So, you have finally defeated all eight Gym Leaders and you are given the opportunity to become Champion. Unlike in previous games, Champion is not bestowed upon one Trainer. In Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, anyone who can complete the Champion Trials is granted the rank of Champion. It is now your turn to have a crack at it.
Before you can claim your Rank, you will need to defeat one of the most iconic groups of trainers in Pokemon history – the Elite Four. Whilst the members of the Elite Four change from game to game, their role is always the same. They are the final hurdle – the ultimate test of your skills as a trainer. This is how you take them down.
More Pokemon Scarlet & Violet content:
Gym Order | How To Catch Ditto | How To Breed Pokemon | Evolution Items | Beginner Tips | Combat Guide
Who Are The Elite Four?
The Elite Four are, as their name implies, a team of four Trainers. In this case, you will be going toe-to-toe with Rika, Poppy, Larry, and Hassel. Unlike your typical Pokemon Battle, the Elite Four pull no punches, and their Pokemon are far more powerful than anything you’ve faced before.
Not only that, but the Elite Four are a gauntlet. You must defeat all four, back-to-back, to win. You do get a brief moment to heal up before each battle, but if you lose even once, it’s back to the beginning. If you want to take them down, you are going to need to prepare.
How To Prepare For The Elite Four
There are a few things you should do before you tackle the Elite Four. Preparation is key for these battles, and those who go unprepared could risk being taken down. These are not your usual opponents – these are actually challenging.
Typings
Firstly, you need to understand what Pokemon you will be facing. In a very broad and sweeping way, you are going up against a Ground, Steel, Flying, and Dragon trainer. Each trainer brings 5 Pokemon, and each Pokemon tends to flirt with a secondary typing to keep you on your toes.
We recommend bringing the following types into these fights:
- Grass/Water
- Fire
- Ice
With these typings, you should have an easy time getting through most of the Elite Four. Great Pokemon to consider are:
- Meowscarada
- Quaquaval
- Skeledirge
- Volcarona
- Arcanine
- Pawmot (with Ice Punch!)
- Hariyama (with Ice Punch!)
Items
You will want to be stocked up on items before you go into battle. Revives, Max Revives, Ethers, and Max Potions are all useful. However, you could also consider bringing cures to Sleep, Burn, and Paralysis – just in case. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet will not automatically heal you between fights, so be sure to heal before you take a single step after a battle.
Level
The Elite Four’s Pokemon are all in their 60’s. This makes them rather potent on the battlefield. Make sure your team is around this level otherwise you may struggle to make a dent in the sturdier Pokemon you encounter.
How To Defeat Rika
Rika is your first opponent. Rika loves Ground Pokemon, and will use the following:
- Whiscash
- Camerupt
- Donphan
- Dugtrio
- Clodsire
You may be slightly confused when you first see Whiscash. We just said that Rika loves GROUND, and Whiscash is a fish. What’s going on here? Well, Whiscash is Water/Ground. This is a very interesting typing because Whiscash is only weak to one Type – Grass. In fact, Whiscash is 4x weak to Grass. Any Grass Pokemon will do here – although Meowscarada is especially potent thanks to Flower Trick and the incredible damage it inflicts.
Camerupt is next on the list. Camerupt is Fire/Ground, and like Whiscash, is rocking a killer 4x weakness. In this case, it is to Water. Interestingly, Camerupt is also weak to Ground. We recommend using any Water Pokemon for this, however. Quaquavel is very good if you have access to it.
Donphan is the first Pokemon on this list who is a pure Ground Type. Donphan is quite the tanky chap, rocking high HP and even higher DEF. It is weak to Water, Grass, and Ice, with its Achilles’ heel being its low SpDEF. Meowscarada or Quaquavel are ideal, but again, any Pokemon with the above typings can do well.
Dugtrio is another Ground Pokemon, like Donphan. This time, however, Dugtrio isn’t tanky. Instead, this Pokemon is very fast. Be prepared to take a hit if your Pokemon are on the slow side. Again though, Water, Grass, and Ice are your go-to typings here.
Finally, we have Clodsire. Clodsire is rocking Ground/Poison, although, in this battle, that doesn’t really matter. Rika will always Terastallize Clodsire, removing its Poison typing entirely. This makes Clodsire a straight Ground Type, therefore weak to Grass, Water, and Ice.
In general, if you have a solid Water and/or Grass Pokemon, you can take down Rika without much issue.
How To Defeat Poppy
Poppy is next, and despite her size, she is brutal in the arena. Poppy is a lover of Steel Pokemon, and this makes her quite the threat if you aren’t packing Pokemon who can punch through her incredible defence. She brings the following:
- Copperajah
- Corviknight
- Magnezone
- Bronzong
- Tinkaton
Copperajah is no joke. This thing has high HP (high enough to possibly survive a Super Effective hit…) and a very high Attack. Not only that, it has one of the best typings in the game – pure Steel. Steel is only weak to Fire, Fighting, and Ground. These are, thankfully, fairly common. Skeledirge is a great choice, as is Volcarona.
