Featured Pokemon: Vaporeon

But... vapor is gaseous, not liquid

Greetings trainers!

Just an Eevee-named-Rainer away, Vaporeon is perhaps the easiest "strong" Pokemon to obtain. It has incredible bulk, a great attack for taking down Gyms, and a diversity of Charge Moves to help out with either attacking Gyms or defending your own Gym. Water typing leaves Vaporeon with weaknesses to only Grass and Electric, which is made all the more powerful by the lack of strong Electric Pokemon capable of trading favourably with Vaporeon.

Recommended movesets

Is... is it vomiting up a Staryu?

Attacking

Water Gun + Hydro Pump

Water Gun's quick recharge time lets Vaporeon attack relentlessly, and charge up its Hydro Pump quickly. Hydro Pump damage output is simply the best out of the Vaporeon's charge moves, and indeed Hydro Pump is one of the best charge attacks in the game. Aqua Tail does fine too, but Water Pulse is a bit too fidgety with its multiple charge bars to use effectively. If you run the math, Hydro Pump does the most damage-per-second (DPS), while Water Pulse does the least.

While you don't get to choose anything other than Water Gun, it is also a great attacking move thanks to its quick recharge time. Because of this, Vaporeon isn't locked into an attack animation too long, and can more readily dodge opposing charge moves. Thus, due to Water Gun, Vaporeon is one of the best attackers for dodging in the game.

Defending

Water Gun + Water Pulse

On defence however, Vaporeon's Water Gun actually comes as a liability. Due to the AI, its quick recharge time means nothing, and instead Vaporeon is stuck with only one Water Gun every 2 seconds. This is where Water Pulse shines. Water Pulse's low energy requirement and quick recharge time allow Vaporeon to use Water Pulse almost constantly while on defence. While your Vaporeon should be able to charge up a Hydro Pump a lot of the time, using Hydro Pump on defence comes with a couple risks.

Primarily, they can dodge. Hydro Pump puts all your eggs in one basket and you hope it'll hit. If they dodge, Vaporeon may not get the opportunity to Hydro Pump again while in battle. The second issue is that you don't get to choose what they attack Vaporeon with, and if you're seriously out-classed then Vaporeon theoretically could go down without ever getting to launch a Hydro Pump (especially true when attackers are teaming up).

Water Pulse has some neat advantages. I've mentioned the constant use, but this comes with an added benefit: the animation. By spamming Water Pulse on defence, you also cause the game to run the animation for Water Pulse during every other attack. This can be difficult for some phones to load properly, which makes dodging Water Pulse nigh impossible. The lag generated through the constant animation improves what is already Vaporeon's better defending attack.

Base stats

A lean mean soaking machine

Attack: 186

Defence: 168

Stamina: 260

Fantastic Stamina and a good Attack stat make Vaporeon one of the best all-around Pokemon in the game. For some perspective, Lapras has base stats of 186 / 190 / 260. If it helps, you can effectively think of Vaporeon as a mini Lapras in terms of how difficult it can be to take down.

It's a real boon to Vaporeon's defensive capacity that its best stat is Stamina. The Gym mechanics effectively double the Stamina of the defending Pokemon to compensate for the Gym AI. As such, Vaporeon's got the right kind of stats to be an extremely competent defender, while also having the right moveset to be a devestating attacker.

Popular Pokemon Vaporeon deals with

Battle of the boats,
seems ferry-ly balanced

Any Pokemon weak to water is swiftly dealt with by Water Gun and Hydro Pump. Commonly used Pokemon weak to water include Arcanine, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Charizard, and Rhydon. It's also worth noting that Vaporeon's impressive base stats lets it stand toe-to-toe against Pokemon like Hypno and Clefable, which are common and difficult to take down using type-advantage.

A bit bizarrely, Vaporeon actually makes for one of the better Pokemon to take on Lapras with. By resisting Lapras' ice moves, Vaporeon comes out about even in the damage trade. Since neither Pokemon deals any major damage, you'll also have plenty of opportunity to dodge a Blizzard here or there and get ahead. As good counters to Lapras practically don't exist (barring Arcanine), Vaporeon really shines by trading effectively with Lapras; that said it is a slow battle.

Checks and counters

The issue with Vaporeon is that while it's a fantastic Pokemon with great stats, a number of solid options exist that can beat it. First and most importantly is Dragonite, which resists Vaporeon's water attacks and gets to attack it with strong Dragon moves. Then there are all the grass types like Exeggutor, Venusaur, Vileplume, and Victreebel which can take down a Vaporeon with relative ease. Thankfully, there aren't any great electric types for trading with Vaporeon, as even Jolteon has a hard time winning the damage trade.

A Gyarados with Dragon Pulse as its charge move is also a very solid check to Vaporeon, thanks to its water resistance and neutral attacks. A final weaker check is Tentacruel, which can take advantage of its poison type moves to hit Vaporeon neutrally, while resisting Vaporeon's water attacks.

Final Say

Vaporeon is a fantastic attacker and defender, thanks to its options of either Hydro Pump or Water Pulse. Water Gun is also a boon to its attacking potential, and thanks to access to Water Pulse, isn't too much of a detriment on defence. Its mammoth Stamina makes it one of the most annoying Pokemon to take down in the game, and its popularity make it a Pokemon to know the ins and outs of. Hopefully this quick look has given you an insight into how best to use your own Vaporeon, and how to take down opposing Vaporeons more effectively.

Cheers,
Let's GO!