Special
Wallbreaker
70Speed · Below Avg

Volcanion Best Moveset

Fire/Water at 130 Sp. Atk with AbilityWater Absorb granting Water immunity and healing. The typing has no 4x weaknesses and resists six types. Held ItemChoice Specs with NatureModest fires special Fire and Water TermStab that covers Steel, Ground, Rock, and Grass. MoveSteam Eruption has a 30% burn chance. 120 Defense absorbs physical hits. B-Tier through offensive power and unique typing.

SABCDEFSASBX & Y / ORASVIXY/ORASPEAKSun & Moon / USUMVIISM/USUMSword & Shield / BDSPVIIISS/BDSPScarlet & Violet / Legends Z-AIXSV/LZACURRENT
Gen VI — X & Y / ORASS

Fire/Water with Water Absorb in Gen VI (X & Y). The only Fire/Water type. Steam Eruption burned 30% of targets. Unique typing that resisted Fairy, Fire, Ice, Bug, and Steel.

Fairy type added to the gameMega Evolution became available

Best Moves

SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
Lv 85
Steam Eruption
Water110COMMONSTAB
TM35
Flamethrower
Fire90COMMONSTAB
TM36
Sludge Bomb
Poison90COMMONCoverage
TM10
Hidden Power (Grass)
Grass60RARECoverage
Tutor
Earth Power
Ground90RARECoverage
TM6
Toxic
PoisonRAREUtility

Best Build

Experimental
Special Sweeper
Ability
Water Absorb
Item
LeftoversSUSTAIN
Best Nature for Volcanion
Timid+SPE

Volcanion best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed

EVs

Special Sweeper Moveset

  • Steam EruptionSTAB
  • FlamethrowerSTAB
  • Sludge Bomb
  • Hidden Power Grass
Gen VII — Sun & Moon / USUMA

Dropped in Gen VII (Sun & Moon). Z-Moves let faster Pokemon bypass the bulk Volcanion relied on. Unique typing kept it relevant but less dominant.

Z-Moves became available
SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
Lv 85
Steam Eruption
Water110COMMONSTAB
Tutor
Earth Power
Ground90COMMONCoverage
TM35
Flamethrower
Fire90COMMONSTAB
TM36
Sludge Bomb
Poison90RARECoverage
TM38
Fire Blast
Fire110RARESTAB
Experimental
Special Tank
Ability
Water Absorb
Item
LeftoversSUSTAIN
Best Nature for Volcanion
Modest+SPA
EVs

Special Tank Moveset

  • Steam EruptionSTAB
  • Earth Power
  • FlamethrowerSTAB
  • Sludge Bomb
Gen VIII — Sword & Shield / BDSPS

Back at the top in Gen VIII (Sword & Shield). Assault Vest tanked special hits, and Fire/Water coverage had almost no safe switch-ins. Two gens at the top across its career.

Gigantamax became availableDynamax became available
SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
Lv 72
Steam Eruption
Water110COMMONSTAB
TR2
Flamethrower
Fire90COMMONSTAB
TR67
Earth Power
Ground90COMMONCoverage
TR78
Sludge Wave
Poison95COMMONCoverage
TR22
Sludge Bomb
Poison90RARECoverage
Experimental
Special Sweeper
Ability
Water Absorb
Item
Choice SpecsPOWER
Best Nature for Volcanion
Modest+SPA
EVs

Special Sweeper Moveset

  • Steam EruptionSTAB
  • FlamethrowerSTAB
  • Earth Power
  • Sludge Wave
Gen IX — Scarlet & Violet / Legends Z-AB

Dropped again in Gen IX (Scarlet & Violet). Oscillated between tiers across four gens. The unique typing was always valuable, but the format decided whether it was enough.

Terastallization became available
SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
Lv 1
Steam Eruption
Water110COMMONSTAB
TM125
Flamethrower
Fire90COMMONSTAB
TM133
Earth Power
Ground90COMMONCoverage
TM148
Sludge Bomb
Poison90COMMONCoverage
Experimental
Special Wallbreaker
Ability
Water Absorb
Item
Choice SpecsPOWER
Best Nature for Volcanion
Modest+SPA
EVs

Special Wallbreaker Moveset

  • Steam EruptionSTAB
  • FlamethrowerSTAB
  • Earth Power
  • Sludge Bomb

Volcanion Weakness

Electric, Ground, and Rock moves hit Volcanion for super-effective damage. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses. Water Absorb grants an additional Water immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Volcanion's physical bulk (base 120 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.

Volcanion Weakness and Resistance Chart
DamageTypes
2x (Weak)Electric, Ground, Rock
0.5x (Resist)Bug, Fairy
0.25x (Resist)Fire, Ice, Steel

What is Volcanion Weak Against

Good
3Weak
5Resist
1Immune
Score+2
4xCritical
None
½xResist
¼xResist
0xImmune

What is Volcanion Strong Against

7Strong
2Resisted
0Immune
Score+5
½xResisted
0xImmune
None

Best Pokemon Against Volcanion

Evolution

Mythical Pokemon don't breed, and Volcanion is no exception. This Fire/Water type sits at 600 stats with no chain to speak of. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

No Evolution
Volcanion
#721Volcanion
Does not evolve

Breeding

Unavailable
Undiscovered egg group

How to Get Volcanion

All 7 games

Volcanion is not available as a wild encounter in this game.

This is an event-exclusive or special distribution.

Base Stats

Sp. Atk and Defense carry most of Volcanion's stat budget. Speed's the obvious dump stat. Near-impossible to catch and yields 3 Sp. Atk EVs. Follows a slow 1.25M XP grind.

Base Stats
Legend
HP80
C
Attack110
B
Defense120
A
Sp. Atk130
A
Sp. Def90
B
Speed70
C
Total600
Details
Catch Rate
Legendary3 / 255
Growth Rate
Slow1.25M XP
Height1.7 m
Weight195.0 kg
Base XP300
Abilities
Water Absorb
Absorbs water moves, healing for 1/4 max HP.
Water Absorb grants Water immunity
EV Yield
HPAtkDefSpA+3SpDSpe
Strong Special Attack training target
Pokedex Entry

It expels its internal steam from the arms on its back. It has enough power to blow away a mountain.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Volcanion Guide

  • At 600 BST, Volcanion is built different. We rank it B-Tier. As a Mythical Pokemon, the raw stats back up the reputation. Best used as a wallbreaker.

  • Watch for Raikou (Electric), Swampert (Ground), and Rhyperior (Rock) when using Volcanion. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB.

  • Water Absorb is what you want on Volcanion. Every competitive set worth running is built with that ability in mind. On wall sets, Water Absorb pairs with Volcanion's base 120 Defense to absorb physical hits on the switch.

  • Base 70 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. On offense, Volcanion is a special attacker with base 130 Sp. Atk. Defensively? Tanky enough to absorb a few hits. Best used as a wallbreaker.

  • Run Steameruption, Flamethrower, Earthpower, and Sludge Bomb on Volcanion. Steameruption is the most common pick at 0% usage. Flamethrower provides reliable STAB damage.

Game Availability

Volcanion first appeared in X & Y and has been available in 7 titles. Mythical distribution means event-only access in most games, making it one of the harder Pokemon to collect.

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