Volcanion, the Steam Pokémon. It expels its internal steam from the arms on its back. It has enough power to blow away a mountain. It lets out billows of steam and disappears into the dense fog. It's said to live in mountains where humans do not tread.

Overview

The first and still only Fire Water Pokémon, Volcanion retains its searing power despite the passing generations. 130 Special Attack is fierce to be sure, but Volcanion’s signature Steam Eruption is oppressive. A more accurate Hydro Pump with Scald’s Burn chance has few Pokémon able to safely endure it, as the Burn immune Fire types are washed away and everything else risks a debilitating if not crippling Burn on top of significant damage. Volcanion’s far from frail either, 120 Defense alone provides significant hit taking ability, but quadruple resistances to prominent offensive types in Ice and Fire on top of the Fairy resistance and Water immunity afforded by Water Absorb give Volcanion a wealth of opportunities to not only switch in safely, but outright wall Pokémon. This Defense also synergizes well with Volcanion’s Steam Eruption, giving it more opportunities to fire the move off and cripple physical attackers with a Burn.

For all of Fire and Water’s strengths, the melding of the two opposing forces does cause some issues. Being a Water type weak to the Ground and Rock types it is normally expected to cover is awkward, and battles with opposing Water types will be drawn out affairs due to lack of direct coverage and Waters resisting both STABs. More pressing are the opposing Dragon types that also resist both STABs, leaving Volcanion reliant on a Steam Eruption Burn to cripple the physical ones. Additionally, while Volcanion’s high Defense and ability to spread Burns reliably ward off physical attackers, it has no such answers for its lower Special Defense. Being weak to Stealth Rocks on top of exposure to all entry hazards with no reliable recovery to show for it hurts Volcanion’s hit taking ability. This is further compounded by its awkward base 70 Speed, leaving Volcanion struggling against offensive threats given how easily it is ground down into knock out range. Despite this, Volcanion’s power cannot be written off, and its defensive failings do not negate its many strengths it has that can blast the way open to victory.
Positives
Base 130 Special Attack is potent, leaving all but the sturdiest of sponges reeling from Volcanion’s assault.
Steam Eruption is an amazing attack, being an ideal combination of Hydro Pump and Scald, with Volcanion’s Fire STAB and coverage in Earth Power and Sludge Bomb complimenting it nicely.
Base 120 Defense synergizes well with Steam Eruption’s high burn chance, facilitating matchups against most physical attackers.
Water Absorb and Fire Water’s resistances offer several opportunities to switch in safely and make the most of Volcanion’s good Defense.

Negatives
Weakness to Rock and Ground moves has Volcanion struggle against Pokémon it would otherwise be expected to handle.
Base 70 Speed falls short of a huge swath of offensive Pokémon, allowing them to pressure Volcanion back.
Unimpressive special defense, exposure to all hazards and no reliable recovery are painful for Volcanion who is reliant on its bulk.

Movesets

Circle of Steam

-Fire Spin
-Taunt
-Steam Eruption
-Flamethrower
Ability: Water Absorb
Item: Heavy-Duty Boots
EVs and Nature:
4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Modest Nature

This Volcanion set is centered around trapping and eliminating the bulky backbone of a team. Fire Spin traps walls or switch-ins, leaving them prey for Volcanion or can prevent opponents from double switching to gain an edge in momentum. Taunt further accentuates this anti-Stall role, locking out the status moves that walls use to outlast and harry their opponents, leaving them crippled against Volcanion’s searing offense. Steam Eruption is the favored STAB for Volcanion. While its accuracy is imperfect, its sheer power and burn chance make it a very easy move to spam in general, especially against Ground types like Gliscor, Ting-Lu, Landorus-Therian, as well as Moltres and Garganacl. Flamethrower is reliable secondary STAB, threatening defensive staples like Amoonguss, Bronzong, Skarmory, Corviknight and Tinkaton, while threatening Rillaboom, Golden and Kingambit on more offensive teams.

Tera Types:
Volcanion is in an odd position where it both gets a lot of mileage out of its typing but is also held back by it. Volcanion can certainly flourish without Terastalization, but may need it to circumnavigate troublesome matchups. Tera Ghost is recommended for this set, being a decent defensive typing that is neutral to Electric and Ground while improving Volcanion’s matchup into Fighting attacks such as Zamazenta’s Body Press and Blissey’s Seismic Toss. It also has added utility in blocking Rapid Spin, maintaining hazards for longer. Ground is another potent option, especially if running Earth Power, as with Water Absorb, Volcanion is near to a pseudo-Water-Ground type, making it much more difficult to handle while also flipping the tables on Electric types trying to exploit its weakness. Tera Fairy is also interesting, as on top of a being a good defensive type, it in conjunction with Water Absorb allows Volcanion to wall key offensive threats like Walking Wake, Keldeo, Greninja and Quaquaval.

