Pokémon Black and White: Unova Elite Four Lineups
Yesterday we gave you the rundown on all eleven Unova Gym Leaders and their Pokémon. Today, it’s the Elite Four’s turn under the microscope. With this guide you’ll be able to know what you are facing before you actually go into battle, giving you the chance to build the perfect team to take down the Elite Four.
There are three important things to know about the Elite Four before we begin. The first is that the first time you face them, they’ll be pretty easy. Each member of the Elite Four will only have four Pokémon each and it will be the easiest Elite Four to beat out of all five generations of Pokémon RPGs. The second thing worth knowing is that the first time you beat them, you won’t be facing the Pokémon Champion. We won’t give spoilers here, but suffice to say, there’s a different surprise for you in Pokémon Black and White. The third is that you’ll have to face each member of the Elite Four a second time in the course of your Unova adventure, and the second time…well, as you’ll see below, they are a lot stronger than the first time you encountered them to say the least. With those tidbits in mind, let’s take a look at each member of the Elite Four in clockwork order!
Elite Four Member #1: Shikimi
First Encounter
Pokémon #1: Cofagrigus (Level 48 – Ghost)
Moveset: Grass Knot, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Will O’ The Wisp
Pokémon #2: Jellicent (Level 48 – Water/Ghost)
Moveset: Brine, Energy Ball, Surf, Shadow Ball
Pokémon #3: Golurk (Level 48 – Ground/Ghost)
Moveset: Brick Break, Curse, Earthquake, Shadow Punch
Pokémon #4: Chandelure (Level 50 – Ghost/Fire)
Moveset: Fire Blast, Payback, Psychic, Shadow Ball
Shauntal ‘s Pokémon are all Ghost, but as you can see, most are dual type and they all have a diverse set of attacks that cover numerous types, but Ghost and Dark attacks are universally powerful against all of her Pokémon. Water and Grass attacks are surprisingly effective here as well.
Second Encounter
Pokémon #1: Cofagrigus (Level 71 – Ghost)
Moveset: Energy Ball, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Will O’ The Wisp
Pokémon #2: Jellicent (Level 71 – Water/Ghost)
Moveset: Psychic, Hydro Pump, Sludge Wave, Shadow Ball
Pokémon #3: Froslass (Level 71 – Ice/Ghost)
Moveset: Blizzard, Ice Shard, Psychic, Shadow Ball
Pokémon #4: Drifblim (Level 71 – Ghost/Flying)
Moveset: Acrobats, Psychic, Thunder, Shadow Ball
Pokémon #5: Golurk (Level 71 – Ground/Ghost)
Moveset: Hammer Arm, Curse, Earthquake, Shadow Punch
Pokémon #6: Chandelure (Level 73 – Ghost/Fire)
Moveset: Fire Blast, Payback, Psychic, Shadow Ball
The second time around is definitely going to be tougher. Still, Everyone still has Ghost and Dark weaknesses and the secondary type of these Ghost Pokémon should correspond to moves you already have on your team, so you should be able to match moves vs. type weaknesses regularly here.
Elite Four Member #2: Grimley
First Encounter
Pokémon #1: Scrafty (Level 48 – Dark/Fire)
Moveset: Brick Break, Crunch, Poison Jab, Sand Attack
Pokémon #2; Liepard (Level 48 – Dark)
Moveset: Aerial Ace, Attract, Fake Out, Night Slash
Pokémon #3: Krookodile (Level 48 – Ground/Dark)
Moveset: Crunch, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Trickery
Pokémon #4: Bisharp (Level 50 – Dark/Steel)
Moveset: Aerial Ace, Metal Claw, Night Slash, X-Scissor
All of Grimley’s Pokémon have Dark in them, so Bug and Fighting moves help a lot here. Be careful though as some of Grimley’s Pokémon can counter those. Don’t put a Bug Pokémon against Bisharp for example, or you’ll see a lot of Aerial Ace. Samurott is insanely powerful here with its Megahorn attack.
Second Encounter
Pokémon #1: Sharpedo (Level 71 – Water/Dark)
Moveset: Aqua Jet, Earthquake, Night Slash, Waterfall
Pokémon #2; Liepard (Level 71 – Dark)
Moveset: Aerial Ace, Attract, Fake Out, Sucker Punch
Pokémon #3: Scrafty (Level 71 – Dark/Fire)
Moveset: Brick Break, Crunch, Poison Jab, Head Smash
Pokémon #4: Drapion (Level 71 – Poison/Dark)
Moveset: Crunch, Fire Fang, Poison Fang, Thunder Fang
Pokémon #5: Krookodile (Level 71 – Ground/Dark)
Moveset: Crunch, Outrage, Earthquake, Trickery
Pokémon #6: Bisharp (Level 73 – Dark/Steel)
Moveset: Aerial Ace, Guillotine, Night Slash, X-Scissor
Once again, we see a nice increase in power here. Drapion might be the toughest of Grimley’s Pokémon to take down simply due to the attack variety it has coupled with its type combination.
