Nine elements means an 81-cell table at first glance. The matchups actually form two structures: a five-element cycle and a chain hanging off Fire. Learn both and the chart is no longer needed.
The multipliers
Matchups only change the damage multiplier:
- Attacking with the element that beats theirs: ×2
- Attacking with the element theirs beats: ×0.5
- Everything else: ×1
The right element over the wrong one is a factor of four. Against a high-level boss, that gap does more than a better weapon.
The five-element cycle
These five link head to tail and close:
Water → Fire → Grass → Ground → Electric → Water
Water → 
Fire → 
Grass → 
Ground → 
Electric → Each arrow points at the element it beats: Water beats Fire, Fire beats Grass, Grass beats Ground, Ground beats Electric, Electric beats Water. Any link derives the rest.
The chain off Fire
The remaining four hang behind Fire in a one-way line:
Fire → Ice → Dragon → Dark → Neutral
Ice → 
Dragon → 
Dark → 
NeutralFire beats Grass and Ice, the only element that beats two. The rest of the chain runs Ice over Dragon, Dragon over Dark, Dark over Neutral.
Neutral sits at the end of the chain. It beats nothing and is beaten by Dark, so a Neutral Pal never has a type advantage — pick it for its stats and partner skill.
In practice
Against a tower boss or an Alpha, identify the element and step one link back along whichever structure it sits in. Against Dragon, that means Ice.
For a team, any two adjacent elements in the cycle already cover a lot of ground; add an Ice Pal for Dragons and most fights are covered.
A Pal's element and its skills' elements are separate. A Pal does not only learn moves of its own type, and the multiplier keys off the skill's element, so check the move list rather than the Pal's type.
The full 9×9 multiplier table is on the type chart, and every Pal's learnable skills are listed in the Paldex. Status effects add a second layer of damage modifiers — see status effects.