Yesterday we showed you the changes in the Sinnoh Gym Leaders in Pokemon Platinum. Now it’s time for the main event. It’s time to see what your last Rival battle, the Elite Four and the Pokemon Champion have in store for you.

After playing through Pokemon Diamond or Pokemon Pearl, you know what to expect from your hyperactive friend/rival. Back in D/P your rival had the following Pokemon:

Oddly enough, with Pokemon Platinum, you’re going to have a much easier time. Not only are your rival lineups the same as in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, but they’re actually at a reduced level. This is a change from the Gym Leaders, who are all more powerful in Platinum, with the exception of one (Refer back to my guide on the Gym Leaders to see who!).

Here’s a quick breakdown of what your rival will be carrying in Platinum:

So aside from Starraptor, every Pokemon drops by two levels. The toughest Pokemon in any variant of your opponent’s teams with be Staraptor and Snorlax. Staraptor has Close Combat which can put a hurting on you if you don’t have any Electric Type attacks and Snorlax is a straight up pain with its defensive abilities and its move set of Body Slam, Crunch, Earthquake and Rest. If I were you I’d go with something that has a fighting move and either the Pokemon Ability Levitate or a Flying Type. I can think of several fliers that can know Fighting attacks, can you?

Now here’s where things get tricky. Not only are levels all over the place in comparison to Diamond/Pearl, but you’ll find that the lineups have changed as well!

Aaron’s Pokemon look to be weaker at first glance due to the level change, but in fact the loss in levels is made up in the fact he has replaced Dustox and Beautifly with the superior Scizor and Yanmega. Both have better stats, moves and with Scizor, harder weaknesses to overcome. Dustox was always just one Psychic away from a knockout, but Scizor? You’re going to NEED a powerful Fire move to take him out. As always, Drapion is what will throw your game plan off, as it is not a bug type at all. Being a Poison and Dark Dual Type means Drapion is only weak to Ground attacks. You can use that same powerful Fire Pokemon to take out Yanmega and Vespiqueen, and it’ll be quite useful against Heracross as well.

Once again, we see a pretty solid drop in levels, especially with poor Hippowdon. However again two weaker Pokemon are replaced by two stronger ones, at least in stats. At first glance, you’re probably thinking, “One flying Pokemon and I’m safe.” Especially when I tell you that all the Pokemon but Whiscash know Earthquake. Well, that’s not exactly true seeing as how Golem and Gliscor know Electric attacks. To be honest, your best bet for many of these is a Pokemon with the Levitate ability and who knows Grass attacks. Grass is super effective on the three Pokemon that have remained from D/P to Platinum, and it’ll take down Rhypherior quickly as well. That just leaves Gliscor and its pesky Ground and Flying combination. Well Water is super effective and Ice does 4x damage. There are tons of Pokemon that are Water and Ice dual type or that have access to both moves. I’m sure you already have a particular favorite picked out.

Flint was always my least favorite of the bosses in D/P, mainly because he didn’t stick to his type. How are you a master of Fire Pokemon when only two of your Pokemon have the Fire type? He just felt thrown together in a sloppy fashion to help you complete your Pokedex. Not so in Platinum. Yes the Pokemon you have to deal with are lower in level, but at least the theme is consistent. Not only are the non-Fire Types gone, but you’ve got some tough opponents ahead of you. Thankfully you should know what to do with Fire Type Pokemon by now, right? Your biggest challenges here with be Flareon and Houndoom since they’re so offensive minded and you’re probably not expecting them. Magmortar though will disrupt your all Water, all the time strategy with its Thunderbolt and Solarbeam attacks. Rapidash also has Solarbeam and Infernape has Thunder punch, so if you’re going to use Water attacks, make sure they’re not solely by a Water Pokemon.