Volcarona, the Sun Pokémon. Its burning body causes it to be unpopular in hot parts of the world, but in cold ones, Volcarona is revered as an embodiment of the sun. This Pokémon scatters burning scales. Most of the danger of these scales is not in their heat-it's in the way they rob the surrounding air of oxygen.
Overview
While the Bug type is oft maligned as one of the worst in the game, Volcarona’s continued excellence flies in the face of such allegations lending credence to its in universe near legendary reputation. Base 135 Special Attack is a large part of Volcarona’s feared power, being literally legendary in stature and with a potent Bug-Fire STAB and decent coverage to complement it. Adding to this offense is a solid Base 100 Speed stat, allowing Volcarona to outrun and threaten many defensive and some offensive staples from the word go. What truly makes Volcarona’s offense fearsome though is its access to Quiver Dance, one of the best moves in the game. Calm Mind with a speed boost stapled to it is absurd, allowking Volcarona to escalate out control quickly, not only becoming an offensive powerhouse, but incredibly difficult to overcome on the special side as well. Offense is not all Volcarona brings to the table either, with solid Special Defense, options to Burn in Flame Body and Will-O-Wisp to cover physical attackers give Volcarona respectable base bulk. This bulk is further accentuated by Volcarona’s excellent Bug Fire typing shutting down several prominent offensive types like Ice, Fighting, Fairy, and Grass. Recovery options in Morning Sun and Giga Drain, top off this defensive package, giving Volcarona not only hit taking ability, but longevity. Power, Speed, Defense, Volcarona has it all. Even the recent generations have been kind to Volcarona, with Generation 8 gifting it Heavy Duty Boots to ward off Volcarona’s biggest weakness in Stealth Rocks and the Terastalization of the ninth generation dramatically expanding Volcarona’s coverage to handle the targets it normally couldn’t.
The fact that these are benefits to Volcarona do hint at its issues. Without Heavy-Duty Boots, Stealth Rocks are ruinous to Volcarona, ripping out half of its HP on switch-in even before getting to other hazards like Spikes, greatly constraining Volcarona’s item options or flexibility. While Volcarona’s offenses are truly fearsome, its lacks the means to directly threaten opposing Fire types sans Terastalization and generally suffers from 4 moveslot syndrome in trying to fit all the coverage, Quiver Dance and recovery it needs. While Flame Body is an excellent deterrent to physical attackers, it does not change the fact that Volcarona’s physical defense is paltry leaving non-contact physical attackers able to quickly dispatch Volcarona. All of this does not detract from Volcarona’s greatness, and sure as the sun, Volcarona will continue being a threat./>
Positives
Base 135 Special Attack is amazing, allowing even defensive Volcarona to hit brutally hard.
Base 100 Speed is the gold standard, allowing Volcarona to threaten numerous offensive and defensive staples.
Base 105 Special Defense, Flame Body, and the myriad of resistances of Bug Fire give Volcarona an impressive defensive profile.
Quiver Dance is one of the most powerful boosting moves in the game, especially with Volcarona, making its best stats even better.
Negatives
65 Defense is abysmal leaving Volcarona exposed to many physical attacks.
Cripplingly weak to Stealth Rock, constraining Volcarona’s item or when it can come in.
Hit hard by Four Moveslot Syndrome, struggling to fit all the coverage, boosting and recovery it needs in a single set.
Movesets
Dance of the Sun God
-Quiver Dance
-Fiery Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Tera Blast
Ability: Flame Body
Item: Heavy-Duty Boots
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Tried and true, Volcarona’s Quiver Dance set ends teams after very little setup, the boosts from Quiver Dance pushing its offense and speed to the roof while making it difficult to break specially. Fiery Dance is the preferred Fire STAB, being damage and further setup, allowing Volcarona to further escalate while on the offense, meaning even resisted switch in’s may not be safe after another boost. Bug Buzz is secondary STAB, neutrally hitting most of Fire’s resists, while hitting Dark types like Ting-Lu, Urshifu, Tyrannitar and Roaring Moon, as well as Cresselia and Latios. Tera Blast rounds out this set, giving Volcarona unprecedented coverage when it Terastalizes, allowing Volcarona to turn the tables on Pokémon that would normally wall its STABs, such as Dragonite, Ho-oh, Skeledirge, and Tera Fire users in general.
