Sylveon, The Intertwining Pokémon. By releasing enmity-erasing waves from its ribbonlike feelers, Sylveon stops any conflict. There's a Galarian fairy tale that describes a beautiful Sylveon vanquishing a dreadful dragon Pokémon.
Overview
Sylveon is a phenonemal special attacker blessed with a fantastic Fairy typing and having access to great options in terms of support and coverage. It's great special bulk makes it capable of holding its ground against strong special attackers like Hydreigon and Kommo while being able to dish out strong damage thanks to Pixilate. While Sylveon can be a good Pokemon on the right hands, it also has a lot of flaws. It's Speed stat is very subpar which means that faster Pokemon such as Bisharp pose an immediate threat. It's Defense stat is not really good enough which makes it easy for the likes of Jirachi and Drapion to prey on it. Despite having access to Wish, Sylveon faces strong competition from the likes of Chansey, Clefable and Blissey as a cleric who offer much more in terms of bulk and abilities.
Positives
Pixilate is a strong ability allowing Sylveon to fire strong Fairy boosted attacks even without investment. This allows Sylveon to hit very hard with moves like Hyper Voice.
Sylveon's base 110 Special Attack along with coverage options such as Mystical Fire and Shadow Ball gives what Sylveon needs in terms of coverage.
Its base 95 HP coupled with its base 130 Special Defense allows Sylveon to tank strong special attacks relatively easy while being able to support its team with Wish and Heal Bell.
Negatives
Its base 65 Defense is quite low which makes it easy for the likes of Bisharp, Scizor and Jirachi to hit Sylveon quite hard.
Sylveon's low base 60 Speed is not good enough to outrun several threats which usually makes Sylveon move last and taking damage.
Clefable has better abilities in Magic Guard and Unaware while Chansey/Blissey offer higher bulk for their teams. This makes it hard for Sylveon to justify its niche considering that it is vulnerable to hazards.
Movesets
THE RIBBON GIFT
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell / Mystical Fire
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 132 Def / 124 SpD
Calm Nature
Sylveon's great HP stat and special bulk allows it to switch into special threats such as Kommo-o, Latios, Hydreigon with its excellent typing. Hyper Voice is Sylveon's strongest STAB and thanks to the Pixilate boost, it hits neutral targets decently hard despite the lack of investment. Wish allows it to replenish its health along with Protect and support its teammates. Heal Bell allows Sylveon to preform as a cleric and remove Toxic poison. If a cleric is less desirable for a team, Sylveon can run Mystical Fire to toast Scizor and Ferrothorn quite hard.
Dynamax:
While Sylveon can hit hard, this set is primarily based on recovery and protection as a cleric, so it may be best to hold off on Dynamaxing for another Pokémon.
EVs and Items:
Max HP and Defense allows Sylveon to be as bulky as possible with Leftovers providing as much recovery as possible, which is crucial due to its lack of recovery.
Other Options:
Sylveon's strong base 110 Special Attack is good enough to run a Choice Specs set but considering Sylveon's disappointing Speed stat and lack of recovery, this makes it very inferior compared to other offensive Fairy types like Tapu Lele and Tapu Koko.
Yawn is a good option on the cleric set to force out the opponent on several switches but with Tapu Fini being fairly common in Singles, it becomes hard to use.
Partners:
Sylveon appreciates partners that can deal with the Steel types that cause it trouble. Garchomp is an excellent option as it can set up Stealth Rock for its team and appreciates the extra recovery from Wish. Additionally, Sylveon can also bait Ferrothorn with Mystical Fire and bring its HP down to a point where Garchomp can exploit it. Heatran is an excellent Pokemon worth considering as it appreciates Sylveon covering for its Fighting type weakness and it also switches into opposing Steel types like Kartana and Scizor to force them out with its Fire attacks. Corviknight has excellent synergy with Sylveon, being resistant to Steel and immune to Poison, and it can bring it safely with its slow U-turn to pass Wishes.
Countering Sylveon
Strong physical Steel types like Bisharp, Scizor, Jirachi and Aegislash are strong enough to switch into Sylveon and force them out. However, it is worth mentioning that Scizor cannot switch into Mystical Fire if Sylveon carries the move. Bisharp can survive and exploit Mystical Fire from cleric sets as it can easily trigger Defiant and pose a mayor threat for Sylveon and its teammates. Poison types like Toxapex wall Sylveon to death as it can easily set up Toxic Spikes on it while not fearing anything that Sylveon throws at it. Similarly, Nidoking and Gengar force it out with their super-effective STAB moves. Sylveon has no way to threaten Fire-types like Rotom-H and Moltres. This allows Rotom-H and Moltres to set up with Nasty Plot for free and restore HP with Roost, respectively. These Pokemon can also carry Toxic, which Sylveon cannot outlast effectively because of Heal Bell's limited PP.
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:
Evolve Eevee
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Eevee
Sun/Moon:
Evolve Eevee
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Evolve Eevee
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Lake of Outrage, Giant's Bed
Max Raid Battles: Lake of Outrage, Ballimere Lake
Anime Appearences