Corviknight was a menace in the last generation, and it is arguably still a bit of a pain now. This thing is Steel/Flying and therefore loses its weakness to both Fighting and Ground. It is, however, still weak to Fire and gains an additional weakness in Electric. Corviknight is still rather tanky all things considered, but a solid SpATK Pokemon like the aforementioned Skeledirge should handle this matchup well.
Magnezone is another mixed Pokemon, only this time it is Steel/Electric. This is very handy as Magnezone is 4x weak to Ground. If you have a Garchomp or any other powerful Ground Pokemon, then Magnezone is easy pickings. If you have neglected that Type, then Fire is still a ground choice. SpATK is still preferable here as Magnezone tends to have lower SpDEF.
Bronzong is Steel/Psychic which means it loses its weakness to Fighting, but gains weaknesses to Ghost and Dark. This makes Bronzong one of the easier Pokemon on the list, but since Fire is still an easily accessible out, we recommend just sticking with something like Skeledirge.
Tinkaton is Steel/Fairy, but Poppy will immediately remove that Fairy typing with Terastallize. Tinkaton is a mighty Pokemon, but rocking a pure Steel typing means it is weak to Fire (among other things.)
In short, you want to use a powerful Fire Pokemon like Skeledirge, Arcanine, or Volcarona and burn this entire team. Terastallize into Fire turn one and melt them all away.
How To Defeat Larry
You’re halfway through the Elite Four, and now it’s time to fight a familiar face – Larry. Larry was the Normal Type Gym Leader, but this time, he is running his elite team of Flying Pokemon. He brings the following:
- Tropius
- Staraptor
- Oricorio
- Altaria
- Flamigo
Starting off with Tropius – this Pokemon sucks. Its stats aren’t great, and its Typing is awful. Being a Flying/Grass Pokemon, Tropius is weak to Fire, Flying, Poison, and Rock. Not only that, but Tropius is 4x weak to Ice, making it staggeringly easy to take out with most Pokemon. A dedicated Ice Pokemon could do the trick or a Pokemon who has Ice Punch (Pawmot?).
Staraptor is a bit of an improvement. It comes with solid Attack and Speed stats making it quite the aggressive threat. Its typing is Flying/Normal which makes it weak to Electric, Ice, and Rock. We found Pawmot was excellent in this fight too thanks to its powerful Electric Moves and its access to Ice Punch.
Oricorio is where things get a bit trickier. Oricorio is in its Pom-Pom Style, which makes it Electric/Flying. This is a pretty darn effective typing as it removes Flying’s biggest bane – Electric. However, what makes Oricorio a pain to deal with is its ability to mimic your attacks and hit you right back. The trick is to take Oricorio down in a single attack, and for this, you want to use Ice. This of course means a dedicated Ice Pokemon or a Pokemon who has dipped into Ice Punch.
Altaria is one of the easier Pokemon on this list providing you know it’s typing. Altaria is Dragon/Flying which gives a bunch of new weaknesses whilst removing most of its old ones. This thing is weak to Fairy, Dragon, and Rock. It is also 4x weak to Ice. This is a devastating weakness, and a single Ice Punch should take this thing down.
Flamigo is up next, and since Larry Terastallizes it into a pure Flying type, you are free to Ice Punch it in the head and be done with it. Easy final Pokemon.
How To Defeat Hassel
Hassel is your final opponent, and he’s not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Hassel is a Dragon Trainer, and as a result, he brings a lot of Dragon Pokemon. He has the following:
- Noivern
- Dragalge
- Haxorus
- Flapple
- Baxcalibur
Providing you brought some of the Pokemon/Types we recommended earlier, Noivern will be an easy KO. Noivern is Flying/Dragon which, like Altaria, is 4x weak to Ice. One Ice Punch will take this thing out.
Dragalge is one of the cooler-looking Pokemon in the game, but it isn’t particularly good at surviving a solid hit. It is Poison/Dragon, which is an interesting pairing. It is weak to Psychic, Ground, Ice, and Dragon. Since we are running with the theme of Ice Punching everything, Ice Punch should work wonders here.
Haxorus is the first pure Dragon Type in Hassel’s team. This makes it weak to Fairy, Ice, and Dragon. You should know the drill by now – Ice Punch. Do be aware if Haxorus survives, you are going to be in for a world of hurt as its ATK is very high.
Flapple is another painfully typed Pokemon – for Hassel. Flapple is Grass/Dragon and this makes it weak to Flying, Dragon, Poison, Fairy, and Bug. This is a hefty list of weaknesses on its own, but Flapple is also 4x weak to Ice. Ice Punch and move on.
Finally, we have Baxcalibur. Baxcalibur will be Terastallized into a pure Dragon which means Ice Punch to the face is your best bet. If it survives, hit it again. Simple as that.
With the Elite Four down, you only have one more challenger standing between you and Champion Rank – can you guess who it is?
That’s all we have on Pokemon Scarlet & Violet for now, but we have more guides and content on the way and a bunch ready to view.
