation, Zacian is still an effective choice in Generation IX, especially against Dark type Pokémon.

Zacian's true strength lies in its Fairy type, but it gets access to a bunch of great Fighting type attacks as well, heavy hitters like Sacred Sword and Focus Blast, making it a great option.

One of the most powerful Pokemon period, Zacian is one of the all time greats and its amazing utility against Dark type Pokemon make it an easy pick for second place.

Great Tusk

A powerful and ferocious prehistoric monster, Great Tusk is well suited to a range of situations thanks to its massive Attack stat. As one of the strongest Fighting types it's a great choice to use against Dark types, while its other type, Ground, is powerful and versatile too. I really like Great Tusk because it's got an amazing design, but its utility is fantastic.

Great Tusk has a nice and surprisingly varied selection of moves, from many awesome Fighting moves to Bug moves like Megahorn and even Fairy moves like Play Rough.

Great Tusk is a powerful Pokémon with a fantastic design, great utility, and good availability, making it a useful counter to even Dark types like Kingambit.

It's easily one of my favorite Paradox designs, as its well thought out design makes it look and feel like a real prehistoric creature. Its sheer power makes it a top three choice.

Azumarill

Azumarill is a really good option for taking on Dark type Pokemon. Introduced in Generation II as a pure Water type Pokemon, Azumarill became a Fairy Pokemon in Generation VI.

Thanks to its Huge Power Ability Azumarill has effectively double its Attack stat, making it a really strong physical attacker. This has let it see great use competitively and in Tera raids, so it's a great option for taking on Dark types.

It has a great movepool with both Fighting and Water type physical moves to really use its advantages. 

It missed out a top three spot only because it lacks a bit of flair compared with its competition, but it's absolutely amazing at what it does and deserves a top five spot.

Grimmsnarl

Grimmsnarl is a good choice of Pokemon to use against its fellow Dark type Pokémon because it has a double resistance to Dark type, meaning it only takes a quarter of the damage from Dark attacks. Thanks to its Fairy type it gets a bunch of awesome Fairy type moves like Spirit Break and Play Rough.

This trickster fairy Pokemon is a great option in battle as it has Dark type's immunity to Psychic type Pokémon and their moves, while having great Fairy type options for tackling Dark type weaknesses.

But Grimmsnarl's flexible movepool means it has both Fighting and Bug type moves to hit all three Dark type Pokémon's weaknesses, making it a superior choice in battle. Grimmsnarl's flexibility mean it's also one of the best counters to Ghost type Pokemon as well!

Slither Wing

A Past Paradox Pokemon from Pokémon Scarlet, Slither Wing is one of a surprising number of Fighting and Bug types that absolutely slaps hard in battle.

This Paradox Pokemon has a cool and striking design drawing a connection to its supposed modern-day counterparts, but which still manages to look absolutely unique.

Slither Wing has a range of great Fighting and Bug type moves like Bug Buzz and Close Combat, and a powerful Attack stat that makes this Pokémon's moves hit hard. Its movepool is nice and flexible, meaning it serves well in a variety of situations and not just for taking on Dark type Pokemon.

Togekiss

A happy-go-lucky Fairy type Pokemon, Togekiss excels in a range of scenarios. Its Fairy type makes it a fantastic counter to Dark type Pokemon.

Its high Special Attack stat means it's a great choice when using powerful Fairy type moves like Dazzling Gleam or Moon Blast, but it even gets the Fighting type move Aura Sphere for a bit more utility.

Togekiss is a great Pokemon with a whole lot of utility in game to go with its cute and adorable look. But its power is really what makes it such a good counter to Dark type Pokemon.

It even has good resistances and two great immunities to powerful and useful Pokémon types, Ground and Dragon type.

It's also one of the best Fairy type Pokémon!

Clefable

One of the original 151 Pokémon, Clefable was originally a Normal type Pokémon but was given a massive glow up in Generation VI with the introduction of the Fairy type.

Clefable has a cute yet simplistic design theme, and its Magic Guard Ability is one of the best Abilities in the Pokemon franchise.

Clefable's main downfall comes from its average stats, but its flexible movepool and great Ability make up for this and in the right hands, Clefable slaps hard.

Being a monotype Fairy Clefable only has the Fairy weaknesses to Poison and Steel types, making it a good option for taking on many Dark types including dual type Pokemon.

This makes Clefable one of the best Dark type counters even though its stats are only average.

And it's a personal favorite of mine!

Pheromosa

An Ultra Beast from another dimension, Pheromosa is a phenomenal attacker with both physical and special moves, meaning it excels at taking on Dark type Pokémon.

With its two advantageous types, Bug and Fighting type, Pheromosa gets multiple types it can use to deal super effective damage to Dark type Pokemon.

Its only major downfall is its lackluster defensive stats, but its high Speed and great stats mean it doesn't need to take hits anyway.

Make no mistake - despite Pheromosa's elegant and sophisticated look, it's absolutely one of the best counters to Dark type Pokemon thanks to its amazing stats and movepool containing Bug and Fighting type moves like Bug Buzz, Bug Bite and Close Combat for dealing double damage.

Its great typing means it only takes half damage from Dark type attacks, too.

Buzzwole

One of the Ultra Beasts, Buzzwole is a Fighting and Bug type Pokemon that's great at taking on Dark types.

Featuring an insectoid body-builder design and a totally swole Attack stat Buzzwole is a heavy hitter with its physical attacks, making battle against Dark type Pokemon a real breeze.

Using its powerful Fighting and Bug type moves like Dynamic Punch, Lunge, and Leech Life Buzzwole is able to hit two of the Dark type weaknesses for massive damage.

Buzzwole never skips a gym sesh, which must be why it's one of the best Fighting type Pokémon!