Statistics
|
Stat |
| HP |
95
|
393 |
| Atk |
65
|
228 |
| Def |
110
|
318 |
| SpA |
60
|
218 |
| SpD |
130
|
358 |
| Spe |
65
|
228 |
The one move that makes Umbreon anywhere near useful is Charm, and this is mainly used to trap things like Cursers, Charm their attack down, and use Baton Pass to transfer the trap to an appropriate counter. Rest when low on health or when hit with a status affliction. Since Umbreon can take a load of hits (especially with Charm and no Special weaknesses), Rest is recommended over Moonlight for the full healing capabilities. Watch out, though, because unless you have a Perish Song utilizer to use in tandem here, you could trap a Cursing Snorlax, who will just sit there and try to stall you out. But hey that's exactly what Umbreon does: stall. Fortunately for Umbreon, Charm has twice the PP of Curse. Also watch out for any pseudo-hazer since they will shut down this set 100% of the time they aren't Sleeping. There are numerous other things that you can Baton Pass if you so desire—Substitute, Growth, and Curse are examples.
This is the more commonly seen set and has a two-pronged use. One, with Charm, is easy enough: switch into a physical attacker and Charm it down. You can also Toxic whatever may be your opponent since Umbreon has almost zero offensive capability. The other part utilizes Toxic and Pursuit. This is mainly to snipe the prominent Psychics and Ghosts and is certainly hard to handle for Starmie, the most popular Water-type. If you can Toxic them, they will probably switch to avoid the doubling damage of Toxic. As they switch, use Pursuit to rack up 2x STAB action from a base 80 Pursuit. Rest when necessary, especially when you get statused, because any kind of status affliction spells big trouble for Umbreon.
This is the first move set for Umbreon that was made when Gold and Silver were released. First, players would use Mean Look to trap a Pokémon of your choosing. Follow up immediately with Toxic to start damaging your opponent's Pokémon HP. Both Confuse Ray and Charm work well enough. It's up to personal preference when it comes down to it. You'll most likely see Charm though, as it stops things like Curse Snorlax from just setting up on you, Resting off the Toxic damage, and then sweeping.
Other Options
Umbreon learns Moonlight, but because of its low PP it hurts it quite a lot. So using Rest is recommended because Umbreon can take hits easily. If you opt to Baton Pass Growth or Curse, you can utilize various physical or special attacks as appropriate to hit potential counters. If Charm isn't your thing, you can put up a Reflect that will last five turns.
Opinion
People always ask why GSC is so stall, but then they go and use things like Umbreon. Umbreon's only purpose is to stall, pure and simple, as evidenced by its more popular moves: Charm, Rest, and Toxic. It can be handy against those Cursers that are abound in GSC, but Umbreon's utter lack of usable moves leaves it open to a few gaping holes, namely anything (and I really do mean pretty much anything) with Substitute, Swords Dance, or has a Fighting or Bug move. Also, an Umbreon with any kind of status affliction is an amazingly easier target to kill, since it either will suffer some kind of damage every turn (poison) and essentially lose its precious Leftovers, or be a sitting duck for two or more free hits (paralysis, sleep). If you're going to use Umbreon, use Charm. There's really not much else use for him.
Counters
As mentioned earlier, anything that uses Substitute, Swords Dance, or Belly Drum will have the upper-hand on Umbreon 99% of the time. Tentacruel in particular will get a free turn or two to set up whilst you do nothing or switch. Dark, Poison, and Steel-types can absorb everything with little trouble (though they can't necessarily do too much to Umbreon). As far as actual attackers go, anything with Cross Chop will undoubtedly put a dent in Umbreon, as will Heracross and his mighty Megahorn. Another good counter for Umbreon is a status affliction of any kind—Umbreon simply needs to have its Leftovers and be active every turn to retain any of its usefulness. Machamp also eats Umbreon alive.
