Gardevoir, The Embrace Pokémon. To protect its Trainer, it will expend all its psychic power to create a small black hole. It has the power to predict the future. Its power peaks when it is protecting its Trainer.
Overview
A fan favorite Pokemon, Gardevoir has had a long history in the competitive scene of being very average. Gardevoir has potent offensive stats, with a great 125 Special Attack, as well as a solid movepool to pull from, but it is ultimately held back by the make or break stat for most Pokemon, Speed. At 80 base Speed, Gardevoir is in a rough speed tier for most metagames which tends to sit at base 90-100 for competitive Speed tiers, and Gardevoir lacks the defenses to tank many hits. However Gardevoir is still a potent Pokemon in the lower tiers with its good coverage and access to utility moves such as Trick and Healing Wish.
Positives
-125 Special Attack lets Gardevoir hit hard even without using moves such as Calm Mind, making it a potent threat right away
-Access to many coverage moves means Gardevoir can hit a lot of threats for super effective damage
-Fairy typing is one of the best offensive types in the game and gives Gardevoir a better STAB option as well as a decent defensive typing.
Negatives
-80 base Speed isn't fast enough to compete with offensive teams which is bad for a physically frail Pokemon, but it is fast enough to get around stall teams.
-68 HP and 65 Defense really hurts Gardevoir's chances of getting a switch in as it will fold after a few physical hits.
-It no longer has access to its Mega Evolution which means it has far fewer uses compared to Generations 6 and 7
Abilities
Trace - Copies the opponent's ability - Situational but can be a game changer, this allows Gardevoir to check some specific threats such as Swift Swim users, Chlorophyll users, as well as pivot into threats such as Manectric, Jolteon, and Seismitoad.
Telepathy - Takes no damage from attacks by allies - A good Doubles ability but has no place in Singles, don't bother with this in Singles.
Synchronize - When inflicted with a status effect, apply it to the opponent if possible - it's an alright ability, nothing really noteworthy to say but probably worse than Trace in most matches.
Movesets
Choice Scarf
-Psychic / Psyshock
-Moonblast
-Thunderbolt / Mystical Fire /Focus Blast
-Healing Wish
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs and Nature:
252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Speed
Timid Nature
With Moonblast to hit Dark types and Psychic or Psyshock to hit Poison types, Gardevoir can get around some type based walls, but will still struggle with some of the bulkier ones such as Umbreon. Thunderbolt lets Gardevoir get around Corviknight but Focus Blast and Mystical Fire are good options for threats such as Ferrothorn and Copperajah. Finally, Healing Wish lets Gardevoir remove itself to fully heal other Pokemon which can be great on a hyper offensive team.
As this is a Choice Scarf set, Gardevoir wants to be as fast and powerful as possible to get the most out of its Speed tier. Notably, a Timid nature ensures Gardevoir will be able to revenge kill Jolly Choice Scarf Dracovish, though Modest nature can be considered since they will mostly be running with an Adamant nature.
Wallbreaker
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Moonblast
-Focus Blast
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs and Nature:
252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Speed
Timid Nature
Acting as a wall breaker, Gardevoir can become a potent threat with Calm Mind boosting its Special Attack. Substitute allows Gardevoir to get around status effects so it can't be Toxic stalled. Moonblast is the preferred STAB due to Fairy being a better offensive type, and Focus Blast gives solid coverage for Steel types. If you wish to take a more offensive approach though, Gardevoir can drop Substitute to run Psychic or Thunderbolt and run Life Orb instead of Leftovers. This makes Gardevoir less effective against stall-based teams though since it can be worn down more easily.
Gardevoir's physical bulk is too low to realistically make much use out of it but Leftovers is still used so that it can utilize Substitute more often if necessary. Otherwise Gardevoir wants to be as fast as powerful as possible, with a Timid nature to outspeed base 75 Speed Pokemon such as Choice Band Dracovish.
Other Options
-Trick can be used to hinder a wall such as Corviknight or Toxapex which can be more useful than a coverage option in some situations.
Partners
-Haxorus is nice as it struggles with Steels and Fairies which Gardevoir can help, so that Haxorus can set up woth a double dance set. Haxorus can act as a wall breaker in the early game with Swords Dance, get healed with Healing Wish and clean up with Dragon Dance late game.
-Hydreigon is in a similar area but more just a case of trying to overwhelm the foe with multiple powerful Special Attackers. Hydreigon can make its way through the enemy with repeated Dark Pulse and Draco Meteors while having U-Turn to get Gardevoir in on other Dragon types, so they have multiple ways to support each other.
Countering Gardevoir
-Without Focus Blast, Assault Vest Tyranitar can wall Gardevoir easily and threaten with Crunch or Stone Edge. -Due to Bullet Punch having priority, Lucario is another excellent answer as it can threaten Gardevoir despite being slower than the Choice Scarf set. However, it struggles to switch in safely to any of its moves. -Corviknight can just wall Gardevoir and threaten it with Taunt to prevent it from boosting, or otherwise force it out. It does need to watch out for boosted Thunderbolt, though Mystical Fire works against Gardevoir if Corviknight is using Mirror Armor as its ability. -Toxtricity force out Gardevoir or just KO it with its powerful Poison-type STAB moves, thought it's slower than Gardevoir and threatened by Psychic-type moves so it's only a soft-check to Choice Scarf sets.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Evolve Kirlia
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/XD
Colosseum/XD:
Evolve Kirlia (XD)
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Kirlia
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Kirlia
Black/White:
Evolve Kirlia (White)
Trade from White/Black 2/White 2 (Black)
Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Kirlia
X/Y:
Evolve Kirlia
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Kirlia
Sun/Moon:
Trade from Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Evolve Kirlia
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game.
Sword/Shield:
Dusty Bowl, Lake of Outrage, Rolling Fields
Max Raid Battles: Bridge Field, Hammerlocke Hills, Lake of Outrage, Motostoke Riverbank, Rolling Fields, Stony Wilderness, Watchtower Ruins
Animé Appearences
