Guide to Pokemon Champions From All Generations

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Jesus Cruz, Lifelong Pokémon Fan

It all started in 2010 when Jesus was 10 years old. His dad gifted him a Nintendo DS and let him choose a game for it. A weird, enormous, and grey serpent caught my attention on the box art for Pokémon Platinum, and since that moment he's been hooked! He can only thank his 10 years old self for choosing the game that he loves the most in the series

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Pokemon Champions; the last challenge that separates you from the glory, from the hall of fame and that credit roll of the end of a Pokémon game.

All the champions are iconic in one way; they are the hardest battle of the game, others for helping you through the way, and their revelation as the Champion astonishes every player. But we can agree on something: beating a Champion, even if it is for the first time or not, it’s such a memorable achievement since that means you had the motivation to train a team just to confront such a battle like that.

That being said, let’s not waste any more time since we have more than 8 champions, and everyone has a strategy if you want to defeat them:

Gen 1: Red, Blue and Yellow

Blue (Red and Blue)

The first-ever Champion you are gonna face is your own rival, Blue. You’ll find him in all the Gen 1 games, but his Red and Blue team is different from the Yellow team he has.

Let’s check Blue’s teams since it can vary depending on which starter you choose. Their first three Pokémon will always be the same, but the last three will change.

This is Blue team:

These are the core three that will be the same regardless of your starter. Pidgeot is really weak against Electric-type attacks, and it doesn’t have anything to counter it, so use an excellent Thunderbolt, and that’s all. Alakazam is the strongest Pokémon that Blue has, primarily because of Recover and Reflect. Your best bet is to make a good physical attack because its Defense is relatively low. Rhydon will not handle a Water-type attack, so go for it.

If you choose Bulbasaur:

Exeggutor doesn’t have a good Special, so a single Flamethrower will faint it quickly. Gyarados suffers from the same problem as Blue’s Pidgeot, but worse since it has an x4 weakness against Electric-types. Go for the Thunderbolt; it will not be a problem. Charizard is weak against Water-types, and it doesn’t have something to counter a good Water-type Pokémon, so go for it, no fears.

If you choose Charmander:

Arcanine suffers from the same problem as Charizard, a good Water-type attack, and it will faint. On the other hand, Blastoise can’t handle a good Thunderbolt, so this is a reasonably easy matchup.

If you choose Squirtle:

Here, you’ll face Venusaur; you can go in two ways, or you use an Ice-type, or you burn it down with an excellent Fire-type attack. It has some good defenses, so you’ll probably take two turns to get it down.

As you can see, Blue doesn’t have a good strategy or move set to counter you besides having the starter that is good against yours. But its Pokémon Yellow team is way different and can actually give some problems too, so let’s check it out.

Blue (Yellow)

Blue has an Eevee, and he can evolve it. Depending on Eevee’s evolution, Blue will change three of his Pokémon, so let’s check that out:

Exeggutor and Alakazam have to be treated the same way as with the battle against them in Red and Blue; Alakazam will fall with any strong Physical attack, and Exeggutor can’t handle a Flamethrower or a good Flying-type attack. Sandslash isn’t much of a problem if you hit it with Surf.

Now, If Eevee evolved into Vaporeon:

If Eevee evolved into Flareon:

If Eevee evolved into Jolteon:

Ninetales and Flareon don’t have anything good against a Water-type. Cloyster and Vaporeon are weak against a good Thunderbolt and Magneton, and Jolteon can’t handle the attacks of an Onix or a Rhydon. That’s all about Gen 1; now we are gonna take a look in Johto since Lance, the dragon tamer, is waiting for us. Let’s go!

Gen 2: Gold, Silver, and Crystal

Lance

Lance is probably one of the easiest Champions of the saga, even though he has three Dragonites. Before talking about him, let’s see his team:

First of all, it has an entire Flying-type team, which means that your Ice and Electric-types will have a great time in this battle. Another important thing; all of his Pokémon have Hyper Beam, which is a great thing because every time they use it, you’ll have a free turn to heal, attack or buff your defences. Also, none of them has STAB or a great Special, so Hyper Beam probably will not be an issue unless one of your Pokémon is fragile.

Gyarados will fall with a Thunderbolt; that’s easy. Aerodactyl will not resist a good Ice Beam, as well as his three Dragonites. Charizard has an x4 weakness against Rock-type attacks, so it will not be a problem.

The last Dragonite, that one at Level 50, has Fire Blast, so we recommend attacking it with an Ice-type attack user, but not with an Ice-type Pokémon. The other two Dragonites can be tricky because they are at level 47, and recognizing them can be difficult. One will attack you with Blizzard, and the other one will attack you with Thunder. In both cases, then go for the Electric-type attacks.

Now, it’s time to face Gen 3, and here we will take a look at the three main games we got because all of them have different champions.

Gen 3: Ruby & Sapphire, Emerald, and FireRed & LeafGreen

Gen 3 was innovative in many things; we had abilities, items, and different moves categories; Special, Physical, and Status. That’s why from now on, the battles will get a lot harder than what we had before. Steven, Wallace, and Blue (with a revamped team) will be challenging obstacles in our way to be champions.