EVs and Items:
Max Speed and Special Attack are recommended. For Taunt to be as effective as possible, Volcanion needs to be able to outspeed the walls it traps and the speed investment is good to get the jump on such threats. Modest is generally recommended for the extra power boost Volcanion needs to muscle through its targets, though Timid is helpful in getting the jump on invested Gliscor, Jolly Mamoswine, or Timid Heatran. Heavy Duty Boots is strongly recommended on Volcanion, as it cannot afford being ravaged by Stealth Rocks and Spikes when trying to take out the bulkiest members of the opposing team, as that would greatly limit its switch in opportunities and require excellent hazard control. Leftovers is a popular alternative, the passive healing keeping Volcanion around for longer, while Shuca Berry is nice as a one-time gotcha for opposing Ground types, allowing Volcanion to obliterate any that think they could KO it.

Partners:
: Ground types make for great partners for Volcanion in general, resisting Rock and being immune to Electric, while Volcanion’s ability to trap and eliminate Skarmory, Corviknight and Dondozo while threatening most Grass types goes a long way in enabling Ground type offense to run rampant. Great Tusk and Landorus-Therian are both excellent picks, both offering Stealth Rocks, while Great Tusk can offer Hazard control for sets not running Heavy-Duty Boots while Landorus-Therian offers an aggressive pivot with U-Turn.
Weavile deserves special mention, being a fast physical attacker that boasts excellent matchups against the Dragon types Volcanion struggles with, like Dragonite, Latios, and Roaring Moon, along with cleaning up faster Ground types that can be awkward for Volcanion. In return, Volcanion is fantastic against the Fire types Weavile struggles with along with breaking physical walls, removing would be checks for Weavile.

Other Options:
Earth Power is a potent coverage option, threatening Electric types like Raging Bolt, as well as bulky sponges like Toxapex and Galarian Slowking and synergizing well with Tera Ground. Sludge Bomb is niche coverage, but excellent for Wellspring Ogerpon, one of the few Pokémon that can switch into Steam Eruption safely while chunking Primarina and Azumarill for decent damage.

Doubles and VGC Options

Volcanion’s mythical status is very much a detriment in official VGC formats, all but guaranteeing it will not see play except in just for fun formats with other legendaries who blow Volcanion out of the Water. Which is a shame, as its blend of bulk and power are attractive in the right format. Steam Eruption is similarly as amazing in Doubles as in Singles, its power and high Burn chance making it difficult to play around, while opposing Grass and Water types struggle against Volcanion’s Fire STAB and Water Absorb respectively, making it even harder to deal with. Being able to annihilate the most prominent anti Water offense Pokémon in Wellspring Ogerpon further strains how difficult it is to deal with the move. However Volcanion’s bulk nor speed are truly absurd and require team support to address its common weaknesses to Ground, Electric and Rock Slide.

Burn Engine

-Steam Eruption
-Heat Wave
-Earth Power
-Protect
Ability: Water Absorb
Item: Life Orb
Tera Type: Ground
EVs and Nature:
132 HP / 252 SAtk / 124 Spe
Modest Nature

Volcanion excels as a bulky attacker, using its absurd power to break down opponents while its good Defense affords Volcanion some staying power so that it isn’t instantly removed from the field. Steam Eruption is absurdly difficult to deal with, with Volcanion having answers for every resist aside from Dragon types and even most of those abhor getting burned. Heat Wave is good for clocking spread damage, wearing the opposing team down while punishing Grass types looking to absorb Steam Eruption. Earth Power is great, doing significant damage to Raging Bolt and Iron Hands, prominent Electric types that threaten Volcanion and offering neutral coverage to opposing Water types. Protect is the best move in Doubles, punishing doubling up, blanking Fake Out, stalling for allied setup, stalling out opposing field conditions, scouting for moves or Terastalizations and more, the utility of Protect is invaluable. With Water Absorb, Volcanion does exceptionally well against Rain teams, nullifying the boosted Water offense, while Heat Wave threatens the Grass types common on such teams as does Earth Power into Archaludon.

