Overview
########
With very few viable users of Wish in OU, Vaporeon has carved itself a niche as one of the best users of the move. A massive base 130 HP stat allows Vaporeon to pass Wishes of 232 HP, restoring a massive chunk of any Pokemon's health, and a base 110 Special Attack stat allows it to have much more offensive presence than other users of the move. Vaporeon's mono Water typing is solid defensively, with four resistances and only two weaknesses and four resistances. Water Absorb turns one of those resistances into an immunity and makes Vaporeon a great check to Water-types, allowing it to switch into Pokemon such as Greninja relatively safely. Water Absorb is also especially useful in discouraging the use of Scald, which is otherwise one of the safest moves in the game.
However, not all changes are good, and the new weather mechanics have made Hydration stalling effectively useless. The popularity of Pokemon such as Thundurus and Mega Venusaur can make life hard on Vaporeon, [comma] and it can become setup [no hyphen] bait for sweepers if it does not run Roar or Toxic. Vaporeon is not a Pokemon that can simply be thrown onto a team and be expected to wall everything, but it can do its job very well with proper support.
Wish Support
########
name: Wish Support
move 1: Wish
move 2: Protect
move 3: Scald
move 4: Roar / Toxic / Heal Bell
ability: Water Absorb
item: Leftovers
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
nature: Bold
Moves
========
Wish is the main move on the set, healing [since the set is called Wish Support, this is unnecessary] heals either 50% of Vaporeon's health or 232 points of a teammate's HP health. Protect ensures that Vaporeon will be healed by its own Wish [removed comma] and can be used to scout opponent's moves. Scald has an incredibly useful 30% chance to burn the opponent [removed ,] and hits decently hard off of Vaporeon's base 110 Special Attack stat. Roar allows Vaporeon to phaze out potential counters or setup [no hyphen] sweepers and chip away at the opponent's health with hazard support. Toxic allows Vaporeon to cripple most walls and cause reliable damage on things it may not be able to otherwise hurt otherwise. Heal Bell can be used to provide cleric support while rendering helping Vaporeon be unafraid of Toxic harmless, but it also makes Vaporeon extreme setup bait if your opponent notices it Vaporeon lacks both Toxic and Roar. Ice Beam provides good coverage with Scald, but it isn't particularly powerful without investment and can struggle to deal damage even to Pokemon that are weak to it, such as Tangrowth. Haze allows Vaporeon to stop Baton Pass teams dead in their tracks and is nearly unblockable, but it has a tough time finding an open moveslot in its moves.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP investment allows Vaporeon to pass the largest Wishes possible, and a Bold nature with maximum Defense is used take hits from physical attackers, [comma] complementing to complement Vaporeon's naturally high special bulk. With maximum Defense investment, Vaporeon can comfortably take hits from support Landorus-T and Scizor while threatening back with Scald. Leftovers is an obvious choice for a defensive Pokemon, [comma] as it grants Vaporeon a source of passive recovery and allows it to stall more efficiently with Protect.
Usage Tips
========
Vaporeon attracts Toxic like a magnet, so avoiding it through the use of Protect and or switches switching will go a long way in increasing Vaporeon's survivability. The use of repeated Wishes puts your opponent in a situation where they will start trying to predict your passes; pay attention to how your opponent responds after a Wish, because you don't want a Pokemon to faint due to on a correct opposing prediction predicted switch. Before Vaporeon needs to pass Wishes, Scald is the move of choice, being as it is able to do decent damage and potentially burn anything that comes in. If Vaporeon is using Toxic, determine whether Toxic poison or Burn status would be more detrimental to your opponent's team; this can be loosely determined in the Team Preview. If Vaporeon is running Roar, it's important to keep it healthy, [comma] as it has to take a hit in order to Roar an opposing Pokemon out.
Team Options
========
Mega Venusaur resists both of Vaporeon's weaknesses, is immune to Toxic, and greatly appreciates the healing Wish provides since it cannot hold Leftovers. Ferrothorn and Heatran complete from an excellent Water / Fire / Grass core with Vaporeon, patching up covering for each other's weaknesses and spreading hazards and status. Skarmory is capable of taking most physical attacks aimed at Vaporeon and can lay down hazards or and phaze opponents. Support Landorus-T functions similarly with Stealth Rock and can use U-turn to maintain momentum. Excadrill can switch in on predicted Electric-type attacks aimed at Vaporeon and proceed to Rapid Spin any hazards away. Goodra is capable of easily sponging Grass-type and Electric-type special moves aimed at Vaporeon, but fears Toxic just as much as Vaporeon does.
Other Options
########
Hidden Power Fire can be used to beat Ferrothorn, but has almost no use outside of that. Similarly, Hidden Power Grass helps Vaporeon combat get through Gastrodon and or Quagsire, but though both of those are vulnerable to Toxic anyway, [comma] and 4 SpA Vaporeon can only 2HKO these targets, meaning it you will likely be get hit with Toxic in return. Surf can be used over Scald for the slight power boost, but Vaporeon needs the burn chance much more than the power.
Checks & Counters
########
**Status immune/resistant Pokemon**: Pokemon with high Special Defense and Natural Cure such as Blissey and Chansey leave Vaporeon unable to do anything and can threaten with Toxic. Celebi also falls into this category [comma removed] and has Perish Song to completely shatter Baton Pass teams. Pokemon with Magic Guard render Vaporeon's Scald burns and Toxic poison attempts useless, [comma] and Reuniclus in particular can set up Calm Mind boosts in Vaporeon's face while only being threatened by Roar phazed out at best the worst. Clefable functions in a similar way [removed ,] and can use boosted Moonblasts to break through Vaporeon after a couple of boosts.
** Bulky Grass-types**: Vaporeon absolutely hates Leech Seed, [comma] as its large health total becomes a liability and allows opponents to regain large chunks of HP at once. Ferrothorn is one of the best Vaporeon switch-ins in the game, capable of setting up hazards in its face or hitting Vaporeon with the aforementioned Leech Seed. Mega Venusaur is immune to Toxic, only slightly cares about burns, and can hit Vaporeon with either Leech Seed or Giga Drain to recover HP in addition to doing heavy damage as well as heavily damage it. Poison Heal Breloom is only afraid of the uncommon Ice Beam, [comma] while Technician Breloom can easily OHKO with Bullet Seed as long as it avoids a burn from Scald
**Electric-types**: Most Electric-types are frail special attackers [removed ,] and don't particularly care about burn or Toxic. Life Orb Thundurus is strong enough to have a 75% chance to OHKO Vaporeon with Thunderbolt after Stealth Rock damage. While Rotom-W's Volt Switch does not do a lot of damage with Volt Switch, it can Toxic Vaporeon or use Volt Switch to gain momentum while taking a pittance from any of Vaporeon's moves. Zapdos also cleanly 2HKOes Vaporeon, [comma] while Vaporeon the latter can only manage to Toxic Zapdos in return.
**Set-Up Sweepers**: Espeon can set up Calm Mind in front of Vaporeon and cannot be phazed out due to Magic Bounce. If Vaporeon does not run Roar, then Substitute setup sweepers become a massive problem, especially ones that resist Water-type attacks such as Kyurem-B and Gyarados. Lum Berry Haxorus can Dragon Dance against Vaporeon and then 2HKO with Dragon Claw if Vaporeon has any prior damage while also having insurance against a burn. Nasty Plot Celebi can tank even super effective Ice Beams easily, Giga Drain to recover huge chunks of its health, and Baton Pass to pass on any boosts it may accumulate.