Tera Types:
Quiver Dance Volcarona’s largest failings are its lacking coverage and onerus weaknesses to Water and Rock, making it a prime candidate for Terastalizing. However, it should also be noted that Volcarona’s base typing offers a great combination of resistances that is hard to replicate, meaning Terastalization is not always the option. Tera Water is a consistent pick for Quiver Dance Volcarona for both its offensive and defensive merits, giving Volcarona a valuable resistance to Water and generally good defensive type alongside a direct answer to opposing Fire types. Tera Fairy is another popular defensive offensive option, being a generally good defensive type while answering many Bug resistant Dragons like Dragonite, Koraidon, Dragapult, etc. Tera Grass rounds out the more defensive options, greatly improving Volcarona’s matchup into opposing Water types and turning Giga Drain into a near proper healing move. As for offensive Tera types, Volcarona is one of the few Pokémon that can make use of Tera Rock, crushing Fire and Flying types alike, while the newly gained resistance to Dragonite’s Extreme Speed is handy.
EVs and Items:
Max Speed and Special Attack investment are recommended, getting the most out of Quiver Dance’s offensive boosts. The question of Timid Nature versus Modest is still quite nuanced. With only a Modest Nature, one misses out on outrunning naturally slower Speed positive natured Pokémon like Landorus-Therian, Urshifu, Annihlape, Kyogre, Lunala, and Rayquaza as well as the Scarf using variants post Quiver Dance. However, with Modest, Volcarona is capable of one shotting Alomomola, Dragapult and Glimmora with a neutral Tera Blast, 2HKO Archaludon, Kyogre, Primarina with neutral Tera Blast, and Terapagos-Stellar. Alternatively, one can opt for a more defensive spread, heavily investing in HP and Defense to afford Volcarona more setup opportunities, as well as generate more chances for Flame Body to activate with Volcarona’s increased bulk. Some Speed EVs are still recommended to deal with faster threats after a Quiver Dance. 76 Speed with Timid is enough for outrunning Dragapult, but 124 Speed with Timid is necessary for getting the jump on Calyrex-Shadow Rider. Additionally, pay close attention when bumping up Volcarona’s HP if not running Heavy-Duty Boots. If not running Heavy-Duty Boots, you want an odd HP value so Volcarona can switch into Stealth Rocks twice. Heavy-Duty Boots is strongly recommended for Volcarona, the protection from Stealth Rocks and other entry hazards too hard to pass up. If not concerned about entry hazards, Kee Berry is a strong alternative, giving Volcarona a Defense boost after getting hit by a physical attack, softly patching up its weaker defense, though it works better with sets packing recovery. Rocky Helmet is also a powerful option, stacking with Flame Body to have any attackers targeting Volcarona’s poor Defense pay the price.
Partners:
:
As a Fire type, Volcarona appreciates Water types for a Water-Fire core, with such Pokémon naturally answering opposing Fire types and Tyrannitar that trouble Volcarona, and often have Ice moves to handle Flying and Dragon types that can prove difficult for Volcarona to break through. Urshifu-Rapid is a key example, as despite the shared Water weakness, its resistance to Water, and Rock moves invaluable while appreciating Volcarona’s resistances to Grass and Fairy along with it threatening Psychic types.
Koraidon also makes for a great partner for Volcarona, between its setting of the Sun bolstering Volcarona’s Fire STAB to terrifying levels while resisting Water and Rock attacks and having a good matchup into opposing Fire types while loving Volcarona as a pivot into Ice and Fairy attacks, though the shared Flying weakness is painful.
Ground types like Landorus-Therian and Ting-Lu also make for good partners, given their Rock resistance and good matchup into opposing Fire types. Both are also capable of setting hazards and pushing opponents into Volcarona’s frying range, while Landorus-Therian’s Intimidate is invaluable in enabling Volcarona’s Quiver Dance setup.
Other Options:
Giga Drain is amazing, being both recovery and coverage for Water types in one move and is a strong consideration, even over the STAB Bug Buzz.
Morning Sun is great if running bulkier Volcarona, giving it reliable recovery that offsets the damage taken while setting up.
Flamethrower is a slightly stronger alternative to Fiery Dance, though Fiery Dance’s rider is hard to pass up.
