Wailord, The Float Whale Pokémon. The biggest of all Pokémon. It can dive to a depth of almost 10,000 feet on only one breath. It is among the largest of all Pokémon. It herds prey in a pack then swallows the massed prey in one gulp. It breathes through nostrils that it raises above the sea. When chasing prey, Wailord herds them by leaping out of the water and making a humongous splash. It is breathtaking to see this Pokémon leaping out of the sea with others in its pod. This giant Pokémon swims languorously in the vast open sea, eating massive amounts of food at once with its enormous mouth.
Overview
With Water being the most heavily populated of the available types, standing out can be a bit difficult. Wailord is a bit of an oddball stat-wise. It has huge HP, but its defensive capabilities are balanced out by its awful Defence and Special Defence stats. Both its Attack and Special Attack are acceptable, at Base 90 a piece, but a low Base 60 Speed stat hinders sweeping possibilities. Aside from the generic Water move-pool, access to a couple of moves not available to most of its Water brethren, Water Spout and Selfdestruct, give it access to a little niche.
It hasn't managed to gain any notable popularity in the UU environment, but it's still quite usable. It suffers more from the competition provided by its plentiful Water brethren than it does from being a poor choice.
Trait
Water Veil: gives Wailord a useful Burn immunity. The Burn immunity is very useful for any Wailord utilising physical moves, and even when physical moves aren't being used, Wailord won't want Burn to be eating away at its HP.
Oblivious: makes Wailord immune to infatuation (caused by Attract or Cute Charm) and Captivate. With Attract and Captivate being scarcely used moves, the only real use Wailord will get out of it is some insurance against Cute Charm, but Burn immunity is generally more useful.
Move Sets
Choice Scarf
- Water Spout
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass / Electric] / Surf
- Selfdestruct
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Trait: Water Veil
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef) / Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
Wailord does its best imitation of Kyogre with Water Spout and Choice Scarf. The Scarf gives Wailord enough Speed to strike first (capping at either 328 or 360, depending on the nature), whilst a fully powered Water Spout deals an impressive chunk of damage. At Max HP, it's a Base 150 move. It's best utilised as a hit-and-run move, but entry hazards (Stealth Rock and Spikes) can cause it some problems in that regard. As Wailord's HP drops, the move becomes less effective, so maintaining a healthy Wailord is essential when trying to make the most of this move.
The Water Spout calculation involves its current HP divided by its maximum HP multiplied by 150, but in laymen's terms, that means once your HP drops below 80%, you're better off with Hydro Pump, and when it drops below 64%, you're better off with Surf.
As a more special-oriented Scarf-user, the more generic Water move-pool gets utilised. Ice Beam gives it a nice super-effective hit on Water-resistant Grass types, whilst Hidden Power [Grass] or [Electric] deals with its fellow Water types. Alternatively, it could make use of a second, more 'reliable' Water move to use when Water Spout starts to lose its usefulness, with the obvious one being Surf.
Selfdestruct allows Wailord to end its time with a strong final strike. With a move that essentially has a 400 Base Power (due to its calculations being done as though the opponent had half its Defence), not too many foes can expect to survive it.
Rest-Talk
- Rest
- Sleep-Talk
- Earthquake / Waterfall / Avalanche
- Earthquake / Waterfall / Avalanche
Item Attached: Leftovers
Trait: Water Veil
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 136 Atk / 252 Def / 120 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
Like most of its other bulky water brethren (such as Blastoise and Walrein), Wailord can take the Rest-Talk route. Obviously, Rest is there to keep it healthy whilst Sleep-Talk provides it a means to attack during its sleeping state.
As for the offensive moves, Wailord has three strong physical choices to pick from. Waterfall gets STAB, making it its strongest physical move. Earthquake gets a super-effective hit on Electric types (among others) and has good base power to work off of. Avalanche has a low initial base power but it doubles if Wailord is damaged beforehand, boosting to a very impressive base 120, and obviously benefits from Ice type's wonderful coverage.
The Earthquake-Avalanche combination hits almost every Pokémon in the game for at least neutral damage, but the lack of STAB can hurt a bit when it comes to hitting some opponents, especially opponents who'll only take neutral damage from Avalanche and who won't activate its double-damage effect. The Earthquake-Waterfall combination runs into problems against Grass types (and a few other Pokémon), but both moves hit for consistently strong damage. The Waterfall-Avalanche combination runs into problems against other Water types, but is otherwise fairly effective.
Special alternatives to the physical moves mentioned can be used instead. Surf and Ice Beam are the two most obvious options, but Hidden Power [Electric / Grass] is useful for dealing with Water types. Toxic is also another means to deal with opposing Water types, with a bit more use for other non-Water Pokémon (although it's slower to take full effect).
