Psychic types - strong or weaklings?

[Meep]

What are your opinions on writing psychic types? Do you image them to be sly, able to take over an opponent's own body, or as weaklings who can barely lift a straw, and have to rely on their (perhaps weak) mental powers?

For everyone it's different. You may think of an Abra as a short, wimpy creature who has not that many mental powers, while your friend sees the same Abra as a strong beast, able to rip apart enemies using only the mind.

I write my psychic types as being very, very strong. In my opinion, many, if not all, have at least the abillity to 'talk' inside of someone's head. The stronger ones could take over an opponent's mind, making them run into a wall, hit itself, ect.

 

[Orion-Sama]

I treat Psychic Pokémon as Pokémon that can use their mind powers as energy. Only a few have full-on capacity of controlling their opponents and every attack thrown at them. Unexperienced Psychics attack with weak mind waves and small orbs/rings of blue energy formed by their mental power.

Also, the state of the mind is important for when a Psychic Pokémon is battling. Dark Pokémon are frightening by nature, and thusforth, Psychics can't keep their mind in focus at all, as it's driven by their fears. A weakened Psychic Pokémon can't perform as well as a healthy Psychic too.

They're quite hard to portray, seeing how the Anime has them as all-powerful and pretty much omnipotent. I prefer to take a more Game-based focus myself. They're strong, but not invincible, as the Anime makes them stand out as...

 

[Negrek]

I generally have them as being on the strong side. They have the inherent ability to speak telepathically, and most can lift or manipulate small objects even in their weakest form. As they become stronger, they are able to actually look into other's thoughts and detect them from a distance. It takes a very powerful psychic and a very weak-minded individual for them to have any degree of control over their target's physical actions, though attacking emotions, playing upon fears, and the like.

Also, I don't have them attack with psychic energy or the like; while they can lift and manipulate objects telekinetically, when directly attacking an opponent they usuall use their powers to trigger pain centers in the foe's brain and cause neurological distress--while little physical damage occurs, it is far from pleasant.

But even physically, not all psychic pokemon are weak. Take, for example, medicham.

 

[Ash_Junior]

for me, Psychics are strong. Even ridiculously so.

in my fics, they are the ones that put up Barriers/Force Fields that hold back attacks in my massive battles, they coordinate said large battles, they're the only translators between Pokes and humans, and they are copmetent long-range (Psybeam)/short-range (Psychic) attackers. Plus, teleportation (especially for covert insertion) has always fascinated me with the Psychics, so I use that a lot.

I do consider Psychics to be the ultimate type. Not even Dark types can overcome them if they're all linked together Psychically (they don't share power with each other or any of that other nonsense, but they do have an EXTREME coordination that lets them plan things to the minutest detail....

thus letting them defeat Dark types, even though they're weak to 'em.

because in my book....excellent tactics>extreme strength



my two creds

 

[Iveechan]

I treat Psychic as a regular Pokemon. I really REALLY hate the concept of a god-modding type, one who's all powerful and above you. It just reminds me of being in school and having to deal with holier than thou people (I tend to dislike mystical Pokemon and favor down to earth types anyhow). I made a Hitmonchan beat the crap out of Kadabra out of spite (the chan was very well-trained though).

 

[PDL]

it's weird how the star of my fic is a psychic type, yet she hasn't done anything psychic typish yet ;

 

[The Big Al]

I treat them like any other Pokemon. They attack the mind instead of the body. However, they can't defend themselves while attacking because all their faculties are geared towards attacking. they have their own strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Eternal Daydreamer]

I think Physic types are powerful. Or at least some of them are. Such Alakazam. But others such as Hypno and Ralts (a really young one) cannot live as long or get as powerful.

 

[Ash_Junior]

er...if you look at their stats, Hypno are better suited to taking a physical pounding...

although Alakazam are more powerful in the final special strength department

Hypno rule!

btw, what I meant was that Psychics are a lot more versatile and used for a lot more stuff than any other type in my fics.

not that they were legendary pwoerful or anything.

they're jsut as powerful as any other Poke, but they're a lot more valuable.

