Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Sylveon is working too hard, and players are worried about its throat

Sylveon is a workhorse in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. And with December’s limited-time Tera Raid Battles, its role has only expanded further, causing players to be concerned about the condition of their prized Pokémon’s throat.

Please note that the following article contains information regarding the postgame in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Sylveon is one of Eevee’s numerous possible evolutions and a Fairy-type Pokémon first introduced in Pokémon X and Y. Its proven itself to be a great Pokémon to have around for a variety of situations in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and trainers have taken notice.

First, Sylveon is great at making money. After beating Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the Academy Ace Tournament becomes available. This is to crown the strongest trainer at the academy and sees players facing off against four trainers on their path to victory. Opponents are set for the first time through the tournament but are random for subsequent playthroughs, so there’s a diverse cast of opponents you could potentially battle. And if you have a Pokémon holding the Amulet Coin, which doubles how much prize money you receive, it’s possible to get 130,000 Pokémon Dollars in a single run.

The reason Sylveon excels in this tournament is simple. It can blow through all the Pokémon that appear with a single attack. That attack is Hyper Voice, a Normal-type move with 90 attack power. While it doesn’t match with Sylveon’s Fairy typing, because of Sylveon’s hidden ability Pixilate, Normal-type attacks are changed to Fairy-type which makes them 1.2x stronger. Add that to Sylveon’s high special attack stat and Normal-type moves like Hyper Voice and Hyper Beam hit hard. With these factors coming together, Sylveon can use Hyper Voice like a powerful Fairy-type move.

If you raise your Sylveon well, you can earn money just by mashing the A button while in the tournament. But as reliable as it is, using Hyper Voice that much can’t be good for the vocal cords. On social media, players can be seen sharing concerns over the health of these Sylveon as players put them and their shouting abilities to the test.

Now, with the limited-time Charizard Tera Raid Battles this month, Sylveon has even more work to do. This event is against Charizard the Unrivaled, and if you win, you’re rewarded a special Charizard that is limited to one per save file. Other rewards for completing the raid can be earned multiple times, with the contents varying after the first and second completion.

Charizard the Unrivaled has a Dragon Tera Type and blasts players with powerful attacks. However, all of its moves are special moves. More specifically, it knows Dragon Pulse, Focus Blast, Fire Blast, and Hurricane. Since Sylveon is a Fairy-type, it’s immune to the Dragon-type move Dragon Pulse, and Focus Blast has its damage reduced by half. Sylveon also has high special defense to go along with its special attack, so it can survive Fire Blast and Hurricane with HP to spare.

Normally, Fairy-type moves would not be very effective against Charizard considering it’s a dual Fire/Flying-type, but since Charizard the Unrivaled has a Dragon Tera Type, Fairy moves are super effective. Sylveon is a Pokémon with both the attack and defense to stand up to this powerful Charizard.

While the first running of the Charizard raid is over, it’s scheduled to start again in the middle of December. If you’re concerned about the condition of your Sylveon’s throat, maybe you should prepare another Pokémon to take on Charizard instead. Players have been devising a variety of strategies, including using Azumarill which has a good typing for the raid. If your Sylveon has earned a break, maybe you can try coming up with a new strategy to take down Charizard the Unrivaled.

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-12-03 12:18 JST)