Support Vivillon

Vivillon is another one of the weak Bug-type Pokémon that you receive at the beginning of the game. Normally, these bugs do not see much competitive use, since they have such low stats. However, Vivillon possesses a great ability to help out its teammates, making it a good support Pokémon on many teams.

Vivillon is especially useful in Double battles because of its Hidden Ability Friend Guard. This reduces the damage dealt to allies to 75%. Other moves like Light Screen and Aromatherapy keep your team alive and healthy, giving them full potential in battle. Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Toxic can hinder your opponents Pokémon, and have a boosted accuracy if you opt for the Compoundeyes Ability instead of the Friend Guard Ability.

There are many ways to run a Vivillon. This set focuses on Double Battles.

Strategy

If your Vivillon has Light Screen, give it Light Clay. If it has Rage Powder, give it Focus Sash.

Send Vivillon out at the start of the battle, so that it can set up. On the first turn, use Light Screen or Stuns Spore/Sleep Powder. Next, set up the Infestation-Toxic combo on your opponent. Alternatively, you could use Rage Powder while one of your sweepers uses a stat-boosting move so that it is protected for that turn. You could also use U-Turn if you don’t like the matchup you are faced with. U-Turn gives you “switch advantage” on your opponent, since you can deal damage to your opponent while switching. A hidden benefit of U-Turn is that it allows you to switch after the initial switching period, so you know if your opponent switched out or not, and what they switched in to.

During the battle, if one of your Pokémon is debilitated by a status condition, you can use Vivillon to cure it. For example, if your fast sweeper is slowed by Paralysis, switch Vivillon in to battle, and use Aromatherapy to cure your entire team of status conditions.

Things to Watch Out For

1. Stealth Rocks. This entry hazard deals 4x damage to Vivillon, since it is 4x weak to Rock-type moves. This hazard also makes a Focus Sash useless. To get rid of Stealth Rocks, have a Pokémon use Rapid Spin, which clears your side of entry hazards.
2. Taunt. If Vivillon is Taunted it is essentially useless, since it can only use damaging moves. If Vivillon is Taunted, use U-Turn to switch out.
3. Steel Types. These Pokémon are immune to Toxic. If you run a Toxic-stall, it will be useless against a Steel-type.

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