The Elite Four
Introduction
Preparation
Team
Items
Aaron
Bertha
Flint
Lucian
Cynthia
The Elite Four is the closest thing to a “final boss” that Pokemon has always had. A series of 5 battles, against Pokemon ranging from the 50’s up to the 60’s, the first time through is almost always grueling. Still, afterwards, you are rewarded with the team being entered into the Hall of Fame, each Pokemon getting a Ribbon for their achievement (even if they did not fight). It will bring you back to Twinleaf and once you have cleared the Elite Four once, the Post-game scenario is readily available. Platinum also does something different: The Elite Four increase in level, making any subsequent play through more of a challenge. They increase 10-12 levels, bringing them into the 60’s and 70’s. It is worth noting that if they use items, it is very rare for them to keep using them on the same Pokemon, preferring to spread out the uses.
Preparation:
Team – Low to mid 50’s. This is recommended if it is your first time facing down the Elite Four. With Victory Road easily accessible, grinding out some levels is fairly easy. You will also want a diverse team, strong Fire, Grass, Ice, Water, Ground, Dark, and Electric moves. Have some powerful ones, but in general it is good to have moves that have 10-15 PP so they last longer. There is nothing wrong with the 5 PP moves, just save those and make sure you have Leppa Berries to replenish them! Make sure that no one type weakness shines through your whole team.
Items – Ultra/Max Potions, Revives, Full Heals: stock these suckers up. I would also recommend a few Full Restores, these are great for some of the pinches you will find yourself in. I would also recommend taking the time to grow multiple things of Leppa Berries, as it will restore 10 PP to moves which will run low. Having a lot of Poke helps here, but there is only so much that one can get right now. Battling trainers while you have the Amulet Coin on the Lead Pokemon is the best thing you can do for now to get cash. If you happen to have Leftovers and a Pokemon that’s somewhat fragile but very important, give the Leftovers to it. These help by giving them a set amount of HP recovery each turn. As you will have time between Battles to recover and prepare, it would be good to have the different Type Plates that boost attacks and the Hold items that do the same thing.
Aaron – Recommended Lead: Packing Fire or Electric.
Yanmega: Bug Buzz, Air Slash, U-Turn, Double Team
Scizor: X-Scissor, Iron Head, Night Slash, Quick Attack
Heracross: Megahorn, Close Combat, Night Slash, Stone Edge
Drapion: Cross Poison, X-Scissor, Aerial Ace, Ice Fang
Vespiquen: Attack Order, Defend Order, Power Gem, Heal Order
This is the first of the Elite Four you will face, and compared to most, he really is a walk in the park. He has one big glaring weakness: FIRE or Flying moves will devastate his team. Yanmega is more a Special Attack focused Pokemon and it shows. A decently fast Rock, Ice or Electric attack will likely send it down. Scizor has a large weakness, with a 4x weakness to Fire, so having a Fire move in the wings for it will pay off (and likely in the future too). Heracross as well has a 4x weakness to Flying, again have a good Flying move, Air Slash is a good one, but so is Aerial Ace. This is one you want to take down fast, as Megahorn and Close Combat are both quite powerful moves and you will want to minimize your damage this early. Drapion is an odd one out, being Dark and Poison. A Ground type will hit for Super Effective damage, but this is also one you will generally want to just pound down. Vespiquen is an annoying Pokemon because she has several good Bug Type moves, but Fire, Flying, Ice or Electric will send her back to the Hive.
Bertha – Recommended Lead: Grass
Whiscash: Earth Power, Aqua Tail, Zen Headbutt, Sand Storm
Gliscor: Earthquake, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Ice Fang
Golem: Earthquake, Firepunch, Thunder Punch, Sand Storm
Rhyperior: Earthquake, Rock Wrecker, Megahorn, Avalanche
Hippowdon: Earthquake, Crunch, Stone Edge, Yawn
A much more universal theme shows in this lady’s team: Rock and Ground. A solid Grass Pokemon could potentially sweep through her team without incurring much wrath, especially if they have some decent type coverage under their belt (Hidden Powers are great for this!). Most of these Pokemon are packing Earthquake, a very strong Ground Type attack which is much better to avoid than take. Another downright annoying move that will come up is Sandstorm (Hippowdon will start one the moment it hits the field). This boost the abilities of most Rock/Ground types, plus if a Pokemon is not Ground, Rock or Steel, it will take damage every turn! Once Sandstorm is in effect, just try to sweep everything quickly. Whiscash usually is one that annoys at lot, but it also leads, so throwing a good Grass attack out at first (or being somewhat risky and using Solar Beam) will guarantee something will regret the choice of coming in. Golem and Rhyperior both will simply topple over if they encounter Grass moves that hit them. Still, both these are strong Pokemon, so make sure that if they get any chances to swing you’ve got something to patch up the damage or something that can take a serious hit! Gliscor is something of the odd one out, as it is Ground Flying. While horribly weak to Ice Attacks, most Special Attacks will also wipe it out.
