Florges, the Garden Pokémon. They say that flower gardens created by Florges constantly emit a power that can heal both body and spirit. It is said that there was once a Florges that protected the garden of a castle for over 300 years. When Florges attacks, its orange flowers fire off powerful beams as if they were a battery of artillery. Blue pigments were tremendously expensive in the past, so paintings of blue Florges are highly valuable. A flower garden made by a white-flowered Florges will be beautifully decorated with flowering plants of many different colors.
Overview
Many trainer’s first introduction to the Fairy type, Florges has helped define what we expect of the fairy type along with Sylveon. For Florges that means outstanding Special bulk. Sitting at the same superlative defying Base 154 Special Defense as Ho-oh and Lugia, Florges is primed as a special sponge. Florges has the tools for it too, with access to Wish and Synthesis to play the long game or help its allies do the same. This is all before getting into Florges’ offense. Base 112 Special Attack is certainly serviceable especially with the offensively potent Fairy STAB and Psychic coverage for pesky Fairy-resistant Poison types. Calm Mind is brutal on Florges for its immense Special Defense is invaluable in winning Calm Mind wars against opposing setters that cannot bypass it.
However, like Sylveon, Florges possesses many of the same flaws. Being physically frail at base 68 Defense offers an easy out to Florges despite its immense Special Bulk. The issues with Florges’ bulk do not stop there. While Fairy is an excellent defensive type, its resistances in Fighting, Dark, Bug and Dragon are predominantly physical, meaning for most of the attacks Florges wants to tank, it is taking neutral damage. Base 75 Speed does not help in this matter either, falling short of wall breaking threats that make it much easier to force Florges out. Florges also suffers in its other roles as well. Florges is also completely walled off by Steel types and had little for opposing Fire types outside of non-STAB Psychic and the weak Chilling Water, which its unboosted Special Attack cannot compensate for. The loss of Aromatherapy in the generational shift is another blow, significantly lessening Florges’ role as a cleric. These factors hurt even more as it has Florges struggle to stand out against the opposing Fairy competition, who, while not possessing as much fantastic special bulk, offer more offense, resistances and/or Speed to the table that Florges just can’t match.
Positives
Base 154 Special Defense is insane, allowing Florges to reliably tank Special Attacks even uninvested.
Pure Fairy typing offers plenty of valuable resistances and difficult to exploit weaknesses on top of a solid STAB option.
Good recovery options in Synthesis and Wish allow Florges to tank Special Attacks repeatedly.
Base 112 Special Attack is good, allowing Florges to hit hard with investment especially after a Calm Mind boost.
Negatives
Base 68 Defense is quite poor, and an obvious weakness for opponents to exploit.
Unable to handle physical Steel types due to lack of coverage and unimpressive base offenses.
75 Speed falls short of many threats sitting at base 80 and above, making it easier to force out by physical attackers.
Both abilities do nothing in Singles..
Movesets
Gorgeous Florges
-Wish
-Protect
-Moonblast
-Calm Mind
Ability: Flower Veil
Item: Leftovers
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
This Florges set blends support and offense, both keeping Florges’ teammates alive and potentially set up for a game ending sweep. Wish is the star of the set, not only giving Florges recovery, but also its teammates, allowing for walls that normally lack recovery as their biggest flaw incredible staying power. This can also have Florges act as a pseudo pivot, using Wish and switching out, allowing for the Wish to undo the damage incurred from the opponent while switching in. Protect is primarily for Wish, allowing Florges to selfishly use Wish for itself as a two turn Recover while synergizing nicely with Leftovers for extra recovery. Moonblast is so Florges isn’t entirely passive, mercifully made easier by Florges decent Special Attack and the excellent coverage of Fairy. Calm Mind is primarily for late game scenarios where an opponent’s physical attackers have been compromised, allowing Florges to set up and roll over the remaining Special Attackers that can’t break through Florges boosted Special Defense..
Tera Types:
Pure Fairy is one of the best types to start out as given its bevy of resistances and only having two hard to exploit weaknesses, meaning Florges often excels without Terastalization. However, this set’s biggest issues lie with Toxic, placing Florges on a timer and greatly reducing its longevity. As such, Tera Steel and Tera Poison are strong options for Florges to make itself immune to Poison and remove this weakness. Tera Steel tends to be preferred with its myriad of resistances allowing Florges to wall off a whole host of Pokémon. However, Tera Poison maintains Florges valuable Fighting resistance and is not as exploitable as Tera Steel when it comes to weaknesses. Tera Ghost is another popular defensive option, if purely for denying Rapid Spin and maintaining one’s hazards.
