Sun team
A sun team is a team archetype usable in the core series games starting from Generation II that is also frequently seen in competitive play. It centers on the combination of the harsh sunlight weather condition in combination with Fire-type Pokémon, whose Fire-type moves receive a power boost when used during harsh sunlight, often also including Grass-type Pokémon with the ability Chlorophyll.
Strategy
The harsh sunlight weather condition (or its variant, extremely harsh sunlight) can be set by the abilities Drought, Desolate Land, and Orichalcum Pulse, or by the move Sunny Day, and increases the power of all Fire-type moves by 50% and reduces the power of all Water-type moves by 50%, essentially neutralizing one of the Fire type's weaknesses. Harsh sunlight also activates the ability Chlorophyll, found exclusively on Grass-type Pokémon, doubling the Speed stat of all affected Pokémon. Grass-type Pokémon synergize especially well with Fire-type Pokémon, as every type that the Fire type is weak to is in turn weak to Grass-type moves. Other notable effects of harsh sunlight include activating the ability Solar Power and allowing the powerful Grass-type moves Solar Blade and Solar Beam to be executed in one turn. Therefore, sun teams often rely on using Fire-type Pokémon that are able to deal enormous amounts of damage in order to overpower the opponent using powerful Fire-type moves like Heat Wave and Weather Ball (which becomes a Fire-type move when used in harsh sunlight), as well as using Pokémon with Chlorophyll who are usually able to move first under Harsh Sunlight and either deal damage, often using Solar Blade or Solar Beam, or provide support for the team using moves like Sleep Powder. Additionally, in Generation IX, harsh sunlight also triggers the ability Protosynthesis, available to all the Ancient Paradox Pokémon, providing a boost to the highest stat of the user when harsh sunlight is activated.
In the core series games
The harsh sunlight weather condition along with the move Sunny Day was introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver, making harsh sunlight-based strategies possible. Several Fire-type specialists in the core series games take advantage of harsh sunlight, using the weather condition to boost the power of their Fire-type moves. Examples include Flannery in the Hoenn-based games, as well as Crispin in The Indigo Disk.
In competitive play
In competitive play, sun teams typically center around the sun setting abilities rather than the move Sunny Day, due to the high cost of using a turn solely to use Sunny Day rather than attacking, as opposed to the sun setting abilities that can activate immediately at the start of a battle. However, Pokémon that can use Sunny Day in conjunction with the ability Prankster, such as Whimsicott and Tornadus, occasionally see use on sun teams, often as a way to reactivate harsh sunlight if it is canceled out by the opposing team.
The first Pokémon to gain a sun setting ability is Groudon with its Drought ability, and although Groudon was a commonly seen Pokémon during Generation IV, harsh sunlight had not yet developed into its own archetype. While Ray Rizzo won first place at the 2010 World Championships using Groudon, his team did not heavily take advantage of harsh sunlight.[1] Groudon was not legal during Generation V, as no Generation V format allowed for the use of Special Pokémon. However, during Generation V, Ninetales gained access to its Hidden Ability in Drought, allowing it to be used as a sun setter. While harsh sunlight was still a rarely seen team archetype at this time, a sun team featuring Ninetales placed second at the 2012 UK National Championships, the first placement by a sun team at a major tournament, used alongside Exeggutor with the ability Chlorophyll.[2]
In Generation VI, Mega Charizard Y was introduced, also possessing the ability Drought. Due in part to Mega Charizard Y's higher stats than Ninetales, sun teams saw much higher levels of success in Generation VI. Teams featuring Mega Charizard Y used alongside Venusaur with the ability Chlorophyll placed first at the Australian National Championships in 2014[3] and Markus Stefan at the German National Championships in 2015,[4] the first national-level wins by sun teams.
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire saw the introduction of Primal Groudon with its signature ability in Desolate Land, activating extremely harsh sunlight. This variant of harsh sunlight causes all damaging Water-type moves to fail and cannot be removed by the weather changing abilities Drizzle, Sand Stream, and Snow Warning, a major weakness of sun teams. Though Primal Groudon was a popular Pokémon when it first became legal during the 2016 season, it was typically used for high power in its own right and to replace heavy rain set up by opposing Primal Kyogre, rather than to enable harsh sunlight-based strategies.
Sun teams reached the peak of their popularity during Generation VII, which saw Torkoal gain the ability Drought. Though Torkoal had a major weakness in its very low base Speed stat of 20, it was nonetheless threatening as it had access to the extremely powerful move Eruption, a move with 150 base power if the user was at 100% HP that additionally dealt damage to both opponents in Double Battles. Ashton Cox won the 2017 Latin American International Championships using a sun team based around Torkoal and Lilligant with the ability Chlorophyll.[5] Lilligant can learn the move After You, a move that lets the target move immediately after the user, which when paired with Lilligant's high Speed stat that is further boosted by Chlorophyll, can allow Torkoal to overcome its low Speed stat. Torkoal was also often used with Trick Room-based strategies, centering around using the move Trick Room to allow slower Pokémon such as Torkoal to move first.
Dynamax, introduced in Generation VIII, added another way to set up harsh sunlight in the form of the move Max Flare, a Max Move that set up harsh sunlight upon being used. Though Mega Charizard Y and Primal Groudon were no longer available, sun teams continued to see high levels of success throughout the 2022 season, often using Venusaur and Charizard, aided by the ability for any Pokémon that knew an offensive Fire-type move to be able to reset the harsh sunlight at any time using Max Flare.
In Generation IX, Paradox Pokemon were introduced. The Ancient Pokémon are a group of Paradox Pokémon that share the ability Protosynthesis, raising their highest stat whenever harsh sunlight was active. Notably, Flutter Mane, one of the most seen Pokémon in Generation IX competitive play, is able to increase either its speed or power when harsh sunlight is active by boosting its Speed or its Special Attack stat. Koraidon, the game mascot of Pokémon Scarlet, also has the signature ability Orichalcum Pulse, which combines the effects of Drought and Protosynthesis. Giovanni Cischke won the 2025 World Championships with a sun team centered around Koraidon, Flutter Mane, Chi-Yu, and Brute Bonnet, marking the first World Championships won by a sun team.[6]
Commonly used Pokémon
The following Pokémon are frequently seen on sun teams.
Harsh sunlight setters
Fire-type attackers
Pokémon with Chlorophyll
Paradox Pokémon
Trick Room setters
Trick Room setters are often seen on sun teams due to their synergy with Torkoal.
Examples
This team is used by Crispin in The Indigo Disk, making use of the combination of the move Sunny Day with powerful Fire-type moves as well as Exeggutor's Solar Beam.
This team was used by Ashton Cox to win the 2017 Latin American International Championships, making use of the powerful synergy between Torkoal and Lilligant.
This team was used by Giovanni Cischke to win the 2025 World Championships, using Koraidon to enable the abilities of the other Paradox Pokémon on his team.
References
- ↑ 2010 World Championships Results
- ↑ 2012 UK Nationals - Ben Kyriakou's team
- ↑ 2014 Australian National Championships - YouTube
- ↑ 2015 German National Championships Results - Pokemon.com
- ↑ Unraveling the VGC Latin American International Championships - Pokemon.com
- ↑ 2025 Pokémon World Championships - YouTube
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