Flint – Recommended Lead: Water
Houndoom: Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Sludge Bomb, Sunny Day
Flareon: Overheat, Giga Impact, Quick Attack, Will-o-Wisp
Rapidash: Flare Blitz, Solarbeam, Bounce, Sunny Day
Infernape: Flare Blitz, Mach Punch, Earthquake, Thunderpunch
Magmortar: Flamethrower, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Hyper Beam
Flint we’ve seen before and now it is truly time to wipe him out! He is also the only one of the Elite Four that has a universal weakness, Water. Hitting any of his Pokemon with Water attacks, especially decent one will just Sweep through them all. The catch I would add is make sure it is beefy and decently tough (Water is good at this those). Surf and Earthquake will see you through most of these Pokemon. Houndoom is a bit surprising as it is strong, decently fast but takes hits poorly. Be willing to tank at least one hit from this doggie before you send it back to Flint in its ball. Flareon is a pleasant surprise to the line-up, but it is not the greatest Pokemon. However, this particular one has a good set-up, especially with Giga Impact in its arsenal, taking advantage of its impressive Physical attack. The short coming here is Flareon is not very fast and if you are attacking with a moderate speed Water type, especially a Special Attack type, Flareon will be down fast. It is also possible Flareon will try to Will-O-Wisp your Pokemon, burning the Pokemon, lowering Physical Attack. Rapidash is one of the few Pokemon that remains seriously a threat. It has a horribly powerful combo with Solarbeam and Sunny Day, which makes Solarbeam a one turn move, instead of two. This is very bad for any Water Pokemon in play as it also reduces the power of Water Type moves notably. With decent speed, this one could pose a problem if it comes in at a bad time. Infernape is a powerhouse in its own right, with good Physical and Special Attack, and Speed, but fairly weak Defenses, so whatever is in play is recommended to have something to ground out the Electric type attacks. Its Mach Punch will also put some pain on, but not as much as the aforementioned Electric on your Water Pokemon, unless they are something else using Water Type moves. Magmortar can beat you down with Special Attacks, if you give it a chance. It has terrible Physical Defense but alright Special Defense, backed by an alright Speed. Take it down.
Lucian – Recommended Lead: Dark Type, with good speed and phyiscal attack
Mr. Mime: Psychic, Thunderbolt, Reflect, Light Screen
Espeon: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, Quick Attack
Alakazam: Psychic, Focus Blast Energy Ball, Recover
Bronzong: Psychic, Earthquake, Gyro Ball, Calm Mind
Gallade: Psycho Cut, Drain Punch, Stone Edge, Leaf Blade
Here, a good fast, strong Physical Sweeper will just mop the field with this team. Mr. Mime is the lead here and likely to set up defenses with Light Screen and Reflect. He does not have great defenses himself, so feel free to take him down. Espeon, the second Eevee form to make an appearance, is a real step up from Flareon (no offensive Flareon). It has some well rounded attacks with Psychic, Ghost and Bug as well as Normal type for Quick Attack. Espeon is a very strong Special Attacker with some decent speed, thus hitting it hard Physically is the key to taking it down. Alakazam is ridiculous in its own right. Fast and very strong for Special Attacks as well as packing Recover makes this one something that needs to go down in one to two shots at best. This Pokemon’s Psychic is nearly on par with Mewtwo’s, hence the warning. Bronzong is almost a slight relief from all the other insane Pokemon on this team. It has fairly solid defenses, low attacks though. It is also weak against Fire, but as it packs Earthquake, that makes it a little dangerous for a Fire-type to come out. Gallade makes for something interesting, as it is a physical based attacker. However, as Fighting/Psychic, it is quite vulnerable to Flying type moves and those are generally fast enough to take it down.
Before facing down Cynthia, be sure to help and restore your Pokemon as best possible. This is also a very opportune time to SAVE.
Cynthia – Recommended Lead: Strong Attacker (No Normal or Fighting or Psychic type attacks)
Spiritomb: Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Psychic, Silver Wind
Togekiss: Air Slash, Aura Sphere, Shock Wave, Water Pulse
Roserade: Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Extrasensory, Toxic
Lucario: Aura Sphere, Shadow Ball, Extremespeed, Stone Edge
Garchomp: Dragon Rush, Earthquale, Flamethrower, Giga Impact
Milotic: Surf, Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, Mirror Coat
The Final Battle of the Elite Four is with the fifth and final Champion. She leads with the incredibly frustrating Spiritomb, it has not typing weaknesses, and decent Defenses in both regards. This is one that demands something very powerful to deal with it and in a fairly particular fashion as it is simply immune to Normal, Fighting and Psychic. Togekiss has some vicious attacks, so make it whatever is on the field at that time can take a hit. A Physical Rock or Electric attack would go a long way toward KO’ing this pest. With its lower speed, it certainly would be possible. Roserade honestly seems out of place still, but is has some power to it, so hopefully some potions are still handy. Fire, Psychic, Ice or Fighting will do serious damage to this plant. Lucario is one to worry just a little about. If it follows Roserade and Your Pokemon is in decent shape, especially if it can take some physical hits still, that is great. Lucario has some decent speed to it on top of good attack stats. Lucario will likely get a hit or two in, depending on what it does, but some Fire moves will send it packing. Garchomp is very strong, but if you can safely bring in a Pokemon with an Ice Move, it will likely 1-3HKO, as it is 4x Weakness! Its defenses are closely balanced, so there is no one good stat to hit. Again, consider what you are against and fight appropriately. Milotic is a surprisingly durable Pokemon. Still, it has solid Special Defense, but its Physical Defense is sorely lacking. Grass or Electric is recommended again to just take it down. Because Milotic has Mirror Coat, it is much better to use Physical Moves against as it can respond with that move if it manages to predict your move.
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