EVs and Items:
Max HP is a given on any set running Wish; one wants to max out the recovery doled out by the move and Florges’ base HP is not so high that it can do so without investment. Heavy Defense investment with a Bold nature is recommended, as it is inevitable that Florges will take physical attacks from opponents looking to bring it down, making it that much harder to remove Florges. However, some speed investment may be prudent so that Florges does not take unnecessary hits while setting up. At the higher end of investment, 136 Speed EVs, Florges is guaranteed to outrun neutral base 60s like Hisuian-Decidueye as well as any Alolan Sandslash that isn’t running at least 216 Speed EVs and heavily defensive Milotic. 96 Speed EVs are the minimum necessary to outrun base 55’s including physical powerhouses like Brute Bonnet and Golurk. Leftovers is recommended for the item, the passive recovery invaluable in helping Florges recover from hits taken while setting up Wish or Calm Mind and pairing nicely with Protect. Heavy-Duty Boots is another strong option with the amount of switching this Florges does in its clerical duties including making Toxic Spikes far less of an issue.
Partners:
:
As Florges is a Special Wall first and foremost, a physical wall to pair with it and tank the attacks headed Florges way is greatly appreciated. Bulky Ground types like Mudsdale, and Palossand stand out in this regard, forming a Ground-Fairy offensive core in addition to the physical-special wall defensive pairing. Palossand is notable for being able to spread burns with Scorching Sands, making it that much harder to break through Florges, while Mudsdale loves the benefits of Wish to supplement its nonexistent natural recovery. Alolan-Sandslash is another prime physical wall that also provides excellent hazard control, allowing Florges to switch that much more freely and greatly benefitting from Wish in return. Florges being able to soak Fighting attacks for Alolan-Sandslash is a nice bonus.
Other Options:
Psychic Noise is a great coverage option, giving Florges an answer into Poison types as well as opposing walls like Milotic, denying their healing while maintaining Florges own and allowing it to win the long game.
Synthesis is a reliable immediate healing option that doesn’t cost precious Wish PP to use, though is easily ruined by non-Sun weather strategies.
Doubles and VGC Options
Despite having two abilities built for Doubles, Florges is scarcely given a thought for the format. Which is surprising given its signature ability Flower Veil, which grants the benefits of Safeguard and Clear Body to allied Grass Pokémon. This would seem to be an insane ability, especially with the array of excellent Grass types this generation with at least one Rillaboom, Brute Bonnet, Ogerpon, Amoonguss, Tsareena, Sinistcha, and more found on every team. However, the bulk of these Pokémon are support pieces on their team, which by its very nature Florges is as well leaving such compositions somewhat passive. While this pool can be bypassed with Tera Grass that is already a huge opportunity cost. The real issue is Florges stats. Florges is a dedicated special sponge with poor Defense. While this is viable in Singles, such Pokémon tend to struggle in Double due to facing two Pokémon at once, making it much easier for the attackers to either overwhelm or target the weaker of Florges defenses. Add in an underwhelming support movepool and an unimpressive speed stat that makes getting said moves off difficult and it is easy to see why this fair flower fairy was forgotten..
The Tuft of Flowers
-Helping Hand
-Pollen Puff
-Moonblast
-Skill Swap
Ability: Symbiosis
Item: Choice Specs
Tera Type: Fire
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
This Florges set makes the most out of Symbiosis, pairing specifically with Booster Energy users like Flutter Mane, Raging Bolt or Iron Crown, having Florges give them an extra boost in power on top of what they got from Booster Energy. One of Flutter Mane’s biggest problems is that it misses important knock outs or speed tiers on whether it invests it gets Speed or Special Attack from Protosynthesis and thus with this, Flutter Mane can get both without having to worry about Weather being disrupted. Helping Hand piles on the damage even further, turning Florges’ partner into a weapon of mass destruction. Pollen Puff is fantastic support, keeping Florges’ super boosted partner around longer. Moonblast is both a backup plan when Symbiosis doesn’t go off as well as just to ensure Florges isn’t completely passive in general. Skill Swap is ability disruption and is great for crippling Pokémon reliant on their abilities as well as punish opponents, especially Incineroar with their own Intimidate. This can be especially potent if the target’s partner is running a consumable item forcing Symbiosis to go off and give an unsuitable to its ally, though admittedly unlikely.