Will-O-Wisp pairs wonderfully with Quiver Dance in shoring up Volcarona’s devices and utterly ruins physical attackers on the switch in.
Hurricane is niche, but a powerful option if pairing Volcarona with Kyogre for an alternative STAB over Fire STAB if the Rain is up.
Doubles and VGC Options
Volcarona’s excellence extends to Doubles as well as Singles. Quiver Dance is just as insane in both formats, and Volcarona’s access to Heat Wave means it can just as easily spread around damage as it can obliterate single targets. What truly has Volcarona stand out in Doubles formats is its support capabilities. Volcarona is one of the rare Pokémon to be gifted with redirection in Rage Powder and is one of the best users of the move, with its STABs directly threatening the Grass types immune to the move and actively punishing attackers with Flame Body. Redirection is far from Volcarona’s only trick, with access to damage mitigation in Will-O-Wisp and Struggle Bug as well as speed control in Tailwind. Volcarona being an offensive powerhouse on top of unlike more passive support Pokémon is even better. This makes Volcarona an extremely flexible support piece able to fulfill any role a team could ask for, and access to the Quiver Dance set further increases Volcarona’s threat by keeping opponent’s guessing. Sadly, Volcarona faces stiff competition in both roles against fellow Fire types Incineroar, Hearthflame Ogerpon and Chi-Yu, though never to the point where Volcarona’s own unique strengths don’t shine through.
Strike the Sun
-Rage Powder
-Will-O-Wisp
-Fiery Dance
-Protect
Ability: Flame Body
Item: Rocky Helmet
Tera Type: Water/Grass
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def / 60 SDef
Bold Nature
Supportive Volcarona is a menace in VGC and for good reason, with this set explicitly out to ruin Urshifu-Rapid's day. Rage Powder with a Water-resistant Tera heavily punishes Surging Strikes with multiple activations of Rocky Helmet and multiple chances for Flame Body often leaving Urshifu in a worse position than Volcarona after the attack, while Volcarona's Fighting resistance pre-Terastlization offers some delicious mind games. Will-O-Wisp removes the luck aspect of Flame Body from the equation, ensuring Volcarona can cripple physical attackers like Urshifu, Iron Hands, Zacian-Crowned, Zamazenta-Crowned, Rillaboom, non-Hearthflame Ogerpon, etc. Fiery Dance ensures Volcarona isn't entirely passive and in fact can capture some of the magic of its offensive varients with a few lucky rolls allowing Volcarona to escalate out of control, while threatening prominent Fire weak targets like Zamazenta-Crowned, Zacian-Crowned, Rillaboom, Whimsicott, Amoonguss, Calyrex-Ice Rider, Chien-Pao, etc. Protect is an incredible move in Doubles, and Volcarona is a rare Pokémon less bothered by Urshifu's Unseen Fist given Urshifu doesn't like risking the Flame Body burn and Volcarona's natural resistance to Fighting STAB.
EVs are to maximize Volcarona's physical bulk to better handle the physical attackers it is meant to shutdown. Water resistant terastalizations are mandatory to ruin Urshifu Rapid. Tera Water is an amazing defensive type in general, though Tera Grass has several of its own merits. With Tera Grass, Volcarona stifles Amoonguss and Smeargle's Spores, while ignoring their own redirection and doesn't leave Volcarona vulnerable to Rillaboom's Grassy Glide. However, Grass' many weaknesses including the shared weakness to Flying that Tornadus and Acrobatic Roaring Moon are more than happy to exploit prove Tera Water's own merits.
Preferred Partners:
Calyrex Ice Rider loves Volcarona's support, given Volcarona's incredible matchup into general anti Trick Room mon Amoonguss, along with Volcarona handling difficult matchups in Zacian and Zamazenta Crowned and generally making Calyrex Ice Rider bulkier with Will-O-Wisp and Struggle Bug support. Volcarona doing well into opposing Calyrex Ice Rider is another bonus.
Electric types like Miraidon and Raging Bolt make for excellent partners to Volcarona, handling the Water and Flying types that can quickly remove Volcarona, while Volcarona effortlessly dispatches troublesome Grass types like Amoonguss and Rillaboom that soak their Electric STABs as well as pivot into the Ice and Fairy attacks that threaten both. Both Miraidon and Raging Bolt love the Speed control and damage mitigation Volcarona provides, keeping them around longer and making them that much more dangerous.
