Milotic
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[Overview]
<p>Milotic returns for another round of UU, retaining her position as one of the premier bulky Water-types thanks to great defenses and access to Recover. This doesn't mean she can take a back seat though, as the new metagame has confronted her with new foes such as Roserade and Zapdos, as well as stiff competition from Suicune and Regenerator Slowbro. Thankfully, Milotic sports several advantages over her fellow bulky Water-types, including a fantastic Special Defense stat, access to Haze and Dragon Tail, and Marvel Scale, allowing her to utilize a RestTalk set effectively. Milotic may remain mostly unchanged from last generation, but she's still an incredibly solid defensive Pokemon. If your team needs some glue or an answer to threats such as Kingdra or Victini, look no further than this beautiful sea serpent.</p>
[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Scald
move 2: Recover
move 3: Ice Beam / Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Toxic / Haze / Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
ability: Marvel Scale
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is Milotic's classic defensive set, slightly fine-tuned with some of the new toys she received this generation. Scald is a very welcome addition to Milotic's movepool, offering both STAB and a nifty 30% burn chance to further boost her physical tanking capabilities. Ice Beam is the preferred coverage option to hit Grass-types who aren't too bothered by status, such as Roserade and Celebi, on the switch, while Hidden Power Grass deals respectable damage to opposing Water-types, especially Quagsire and Gastrodon.</p>
<p>The final slot comes down to which kind of utility benefits your team the most. Toxic lets Milotic and her teammates stall Pokemon out with even more ease, but it may conflict with Scald's burns, in which case you may want to opt for Surf instead. Haze and Dragon Tail are both ways to stop Pokemon from setting up on Milotic. Haze is a guaranteed method to eliminate any stat boosts (most notably against the infamous SmashPass combination) if Milotic isn't Taunted, while Dragon Tail bypasses Taunt and helps accumulate entry hazard damage, but is blocked by Substitute and only hits 90% of the time.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Instead of Recover, RestTalk can be used for recovery (recommended alongside Scald and Dragon Tail) to activate Milotic's unique Marvel Scale ability. For the most part though, this is better left to specially defensive spreads since this set already invests heavily in Defense. Another alternative is sacrificing a coverage option to use both Toxic and a phazing move, but this comes at the expense of letting Grass-types and some Water-types to completely shut down Milotic. As mentioned previously, Surf is an option as the STAB move of choice to avoid the statuses inflicted by Toxic and Scald conflicting with each other. The EVs maximize physical bulk, with 8 Speed EVs allowing Milotic to outpace neutral-natured Pokemon with base 50 Speed and maximum investment, such as Aggron.</p>
<p>Grass-types are fantastic teammates for Milotic as they resist the Grass- and Electric-type attacks that Milotic is weak to. Roserade can set up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, which Milotic's defensive nature appreciates greatly, while Celebi and Shaymin provide fantastic bulk and versatility. Fire-types such as Arcanine are also solid partners to form a Fire-Water-Grass core and ward off Grass-types who trouble Milotic. Snorlax is another valuable team option, as he is possibly the best answer to Chansey, Zapdos, and Raikou, all of whom cause many issues for Milotic.</p>
[SET]
name: RestTalk
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Scald
move 4: Dragon Tail
item: Leftovers
ability: Marvel Scale
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 56 SpD / 8 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes advantage of Milotic's fantastic Special Defense stat, allowing her to counter powerful special attackers such as Nidoking, Yanmega, and Alakazam. Rest is the chosen method of recovery, as the Defense boost from Marvel Scale in conjunction with her natural special bulk results in a Pokemon who isn't easy to take down. Additionally, Rest prevents Milotic from being vulnerable to Toxic damage, which undermines her ability to stall opponents out.</p>
<p>Being restricted to two attacks is usually a problem for RestTalk users, but Milotic's new moves in Scald and Dragon Tail are perfectly tailored for the role. Scald dishes out solid damage and can inflict burns to further cripple the opposing Pokemon, while Dragon Tail forces switches to accumulate entry hazard damage and prevents Milotic from being set up on when sleeping. This is all done whilst constantly recovering health with Rest and thus reaping the rewards of Marvel Scale, making RestTalk Milotic a rather frustrating Pokemon to face.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EVs and nature provide sufficient special bulk to handle common special threats and prevents vulnerability to strong physical attacks as well. Additional Special Defense EVs are an option if you want extra protection against Pokemon such as Nidoking, whose Thunderbolt may otherwise 2HKO Milotic on the switch. Meanwhile, 8 Speed EVs are once again recommended to outpace neutral-natured Pokemon with base 50 Speed, such as Aggron.</p>
