Milotic, The Tender Pokémon. Milotic is breathtakingly beautiful. Those that see it are said to forget their combative spirits. It is the world's most beautiful Pokémon. There are many works of art featuring Milotic. Its lovely scales are described as rainbow colored. They change color depending on the viewing angle.
Overview
Milotic is... okay. I don't think there is a better word to describe Milotic. It has a ton of good points and it isn't really bad on paper. The problem is that it isn't particularly amazing anywhere either. It has issues competing with other defensive water types like Vaporeon, Quagsire, Gyarados, Rotom Wash, Keldeo, Tentacruel, Manaphy, Starmie, and... even Suicune. That said Milotic isn't bad by any means. It gets the ability Competitive which actually gives it a fairly usable niche in OU as a Defog counter. Milotic's defensive sets aren't completely obsolete either, though its hard to validate actually using it over something like Vaporeon. When it comes down to it Milotic is a decent Pokemon that is perfectly usable, but there will almost always be something better.
Positives
- Great stats everywhere except Attack, which it rarely uses anyway.
- Two very usable abilities.
- Learning Recover makes it deceptively hard to bring down.
- Water typing leaves it very few weaknesses, and it has the bulk to shrug off weaker Volt Switches and Hidden Power Grasses.
Negatives
- It doesn't do much other Water type's don't besides Recover... and some Water types even get that!
- While it has few weaknesses it also has few resistances. Milotic has great bulk but many things can overpower its defenses through sheer force.
- Trying to catch and raise one in 3rd or 4th gen was the biggest pains since Sabrina's gym in Red and Blue. No Pokemon is worth that much frustration!
- I still have nightmares trying to take down Palmer's Milotic. Oh and Cynthia's... Wallace's as well... and Lucy... Really taking down Milotic in-game is incredibly annoying.
Abilities
Marvel Scale: Ups DEFENSE if suffering - Defense raises to 1.5 times when induced with a status (BURN, PARALYZE, SLEEP, POISON, FREEZE). Pretty cool ability. Basically the Defense version of Guts. This is the major selling point to Rest/Talk Milotic, which I'll get to later. Competitive: Raises Sp. Atk stat by two stages whenever a stat is lowered. Okay yeah, that Shadow Ball or Crunch that got lucky? Perhaps Intimidate Gyarados? Sounds situational, until you remember Defog is on basically every team and it lowers your evasion... Hidden Ability (Available through transfer): Cute Charm: The opponent has a 30% chance of being induced with ATTRACT when using an attack, that requires physical contact, against this Pokémon. Useless. Better than Magician, but don't bother.
Movesets
The Serpent Siren.
- Hydro Pump / Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Recover
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Competitive
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
Milotic is outclassed by other water types in most ways, but something it can actually do decently is countering Defog users. Aside from having very little to fear from Skarmory, Latias, Mandibuzz, bulky Mega Scizor, Gliscor, and Mew Milotic gets a free Nasty Plot boost if it switches in on Defog. Milotic's base 100 Special Attack is decent but with Life Orb and +2 Competitive boost it can really shred teams. Hydro Pump is the primary STAB move, but Surf works if you dislike the miss chance. Ice Beam hits incredibly hard at +2, easily OHKOing Latias and Multiscale Dragonite. Hidden Power Grass smashes Rotom Wash and Azumarill in one hit after a boost. Recover takes advantage of Milotic's fantastic bulk as even without any EV investment it takes neutral hits very well. I suggest running max speed so Milotic can outrun Gyarados, Mamoswine, and Breloom. Just to give you an idea of how much massive power Milotic has after taking a Defog, or other stat drop...
+2 Hydro Pump vs
252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Tyranitar in sand: 361-429 (89.35 - 106.18%)
252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tyranitar in sand: 276-328 (68.31 - 81.18%)
252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 593-697 (153.62 - 180.56%)
252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 569-671 (170.35 - 200.89%)
252 HP / 4 SpD Ferrothorn: 187-221 (53.12 - 62.78%)
252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Scizor: 308-363 (89.53 - 105.52%)
4 HP / 0 SpD Delphox: 853-1006 (292.12 - 344.52%)
+2 Ice Beam vs
248 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 446-526 (105.43 - 124.34%)
4 HP / 0 SpD Breloom: 743-876 (283.58 - 334.35%)
252 HP / 252+ SpD Celebi: 354-419 (87.62 - 103.71%)
252 HP / 4 SpD Thick Fat Mega Venusaur: 211-250 (57.96 - 68.68%)
248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 538-634 (140.46 - 165.53%)
248 HP / 4 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 494-582 (128.31 - 151.16%)
+2 Hidden Power Grass vs
252 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-W: 294-348 (96.71 - 114.47%)
4 HP / 0 SpD Keldeo: 341-403 (105.24 - 124.38%)
252 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 374-442 (92.57 - 109.4%)
252 HP / 0 SpD Starmie: 356-421 (109.87 - 129.93%)
Beauty is in the Deep Sea
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald
- Dragon Tail
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs and Nature:
EVs:8 Def / 252 HP / 248 SDef
Calm Nature
Rest + Sleep Talk Milotic has been a staple since third generation. While it isn't the indestructible wall it once was it still has surprisingly good lasting power. Rest + Sleep Talk keeps Milotic alive for extended periods and keeps it protected against status. Better yet being asleep activates Marvel Scale meaning you effectively have something like 95 / 128 / 125 defenses. Not bad. Scald is the STAB of choice due to the 30% burn rate. A sleeping Milotic is basically immune to physical damage from burned Pokemon. If your opponent tries to setup Calm Minds against you Dragon Tail will force them off the field racking up a little damage in the process. This set lists a Specially Defensive set, and the next set lists a Physically Defensive one. However Milotic is very bulky and can run either spread, or even a mixed defensive spread to decent effect. Specially Defensive is so bulky that Rotom Wash only 4HKOs with Thunderbolt! Just make sure you end up with an even Defense stat. Because of the way stats round in Pokemon you end up with an extra Defense point when Marvel Scale is active.
Marvel at the stunning beauty of Feebas.
- Scald
- Dragon Tail
- Ice Beam
- Recover
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Marvel scale
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
Recover is one of Milotic's main selling points and this set capitalizes on it. Scald and Dragon Tail form an annoying combo that can slowly wear down even the toughest Pokemon (except Clefable I guess, who just doesn't care about either move). Ice Beam strikes down Dragons as well as doing catastrophic damage to Gliscor and Landorus. The freeze chance doesn't hurt either. Recover keeps Milotic alive and with a physically defensive EV spread can even shrug off hits from powerful blows such as Garchomp's Outrage and Scizor's U-turns. If Marvel Scale has somehow activated Milotic will tank even Choice Band Terrakion Close Combats.
Other Options
Refresh, Toxic, Bulldoze, Dragon Breath, Haze, Hypnosis, Mirror Coat, Icy Wind, Magic Coat, Flame Orb, and Whirlpool.
On Recover sets Refresh can be used to ward off Scald Burns and Sludge Bomb Poison. Its hard to find a slot for it though.
Toxic utterly devastates a lot of Pokemon that can wall Milotic like Gastrodon and Manaphy. It has pretty solid coverage alongside Scald. Toxic is usable on any defensive Milotic set.
Bulldoze is weak beyond reason but can slow down a counter. Not a great option but I guess it's there.
Dragon Breath can Paralyze and slightly sting some Dragons but is very weak and 30% chance isn't very reliable.
If Baton Pass is annoying you Haze can stop it dead and sort of work like Dragon Tail to prevent setup. Unlike Dragon Tail it gets through subs and beats Fairies.
Hypnosis is unreliable but Milotic is bulky enough to throw a few shots out. One of them will hit eventually!
Milotic attracts Rotom Wash so you can use Mirror Coat to sponge a weak Volt Switch, and blast the thing that switches in with a Mirror Coat.
Icy Wind is like a much weaker Ice Beam with a speed dropping effect... relatively useless.
Magic Coat could surprise Spikes and Stealth Rock users but not much else. You can reflect status moves too but Milotic doesn't mind status most of the time.
Flame Orb is bad and should never be used. 1.5x Defense is not worth losing Leftovers and having 12.5% of your health sapped per turn.
Whirlpool can... uhh... don't use Whirlpool.
Double & Triple Battle Options
Milotic is the defensively oriented cousin of Gyarados. For this, one might expect Milotic to be as useful as Gyarados.
Lets look at its abilities.
Marvel Scale will deter Thunder Waves and Will-o-wisps, while its new ability Competitive will deter intimidate users from coming in or leading while at the same time, giving Milotic a way to deal some serious damage. Cute Charm... is there.
Unfortunately for Milotic all of her abilities are dependent on the opposing team. With Marvel Scale, the only "safe" way to use it would be through a Rest/Sleep Talk set which is beyond risky in doubles considering the battles average roughly half as long as singles meaning you have to make every move count. Though Burns and Poison trigger Marvel Scale, the fact you're losing HP every turn almost negates any defensive benefit gained.
Competitive will turn any opposing intimidate into a free Nasty Plot for Milotic. That sounds excellent, now to abuse the Special Type Attacks Milotic has... which aren't very many as far as type coverage goes. Surf, Hydro Pump, Scald/Dragon Pulse/Ice Beam/Hidden Power. And that's as varied as it's going to get sadly. Again, take into account the opponent might not be so liberal with intimidates to make this a worthy option.
Though Milotic can't exactly depend on its abilities or offenses much, it does have a few notable moves in Recover, Light Screen, Haze, Hypnosis, Safeguard and Magic Coat.
So, while it isn't nearly the offensive Juggernaut that Gyarados is, Milotic's defenses will likely allow it to stay in for a few turns to [hopefully] help turn the tide of battle in your favor. Though I'll tell you this, nothing feels better than Magic Coat on a Dark Void user.
Countering Milotic
Magic Guard Clefable laughs at pretty much everything the defensive sets can manage. It is immune to burn, poison, Dragon Tail, and takes minimal damage from Scald. It can even run Unaware to ignore the Competitive boosts and slowly beat it with Calm Minded Moonblasts. Chansey and Blissey has difficulty actually KOing Milotic, but have little to fear from its weak moves. Mega Venusaur and Celebi usually lose to a Competitive boosted Milotic but generally can handle it. Rotom Wash is usually a safe bet, only really caring about Mirror Coat. Thundurus has the power to break through even the most specially defensive of Milotic with its STAB Thunderbolts. Trick utterly ruins Milotic as it prevents it from using Recover effectively. If you can avoid a burn things like Choice Band Terrakion and Swords Dance Garchomp can usually overpower Milotic even though they will take heavy damage in the process. Substitute Kyurem can easily beat Milotic, as even Dragon Tail doesn't break its Substitutes. Charizard X and Y both avoid their water weaknesses and don't mind anything Milotic has, KOing with Tough Claws Outrage and Drought Solarbeam respectively. Beating Milotic isn't very hard. As long as you can avoid a Scald Burn and play smart with your Defogs it probably won't be much of a threat.
Locations in Games
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Evolve Feebas
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Colosseum/XD:
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Feebas
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Feebas
Black/White:
Route 1
Black 2/White 2:
Route 1
X/Y:
Transfer from Generation V
Animé Appearences
