Elite Four and Champion – Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl guide

After you get all eight badges in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, you’ll be ready to challenge the Pokémon League, made up of the Elite Four and the Champion. You’ll need to fight five trainers back-to-back with no Pokémon Center healing in between.

Our Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl Elite Four and Champion guide is full of our best tips for beating the Elite Four and Champion Cynthia, including details on the Pokémon they use.

Table of contents

The Elite Four’s Pokémon

Champion Cynthia’s Pokémon

The Elite Four, explained

You’ll be battling four trainers called the Elite Four, each with their own type specialty, just like the gym leaders you took on before. It may seem like you can just bring in a ringer that counters their type, many of their Pokémon have moves to … well, counter their counters. You will be uttering the phrase “Why do you know that move?” a lot.

Level up your team high enough to beat them without worry. If you’re under-leveled, head back to Victory Road and grind some more.

Cynthia, explained

The Champion, Cynthia, does not have a type specialty, and her Garchomp is known for its ability to destroy parties. Prepare for her team, as lots of them will rip your Pokémon apart if they have the chance. One-shot K.O.-ing as many of her Pokémon as possible.

Make sure to also buy lots of Full Restores and Revives before you head in to the first battle, so you can heal up your team manually between battles. This is also the best time to use any Max Revives, Elixirs, or other rare healing items you’ve found on your journey.

We’ve listed out the Elite Four and Champion parties below.

The Elite Four’s Pokémon

These are the Pokémon details for Aaron, Bertha, Flint, and Lucian — the Elite Four in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl.

Aaron’s Pokémon

1. Dustox, level 53, bug/poison
2. Beautifly, level 53, bug/flying
3. Vespiquen, level 54, bug/flying
4. Heracross, level 54, bug/fighting
5. Drapion, level 57, poison/dark

Aaron is a bug-type specialist, and his Pokémon come prepared. Many of his Pokémon know rock-type moves, which will counter any flying- or fire-type Pokémon you’re trying to take him down with. You can safely use rock-type Pokémon against his team, and you can finish Drapion off with a ground-type move.

Bertha’s Pokémon

1. Quagsire, level 55, water/ground
2. Sudowoodo, level 56, rock
3. Golem, level 56, rock/ground
4. Whiscash, level 55, water/ground
5. Hippowdon, level 59, ground

Bertha is a ground-type specialist. You definitely want a grass-type to take out Quagsire and Whiscash, as both of these sport a quadrupled weakness to the type. Bertha doesn’t have too many counters, so just use your usual water-, grass-, or fighting-type moves to take out her party quickly.

Flint’s Pokémon

1. Rapidash, level 58, fire
2. Steelix, level 57, steel/ground
3. Drifblim, level 58, ghost/flying
4. Lopunny, level 57, normal
5. Infernape, level 61, fire/fighting

Flint’s party is a bit of a joke, because despite his label as a fire-type trainer, only two of his Pokémon are actually fire-type. They all come with at least one fire-type move, though. Like Bertha, Flint shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Use water-types to douse his flames, fighting-types for Steelix and Lopunny, and a dark-type for his Drifblim.

Lucian’s Pokémon

• Mr. Mime, level 59, psychic/fairy
• Girafarig, level 59, normal/psychic
• Medicham, level 60, fighting/psychic
• Alakazam, level 60, psychic
• Bronzong, level 63, steel/psychic

Lucian is a psychic-type specialist, meaning that most of his Pokémon can be quickly taken down with dark- or ghost-type moves. The exception to this is his Girafarig, which is immune to ghost-type moves. Blast them down with a good Crunch, a dark-type move that’s common enough among Pokémon that you probably have somebody with it.

Champion Cynthia’s Pokémon

• Spiritomb, level 61, ghost/dark
• Roserade, level 60, grass/poison
• Gastrodon, level 60, water/ground
• Lucario, level 63, fighting/steel
• Milotic, level 63, water
• Garchomp, level 66, dragon/ground

There is a reason why so many people make jokes about Cynthia being a nightmare, and it’s because she kind of is one. Her diverse team makes her hard to plan against, and many of them hit so hard that you need to knock them out immediately before they leave some serious dents in your party.

Many of them have easy weaknesses to exploit, but speed becomes the name of the game because her Pokémon will counter you if you try to exploit their weaknesses. Between Milotic knowing Ice Beam (because of course it does) and Gastrodon knowing Sludge Bomb, Cynthia is an annoying fight.

Notably, her Garchomp is a high-leveled monster. If you try to exploit its quadrupled weakness to ice-types, it will use Earthquake, and it will hurt a lot. That said, if you have a non-ice-type that knows ice-type moves, that will be your best bet in taking it down. Knock it out quickly, as it also knows Swords Dance, a move that sharply boosts its attack, and that’s enough to make a grown man cry or at least make a Dragon Claw hurt very much.