Intense sunlight has been a feature in Pokemon battles since Generation three. While it hasn't had as much competitive popularity as its weather rival of sorts in rain teams, sun teams are still a competitive niche to watch out for, whether in Singles or Doubles.

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Of course, the ability to recognize a sun team comes with the ability to recognize the Pokemon best suited for such a strategy, which doesn't just mean choosing Pokemon for your own team but keeping an eye out for members of said team from an opponent. These Pokemon best represent sun teams in competitive battling.

Updated on July 25, 2023 by Doruk Kaptan: The competitive scene of Pokemon is an ever-evolving beast. With new Pokemon and strategies constantly being thrown into the pot, strategies have very sharp ups and downs in terms of power.

With the introduction of some amazing tools, however, Scarlet and Violet gave Sun teams a very respectable power boost. Especially in Singles, sun teams can lead to easy sweeps and take you to victory. Here are the best options to include.

20 Houndoom

Thanks to the help of Mega Evolution, Houndoom once went from a respectable special attacker to a potent sun sweeper, feared by most other Pokemon in its tier. Its 140 Special Attack and Solar Power ability upon Mega Evolving certainly tells that tale.

Unfortunately, as Mega Evolution is now in the past, Houndoom can only look back and reminisce about its glory days and not much else. A fall from grace for certain. It can still function under the sun with a somewhat decent 110 Special Attack, but there are definitely better options out there.

19 Sawsbuck

The list starts off with one of the many Pokemon to have Chlorophyll as a potential ability. Sawsbuck decidedly brings physical offense to your Sun team, having a fairly decent 100 Attack.

If that isn't enough for you, you could boost it with Swords Dance, giving it a rare niche as a sun sweeper. Sawsbuck has access to attacks such as STAB Double-Edge and Horn Leech and coverage moves such as Jump Kick, Wild Charge, and Stomping Tantrum. Sawsbuck's Speed is also decent, despite being a bit lower than ideal.

18 Whimsicott

While Whimsicott is more well-known competitively for its Prankster utility set, it could certainly run as a straight-up sun sweeper since it has access to Chlorophyll as well. That gives you options to mix things up should you choose to add it to your team.

It has access to Solar Beam, a sun team staple, plus other excellent Grass-type moves. It doesn't have access to Fire-type moves, but it does have other coverage options like Moonblast and Shadow Ball. You could even include some utility moves still, such as Encore and Memento.

17 Volcarona

There's little reason why Volcarona is better in a sun team as opposed to any other kind; it doesn't have an ability that activates in the sun or anything like that. However, it's not like having it on a Sun team would hurt.

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Of course, being a Fire-type, it gets a little help from the sun in boosting its STAB attacks, but there's more to it than that. Since it doesn't rely on the sun to be powerful, it could work as a last resort in case your sun setter goes down. You will not want a Quiver Dance sweeper, after all.

16 Trevenant

Trevenant fills a unique role for this list: a berry-abuser thanks to its Harvest ability that ensures berry-regeneration in the sun. Other Pokemon, such as Tropius, also have this niche in their bags, but Trevenant arguably plays the role best, thanks to better stats and typing.

On the other hand, it's a great physical attacker, not only with STAB moves like Wood Hammer, Horn Leech, and Poltergeist, but with excellent coverage moves for its typing, namely Drain Punch, Earthquake, and Rock Slide.

15 Victreebel

One of the several Grass/Poison-types from Generation One with Chlorophyll to join this list, Victreebel is a rare mixed offensive Pokemon, meaning it can do work on both the physical side and special.

You have multiple options with it. You could go with a physical set that includes Swords Dance and moves like Power Whip or Poison Jab or with a special set that includes Leaf Storm, Sludge Bomb, and Weather Ball. You even get some utility and recovery with Strength Sap.

14 Heliolisk

Heliolisk can excel in almost every weather since its three abilities work in tandem with one weather each: Dry Skin for the rain, Sand Veil for sandstorms, and most importantly for this list, Solar Power.

Its Special Attack is already great, sitting at 109, so to get that boosted even further is a big deal. Being an Electric-type, it also helps check Water-types for your team's Fire-types and Flying-types for your team's Grass-types. A great coverage option for any sun team.

13 Bellossom

The Oddish line produces two very good sun team members, both having Chlorophyll as their main ability. The first entry of those two is Bellossom, the pure Grass-type introduced in Generation Two.

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While it's quite slow, the Chlorophyll boost helps it get to decent Speed tiers. That makes it quite a decent setup sweeper, especially with Quiver Dance and Sleep Powder. Thanks to moves like Stun Spore and Strength Sap, it can also weaken opposing Pokemon.

12 Vileplume

The Oddish line's other evolution, Vileplume, is marginally better than Bellossom for a few reasons. For one, it already has quite a high Special Attack stat at 110, so it doesn't rely as much on a Quiver Dance boost, which it doesn't have access to anyway.

The main thing that puts Vileplume above Bellossom is the extra Poison-typing, giving it another STAB option on offense. Alongside the aforementioned Solar Beam, Giga Drain, and Strength Sap, a Vileplume under the sun can be devastating with the right teammates.

