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Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: How to beat the Elite Four

Jesse Lennox
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The Victory Path story in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet ends in the classic battle to prove you are, in fact, the best of the best. To do this, you will need to beat the infamous Elite Four, just like you have in every prior-generation game. As always, this is a continuous gauntlet of battles against arguably the toughest trainers in the entire Paldea region. If that wasn’t difficult enough, there are two more fights after those against the four. You will need a top team at your side and plenty of items. These tips to become the undisputed champion in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will also prove crucial.

Once you’ve collected all eight Gym Badges, reached the Pokémon League, and correctly answered all the questions in the assessment test, you can begin your path to becoming champion. Thankfully you will have the opportunity to heal and reorganize your team between battles, which will be necessary to counter some of these tough trainers.

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Note: There will be spoilers for the Elite Four, as well as the two Champion battles that take place after them, including their identities and Pokémon.

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Rika guide

Rika of the Elite Four.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

After you arrive at the Pokémon League and pass the assessment test, Rika will be the first member of the Elite Four to challenge you. She has a team mainly composed of Ground-type Pokémon that is naturally weak against Water, Grass, and Ice-types. We would recommend including a strong Water-type as your primary option here since, as you will see, Rika also has a Pokémon with Poison moves that are supereffective against Grass-types. However, keep a Grass-type ready for one possible counter. Here’s Rika’s team:

  • Whiscash — Level 57 (Water/Ground-type)
  • Camerupt — Level 57 (Fire/Ground-type)
  • Dugtrio — Level 57 (Ground-type)
  • Donphan — Level 57 (Ground-type)
  • Clodsire — Level 58 (Poison/Ground-type with Ground Terra-Type)

Since Rika’s opening Pokémon is Water, start out with that Grass-type we mentioned bringing along. From there, swap to your Water-type ringer to begin rinsing the rest of her squad. Again, swapping back to a Grass-type for her Clodsire is best because of its Poison moves and Water Absorb ability.

Poppy guide

Poppy holding a pokeball.
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To prepare for your next battle against Poppy, build your team around countering Steel-types primarily. Steel is mainly countered by Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-type Pokémon, but once we go over her lineup, you’ll see that Fire and Ground are the best choices. Thankfully, Poppy’s best Pokémon doesn’t buck the trend too much to require a complete rework of your team. Here’s the competition for round two:

  • Copperajah — Level 58 (Steel-type)
  • Corviknight — Level 58 (Flying/Steel-type)
  • Brozong — Level 58 (Steel/Psychic-type)
  • Megnezone — Level 58 (Electric/Steel-type)
  • Tinkaton — Level 59 (Fairy/Steel-type with Steel Terra-Type)

The Corvinknight and Brozong are the two main reasons why Fighting is not a good pick for this fight since they won’t be able to do much of anything against them. Fire- and Ground-types can easily get your through to the end, but make sure they have high enough defense stats that they can handle the final Tinkaton that exclusively uses physical moves.

Larry guide

Trainer Larry just standing there.
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Who would’ve guessed Larry, of all trainers, would make another appearance as a member of the Elite Four. Regardless, this fight will be nothing like your first. Instead of sticking to Normal-types, Larry has a powerful team of Flying Pokémon. Flying is weak against Electric-, Fire-, Rock-, and Dragon-types mostly, but you will need a mix here for a few reasons. Let’s check out his team first:

  • Tropius — Level 59 (Grass/Flying-type)
  • Staraptor — Level 59 (Normal/Flying-type)
  • Altaria — Level 59 (Dragon/Flying-type)
  • Oricorio — Level 59 (Electric/Flying-type)
  • Flamigo — Level 60 (Flying/Fighting-type with Flying Terra Form)

As you can see, all of Larry’s Pokémon are a mix of Flying and another type, which complicates things a bit. You should use a Fire-type to counter his Tropius, Electric against Staraptor and Flamigo, Rock to deal with his Oricorio, and Dragon to beat his Altaria. Another final good tip is that Flamigo, which uses only physical attacks, can easily be beaten if you have a Pokémon with the move Counter.