Ground Tera is recommended here, pairing wonderfully with Water Absorb to turn Volcanion into a pseudo Water Ground type while enabling Volcanion to obliterate Raging Bolt and Iron Hands safely with a super charged Earth Power. 124 Speed is necessary to outspeed uninvested base 85s like Rillaboom and Archaludon while outrunning neutral turbo Ursaluna and neutral Dragapult in Tailwind. Max Special Attack to emphasize Volcanion's best selling point and everything else into HP for bulk. Life Orb is for extra damage. Tera Grass is a good alternative, allowing Volcanion to absorb both Electric and Ground attacks with ease, while threatening STAB users back with Earth Power and Steam Eruption respectively.

Partners:
Sinistcha and Rillaboom immediately come to mind as partners for Volcanion, handling opposing Water and Electric types well (on top of Ground attacks) while greatly improving its durability with Hospitality/Grassy Terrain respectively. Volcanion for its part is a hard stop for opposing Fire types and Ice attacks, covering some of their weaknesses. Damage mitigation in general is valuable for Volcanion, helping it stay around longer to keep launch super powered attacks. Diancie and Incineroar are both notable for this, their Diamond Storm and Intimidate great at keeping Volcanion around while Volcanion handily deals with the Water types that threaten both as well as opposing Ground types to a certain extent.

Other Options:
Sludge Bomb is great for obliterating Ogerpon Wellspring Mask, a popular redirection support and common answer to Water types (and thus Steam Eruption) Assault Vest patches up Volcanion’s Special Defense and makes it truly hard to remove, especially with proper healing support to keep it healthy, though the loss of Protect is painful.

Countering Volcanion

Handling Volcanion means dealing with the house of a move that is Steam Eruption, as between the Burn chance and insane damage, even resistant Pokémon can struggle to stand up to it, let alone Volcanion’s coverage. Blissey is one of the best Pokémon for taking on Volcanion, thanks to its absurd Special Bulk ignoring Volcanion’s offense and Natural Cure making Burns less of a factor. Even the stallbreaker sets with Taunt and Fire Spin struggle against Blissey, who can easily 4HKO with Seismic Toss while Volcanion needs the Burn and Fire Spin damage to do the same. Blissey is also fantastic at wasting Steam Eruption’s limited 8 PP for this reason. Latias also does well, its high Special Defense and access to Calm Mind make it easy to reduce Volcanion’s attacks to a pittance while its boosted attacks do make quick work. Gastrodon can work, being immune to Steam Eruption and capable of OHKOing with Earth Power after a Storm Drain boost, while even Specs Volcanion struggles to down Gastrodon in 4 hits. Water types in general are troublesome, given they resist both STABs, though they need neutral coverage of their own or be completely shut out thanks to Water Absorb. Rotom-Wash is a key example, able to threaten with Electric STAB while absorbing Volcanion's STABs and Earth Power, though a Specs Steam Eruption can 2HKO. Other Pokémon are dependent on what Volcanion runs for coverage. Ogerpon Wellspring can switch into Steam Eruption freely and soundly 2HKOs with Power Whip but both Flamethrower and Sludge Bomb 2HKO back unless Ogerpon Wellspring Terastalizes, opening itself up to Steam Eruption. Volcanion lacking Earth Power find Toxapex a hard wall, though Toxapex is in a similar situation if faced against Taunt Volcanion without any non-Water attacks. Raging Bolt also soundly handles Volcanion, Electric STAB threatening OHKOs while taking pittance from any attack not named Earth Power. Assault Vest Hisuian Goodra can easily 2HKO Volcanion with Draco Meteor, while it would take Specs Tera Ground Volcanion’s Earth Power to match it, though Specs Flamethrower and non Specs Tera Ground Earth Power can 3HKO as well. Opposing Volcanion are also a hard wall, though if don't Earth Power, they are in the same situation. Dealing with Volcanion offensively is far more manageable if one can get said Pokémon in safely. Hisuian Arcanine, Excadrill, Great Tusk, Choice Band Haxorus, Specs Kingdra, offensively invested Landorus Therian, Latios, Mamoswine, Ogerpon-Cornerstone Mask, Sandy Shocks, Thundurus and are just some of the examples capable of downing Volcanion in a single blow while naturally outspeeding it.

Anime Appearences

Volcanion has made a few appearances in the anime. In it, Ash gets tethered to a Volcanion who is trying to help defend Magearna.s # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics M19 Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel Volcanion & The Ingenious Magearna Pics