11 Groudon

Barring any competitive tier restrictions, you could certainly make Groudon a sun setter if you wanted. The thing is, it's usually a banned, overpowered Legendary facing other banned, overpowered Legendaries in the Ubers tier, and making a sun team in Ubers is just impractical.

Still, it would certainly be a huge help to a sun team, not only with its ability to set up the sun but with it being a Ground-type rather than a Fire-type like other sun setters. Having that extra coverage wouldn't hurt. This is doubly so if you play in a tier where going primal is allowed.

10 Chandelure

Chandelure is a lot like Volcarona in that it doesn't need the sun to do its job but doesn't mind the help. While it doesn't have Chlorophyll, it has three other excellent abilities in Flash Fire, Flame Body, and Infiltrator.

It has a massive 145 Special Attack, which is amazing. It takes advantage of that with moves like Fire Blast, Shadow Ball for STAB, and even Psychic and Energy Ball to keep opponents guessing. Terrastalization helps Chandelure immensely, too, as it has a bad defensive typing in most cases.

9 Ninetales

Ninetales had a flash-in-the-pan stint of viability in Generation Five after it gained Drought as a hidden ability. It and Politoed were the key reasons why weather teams dominated that generation's metagame.

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The reason why it was overtaken by Torkoal later on, was mainly because of its lack of use outside of setting the sun. It can do a bunch of standard Fire-type stuff like throwing out Flamethrowers and Will-O-Wisps, but setting the sun is the only thing it excels at.

8 Lilligant

Lilligant is yet another Grass-type that loves the sun due to its ability Chlorophyll. Leaf Guard is also an option, but Lilligant prefers the extra Speed from Chlorophyll by far.

With decent stats for a special sweeper and access to the amazing move Quiver Dance, as well as Sleep Powder and Sunny Day, Lilligant manages to be a very respectable candidate for any sun team.

7 Charizard

There are multiple routes you could go with using a Charizard, but it's particularly great on a Sun team. It can function as a decent sweeper under the right circumstances.

Charizard was the prime sun setter when Mega Evolution was still allowed, so there's that. Still, it's plenty capable as an attacker even in its base form, thanks to its hidden ability, Solar Power, and its access to moves like Fire Blast, Flamethrower, and Solar Beam.

6 Chi-Yu

Chi-Yu is one of the most popular Pokemon in the Scarlet and Violet meta, especially if you're talking about Singles. This thing has amazing stats and a great ability in Beads of Ruin.

While Chi-Yu excels in any environment, to be honest, it doesn't mind the extra damage boost from having the sun up. Especially if you slap a Choice Specs on it, few walls can stand in the way of its devastating attacks.

5 Jumpluff

Jumpluff is one of the fastest Pokemon that can still double it, thanks to Chlorophyll. Why would you want that much speed? To put opponents to sleep and pivot out with U-Turn, of course.

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While Jumpluff lacks the tools to act as a sweeper, it's a decent utility option. With amazing speed already and further speed control thanks to Tailwind, on top of other utility moves like Memento and Encore, Jumpluff can be a great team member.

4 Cyclizar

Cyclizar is another example of a great Pokemon that fits nicely into a sun team thanks to some tricks it can access. The main gimmick of Cyclizar is the combo of the move Shed Tail and the ability Regenerator.

This allows you to safely switch into your sun setter and potentially get a move or two off before switching out. This hugely increases the longevity of your sun setter, as it lets you switch into them several times more than you would otherwise. The usual moves Cyclizar has, such as Knock Off and Taunt, are always welcome too.

3 Venusaur

Two out of the three Kanto starters make the list. Charizard had its claim under the sun, and it's certainly great, but Venusaur accompanies any sun setter as a quintessential member of a sun team.

It can be the main source of offense on a Sun team, with access to moves such as Weather Ball, Giga Drain, Solar Beam, and Sludge Bomb going without saying. Not only does it have Chlorophyll, but its all-around stats makes it incredibly deadly when given a Speed boost, having much better bulk than other sun sweepers.

2 Torkoal

Just as Pelipper has become the most viable weather setter for rain teams, Torkoal now fills that role for sun teams. Aside from setting the sun upon entry with Drought, it can do so many other things.

It has access to an excellent Fire-type move, Eruption, to begin with. It's also an incredibly useful utility 'mon, with access to Stealth Rock, Toxic, and Rapid Spin. Finally, it has the bulk and defenses, especially physically, to take hits and not get knocked out, which is huge if you're a weather setter. It even functions amazingly in Trick Room, thanks to its abysmal Speed.

1 Ancient Paradox Forms

Scarlet and Violet introduced us to past and future versions of some Pokemon called Paradox Pokemon. These Pokemon are already quite powerful, thanks to unique typings and decent stats. However, the past forms also benefit greatly from a sun setter.

The shared ability among these Pokemon is called Photosynthesis, which boosts the highest stat of the Pokemon if it's under the sun or holding the item Booster Energy. This is a great ability and is given to already powerful Pokemon, making Sun a very legit strategy in the Scarlet and Violet meta.

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