Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Elite Four Guide: Best Team, Items, and Natures

You’ve finally made it to the end of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and only one obstacle remains: conquering the Elite Four and the Champion! It’s unwise to go in unprepared, so read up on our Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Elite four Guide on the best team, items, and natures!

Best Pokémon Setups

One of the best teams in the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl consisted of Roserade, Garchomp, Lucario, Staraptor, Luxray, and your starter Pokémon.

Roserade can learn a variety of Poison and Grass moves, making it a versatile pick to go against the Elite Four, especially Bertha’s team. Many late game opponents will be weak to Grass moves.

Garchomp is just a strong pick overall – there’s a reason why Cynthia has one on her team! With pretty balanced and high stats, an excellent moveset, Garchomp can take on just about anything you throw at it.

Lucario, just like Roserade, excels at taking on opponents found late in the game. A surprising amount of Pokémon fought in the late game will be weak to Fighting moves, and Lucario is an excellent pick for a Fighting-type.

Staraptor is a speedy bird that is quite versatile. Don’t underestimate it because it’s the obligatory starting bird Pokémon – it learns very powerful moves, and it’s very fast! Brave Bird and Close Combat are standouts, but its ability also helps it avoid powerful Ground-type moves like Earthquake.

Luxray is a very good choice as it learns powerful Electric-type moves, but it also can have the ability Intimidate. This ability drastically lowers your opponent’s attack, and it can render Garchomp – arguably Cynthia’s most powerful Pokémon – completely helpless!

A new popular Pokémon to use is a Gyrados with the Moxie ability. A Pokémon with Moxie powers up for the remainder of the battle every time it knocks out an opponent. A Gyrados with Dragon Dance, Waterfall, Icefang, and Earthquake can pretty much take out the entirety of the Elite Four, including Cynthia.

If you’re looking for item recommendations, you’re going to find the usual suspects. Metronome and Choice Specs are good for Pokémon that spam the same strong move over and over again. The Expert Belt is a great choice for Pokémon designated to hit weaknesses. Leftovers are great if you need your Pokémon to be a little more sturdy. And of course, if you prefer to control the battlefield’s weather, the Damp/Heat/Smooth/Icy Rocks are must haves.

Elite Four & Champion Guide

Aaron

Aaron is the first member of the Elite Four you must face off with. As you can see from his team, he’s a big fan of Bug-type Pokémon. As such, a Flying-type Pokémon will work wonders here. Just be careful of his Heracross, as it knows Rock Slide. Aaron’s final Pokémon, Drapion, is the only member of his team that isn’t weak to Flying, but he is weak to Ground, so be ready for that.

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Bertha

Big Bertha is all about Ground-type Pokémon, as she likes to be steadfast in the face of danger. A shared attribute among Ground-types is that they have very high defense but low special defense, and you can take advantage of that with a Grass-type Pokémon that has high special attack. Her entire team is weak to Grass, so that’s the way to go. Water and Ice-types work too, if you prefer.

Flint

Don’t let Flint’s fiery red hair fool you – only two Pokémon on his team are Fire-types. Ground, Water, and Rock-type moves will take care most of his team, while you’ll need a Fighting move for Lopunny. Be careful of the Infernape, as it’s holding a Focus Sash which will prevent him from being OHKO’d (one hit knock out).

Lucian

Lucian will mentally assault your team with Psychic-type moves as the final challenge before the champion. Every single Pokémon on his team is weak to Dark and Ghost moves, so make sure to bring some Pokémon along that know those types of moves.

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Champion Cynthia

The champion herself has arrived, and she’s got quite the team! Cynthia’s team covers a lot of types, so it’s difficult to plan for. The best strategy here is to simply out speed her Pokémon and try to OHKO them before they can do any serious damage, but of course that’s the biggest problem.

If any of her Pokémon survive after an attack, they will usually counterattack with something pretty devastating, like Milotic’s Ice Beam, Roserade and Gastrodon’s Sludge Bomb, or Garchomp’s Swords Dance plus Dragon Claw combo. If you can’t hit any weaknesses, simply use your strongest moves and take her Pokémon out as fast as you can!

And there you have it! You should have all you need to beat the Elite Four now. What are your favorite Pokémon to use against the Elite Four? Share your teams in the comments below!