Vaporeon is a very effective Wish passer. His high HP and Special Defense help him take hits very well and his respectable Special Attack makes him no small threat offensively either. Surf and Ice Beam are the basis of many a Water types moveset and both are highly recommended for Vaporeon. However, Toxic is a good alternative on something that can stall quite effectively; it's useful for wearing down his fellow Water-types and other defensive Pokémon, like Dusknoir. In the last slot, you can use Protect to both heal Vaporeon and scout what your opponent is planning to throw at you. Yawn can induce sleep, but is also somewhat effective at causing switches. Hidden Power Electric deserves consideration to surprise the ever-threatening Gyarados, who can only 3HKO the little aquatic dog even after a boost from Dragon Dance.
This set can be useful as part of a Baton Pass chain. Vaporeon passes very bulky Substitutes, which are unbreakable by a single Seismic Toss or Night Shade. Alternatively, you can pass Defense boosts with Acid Armor. Wish provides further support and can be used in the place of Ice Beam. Acid Armor is also viable in the third slot if you want to ensure Vaporeon's Subs will be harder to break with physical attacks.
A more offensive version of Vaporeon, geared to use his often overlooked base 110 Special Attack. With this this set, Vaporeon trades its amazing ability to tank for much higher offensive power. This offensive power is potent enough to OHKO Garchomp with Ice Beam, even against the Yache Berry versions. Ice Beam will also 2HKO most Celebi. HP Electric helps to cover other Water-types, 2HKOing Starmie and easily OHKOing Gyarados. You can 2HKO most opposing Vaporeon too, with a little help from Stealth Rock and Sandstorm or Hail. The choice between Hydro Pump, Wish, and Baton Pass is a tough one. Hydro Pump hits much harder all around, and 2HKOs most Regice. Now, Wish with Choice Specs may look slightly weird, but it actually works rather well. It will provide team support while Vaporeon's counters are still healthy. This is rather helpful to support the team when the opponent has something like Blissey or Snorlax alive that can take everything on this set and force Vaporeon out. Baton Pass is useful for scouting a counter in the beginning of the match and getting a more favorable matchup. Unfortunately, what this set gains in offensive capabilities it loses in the area of defense. Garchomp's Swords Danced Outrage and Earthquake will now OHKO. Infernape's Life Orb Close Combat still fails to 2HKO, as does Thunderpunch and Grass Knot, so this still serves as a great Mixape counter. Other OptionsHaze and Roar are options for phazing, although he is an average user of them at best. They can be useful against a Calm Mind Suicune though. Charm helps to shut down physical attackers switching in to take advantage of Vaporeon's low Defense. Fake Tears can help to cause switches or let Vaporeon hit harder. EVsVaporeon should be Bold natured and have maxed out Defense in order to take hits from the likes of Garchomp and Infernape. 269 Special Attack is required to OHKO most Garchomp, but the EVs provided hit 273 to give you some added protection against any bulkier versions you may encounter. The remaining 188 EVs should go into HP, which will also allow for maximum Leftovers recovery. This spread works fine for the Wish Support and Baton Pass sets, but if you're not using Ice Beam on the Baton Pass set you can leave out the Special Attack EVs for more HP. With just a little (48 EVs) investment in Vaporeon's Speed you can outrun most Skarmory and Surf them before they set up or recover. Vaporeon doesn't need EV allocation in his Special Defense. The only special attacks he will usually be switching into do very little damage—Fire attacks, Ice Beams—or, in the case of Surf, healing him. OpinionSwampert, Suicune and Milotic were the defensive Water types of choice for many battlers in the ADV generation. However, Vaporeon is much better situated to take on the new threats of Garchomp and Infernape, amongst others. Thanks to his much higher Special Attack, he needs little in the way of EV investment to OHKO the aforementioned Dragon, allowing him to load up his defenses. In regards to Infernape, Grass Knot hits Vaporeon's excellent Special Defense for a paltry 60 base power meaning he can take even boosted hits from it with little trouble. Aside from those advantages, his ability to support the team with Wish makes him a very useful Pokémon to have around. With residual damage from Stealth Rock, Spikes and Sandstorm to wear teams down, Wish support may be at a premium and few do a more effective job of it than Vaporeon. All in all, the little guy is a fine choice for most teams. CountersCelebi takes Ice Beams well and has Energy Ball to hit back with. Cresselia can Calm Mind up against him or throw Charge Beams until it receives sufficient boosts to break through Vaporeon's defenses. Blissey takes little damage from his attacks, but Wish makes it somewhat of a stalemate unless you run into a Calm Minder. Starmie and Ludicolo are both very effective and hit Vaporeon hard with Thunderbolt and Energy Ball, respectively. Poliwrath can set up a Substitute and Focus Punch, while Vaporeon can do little in return. Gyarados will set up on you if you're without Hidden Power Electric. Gardevoir and Porygon2 can Trace his Water Absorb and bring him down with Thunderbolt. |
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