Vivillon, the Scale Pokémon. The patterns on this Pokémon depend on the climate and topography of the land it was born in. This form is from a mysterious land. This Pokémon was born in a mysterious land. It scatters colorful, toxic scales from its wings during battle.
Overview
Vivillon has long been a Pokémon of gimmicks, from its various region locked patterns, to its Pokédex number, to even its viability in battle. For there honestly is not a lot going for it. Bug Flying is a heavily overused typing and one of the worst in the game, with more weaknesses than resistances and easily resisted STABs. Platry bulk leaves Vivillon’s defensive utility niche at best. Barely usable Special Attack and Speed further compounds matters, requiring setup to be threatening which Vivillon does not have the bulk or power to do so reliably.
What Vivillon’s claim to fame is that it is the fastest reliable Sleep inducer in Pokémon. While yes, there are many faster users of Hypnosis and Sleep Powder, none of them have Compound Eyes, which makes Vivvillon’s Sleep Powder incredibly consistent. Having the excellent Quiver Dance to turn its usable Special Attack and Speed into something threatening is a boon as well, preventing Vivillon from being dead weight after landing the Sleep. However, Lilligant and Venomoth compete for the exact same niche, and they have much better bulk and offense to make up for their less reliable Sleep Powders, leaving Vivillon the niche among the niche.
Positives
Fastest reliable Sleep inducer in the game, and powerful for shutting down chunks of an opponent’s team in formats without Sleep Clause.
Quiver Dance plus several excellent STAB and coverage options enables Vivillon to become a sweeper in its own right.
Negatives
Bug Flying is horrible typing both defensively and offensively leaving Vivillon wanting in both aspects.
Horrid bulk and quadruple weakness to Stealth Rock leaves Vivillon with almost no defensive or pivot ability.
Lackluster Speed and Special Attack before Quiver Dancing makes it relatively easy to outspeed Vivillon.
Outclassed by several Pokémon who do what it does better.
It is currently locked to Fancy Pattern.
Movesets
A Dream and a Dance
-Sleep Powder
-Quiver Dance
-Hurricane
-Energy Ball
Ability: Compound Eyes
Item: Focus Sash
EVs and Nature:
252 SAtk / 4 SDef /252 Spe
Timid Nature
Vivillon abuses Compound Eyes to the best of its ability with this set. Thanks to that, Sleep Powder reaches an impressive 97.5% accuracy enabling Vivillon to come in on many slower targets to get a Sleep Powder off, temporarily removing one of your opponents Pokémon from the fight. Several options present itself after this -you can attempt to predict another switch and Sleep Powder the next target that comes in, you can switch to your own check and/or counter that can capitalize on the Pokémon that is now asleep, or you can have Vivillon start Quiver Dancing to boost itself to dangerous levels. Hurricane reaches an incredible 91% accuracy for Compound Eyes making for a potent STAB despite Vivillon’s Special Attack. Energy Ball rounds out the set, hitting the Rock types that resist Hurricane. Vivillon works well against more balanced teams, but hyper offensive teams that don’t have any slower targets leave Vivillon with chance to be useful.
Tera Types:
Vivillon’s frailty leaves it heavily discouraged from Terastalizing as its role is to spread Sleep. Though Tera Steel can help it spam Sleep Powder for longer while Energy Ball and Hurricane give Ground and Fighting types pause.
EVs and Items:
Max Special Attack and Speed are recommended to get the most out of Quiver Dance. Speed boosting nature and max speed investment are mandatory -you want Vivillon to out speed as many targets as possible so it isn’t outsped and KO’d in turn. Focus Sash helps Vivillon survive a hit against a faster foe to get a Sleep off, though Heavy Duty Boots helps Vivillon come in repeatedly without fear of Stealth Rocks.
Partners:
If running Focus Sash, partners that manage Entry Hazards are a must. Coalossal stands out, able to setup advantageous Entry Hazards and reliably pivot into Fire and Flying attacks while the Ground attacks it draws are one of the few things Vivillon can reliably pivot into without issue, with its ability to dispatch Steel types that Vivillon struggles to damage another valuable point. Torkoal and Glimorra can also perform this role to a similar extent.
Quagsire, Gastrodon and Whiscash perform admirably as well, pivoting into Rock, Electric and Fire attacks, and dispatching troublesome Steel types while Vivillon answers their severe Grass weakness.