<p>Since this set is specially-based, Milotic will need more protection against physical attackers than usual. Arcanine synergizes well with Milotic, and his natural bulk and Intimidate makes him an excellent check to an array of physical sweepers. As always, Grass-types are fantastic teammates to Milotic, providing valuable resistances to Grass- and Electric-type attacks and generally having good synergy with her. Defensive Celebi is an ideal candidate for this particular set; with Recover and heavy investment in Defense, it can consistently sponge physical blows to support Milotic. Tangrowth and Shaymin are other alternatives who also come with great physical bulk, albeit at the loss of reliable recovery like Celebi.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Electric
move 4: Recover
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Marvel Scale
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Due to Milotic's presence in the defensive role, her potential as an offensive Pokemon will often catch players completely off-guard. With a solid 100 base Special Attack, respectable 81 base Speed, access to Recover, and near-perfect coverage, Milotic can certainly run such a set quite effectively. Hydro Pump is one of this set's best assets, being an incredibly potent STAB attack when backed up with Life Orb. Surf is, as usual, a viable alternative because of its perfect accuracy. Ice Beam provides exceptional coverage alongside Hydro Pump, taking a large chunk of health from Grass-types. Hidden Power hits the Water-types that these attacks fail to threaten; Quagsire and Gastrodon in the case of Hidden Power Grass, and Empoleon for Hidden Power Electric.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Running Surf and Leftovers is the best way to bluff a defensive set, allowing Milotic to surprise opponents by both outspeeding them and dealing higher damage than expected. A bulkier EV spread of 152 HP / 80 Def / 220 SpA / 56 Spe is an option, letting Milotic keep her natural bulk whilst also dishing out hard hits. Choice Specs and Choice Scarf are alternative items, but this takes away the ability to safely use Recover, something sets Milotic apart from other offensive Water-types.</p>
<p>The nature of this set means that Milotic's ideal partners should be more offensive than usual. Grass-types are invaluable due to their resistance to Electric- and Grass-type attacks, allowing them to switch into Pokemon who can OHKO Milotic such as Jolteon and Shaymin. Celebi and Shaymin both have a solid 100 base Speed and Special Attack, great bulk, and sufficient coverage to scare away such threats. Roserade can also function in an offensive role with Toxic Spikes and Sleep Powder to incapacitate foes, giving Milotic an easier time sweeping. Fighting-types, especially those who don't care about Toxic like Heracross and Cobalion, are also a great option to threaten two of this set's largest threats: Chansey and Snorlax.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Milotic isn't the most diverse Pokemon, so her other options are quite limited. Hypnosis is another of her status-inducing options, but it suffers from terrible accuracy and is generally an inferior option to something like Toxic. Mirror Coat can be used to score a surprise KO against special attackers who think they're safe against Milotic, although it's quite situational and usually a one-trick pony. Light Screen is an option to support the team with extra protection against special attacks, but Milotic herself doesn't benefit too greatly thanks to her huge Special Defense stat. Unfortunately, all of these options will struggle to find a spot on Milotic's standard defensive sets unless the niche they fulfill is particularly interesting to you or your team.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Grass-types are perhaps Milotic's greatest enemies, particularly bulky ones who can take an Ice Beam reasonably well. Roserade is one of the most dangerous, as she has high Special Defense, an immunity to Toxic, a powerful Giga Drain, and the ability to use Milotic to set up entry hazards. Celebi has access to Recover to shrug off any hits Milotic has to offer, as well as Natural Cure to cure poison from Toxic. Likewise, Shaymin also has Natural Cure, and can destroy Milotic with a strong Seed Flare. Electric-types are also an effective method of dealing severe damage to Milotic. Zapdos has a fantastic Special Attack stat, decent special bulk, and Roost to recover its health. Jolteon and Raikou also have decent special bulk and can fire off a powerful STAB Thunderbolt to KO Milotic with ease. Raikou in particular is a huge threat to Milotic, as with the correct prediction, it can use Substitute to block Toxic and Dragon Tail and set up Calm Mind on the rest of her attacks to prepare a sweep.</p>
<p>Chansey is another of Milotic's biggest issues. With Natural Cure and phenomenal special bulk, Milotic is utterly helpless against her and is stalled out by Toxic without any trouble. Snorlax functions similarly in that he has fantastic special bulk and can block Toxic with his Immunity ability; however, without Rest, he must watch out for burns from Scald, especially on Curse sets. Without Haze, Substitute sweepers can be very dangerous if Milotic cannot break their Substitutes, whether it be because of a resistance to Water- and Ice-type attacks or the use of Calm Mind to boost their Special Defense.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Milotic receives Cute Charm from the Dream World. This ability is largely useless, as infatuation is unreliable and Marvel Scale is one of Milotic's best perks as a bulky Water-type.</p>