EVs are to maximize Florges overall bulk, so it sticks around as long as possible to repeatedly Pollen Puff and Helping Hand its ally. Terastalization is up to preference. Tera Fire is for defense, giving Florges resistance to common Steel attacks like Gholdengo’s Make It Rain, Archaludon’s Flash Cannon, and Iron Crown’s Tachyon Cutter as well as opposing Flutter Mane’s Fairy STABs.
Preferred Partners:
This set is meant to super charge a Speed Booster energy Flutter Mane, giving it a effective pseudo special Dragon Dance, on top of Helping Hand support. Other special based Booster Energy users like Raging Bolt, Iron Crown and Iron Bundle can use this to similar effect, though Flutter Mane is preferred for its sheer speed, power, immunity to Fake Out and hard to resist STABs.
Given Florges poor Defense, Intimidate users like Incineroar and Hisuian Arcanine are invaluable in keeping Florges around. Both also having a decent matchup into Gholdengo is a nice bonus.
Protect is the best move in Doubles and can be considered given this set’s aim is to get rid of its Choice Specs.
Countering Florges
While Florges Special Defense is incredible, its status as a generic Fairy type gives it very clear weaknesses and counters.
Steel types are consistently Florges worst nightmare, given its complete lack of coverage for them, forcing Florges to Terastalize to properly handle them. If not facing a Tera Ground Florges, Specially Defensive Alolan-Sandslash and Perrserker both make short work of Florges while being only 3HKO’d by Moonblast. Specially Defensive Orthworm is much the same except it doesn’t even fear Tera Ground thanks to Earth Eater. Do note that due to their low speeds none of these Pokémon like getting Tricked a Choice Specs and are prone to being worn down.
If not running Tera Ground Tera Blast Fire types can be problematic given how non-STAB Psychic coverage and Moonblast tend to both thud off Florges. Choice Band Arcanine and Psyshock Delphox both tank Florges non Tera Ground Tera Blast blows with ease, with the former threatening a reliable 2HKO and the latter able to use Florges as setup fodder with Encore.
For defensive and Calm Mind sets, Toxic is invaluable in placing Florges on a timer and making it even more passive by forcing it to waste turns to heal. The fact that such sets can struggle to fit Psychic coverage on allows Poison types to excel, especially Salazzle whose Corrosion outright ignores any anti-Poison Tera Florges may try.
Wish sets are arguably the most difficult to deal with, given how Florges is constantly pivoting out, yet are the most important to remove to make progress against the opposing team. Entry hazards help a lot in this regard, chipping Florges every time it comes in and eventually forcing it to stick around to heal.
Otherwise, overwhelming physical offense is the way to go, though this can be difficult if Florges is fully maxed out on Defense investment. Skuntank is a notable example where its Gunk Shots mandate Terastalization or max HP Defense investment to survive and can even punish Florges or its Wish recipient with Knock Off, to say nothing of shutting it down with Taunt. Other physical attackers like Banded Golurk, Banded Bruxish, Tera Electric Pawmot, and Tauros-Blaze are just a few of the Pokémon that outspeed and 2HKO max HP/Defense Florges. While it is true that Florges will rarely stay in front of such Pokémon, the pressure alone can be enough in forcing it out and preventing it from healing or performing its duties. .
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:
Not in game
Black 2/White 2:
Not in game
X/Y:
Evolve Floette
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Trade from X & Y
Sun/Moon:
Trade from Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Evolve Floette
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Not in game
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Not in game
Legends: Arceus:
Not in game
Scarlet/Violet:
North Province Area Three
Tera Raid Battles: 5 Star Raid Battles
Legends: Z-A:
Wild Zone 16, Wild Zone 20
Hyperspace Lumiose - Fairy (3 Star), Fairy (4 Star)
Anime Appearences
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Florges has made some appearances in the anime. Most notably one lived in the area Ash's Goodra protected and came from |
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