Psyshock is one of three attacks of its kind, alongside Psystrike and Secret Sword. These three attacks are all in the 'Special' category, but instead of targeting the opponent's Special Defence, they target its Defence. This lets the user of Psyshock/Psystrike/Secret Sword to act as a pseudo-Mixed attacker. It also lets Pokémon like Gardevoir beat Special walls like Chansey, who would otherwise wall her severely.