Elite Four Member #3: Caitlin
First Encounter
Pokémon #1: Reuniclus (Level 48 – Psychic)
Moveset: Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Psychic, Thunder
Pokémon #2: Musharna (Level 48 – Psychic)
Moveset: Charge Beam, Psychic, Reflect, Shadow Ball
Pokémon #3: Sigilyph (Level 48 – Psychic/Flying)
Moveset: Air Slash, Ice Beam. Shadow Ball, Psychic
Pokémon #4: Gothitelle (Level 50 -Psychic)
Moveset: Calm Mind, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt
Hey, a familiar face! Many of you probably recognize Caitlin from the Battle Frontier in Pokémon Platinum as well as HeartGold and Soul Silver. Well she’s move up from one half of a Frontier Brain to one fourth of the Elite Four. Bug, Ghost and Dark attacks will help you out here. Again, Samurott is quite strong here, but be careful using it against Gothitelle or Reuniclus as they both have Electric attacks.
Second Encounter
Pokémon #1: Musharna (Level 71 – Psychic)
Moveset: Hypnosis, Dream Eater, Psychic, Reflect
Pokémon #2: Sigilyph (Level 71 – Psychic/Flying)
Moveset: Air Slash, Ice Beam. Flash Cannon, Psychic
Pokémon #3: Bronzong (Level 71 – Steel/Psychic)
Moveset: Charge Beam. Payback, Psychic, Flash Cannon
Pokémon #4: Reuniclus (Level 71 – Psychic)
Moveset: Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Psychic, Thunder
Pokémon #5: Gothitelle (Level 71 -Psychic)
Moveset: Payback, Psychic, Flatter, Thunderbolt
Pokémon #6: Metagross (Level 73 – Psychic/Steel)
Moveset: Bullet Punch, Earthquake, Giga Impact, Zen Headbutt
So with this new lineup, Caitlin easily becomes the toughest of the Elite Four. All of her Pokémon have a wide array of type attacks and you’re going to live or die based on type advantages here.
Elite Four Member #4: Marshal
First Encounter
Pokémon #1: Throh (Level 48 – Fighting)
Moveset: Level Ground, Mountain Storm, Payback, Stone Edge
Pokémon #2: Sawk (Level 48 – Fighting)
Moveset: Grass Knot, Karate Chop, Stone Edge, Retaliate
Pokémon #3: Conkeldurr (Level 48 – Fighting)
Moveset: Grass Knot, Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, Retaliate
Pokémon #4: Mienshao (Level 50 – Fighting)
Moveset: Jump Kick, Rock Slide, Retaliate, U-Turn
As all of Marshal’s Pokémon are pure Fighting, which makes him the easiest member of the Elite Four to take down in your first encounter with them. Flying and Psychic attacks will take Marshall down in one to two rounds per Pokémon.
Second Encounter
Pokémon #1: Breloom (Level 71 – Grass/Fighting)
Moveset: Grass Knot, Mach Punch, Sky Uppercut, Spore
Pokémon #2: Sawk (Level 71 – Fighting)
Moveset: Close Combat, Poison Jab, Stone Edge, Retaliate
Pokémon #3: Throh (Level 71 – Fighting)
Moveset: Superpower, Retaliate, Grass Knot, Earthquake
Pokémon #4: Toxicroak (Level 71 – Poison/Fighting)
Moveset: Ankle Sweep, Earthquake, Toxic, Venom Shock
Pokémon #5: Mienshao (Level 71 – Fighting)
Moveset: Hi Jump Kick, Acrobatics, Fake Out, U-Turn
Pokémon #6: Conkeldurr (Level 73 – Fighting)
Moveset: Earthquake, Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, Payback
Once again, Marshal remains the easiest of the Elite Four to take out. Psychic attacks should win you the day pretty easily here, especially against newcomer Toxicroak. There’s not much in the way of strategy here as Marshal’s Pokémon are pretty straight forward.
So there you go – a quick and easy guide to the Elite Four and their Pokémon. Yet would you believe there are FOUR stronger Trainers than the Elite Four awaiting you in Unova? We’ll take a look at those four in another feature.
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