Curse
- Curse
- Rest / Selfdestruct
- Earthquake / Waterfall / Avalanche
- Earthquake / Waterfall / Avalanche
Item Attached: Leftovers / Chesto Berry
Trait: Water Veil
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
Wailord can take the boosting route with Curse. The Defence and Attack boosts work out quite favourably for it, although it's still heavily exposed against Special Attacks (unlike the other famous Curser, Snorlax). Rest can provide some recovery, but losing a few turns to sleep can cause problems. The Chesto Berry gives it a one-off 'one-turn-Rest', but losing Leftovers recovery can sting a bit, and any subsequent attempts to Rest will be even harder to manage. The main alternative to Rest is Selfdestruct, doing essentially the opposite, taking Wailord down and hopefully one of its opponents as well.
Once again, Wailord has three main physical attacks to pick from, and the advantages and disadvantage of each move combination has been mentioned in the previous move-set.
EVs and Nature:
In general, investing in Wailord's HP is largely unnecessary. The most HP it'll probably want is 80, to bump it over the 500 HP mark. The rest of its EVs would be distributed to whichever stats require the most emphasis, which is highly dependant on its move-set.
Choice Scarf
This Wailord needs plenty of Speed to make the most of Choice Scarf. Water Spout loses its charm after Wailord has taken some damage, so striking first is preferable. As a result, the straightforward 252/252 spread is probably the most favourable.
Whether to go with a nature that boosts Speed or Special Attack comes down to how much Speed is wanted. Without the Speed boost, it'll cap at a maximum of 328, whilst with it, it'll cap at a maximum of 360. Notable UU Pokémon in that gap include: Rapidash, Manectric, Scyther, Jumpluff, Purugly and Adamant/Modest variants of Persian.
When using Selfdestruct, using a nature that doesn't hinder its Attack stat is preferred. In exchange, one of its defences will have to be sacrificed.
Rest-Talk
There's multiple EV spreads available to the defensive Rest-Talk move-set. Either one of its defences can be the focal point, and with HP EVs being rather unnecessary, even both defences can be maxed out comfortable. Some EVs may need to be focused to its Attack however, draining from one of its chosen defences. Once again, with HP EVs being largely unnecessary, it could be maxed out whilst comfortably maxing the favoured Defence at the same time.
Curse
With its Attack getting raised, its defensive stats take complete priority. Special Defence will obviously need to be maxed. It won't make special attacks easy to take but it'll soften the blow. Aside from that, the only other stat that needs boosting is its Defence, just to deal with initial pre-Curse blows. Some Attack might be wanted, just so it can still be a decent threat without needing Curse-boosts.
Other Options
Hydro Pump, Brine, Amnesia, Roar, Choice Specs, Choice Band. Hydro Pump and Brine present it with its less reliable alternatives to Surf. Hydro Pump has power but low accuracy whilst Brine's power kicks in when the opponent has less than half of their HP.
Amnesia can be used for a more defensive-minded set. Like Curse, lacking a recovery alternative to Rest makes it difficult to pull off, but unlike Curse, it doesn't' give an offensive boost.
Wailord can use Roar, but whether it has the raw bulk to be Pseudo-Hazer is questionable.
Wailord can use Choice Specs and Choice Band, but when weighed against the possibilities of the Choice Scarf set, whether they're worthwhile Choice routes to follow is arguable.
Countering Wailord
Wailord is a rather generic Water type, and as such, its counters are pretty similar to its Water brethren. Defensive Grass types are the obvious ones. Meganium is the main one, but there's also Vileplume and Bellossom. Ludicolo trounces all over Wailord as well, but it's generally considered a BL Pokémon.
Lanturn has problems with Earthquake, but aside from that, it resists all that Wailord can throw at it and hits back with STAB Thunderbolts. Most other Electric types can cope with a hit or two (aside from taking an Earthquake, of course) and once again, can hit back with their STAB Thunderbolts.
Like most Water types, Wailord isn't an offensive powerhouse. Water Spout is the biggest offensive threat it presents, but Water resistances (and even immunities, due to Water Absorb) are fairly easy to come by. Curse variants can also deal some respectable damage, but the fact that it takes time to set-up can be exploited. One final big problem it presents is Selfdestruct. Obviously, if it can be predicted, throwing a Ghost, Steel or Rock type in the way is advisable, but with the latter two, you run the risk of throwing them into a super-effective hit.
Locations in Games
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Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Route 129 (Surf) Colosseum/XD Trade from RSE Fire Red/Leaf Green Trade from RSE Diamond/Pearl Routes 223 & 230 (Fish w/ Super Rod)
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Animé Appearences
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Wailord has had a few Animé Appearences. In the first, one got beached near Slateport City and ended up kidnapped by Team Rocket. Next a Wailmer evolved into one, also in battle with Team Rocket, and ended up ferrying Ash & Co. to EverGrande City
Episode 310: Having A Wailord Of A Time! |
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