 

[Evanji Axu]

I imagine Psychic types to use their psychic powers as energy, attacking with blasts and beams, putting up invisible barriers, telepathy, and teleporting. They are somewhat stronger than other types, but their attacks take a long time to prepare. Because Dark types are opportunistic and sly, they take advantage of this and strike while the attack is charging, breaking the psychic-type's concentration, hence the weakness to Dark. Also, Dark types are tough-minded and independent, and can resist a psychic blast with ease.

A near-godly psychic could take over a weak-minded Pokemon and manipulate them like a puppet, but most can only induce nervous-system-related symptoms like hallucinations and headaches. They may be smart, but there are other Pokemon, like Dragonite and Ninetales, who are just as intelligent, if not more so.

 

[+Chaos Blade+]

As for me, having a Pokemon with Psi abilities is great. If you are using an Alakazam, you can make it walk by letting it levitate in a Zen-like position, and as you walk, it waits, and teleports to where you're going to [Remember kids, it has an Intelligence Quotient of 5,000]. It uses its spoons to cause serious damage - it can lift opponents just by thinking about lifting.

Sounds pretty powerful to me.

 

[Nylf]

In my fics Psychics are a rarity for use. In EL, Drake's team has 0 psychic Pokemon, or in fact anything that can use Psychic attacks. Suila as well, zip even in the pseudo psychic(Gorebyss) department. The third MC will have a [spoil]Metagross[/spoil] but he uses it as more of an offensive tank, preferring it's physical attacks such as Meteor Mash over stuff like Psychic. The only even slightly regular character who is a Psychic Pokemon is a Pokemon from Zel's past, and she generally only appears in flash backs and in chapter 6. She will not be uber whatever. Her psychic powers are used to allow telepathy, teleportation, and blasts of energy(Psybeam, Psychic). And that's it. Psychics are just another Pokemon type, though for the purposes of NL, NH, I treat them less Psychic more as light, as most attacks, excluding Solarbeam, that revolve around light are Psychic or used by psychics.

Or to put it simply, brain=bron. They aren't uber, they just use a differant elemental source for their power than Fighting/Dragon/Normal etc.

 

[Kiyohime]

Meh, I see them as a typical Pokemon, just able to use their mind as a weapon the same way Fire types use fire as a weapon. They have their own limitations and strengths like all other Pokemon. Metagross is incredibly strong, but he'll be destroyed by a hefty Fire Blast if he doesn't manage to get up a barrier in time. It's also all about how well they were trained.

 

[mindripper]

Logically speaking, a psychic entity would be stronger than a physically efficient entity of the same attributes, ie same physical resistances for sure. Look to comics for the best possible analogy. Leaving cosmic entities, ie silver surfer, galactus, thanos etc aside, we quickly find that psychics are often the most powerful mutants around. Sue Storm is almost safely regarded as the most powerful member of F4, while X-man pretty much hammers everyone in the x-men verse.

Aside from comics, a psychic's power comes from the fact that resistance to mental intrusion is likely to be lower to that of a physical attack, esp if psychic entities are realistically going to kill once given a chance. How? Why not a simple forcefield within the victim's body, expanding outwards? Or telekinesis, releasing the victim from a height? That leaves out mental takeovers and psychic energies converted into concussive forces. Saying that a psychic's abilities lie in attack is incorrect, for defensive abilities as well as offensive abilities should have corresponding ties, depending on an entity's psychic abilities. Speaking in RPG lingo, if a level 60 elemental or physical user was to go up against a level 60 psychic, I would put my money on the psychic, and probably win 99 out of 100. Beside offensive abilities, of which I have only touched the tip of the iceberg, we go on to defensive abilities like teleportation and the formation of barriers. Physical entities should not even trouble a psychic, as premeditated teleporation takes care of any problems. Elemental attacks only travel as fast as the attack allows, and there is a lag time to charge the attack. For example, even if fire were to move at mach speed, about 330m/s, charge-up time notwithstanding, all a psychic needs to do is to think about setting up a barrier, and it's there. How fast do cognitive synapses allow electrical impulses to travel? Speed of light, or approximately 300000000m/s. Do the math. If both entites are of a similar level, there is little chance anything can get past the barrier at all.

