The idea: working back from the effect to the type
A run opens on a Hidden Power whose type is secret and a grid of eight Pokémon, each shown with its sprite and name. Tap a Pokémon: you attack it, and the game shows the message that attack would produce in battle. You attack as many Pokémon as you need, then name a type. On each grid, the first three Pokémon you attack are free, and each one after that costs 2 seconds.
The hidden type is one of the 16 types a Hidden Power can take: every type except Normal and Fairy. Matchups follow the type chart of the sixth and seventh generations, which you can find in our type chart guide.
Only the types of the Pokémon you attack count, never its ability. To keep every message true, Pokémon whose abilities would all change the message, such as Levitate or Water Absorb, are left out of the grids: Flygon and Unown, whose only ability is Levitate, never appear. The grids draw from 283 recognizable Pokémon, species in their usual form plus the regional forms that have types of their own, such as Alolan Raichu (Electric/Psychic).
The four messages
Every attack returns one of these four messages, and two of them cover two multipliers:
- Super effective: ×2 or ×4. The message does not say which.
- Neutral: ×1.
- Not very effective: ×0.5 or ×0.25.
- No effect: ×0, the target is immune.
A message does not point to one type, it points to a group of types: all those that would produce that message on that Pokémon. The rest are ruled out. The whole method is about crossing those groups until only one type is left.
Example on Gyarados (Water/Flying): "super effective" leaves Electric (×4) or Rock (×2), two types the message cannot tell apart. To split them, you have to attack another Pokémon.
No effect: the message that rules out the most
A Hidden Power can only run into seven immunities:
- Electric has no effect on the Ground type;
- Ground has no effect on the Flying type;
- Fighting has no effect on the Ghost type;
- Ghost has no effect on the Normal type;
- Psychic has no effect on the Dark type;
- Poison has no effect on the Steel type;
- Dragon has no effect on the Fairy type.
Against these 16 types, a defending type therefore has at most one immunity. On a single-type Pokémon, "no effect" gives you the answer straight away: on Snorlax (Normal), it is Ghost. On a dual type, at most two candidates are left: on Steelix (Steel/Ground), Poison or Electric; on Gengar (Ghost/Poison), only Fighting, since the Poison type has no immunity.
Above all, remember the other side of it: a Pokémon carrying the Ground, Flying, Ghost, Normal, Dark, Steel or Fairy type can win you a round in a single attack.
Neutral: what it really says
A "neutral" rules out every type that would be super effective, resisted or blocked by that Pokémon. On Tyranitar (Rock/Dark), it leaves only four candidates: Electric, Ice, Rock and Dragon.
On a dual type, neutral does not always mean "no relationship". It can come from a ×2 cancelled by a ×0.5. A Grass attack on Gyarados (Water/Flying) is neutral: Water is weak to Grass, but Flying resists it. Before ruling a type out, always think about both of the Pokémon's types at once.
This trap comes up more and more as the run goes on: from the third round, all eight Pokémon on the grid have two types.
Which Pokémon to attack first
At the start, 16 types are possible. The best first attack is the one that spreads those 16 types across the four messages, so that no message leaves many behind. A dual type that piles up weaknesses, resistances and immunities does this far better than a single type.
- Snorlax (Normal) answers "neutral" to 14 types out of 16. Only Fighting (super effective) and Ghost (no effect) stand out: attacking it first teaches you almost nothing.
- Tyranitar (Rock/Dark) splits the 16 types into 1, 5, 4 and 6: no effect for Psychic; not very effective for Fire, Poison, Flying, Ghost and Dark; neutral for Electric, Ice, Rock and Dragon; super effective for Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Bug and Steel.
- Krookodile (Ground/Dark) does even better, with 2, 4, 5 and 5: two immunities (Electric and Psychic), and no message that leaves more than five types.
On a grid, look first for dual types built from types rich in matchups: Ground, Steel, Rock, Dark or Ghost paired with another type often make the best openers. Single-type Pokémon, found in the first two rounds, are more useful for settling things at the end.
The step-by-step method
A round is played in four moves:
- Open on the dual type richest in weaknesses, resistances and immunities.
- List the types that would give the message you got on that Pokémon. Those are the only candidates.
- Split: look for the Pokémon that gives different messages to the remaining candidates. At this point a single type can be the best pick, because it only has a few types left to tell apart.
- Name the type as soon as only one candidate is left.
Example. Tyranitar answers "neutral": Electric, Ice, Rock and Dragon are left. Marowak (Ground) gives each of them a different message: no effect for Electric, not very effective for Rock, neutral for Dragon, super effective for Ice. It answers "not very effective": it is Rock, found in two attacks.
Every grid served separates the 16 types: two different hidden types always produce a different sequence of messages across its eight Pokémon. A round can therefore always be solved with the grid, without guessing. Two or three attacks are usually enough for a player who knows the type chart.
One last habit: each round draws its type from all 16, and the same one can come back. Do not rule out the type you just found.
The clock and the penalties
The whole run lasts 120 seconds, across all rounds. On each grid, the first three Pokémon you attack are free; each new Pokémon you attack after that costs 2 seconds. A Pokémon you already attacked keeps its message on screen: attacking it again costs nothing. A wrong type costs 5 seconds: it is crossed out, and you stay on the same grid.
The free attacks are almost always enough for a perfect player: they need 2.5 attacks per grid on average, and 3 at most on about 97% of grids.
Hence a simple rule: as long as two types are still possible, attack again rather than gamble. An attack costs 2 seconds at most, and nothing on the first three Pokémon, while a mistake costs 5. Guessing between two candidates means risking 5 seconds to save 2 at most.
The right type takes you straight to a new grid and a new hidden type. No grid comes back within a run, and difficulty rises from one round to the next:
- round 1: two single-type Pokémon and six dual types;
- round 2: one single-type Pokémon and seven dual types;
- from round 3: eight dual types.
Score, leaderboard and rewards
Your score is the number of types found in 120 seconds. On a tie, the player who reached that score faster ranks higher.
Every type found is also worth 1 point toward the cumulative score and 1 coin. The mode has its own leaderboard, Hidden Power, which you can view for today, the week or all time.
You get one run a day, and the day changes at midnight Paris time for everyone. Without an account you play as a guest: your run does not enter the leaderboard, but you keep what you earned (coins, mascots) when you create your account.
Unown and the real move
The mode is named after a real move. Hidden Power debuted in the second generation, in Pokémon Gold and Silver. Its type depends on the IVs of the Pokémon using it, it can be neither Normal nor Fairy, and its power has been fixed at 60 since the sixth generation. For a refresher on how moves work in general, read our moves guide.
Unown knows no move other than Hidden Power: it is the mascot of the mode. You earn it by playing Hidden Power seven days in a row. Its shiny version can drop after a daily run in which you found at least one type.