Of all the nearly 1,000 Pokemon in existence, Milotic continues to rank in my top 10 favorites. I loved its sleek and slender design, its beautiful coloring, and the fact that it evolves from an ugly fish into something marvelous. The games and anime also did Milotic justice, often being in the hands of winners in various fields from powerful trainers like Wallace, Pike Queen Lucy, and Juan (In the anime) to Contest Champions like Robert and Wallace (Again). Between its design and prestige, I knew I wanted one (Even went so far as to try catching a "wild" one in the Battle Pike), however I was in for a rude awakening with just how hard it was to catch and evolve one. Turns out its pre-evolution Feebas could only be caught on Route 119 in gen 3 via fishing, and only on SIX RANDOM TILES! (Which could be changed by changing the Dewford trendy phrase for some reason). And gen 4 was worse since they only gave you three tiles inside Mt. Coronet.
After going tile by tile HOPING to hook a Feebas and finally catching one, the frustration does not end there. Turns out in order to evolve Feebas you need to max out its Beauty contest stat. If you don't have high quality dry blue Poke'Block and a +Sp.Att. nature, you were doomed from the start. Though the intro of the Prism Scale certainly helped in later generations. But once you bred your perfect Feebas (Even put Dragonbreath on mine via Altaria in Emerald) and spent your fair share of time blending with the Berry Master, I am happy to say getting my Milotic was 100% worth it. Excellent defensive stats, recovery, and a cool unique ability in Marvel Scale, Milotic served me well in Emerald and its Battle Frontier, ORAS, and I even beat a Primal Kyogre and Groudon in a single online match one after the other! The shallow offensive movepool and the power creep of other Pokemon may have kept Milotic out of the limelight, but I will remain a true and ardent Milotic fan regardless of how much the metagame changes.
Beauty is Pain Darling
Ability: Marvel Scale
Item: Leftovers/Binding Band
Nature: Bold (+Def -Att)
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 252) (Sp.Def 4)
Moves:
Toxic/Whirlpool
Recover
Scald
Ice Beam/Dragon Pulse
Set Details:
My staple Milotic set that carried me throughout the generations. A defensive set that relies on residual damage while hiding behind recovery. Toxic is worth it if you can transfer it over from a previous generation, but if you don't have that kind of access you can substitute in Whirlpool which with Binding Band chips off 1/6 of your opponent's health per turn while trapping them. Recover keeps you healthy and allows you to stall if you need the gradual damage to do all the work. Scald is every bulky Water type's bread and butter offering good damage and a handy 30% chance of burn that further boosts Milotic's physical survivability. And lastly is your choice of coverage so that Grass and Dragon types go down faster. Ice Beam targets a wider range of competitive threats, but Dragon Pulse has better overall neutral coverage. Leftovers adds more staying power to Milotic but Binding Band adds more offensive pressure to Whirlpool sets. As for stat investment, invest everything into HP and physical defense since Milotic already has special defense in spades.
Sleepy Princess in the Ocean Castle
Ability: Marvel Scale
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold (+Def -Att)
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 252) (Sp.Def 4)
Moves:
Rest
Sleep Talk
Scald
Ice Beam/Dragon Pulse/Toxic
Set Details:
Marvel Scale grants a x1.5 defense boost when under a status effect, including self induced Sleep with Rest, so here's a set that takes advantage of this. Rest when needed to heal off your health and even bad poison which would otherwise counter Milotic in my previous set, and then use Sleep Talk to keep offensive pressure even when snoozing and guarded, not unlike Princess Sya herself. Scald is still mandatory for damage and burn inflicting, and from there its your choice of additional offensive coverage or residual damage with Toxic. Same Leftovers and stat spread from the previous set with max HP and defense.
Reaper Leviathan
Ability: Marvel Scale
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish (+Def -Sp.Att)
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 252) (Sp.Def 4)
Moves:
Coil
Recover
Aqua Tail/Waterfall
Triple Axel/Dragon Tail
Set Details:
Detecting a physical attacking Milotic in the region. Are you certain whatever you are doing will counter it? Subnautica jokes aside, this set can completely throw off your opponent who will automatically think you are running a typical defensive and special attacking Milotic. Here's the strategy. Set up Coil a few times which shores up your physical attack to usable levels, gives you added physical defense, and patches up your accuracy. Recover when needed in between boosts. By this point your opponent will probably think you are running Coil exclusively for the physical defense and accuracy boost alongside powerful but inaccurate offensive moves like Hydro Pump and Blizzard. In reality, this is when you surprise them with Aqua Tail or Waterfall, the former of which is more powerful and 100% accurate after Coil, and the latter of which has more PP, both of which hit surprisingly hard after a boost or two. Finally we have the coverage moves. Triple Axel becomes a 100% accurate base 120 Ice attack that breaks Substitutes thanks to Coil, and Dragon Tail also becomes 100% accurate and serves as a counter to other Pokemon that will try to set up alongside you. Leftovers is still king since bulk is still Milotic's main draw, as is investing into said bulk with your EVs and nature. However, you can opt for a tankier set with investment away from physical defense into physical attack via EVs or nature if you want the added offensive pressure (The exact calculations are ultimately up to you).
So while the metagame may have changed significantly since gen 3, that doesn't mean Milotic is no longer a threat. My love remains strong, and so too should be your fear of it should your opponent send one out. Failure to do so and...well, let's just say my Subnautica comparison won't be too far off the mark:
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