The barrier might not last! Of course, nothing is infinite. however, a mental contraption borne of concentration is a lot easier to maintain than elemental attacks. How long do you think Squirtle can hold a watergun? In the game, and to a larger extent, anything requiring more than a 10 second victory for psychic entities 99% of the time, gameplay mechanics, as well as storyline techs are introduced.

 

[Nylf]

Man am I glad Maths never was a problem. mindripper probably just made the most valid point to make me think. As I said, my view on psychic powers was limited as I rarely need to touch on anything more than telepathy. Though of course, with the elemental vs psychic argument, is there a differance? Psyche(I think that's right) is the energy of the mind manifested into various physical and ethereal forms, and elemental energy is natures power being manipulated into various physical and ethereal forms. Now, how does something manipulate nature? The same way a psychic manipualtes their own energy. Therefore, in my eyes, wielding psychic energy is simply wielding a closer source of energy than nature. So, for my personal favourite example, a Combusken vs a Kirlia, in this fight a Combusken would be wielding a physical form of psyche which manifests as it's fighting element and a physical form of elemental energy in the form of it's fire element, while the Kirlia would be wielding both a physical and ethereal form of psyche as it is psychic type. Psychic power is wielding the mind, fighting power is wielding the body and elemental power is wielding nature. Ki, chi and something else are outer examples. Ki is the power of the mind made wieldable, like psychic power in Pokemon, while chi is the power of the body made wieldable like fighting power in Pokemon. So let's try an example.

A Kirlia uses Reflect, using it's mind's energy to create a barrier of energy. Takes less than a second.

A Combusken counters with Brick Break, using it's body's energy to smash through the barrier and land a punch/kick. Takes less than a second to get that energy where needed.

There is no differance in how anything is wielded or what it is. In the end it all comes down to the wielder. A Combusken with a large amount of experience could take down a Kirlia in seconds, and vice versa. I have no justified a little better my views on Psychic power. It is simply another way to fight. It's why Dark/Psychic/Fighting form a trio, Dark=Nature, borrowing the power of darkness to attack, Psychic=Ki, wielding the very power of the mind to attack and Fighting=chi, wielding the body's energy to attack.

 

[Nylf]

Man am I glad Maths never was a problem. mindripper probably just made the most valid point to make me think. As I said, my view on psychic powers was limited as I rarely need to touch on anything more than telepathy. Though of course, with the elemental vs psychic argument, is there a differance? Psyche(I think that's right) is the energy of the mind manifested into various physical and ethereal forms, and elemental energy is natures power being manipulated into various physical and ethereal forms. Now, how does something manipulate nature? The same way a psychic manipualtes their own energy. Therefore, in my eyes, wielding psychic energy is simply wielding a closer source of energy than nature. So, for my personal favourite example, a Combusken vs a Kirlia, in this fight a Combusken would be wielding a physical form of psyche which manifests as it's fighting element and a physical form of elemental energy in the form of it's fire element, while the Kirlia would be wielding both a physical and ethereal form of psyche as it is psychic type. Psychic power is wielding the mind, fighting power is wielding the body and elemental power is wielding nature. Ki, chi and something else are outer examples. Ki is the power of the mind made wieldable, like psychic power in Pokemon, while chi is the power of the body made wieldable like fighting power in Pokemon. So let's try an example.

A Kirlia uses Reflect, using it's mind's energy to create a barrier of energy. Takes less than a second.

A Combusken counters with Brick Break, using it's body's energy to smash through the barrier and land a punch/kick. Takes less than a second to get that energy where needed.

