Volcarona
Sun Pokémon
As it flies, it scatters its flaming scales. It was feared by ancient people, who referred to it as “the rage of the sun.”
Base Stats
Type Effectiveness
Abilities
Held Items
Evolution Chain
Moves
Locations
Details
Sprites
Competitive
Strategy Overview
Bug
Thanks to its great Speed and Special Attack and access to Quiver Dance, Volcarona is the best special setup sweeper available to Bug and is a very reliable wincon against types that Bug has trouble with such as Steel. Volcarona's Speed allows it to outspeed virtually all unboosted Pokemon when at +1 as well as the entire boosted metagame when at +2. Volcarona's coverage options allow it to hit the majority of Pokemon at least neutrally, aiding its ability to function as a setup sweeper. As one of its coverage moves, Volcarona can use Psychic with Psychium Z and Hidden Power Electric to beat some of its checks, including Toxapex and Mantine, and even break troublesome defensive Flying-type cores. However, Psychium Z Volcarona is unable to beat Heatran, making Steel a rough matchup for Volcarona's team. Moveslot constraints force it to choose which coverage would best suit the team, leaving Volcarona's moves exploitable by a variety of Pokemon. Its 4x weakness to Stealth Rock compounds Bug's weakness to it and puts even more pressure on Armaldo or Forretress to keep it off of the field. Its Bug / Fire typing is lacking defensively, leaving it extremely threatened by Rock-type coverage as well as common Water-type coverage. However, Volcarona's typing also allows it to take neutral damage from the Fire-type attacks that can be problematic for Bug. Volcarona's Defense is on the lower end and leaves it weak to physical attackers as well as common priority attackers such as Dragonite and Azumarill. On the other hand, Volcarona has high Special Defense, which is boosted even higher after using Quiver Dance, allowing it to check and set up on weak special attackers such as Clefable and Zapdos.
Fire
Volcarona's access to Quiver Dance along with strong coverage options and a decent offensive typing allows Volcarona to be a powerful late-game cleaner, letting it find itself a spot on Fire-Type teams. Its part-Bug typing allows Volcarona to ease Dark- and Psychic-Type matchups, while coverage options like Giga Drain and Psychic allow Volcarona to take on Pokemon such as Swampert and Toxapex. Furthermore, it has an excellent Special Attack stat and a decent Speed stat, which can be further amplified by Quiver Dance, making Volcarona harder to manage as a sweeper. However, its part-Bug typing stacks a Rock-type weakness, making it weaker against Stealth Rock. Volcarona has a low physical bulk, which makes it vulnerable against physical priority users such as Dragonite and Mega Pinsir.
Most Used Moves
Common Teammates
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc