Jolteon Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Volt Switch allows Jolteon to gain momentum by having switch initiative against the various special walls that tend to switch into Jolteon, while also gaining a STAB boost. Thunderbolt is used for a stronger STAB move that hits harder than Volt Switch and allows Jolteon to serve as a better Suicune check. Hidden Power Ice gives Jolteon near-perfect neutral coverage. Hidden Power Grass, on the other hand, allows Jolteon to hit Swampert, Seismitoad, and Rhyperior hard due to their quadruple weakness to Grass-type attacks. Shadow Ball gives Jolteon neutral coverage against Rotom-H as well as super effective coverage against Chandelure and Reuniclus, among others. Meanwhile, Signal Beam allows Jolteon to hit Dark-types for super effective damage as well as Grass-types, especially Celebi, harder than Hidden Power Ice does. Set Details Choice Specs maximizes Jolteon's Special Attack, making it a deadly late-game sweeper. A Life Orb doesn't give as big of a boost as Choice Specs does but allows Jolteon to switch up moves. The Speed and Special Attack EVs are maximized to ensure Jolteon has an easier time doing its job. A Timid nature is used to make full use of Jolteon's amazing Speed. Usage Tips Jolteon is best used as a late-game sweeper and revenge killer. It should be sent in against frail Pokemon that it outspeeds, such as Mienshao and Cloyster, and either KO them or gain momentum with Volt Switch. Jolteon should also try to prevent Volt Switch users from gaining momentum by switching into a predicted Volt Switch. Team Options Entry hazard support is imperative to an effective Jolteon sweep, making entry hazard setters such as Nidoqueen and Roserade good partners. VoltTurn partners are highly appreciated for their ability to form VoltTurn cores with Jolteon; examples include Hydreigon and Cobalion, among others. Forretress gets a special mention for its ability to do both roles previously mentioned as good Jolteon partners. Sweepers and wallbreakers make amazing partners to each other. In light of this, wallbreakers such as Choice Band Darmanitan and Choice Specs Kyurem make great Jolteon teammates. Bulky Water-types, such as Suicune and Mega Blastoise, make for good teammates as well, as they are able to take on a majority of the Ground-types that Jolteon struggles with.

This set aims to take advantage of Jolteon's high Speed and Special Attack. Thunderbolt is Jolteon's main way of dealing damage, and is a reliable, powerful STAB move hitting Tornadus, and the omnipresent Politoed and rain teams for super effective damage. Hidden Power is the best way to get some coverage with Jolteon's regrettably lackluster movepool; Hidden Power Ice hits Ground-types that wall Jolteon, such as Garchomp, as well as the ever popular Dragon-types, Hidden Power Grass eliminates threats such as Swampert and Gastrodon which otherwise wall Jolteon. If running Hidden Power Grass, the EVs should be changed to 4 HP / 248 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe to account for the IV drop. Thunder Wave is great for team support, crippling weather abusers such as Ludicolo and allowing your teammates to outspeed threats. However, if you run a Trick Room team, or already have a teammate who can inflict status, Signal Beam is good for hitting Pokemon such as Cresselia and Tyranitar for higher damage than Thunderbolt. Protect is a staple on any VGC 2012 Pokemon, and Jolteon is no exception, allowing a teammate to take out a counter. 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature are used in order to outspeed threats such as Scarf Chandelure, Abomasnow, and Jellicent and Starmie. 252 Special Attack EVs maximize the damage Jolteon's damage output. A Modest nature is an option in order to boost Jolteon's Special Attack further; nevertheless, the ability to outspeed the enemies listed above is far more important. Focus Sash is by far Jolteon's best item option due to its frailness. However, due to item clause, if another teammate is running Focus Sash, you may opt to use Electric Gem in order to boost Thunderbolt's strength. Volt Absorb is Jolteon's ability of choice as it gives it an immunity to Electric-type attacks, allowing it to switch in on Zapdos, Rotom-W and others. This is truly a godsend, as Jolteon's frailty doesn't give it too many opportunities to switch in. Also, if you're running a rain team, Thunder is recommended over Thunderbolt for the added power, although you must watch out for weather changers such as Tyranitar and Ninetales, which can leave Jolteon with an inaccurate STAB attack.

The purpose of this set is to switch Jolteon into a Pokemon it can threaten, such as Politoed. Once the foe switches out, Jolteon can use a boosting move and then quickly Baton Pass before the switch-in can attack. The two boosting moves in question are Work Up and Charge Beam. Work Up is the recommended choice because it boosts both Attack and Special Attack; unlike moves that boost only a single offensive stat, Work Up allows you to choose your receivers with more freedom. Charge Beam only boosts Special Attack, which restricts which Pokemon it can pass the boost to. However, it does deal a modest amount of damage, which can be just enough to finish off a weakened Pokemon. Using Charge Beam can also trick opponents into thinking that Jolteon is running an offensive set, which allows it to use Baton Pass when they least expect it. Jolteon can also opt to stay in and use its boosts, as it boasts excellent coverage and power with Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice off its base 110 Special Attack stat. If you want to trade power for longevity, consider using Substitute over Hidden Power Ice. This gives Jolteon and its receiver a cushion against status effects, as well as more leeway for mistakes. However, using Substitute has a nasty drawback: Jolteon becomes a sitting duck against Ground-types and other Pokemon immune to Electric-type attacks. The EV spread for this set is simple: 252 EVs in Special Attack give Jolteon maximum power, and 252 EVs in Speed along with a Timid nature allow it to outspeed almost every single non-boosted Pokemon. Life Orb complements Jolteon's power by giving it a nice boost; however, Air Balloon is useful for evading Earthquake, which usually OHKOes Jolteon. As for alternative attacks, Jolteon can use Hidden Power Grass to nail Quagsire and Gastrodon. Even though these two Pokemon are a bit uncommon in Dream World, they are still a pain for Jolteon to handle. The downside to using Hidden Power Grass, though, is that Jolteon loses a great deal of coverage. Because of this, Jolteon appreciates having powerful Grass-type teammates to pass to such as Breloom or Venusaur; these two appreciate not having to set up and waste a turn, and do a fine job at scaring Quagsire and Gastrodon. One particular strategy that works well with Jolteon is rain. Jolteon is an excellent addition to a rain team because it can soak up Electric-type attacks with Volt Absorb and fire off a perfectly accurate Thunder. In addition, Jolteon can pass boosts to rain sweepers such as Rotom-W and Keldeo, which then become even more devastating. Aside from Politoed, which is a must-have, two great teammates that also benefit from Drizzle are Vaporeon and Ferrothorn. Vaporeon can heal Jolteon with Wish and attract Electric-type attacks for Jolteon to switch into, while Ferrothorn can provide support with Spikes and Stealth Rock. Although a bit unorthodox, Vaporeon can also continue the Baton Pass chain with Acid Armor. Although Jolteon can use Baton Pass to escape from trouble, Choice Scarf-wielding Pokemon can outspeed and KO it. Two particular examples are Choice Scarf Landorus and Garchomp; these two can come in on Thunderbolt or a boosting move and threaten to OHKO Jolteon if it uses Life Orb. Landorus falls quickly to a powerful Ice- or Water-type attacks from Pokemon such as Starmie and Gyarados, which have excellent synergy with Jolteon as they attract Electric-type attacks. Garchomp is trickier to handle; try using priority attacks such as Mamoswine's Ice Shard or your own Choice Scarf revenge killer. Jolteon is also troubled by specially defensive Pokemon such as Blissey, Ferrothorn, and Latias. Latias is especially threatening as it can also use Roar to phaze Jolteon and destroy the Baton Pass chain. Powerful physical attackers can deal with these threats. Scizor is a good example; it destroys Blissey and Ferrothorn with Superpower, traps Latias with Pursuit,and also can learn Baton Pass to continue the chain if necessary.