Ironically Urshifu Rapid also works well with Volcarona, loving the Tailwind support, and forming a solid Water-Fire core.
Struggle Bug is the special damage answer to Will-O-Wisp's physical, and Volcarona still maintains its burn capability with Flame Body.
Tailwind is the best Speed control method around and Volcarona's stands out as a bulky setter.
Giga Drain keeps Volcarona around longer and further ruins Water types, though it can be hard to fit space for it.
Overheat is excellent for picking up sudden KO's out of nowhere and support Volcarona is less bothered by the Special Attack drop given its primary role isn't damage.
Countering Volcarona
While Volcarona has both incredible offenses and defenses, both carry intrinsic flaws that make it far more manageable. Fire types are regularly problematic for Volcarona, between their immunities to Will-O-Wisp and resistances to both STABs along with Volcarona struggling to fit coverage and the need for Terastalization along with their Fire STABs being neutral allowing them to overwhelm Volcarona. Ho-oh basically counters Volcarona, its massive Special Defense and high Attack along with Flying STAB leave Volcarona with no recourse. Hearthflame Ogerpon can’t switch directly in, but can OHKO offensive Volcarona and survives a +1 Fiery Dance or Bug Buzz while naturally outspeeding, and does easily get the OHKO if it Terastalizes. Gouging Fire doesn’t handle boosted neutral coverage well, but easily stomachs boosted STAB attacks and can overwhelm with Heat Crash, though Choiced Flare Blitz Gouging Fire must be wary of defensive sets outlasting it with Morning Sun. Skeledirge also excels, ignoring Quiver Dance boosts with Unaware and can beat Volcarona at its own game with Torch Song. Specially based Fire types are a little shakier, given Volcarona can and will overwhelm them with Quiver Dance boosts, but excel against an unboosted Volcarona. Specs Chi-Yu can OHKO Volcarona pre Quiver Dance, and offensive Volcarona at +1 Special Defense, but a bulky Volcarona can survive and deal serious damage back with Bug Buzz. Iron Moth needs Meteor Beam to KO through Quiver Dance boosts or place Volcarona on a timer with Toxic, but otherwise soaks STABs and Giga Drain incredibly well while naturally outspeeding.
Other type combinations that naturally resist Volcarona’s STABs also trouble it, though Will-O-Wisp and Quiver Dance can allow Volcarona to overcome them. Bug resistant Dragon types like Dragonite, Rayquaza, Dragapult, and Salamence all threaten Volcarona with their STABs while able to eat a +1 STAB attack in turn. Gyarados similarly endures Volcarona’s boosted STABs and can directly OHKO offensive Volcarona without boosting, though being naturally slower makes it more vulnerable to Will-O-Wisp.
Water types in general do well against Volcarona, as its is far more likely to carry Fire STAB as opposed to Bug, though Giga Drain is distressingly common for this reason. If lacking Giga Drain, Primarina and Azumarill eat both of Volcarona’s STABs for breakfast and easily threaten it back.
Exploiting Volcarona’s Rock weakness is also a great way to remove it quickly from the battle. The most expedient way is Stealth Rock, though most Volcarona carry Heavy-Duty Boots for this very reason, often requiring Knock Off and a potential Flame Body first. Other Rock attackers that are bulky enough to survive a hit or outspeed and eliminate Volcarona like Glimmora, Tyrannitar, and Scarf Landorus-Therian can deal with Volcarona before it does too much damage. Cornerstone Ogerpon is notable for being able to survive any boosted attack with Sturdy and revenge KO in return, though that does mandate hazards be clear for that to work.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game
Black/White:
Relic Castle
Black 2/White 2:
Relic Castle
X/Y:
Evolve Larvesta
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Larvesta
Sun/Moon:
Trade from Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Lush Jungle
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Challenge Beach, Insular Sea, Potbottom Desert
Max Raid Battles: Fields of Honor, Challenge Beach, Loop Lagoon, Potbottom Desert
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Not in game
Legends: Arceus:
Obsidian Fieldlands: Massive Mass Outbreak
Scarlet/Violet:
Area Zero
Tera Raid Battles: 5 Star Raid Battles, 6 Star Raid Battles
Anime Appearences
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Volcarona has made a couple of appearances in the anime. Most notably, a Volcarona got targeted by a poacher |
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