There is no differance in how anything is wielded or what it is. In the end it all comes down to the wielder. A Combusken with a large amount of experience could take down a Kirlia in seconds, and vice versa. I have now justified a little better my views on Psychic power. It is simply another way to fight. It's why Dark/Psychic/Fighting form a trio, Dark=Nature, borrowing the power of darkness to attack, Psychic=Ki, wielding the very power of the mind to attack and Fighting=chi, wielding the body's energy to attack. Man I feel dull.

 

[The Big Al]

Then their's the mental capacity. Creating a barrier able to hold off another's attack takes a lot of concentration and mental power. Not mention the Abra line seems to suffer from severe physical atropheed making them very delicate and unable to take damage. So they're entirely reliant on their psychic abilities for both offense and defense.

Then is also the possibilty of pokemon gaining a resistance to psychic attacks through training. So just because the mind can be a powerful weapon, doesn't make Psychics all powerful. Don't forget, Dark's a completely immune to psychic attacks.

 

[mindripper]

Hey Al, I understand what you are trying to make out, and I realise that concentration is needed, in the same vein as the logic that concentration is needed on an elemental user's part as well, to carry on with an attack. However, ask yourself this: If I had negligible physical abilities, would I not pretty damn well make sure that my actual assets are utilised at an optimum level? Does not make sense that a pure psychic would develop other attributes save their own psionic abilities. Atrophy or not is beside the point, as mental capacity is waht a psychic needs, and real-world studies have shown the limitless capacity a mind has when properly attuned.

Then is also the possibilty of pokemon gaining a resistance to psychic attacks through training. So just because the mind can be a powerful weapon, doesn't make Psychics all powerful. Don't forget, Dark's a completely immune to psychic attacks.

As I have said, is it not logical to assume that certain gameplay elements combine to stem the power of psychics, or any other overly dominant character? Another comics analogy. Storm and wolverine. The latter does not stand an ice cube's chance in hell with the former, with flight and elemental abilities meaning it is only a matter of time before Wolverine is frozen, charred by lightning, etc. however, gameplay mechanics in the x-men games gives Wolverine a fair chance against the former. True in the game? Yes. Possible in comics canon? Not really. The same applies here. I do not see a flying pokemon ever losing to a fighting pokemon which has no range attacks of note. Logically, it is nigh impossible. A charizard would just go for an airborne starbucks, before flamethrowering the ground artillery style. A flying pokemon may get tired, yes, but I am willing to wager that ducking around and avoiding ranged attacks with splash AOE is far more tiresome. In the game, we only get a "resistance". A fair reflection? No. Logical? Possibly.

 

[Eternal Daydreamer]

This discussion could go on for a while. -.-; I agree with Mindripper because I am mostly a logical person when I'm not deciphiring hidden meanings of things.

About the Hypno Vs. Alakazam thing, I never said Hypno wasn't good. They are and I will have two (albiet very old) Hypnos in my story: "The Chocolate Factory". But in that story, it's more of a parable/parody so that may not be the best example.

 

[Elemental Charizam]

Psychics aren't particularly powerful in my view, though they are unusual. They can use their element to effect the body through telekinesis or orbs/beams of energy, or attack the mind through telepathy. Most pokemon are a little more susceptible to them if they attack in the last manner simply because they have less resistance to it, as it is unique among psychics.

But unless very strong, a Pschic type would'nt attack the mind directly, only project ideas into their oponents head, like being tired (hypnosis), confused (confusion) or blocking the way to certain attacks (imprison). Once the connection is in place though, it can be used to attack the psychic back... something Dark types can natrually do, and others can learn.

Psychic types are easily knocked out by physical attack as well, so all a strong oponent needs to do is land a few hits on the opponent. Even oone would probably break the concentration of the Psychic.

Telekinesis can't pass through the skin of any pokemon, either. So a forcefield pushing from the inside would be impossible.