Volbeat
Firefly Pokémon
It communicates with others by lighting up its rear at night. It loves Illumise’s sweet aroma.
Base Stats
Type Effectiveness
Abilities
Held Items
Evolution Chain
Moves
Details
Sprites
Competitive
Strategy Overview
Volbeat is one of many mediocre Pokemon blessed with a fantastic hidden ability. With Prankster granting it priority on all non-attacking moves, including a buff to its near-signature move, Tail Glow, Volbeat finally has a chance to function competitively by passing colossal Special Attack boosts to Pokemon that can actually use them. On the downside, it still has a very poor stat distribution and lacks the tools to prevent phazing attempts on its own, which makes a successful setup rather difficult to pull off against a well-prepared team. All things considered, Volbeat's performance is directly akin to the strength and fortitude of its teammates--don't let your guard down for a second, or you may find yourself on the losing end of a sweep.
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc