Phione Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Rain Dance is beneficial for Pokemon with Swift Swim such as Armaldo and Golduck, as it doubles their Speed. Rest restores Phione's health, with Hydration, curing the sleep immediately. Scald is Phione's Water-type STAB attack and is very useful for attempting to burn physical attackers such as Dodrio. U-turn gives Phione a way to pivot to a teammate after it has done its job of setting rain up. Set Details Maximum investment in HP and Defense combined with a Relaxed nature makes Phione as bulky as possible to take physical hits better. A Relaxed nature is used with 0 Speed IVs to provide teammates with a slow U-turn so they can come in unscathed. Damp Rock is the preferred item, as it increases the duration of rain from five turns to eight. Usage Tips Phione is best used as a lead to get rain up early to support its teammates. Set up Rain Dance against Pokemon that it can force out such as Golem and Crustle, as they wouldn't like to take a Scald. Rest should be used while it is raining to keep Phione healthy in case it has to set up rain again later on in the match. After rain has been set up, Phione should try to U-turn to a Swift Swim teammate such as Golduck so it can take advantage of the rain. Phione can also be preserved for the late-game to set up rain if need be. Team Options This set only fits on rain teams, and therefore Swift Swim Pokemon such as Golduck, Armaldo, Floatzel, and Beartic are good teammates, as they appreciate the rain support Phione provides. Other rain setters such as Volbeat, Electrode, and Relicanth ease the pressure off Phione to set up rain repeatedly. Other Water-types such as Simipour appreciate the boost to their Water-type STAB attacks in the rain as well. Swanna also appreciates firing off its perfect-accuracy Hurricane in the rain, which also heals it of status thanks to Hydration. Electric-types such as Zebstrika and Raichu can use the rain to their advantage by firing off a powerful STAB Thunder that doesn't miss in the rain. Grass-types such as Tangela, Gogoat, and Jumpluff can handle opposing Water-types for Phione. They also appreciate the rain, as it weakens Fire-type attacks aimed at them.

This is the only set that Phione can effectively pull off; it combines all of Phione's strong points into a simple strategy: providing Rain Dance for a rain sweeper. Thanks to Hydration, Phione has reliable healing in rain with Rest, allowing it to maintain longevity during the match. U-turn is very useful when switching into a rain sweeper, as it provides a safe switch. Rest is a great healing move when Rain Dance is active, as it heals Phione to full HP. While Phione has very little offensive presence, Scald should be used when Phione cannot switch out or when you're positive it can score a KO. Not only does it prevent Phione from being complete Taunt bait, but it's a great STAB move that has a 30% burn chance, which fares well against physical attackers such as Sawk. However, Toxic can be used to cripple bulky Pokemon, such as Alomomola and Lickilicky. Damp Rock is the key to this set's success, increasing Rain Dance's longevity, giving rain sweepers more time to sweep. Phione's EV spread focuses on its physical bulk; a Bold nature maximizes its Defense, and in conjunction with Rest, this keeps Phione alive as long as possible. Phione invests no Speed EVs to make U-turn as slow as possible, switching after most opponents and getting a sweeper in for free. To this end, a Relaxed nature can be used, as it gives Phione an even slower U-turn while giving it a chance to OHKO Jynx on the switch after Stealth Rock damage. You can even lower Phione's Speed IVs to allow an even slower U-turn to rain sweepers. If Toxic is being used, it's advised to use an Impish nature to slightly strengthen U-turn. Surf can be used over Scald for more power, but it still won't do much damage off of Phione's pitiful Special Attack, while Scald's burn chance is useful. Since this set is specifically made to set up Rain Dance for rain sweepers, having them as partners is mandatory. Ludicolo, Gorebyss, Swanna, and Seismitoad are prime examples of sweepers who appreciate Rain Dance support. Backup rain inducers are always helpful; Electrode, Swanna, Volbeat, and Liepard are great partners in that regard. This set is easily forced out by Taunt users, especially those Phione can't really harm, such as Misdreavus. Regice and Samurott can get rid of Misdreavus with their powerful special attacks; Samurott's STAB moves also get a boost from Rain Dance.

