[@Rune_Alchemist] This is a reasonable question. I probably wouldn't have thought of it without being brought up, but good thing you did.

I would prefer we go by the animations/information from the games when it comes to moves. The anime in some cases do some silly things. Like in the case of Confusion or Psychic.

I find it a lot more reasonable to say that these moves are some form of Psychic attack against the target's mind. A purple effect might appear like in the animation, but what's actually happening is that Confusion scrambles the opponent's mind. Probably has to focus with line-of-sight at the enemy, which explains how it could possibly miss. But still, rather competent a move, yes. This is what I reason.