Set Description Thunderbolt is Jolteon's primary STAB move, 2HKOing Electric-weak foes, such as Starmie, Vaporeon, Dodrio, Aerodactyl, and Cloyster with a 20.8% chance to 2HKO Kangaskhan as well. It also 3HKOes Tauros and Jynx, 3HKOes Clefable 69.4% of the time, and 4HKOes many bulkier foes, such as Snorlax, Gengar, Alakazam, and Zapdos. Thunder Wave allows it to spread paralysis across the opposing team, with its high base Speed allowing it to get the jump on any unboosted foe. Super Fang is Jolteon's best option against many full HP foes, such as Exeggutor, Zapdos, and Snorlax, and it makes Jolteon's best switch-ins—such as Golem and Exeggutor—think twice about switching in. However, unlike Thunderbolt, it can miss and cannot score critical hits, making it unreliable at times. Explosion is a powerful tool, OHKOing Jynx and Alakazam 66.7% of the time and doing 72.9% minimum to Chansey. It also does serviceable damage to physically bulkier foes, doing 52.6% minimum to Exeggutor and 54.9% minimum to Tauros. Explosion is also useful for finishing off foes weakened by moves such as Super Fang and Thunderbolt, or it can put a foe into revenge kill range. With Jolteon being the fastest viable Pokemon, it has a lot of leeway in its ability to weaken or paralyze a foe before using Explosion. Jolteon can be used as a lead, a mid-game progress maker, or a late-game cleaner. Its most notable position is in the lead slot, as it can take advantage of its high base Speed, Thunder Wave, and Explosion to be able to threaten all relevant leads, paralyzing lead Gengar and cutting the accuracy of its Hypnosis down to a mere 45% while also threatening other common leads, such as Jynx and Alakazam, with paralysis and Explosion. As a mid-game progress maker, Jolteon uses Thunder Wave and good coverage to revenge kill and force trades with important threats such as Gengar, Clefable, Kangaskhan, and Tauros. Jolteon as a cleaner uses its high base Speed and powerful STAB to pick off weakened foes at the end of a game, beating out other common late-game cleaners such as Starmie. In this case, Jolteon should be kept hidden until the end of the game, as it is much more effective at cleaning if the opponent is caught off guard. It should also be kept hidden until Exeggutor and Ground-types have been eliminated, as these foes pose massive issues for it. All of these Jolteon sets work extremely well when paired with other Explosion users, such as Kangaskhan and Exeggutor, as they can either carry on momentum that Jolteon generates early- and mid-game, or they can remove barriers to Jolteon cleaning, such as Kangaskhan, Exeggutor, and Tauros. Lead Jolteon and mid-game progress maker Jolteon's main utility lies in outspeeding and paralyzing at least one foe, and then threatening foes with strong attacks and Explosion.

Set Description Thunderbolt is Jolteon's bread-and-butter, 2HKOing Pokemon like Cloyster, Starmie, Slowbro, and Lapras. Double Kick primarily targets Chansey, 4HKOing it; Jolteon is favored to break through with critical hits and it will eventually PP stall Soft-Boiled. Double Kick also targets Rhydon, chipping it moderately on entry and essentially preventing it from switching in when below 50% HP due to the risk of a critical hit. Thunder Wave lets Jolteon threaten Pokemon like Tauros and Persian, forcing them out and setting up a sweep for its teammates. Rest lets it consistently counter Zapdos and gives it a long-term advantage against Chansey. Chansey struggles to beat Jolteon even with Seismic Toss because two critical hits or repeated full paralysis are all Jolteon needs to beat it with Double Kick. However, Jolteon tends to let Tauros and other heavy hitters in once it uses Rest, so Jolteon requires careful play and use of double switches to prevent free entry for these threats. An alternative over Rest is Growth, which lets Jolteon assume the role of a setup sweeper. At +1, Jolteon 2HKOes foes like Persian and Tauros and OHKOes Water-types. However, this means losing out on Rest, which forfeits Jolteon's ability to switch into Zapdos and Chansey. If running Rest, Jolteon can remain hidden until either Zapdos reveals itself or a need to break through Chansey emerges. Jolteon finds entry routes on Zapdos and Chansey quite easily, particularly when they are disincentivized to click Thunder Wave, and it otherwise doesn't mind coming in via double switches. Alternatively, Jolteon can be used as a lead, aiming to paralyze whatever is in front of it and force the opponent to make a difficult decision out of the gate. This is especially effective support to physically attacking sleepers like Lovely Kiss Snorlax, as they greatly appreciate paralysis on Psychic-types and Chansey. However, Jolteon dislikes getting paralyzed early itself, and sleep leads can potentially disable it for the rest of the game. Rest Jolteon is best used on teams that are weak to Zapdos, namely those that stack Water-types. Thus, Cloyster, Starmie, and Slowbro all make valid partners. In return, they help stifle Rhydon's attempts to stop Jolteon. If running Growth, Jolteon shouldn't be used as a switch-in to Zapdos and Chansey and should reveal itself when a sweeping route has been established. Given that Chansey, Exeggutor, and Alakazam all pose issues for Jolteon, it enjoys support from sleepers like Lovely Kiss Snorlax, especially if it's running Growth. Exeggutor is also an excellent partner to Jolteon, being one of the most consistent Rhydon switch-ins in the game while also helping to break through the opposing team with Sleep Powder and Explosion.