Hassel guide

A trainer in a suit smiling.
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If you’ve been a good trainer and attending classes, you’ll recognize Hassel as the Academy art professor. Aside from art, he’s ready to give you a lesson in pain, so it’s best to be prepared. Hassel’s Pokémon are focused on Dragon-types, which is tricky since they are weak to Dragon-, Ice-, and Fairy-types. However, Fairy isn’t the best option here, making your team choices limited. Here’s what Hassel will throw at you:

  • Noivern — Level 60 (Flying/Dragon-type)
  • Dragalge — Level 60 (Poison/Dragon-type)
  • Haxorus — Level 60 (Dragon-type)
  • Flapple — Level 60 (Grass/Dragon-type)
  • Baxcalibur — Level 61 (Dragon/Ice-type with Dragon Terra Form)

As you can see, the Dragalge’s Poison moves make using Fairy-types against Hassel a poor idea, but what you can’t see is that Haxorus also has some Steel moves that counter Fairy too. You can safely use Fairy against his other members, but a good Ice-type is a solid choice for the rest of his team. If you managed to get one, a Gyarados can use both Dragon- and Ice-type moves, making it an easy pick, though not against Dragalage due to it having the Thunderbolt move.

Top Champion Geeta guide

The pokemon champion glaring.
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Things were already getting complex by the end of the Elite Four, but the Champion Geeta’s team is even worse for you since she doesn’t stick to any theme for her team. She’s compiled a roster of all kinds of Pokémon, meaning you will need a ton of high-level Pokémon across most types to counter her. Let’s check out the competition:

  • Espathra — Level 61 (Flying/Dragon-type)
  • Avalugg — Level 61 (Ice-type)
  • Kingambit — Level 61 (Dark/Steel-type)
  • Veluza — Level 61 (Water/Psychic0-type)
  • Gogoat — Level 61 (Grass-type)
  • Glimmora — Level 62 (Rock/Poison-type with Rock Terra Form)

When preparing your team, do your best to only use single-type Pokémon. The two Pokémon here that you will need to pay the most attention to are Kingambit and Glimmora. Kingabit is weak against Fighting-types, but you will need one with very high speed to counter its Zen Headbutt move. Glimmora will start out as Rock, which isn’t too bad for another Fighting-, Grass-, or Ground-type, but the Terra Form turns it into pure Rock-type, so make it easy on yourself and use a Grass-type.

Otherwise, pack a Bug for Espathra and Veluza, Fighting for Avalugg, and a Flying-type for Gogoat.

Champion Nemona guide

Nemona talking about her rival.
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Beating the Champion is never quite the end, is it? You always need to have one final, dramatic battle with your rival. In this case, that’s Nemona, and she isn’t pulling any punches in this ultimate battle. You will know some of her squad by now, having fought her a couple times already, but this is the most powerful her Pokémon have ever been. Here’s what your final obstacle to being League Champion will be:

  • Lycancroc — Level 65 (Rock-type)
  • Orthworm — Level 65 (Steel-type)
  • Goodra — Level 65 (Dragon-type)
  • Pawmot — Level 65 (Electric/Fighting-type)
  • Dudunsparce — Level 65 (Normal-type)
  • (Whichever starter counters yours) — Level 66 (Either Grass/Dark, Fire/Ghost, or Water/Fighting-type with Grass, Fire, or Water Terra Form)

Thankfully Nemona’s team is mostly single-typed, so you can plan some good counters for it. Most of her team is weak against Ground- and Fighting-types. Lycancroc, Orthworm, and Dudunsparce all share a Fighting weakness, for example, but Orthworm can also be taken out by Ground and Fire as well. Steel can also deal with Lycancroc, but is best for Goodra. If you don’t have a reliable Steel-type, Ice will work just as well here. If you want to get fancy and make the final conflict more exciting — and why wouldn’t you — then save your starter in their Terra Form to counter Nemona’s final Pokémon.

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Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox loves writing, games, and complaining about not having time to write and play games. He knows the names of more…
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