Phione's main niche in the UU metagame is to function as a bulky rain supporter. With its ability, Hydration, Phione is able to repeatedly switch in and set up Rain Dance while Resting off any damage taken. Hydration also allows Phione to act as an excellent status absorber for rain teams, preventing its fellow rain sweepers from being crippled. Waterfall is Phione's main STAB move and hits reasonably hard in the rain. U-turn is the icing on the cake, allowing Phione to scout the opponent's switch-in while enabling rain sweepers to come in unscathed. The EV spread maximizes Phione's bulk, while allowing it to Speed tie with its fellow base 80s, most notably Venusaur. If you want to play Phione more aggressively, an EV spread of 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe can be used; however, Phione won't be able to set up Rain Dance nearly as many times as it can with the main spread if it chooses to utilize such an offensive EV spread. Damp Rock is the item of choice, allowing Phione to create an eight-turn Rain Dance. Heal Bell can be used in place of U-turn to cure status for your team, though U-turn is extremely useful for scouting purposes, one of the main reasons you should even consider using Phione on your team. It should be noted that by using Phione, you are adding additional Electric- and Grass-type weaknesses for your Rain Dance team to struggle with. For this reason, Pokemon that resist these attacking types are essential teammates. Grass-, Dragon-, and Ground-types, such as Tangrowth, Altaria, and Rhyperior, can cover these weaknesses well, while forming decent defensive cores on a Rain team. Since Phione is dedicated to setting up rain for the rest of the its team, Pokemon that can abuse the rain are essential teammates. Kabutops, Ludicolo, Qwilfish, Omastar, and Gorebyss are all extremely deadly sweepers in the rain, making them excellent partners. Toxicroak and Poliwrath are the biggest threats to Phione and its team. These Pokemon can switch into Phione as it uses Rain Dance, and set up Substitute, Nasty Plot, or Swords Dance as Phione switches out. Uxie and Weezing can wall Toxicroak and Poliwrath without much difficulty; additionally, both Pokemon are able to set up Rain Dance themselves, making them wonderful teammates. Venusaur is a very good teammate to Phione because of its ability to switch into Grass- and Electric-type attacks with ease. It can also absorb Toxic Spikes, which are quite troublesome for rain teams.

This set is Phione's best attempt at being an offensive Pokemon. By using Rain Dance, Phione becomes immune to status and can use Rest to restore all of its HP in a single turn. In the rain, Surf becomes a powerful move that deals large amounts of damage to any Pokemon that does not resist it. Grass Knot helps Phione deal with the myriad of bulky Water-types in UU, while Ice Beam allows Phione to hit Venusaur and other Grass-types for super effective damage. Toxic can be used in the third slot, enabling Phione to stall and attack at the same time. If you're using Toxic in the third slot, it is generally a better idea to run a bulkier EV spread such as 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe. Such a spread allows Phione to both take hits and stall much more effectively. Leftovers is the item of choice due to the additional longevity it grants Phione; however, Damp Rock can be used if you want the rain to last longer. Venusaur is a major threat to Phione, due to its ability to switch into any move apart from Ice Beam. Even though Phione Speed ties with Venusaur, it won't always be able to come out on top against Venusaur. Specially defensive Weezing is possibly the best switch-in to Venusaur, as it resists both of Venusaur's STABs and is indifferent to Sleep Powder thanks to Rest and Sleep Talk. Registeel can also switch into all special variants of Venusaur without much hassle. Apart from Venusaur, strong Electric-types such as Manectric, Rotom, and Lanturn can deal huge amounts of damage to Phione. Venusaur is, ironically, an excellent teammate for this reason, as it is able to absorb Thunderbolt and threaten such Pokemon with its powerful STAB moves. Manectric's Flamethrower will also be weakened by rain, making it a non-threat to Phione's Grass-type teammates.