Pokemon: The 25 Best Electric Moves, Ranked

Electric is perhaps the most beloved Pokemon type of all time thanks to Pikachu, and here are some cool type-specific moves for these creatures.

Electric-type Pokemon have 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 that high-ranking trainers in the franchise use them prominently.

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Pokemon of 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 September 11, 2022 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.

Nuzzle

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.

The automatic 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.

Electric 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 be immune to the sleep status effect.

This move also increases 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.

Thunder Fang

This is another great Electric-type move. It’s great 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 its 10% 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.

Thunder 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 a base 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.

Thunder 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 that many 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 modern Pokemon games and competitive play than it was previously, but it still stands as a good choice for those who need coverage across the board.

Overdrive

Overdrive is new to the Pokemon series, having been introduced in Pokemon: 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 to hit 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.

Wildbolt Storm

This is another move introduced in Pokemon: Sword and Shield. Wildbolt Storm is one of the more damaging Electric moves in the series with a power 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 a chance 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.

Electro 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 an Accuracy 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.

Fusion Bolt

Fusion bolt is a great finishing move since it deals substantial damage to the opponent. The base 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.

Discharge

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 will attempt to shock everyone in the surrounding area, including any allies on the field.

Discharge has a sizable 90 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.

Eerie Impulse

Eerie Impulse is one of those non-damaging Electric-type moves that deserve mentioning. It is similar to moves such as Charm, which lowers the target’s Attack stat by 2 stages. Eerie Impulse is different in that it lowers the Special Attack of the target by 2 stages instead, quite useful for fending off attackers.

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Dangerous Ground-type moves such as Earth Power and Scorching Sands will be greatly reduced in power thanks to Eerie Impulse. However, it’s lower on the list due to the overwhelming tendency of Ground-type moves being Physical attacks.

Parabolic Charge

This is a great move that can allow the Pokemon using to defeat every Pokemon the opposing trainer sends out in a match. Parabolic Charge has a base power of 65, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 20. A power of 65 isn’t that high, but this move’s effect more than makes up for the medium strength power level. The user heals the user by 50% of the damage it deals to the opponent. This move also strikes adjacent Pokemon during multi-Pokemon matches.

Three Pokemon learn Parabolic Charge via leveling-up; Helioptile, Heliolisk, and Dedenne. There aren’t many moves that heal the user, and this one heals the user and damages the opponent simultaneously.

Bolt Beak

All things being equal, Bolt Beak is a fairly middling Electric-type move. It has a power of 85, an accuracy of 100, and a PP count of 10. However, when the user of Bolt Beak goes first in a turn, the power of Bolt Beak is doubled, raising its power to an incredible 170. Normally when a move is this powerful, it only comes with a PP count of 5.

The need to go first is a bit of a liability. This is made a little more troublesome by the fact that only two Pokemon learn this move via leveling up: Dracozolt and Arctozolt. Neither of these Pokemon are very fast.

Bolt Strike

This move may be exclusive to Zekrom (and a special event Victini), but it is undeniably powerful and awesome to witness. Bolt Strike has a shocking base power of 130, as well as a 20% chance of inflicting Paralysis on the target, which can be a death sentence on the battlefield if the target managed to survive the initial attack.

Zekrom originally learned this powerful move at level 100, but as of Generation 8, it learns Bolt Strike at level 88 instead. This means trainers can get their hands on ultimate Electric power a little sooner.

Magnet Rise

Via: Pokémon Wiki

The Electric-type has only one weakness: Ground. This tends to be a major problem because Earthquake is one of the most common and devastating attacks trainers have in their arsenals. As such, Electric-types know that they’re likely to have an Earthquake aimed at their faces (those that have faces) whenever possible.

Luckily for them, a tricky little move exists just to circumvent that weakness. Magnet Rise sees the user levitate for five turns, making them immune to Ground-type moves. Only a select few can learn and make good use of it (and it also requires good timing), but this can be super useful.

Thunder

If Electric-types have a tendency to be speedy and offensive, then Thunder is the absolute epitome of that concept. Currently standing at 110 base power with a shaky accuracy of 70%, it’s equivalent to the Ice-type Blizzard.

Generally, because this move often misses when players need it to hit the most, the weaker, more reliable Thunderbolt is preferred. If rain is in play, however, Thunder will always hit. It’s a huge asset on rain teams, which generally lean towards hyper offense as a rule.

Buzzy Buzz/Zippy Zap

Via: Pokémon Wiki

Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee weren’t the bona fide Generation Eight experience that Nintendo Switch gamers were hoping for. Many saw the game as too watered down, too casual (not that Pokemon is Dark Souls difficult by any stretch), and exclusive moves titled Buzzy Buzz and Zippy Zap didn’t do very much to alleviate that impression.

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On the plus side, they’re hilariously overpowered moves. Buzzy Buzz is exclusive to the partner Eevee, a 100% accurate move with 90 base power that always paralyzes the opponent when it hits. Zippy Zap, meanwhile, is learned only by the partner Pikachu. It has Extreme Speed’s priority, 50 base power, perfect accuracy, and always lands as a critical hit.

Charge Beam

Charge Beam also boasts a less-than-stellar 50 base power. However, like Zippy Zap, it’s very powerful in a different kind of way.

Charge Beam is, in short, a bulky booster’s best friend. This move has an absurd 70% chance to increase the user’s Special Attack, meaning that things can snowball very quickly. It’s a situational move that you can’t just throw out there, but crafty players can have a huge amount of success with it.

Volt Tackle

Now, there are pros and cons to Volt Tackle. On the plus side, it’s the very last word in physical Electric damage, with a hefty 120 base power (delivering some major recoil to the user in exchange). The unfortunate thing is that only Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu have access to it. Generally, these Pokemon are about as much of a physical threat as a happily napping kitten.

Pikachu being the golden child of the franchise, though, there’s a saving grace here. The item Light Ball, which can only be used by Pikachu, doubles its Attack and Special Attack. In this case, it becomes a glass cannon to fear.

Volt Switch

This move is very similar to the physical Bug-type attack U-Turn: it has 70 base power and causes the user to automatically switch out of battle after it connects.

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In a switch-heavy match (read: any competitive match ever), Volt Switch offers fantastic utility. It tends to be paired with speedy Electric-types, such as the aforementioned Jolteon. This enables the player to deal some significant damage while gaining a positional advantage over the opponent.