Other Options:
Substitute -provides a shield against priority moves that aim to bypass Vivillon’s Speed.
Psychic -hits Clodsire, and Glimmora hard but both are vulnerable to Sleep Powder to begin with.
Bug Buzz -Vivillon’s other STAB, but doesn’t hit many targets that Hurricane doesn’t cover.
VGC & Doubles Options
Vivillons struggles are only compounded in Doubles Format. Common weaknesses make it prey to many popular spread moves not named Earthquake, and its fragility makes it simple to knock out, on top of being vulnerable to almost every form of disruption. And unlike Singles format, opponents are prepared for Sleep, with naturally immune targets like Gholdengo, Narganacl and opposing Sleeper Amoongus on top of Safety Googles being a popular pick due to Amoongus. However, high speed reliable Sleep is still an incredible asset that many will reach for and Vivillon does quite well for itself in this regard. The pressure Sleep exerts is considerable and may force your oppontent to focus down Vivillon at the cost of ignoring its much more dangerous teammate.
Sleep on the Wind
-Sleep Powder
-Tailwind
-Hurricane
-Protect
Ability: Compound Eyes
Item: Focus Sash
EVs and Nature:
252 SAtk / 4 SDef /252 Spe
Timid Nature
Vivillon’s primary role in doubles is to spread Sleep Powder. Reducing the number of attacks your side is receiving is invaluable in gaining momentum and can stop an oppontent from re-establishing theirs. Tailwind works beautifully with Vivillon, enabling it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame and further facilitate spreading Sleep Powder. Hurricane provides reliable damage and makes Amoongus think twice about switching in. Protect rounds out the set for being the best move in doubles. Block Focus Sash breaking Fake Outs, scout for attacks, stall out Screens, etc.
Partners & Options:
Rage Powder -Vivillon is incredibly frail for a redirector, but when you need setup or an attack to go through, Rage Powder can be key and the Grass types immune to it want nothing to do with Vivillon.
Pollen Puff -STAB Damage or team healing in one move is hard to pass up.
Farigiraf -Armor Tail blocks the Fake Out and Prankster Taunt that otherwise stops Sleep Powder before it can begin and enjoys the redirection support..
Countering Vivillon
Vivillon is paradoxical in how easy it is to counter on paper, but difficult to put into practice. Offensively, it is very meagre, with sponges like Blissey, Cryogonal, Goodra, and bulky steel types like Magnezone, Bronzong and Tinkaton able to stomach even boosted Hurricanes with ease.
Revenge killing is even simpler provided Vivillon doesn’t have any Quiver Dances up -since a large swath of Pokémon naturally outspeed and have the capability to OHKO it, though it outspeeds the entire unboosted roster after a single Quiver Dance and is still outsped by any Choice Scarfer above base 90 until the second Quiver Dance. And even at two Quiver Dances it often misses KOs with Hurricane.
What makes Vivillon so dangerous is Sleep Powder. Almost all those bulky checks? Slower than it and being put to sleep can leave them open to Vivillon’s teammates. Offensive checks can’t even risk switching in as being put to sleep will more likely than not mean a KO. Managing Sleep Powder and Quiver Dance is what makes Vivillon so difficult despite its lacking in everywhere else.
Goodra cleanly counters Vivillon -Sap Sipper negates Sleep Powder and it has the natural special bulk to tank even a boosted hit before firing back with its own. Gholdengo is similarly immune to Sleep Powder and its Steel typing gives it the bulk to tank several attacks. Pincurchin also does well -its Electric Terrain shutsdown Sleep Powder for everything grounded and its STAB Electric attacks and Natural Bulk will quickly clip Vivillon’s wings, though the rare boosted Bug Buzz does hurt.
Skeledirge may not be able to handle Sleep Powder, but it stone walls everything else even after Quiver Dance and the Sound Based Torch Song even renders Substitute useless.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game
Black/White:
Not in game
Black 2/White 2:
Not in game
X/Y:
Friend Safari
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Trade from X/Y
Sun/Moon:
Trade from Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Evolve Spewpa
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Not in game
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Not in game
Legends: Arceus:
Not in game
Scarlet/Violet:
East Paldean Sea, North Province Area One, North Province Area Two, North Province Area Three
Anime Appearences