Steven (Ruby & Sapphire)

Steven being Hoenn’s Champion is such a surprise the first time you get to him, as well as his great team. Let’s check it out:

Before starting the match, it’s a great option to set a Special Fire or Electric attacker to lead your team. Skarmory is Steven’s lead, as it can set Spikes and can badly poison your Pokémon with Toxic. Skarmory’s Defense is astounding; that’s why you should attack it with Special attacks.

Claydol can be a potential problem if you let it be in the field for a long time because it will set Reflect and Light Screen, and that’s an issue because Steven’s Pokémon have good Defenses and the Light Screens and Reflects will make them almost impossible to get them down. Claydol has various weaknesses, like Dark, Water and Grass-types, so attack it and try to get it down as fast as possible. If you have Brick Break, you can get rid of those Reflects and Light Screens; use it if you have it.

Aggron is tricky. You can’t get it down with one hit because of its ability, Sturdy. If you let it with only 1 HP, Steven will heal it with Full Restores, and you basically did anything.

Aggron also has a great attack, so it will Earthquake you, and that will hurt. You can’t think of using a Flying-type to get it down since it has Thunder. Your best bet is to have a Pokémon with Levitate or attack it with a weak attack to make Sturdy useless, and then go on with your strongest Fighting-type attacks. A Good Earthquake can hurt it, too, so use it as well.

Cradily is tanky; let it down will be a great challenge by itself. Even if it can’t deal a good amount of damage, it can be highly annoying by draining your life with Giga Drain while you cannot attack appropriately because of a Confuse Ray.

Pokémon with Own Tempo can mess up its strategy; the problem is that the only Pokémon with Own Tempo in this generation is Spinda, which is useless against Cradily. The second option then has to be attacking it with good Fire, Steel, Bug or Ice-type attacks. If you get confused, switch to another Pokémon that can be good against it, and keep doing that, you’ll be fine.

Armaldo has a great move set, but its stats and typing aren’t the best things ever. It can deal a decent amount of damage, but it can’t handle it, so let your Tank Pokémon fight against it. A great option can be Aggron with a good Steel-type attack. Armaldo can be easy to get down.

Metagross, the grand finale. Two bits of advice against it: Try to burn it down since it has a good Attack and the burns can halve its damage, and now go on with an Earthquake. An Earthquake can hurt it a lot, as well as some good Special Fire, Ghost or Dark attacks.

It doesn’t have a good thing to counter its Dark-type weakness, and it also can’t hurt you with its Psychic, which can be a good option. You have to know something; Metagross is hard to faint, so you’ll have to pass through many turns until you win. Good luck against it!

Wallace (Emerald)

Wallace was a kind of a letdown after that epic battle against Steven. It is the only Champion with a main type, being a Water-type trainer, so prepare your Electric and your Grass-type attackers since this will be a fun battle!

Wallace’s team:

Wailord’s only objective is to set the Rain Dance. Wailord’s Special Defenses aren’t as good as its Defenses, so think about using that Rain Dance to your own benefit and Thunder this whale out of the combat! It also has Double-Edge, which can be an issue too, so be careful and don’t let your sweepers lead this battle.

Tentacruel has the same issue as Wailord; it doesn’t have something to counter its Electric weakness. Don’t let your Grass-type against it since it can sweep it out with Sludge Bomb. It probably will use Toxic, too, so be aware of that. A good Thunder, and it will be down.

Ludicolo has a good type combination, but that doesn’t mean that a good Poison, Bug or Flying-type can hurt it. It doesn’t have something to counter those types either, so just don’t let it be in the field a lot of time (because of its Leech Seed), and you are done!

Whiscash suffers from the same problem as Tentacruel and Wailord; it can counter your Electric-type attacks, but a Grass-type attack will get it out of the field because it has an x4 weakness against it. Don’t let it use Amnesia or Hyper Beam by sweeping it out as soon as possible.

The following two Pokémon are tricky, starting with a Gyarados that can counter its x4 Electric-type weakness by using Earthquake. Think about another strategy, like a Rock-type attack or just neutral but strong attacks; just don’t let Ground, Grass or Electric-types against it.

Lastly, Milotic. It is really tanky, and its move set is designed to be as annoying as Steven’s Cradily. It will use Toxic to slowly get your Pokémon down, as well as Ice Beam and Surf. Recover will heal it whenever it needs to. Its problem is that it doesn’t have something to counter its Electric-type weakness, so go ahead and attack it with your best Thunder, and you’ll be fine. Try to reserve your Electric-type user for this Pokémon; otherwise, you’ll have a bad time.

Blue (FireRed & LeafGreen)

In Kanto’s remakes, it was obvious we have to face Blue once again. Now he has all the Gen 3 mechanics at his disposition, so this battle will be really hard. Let’s see his team:

As in the original, Blue changes three of his six team members depending on the starter you picked; let’s first talk about these three.

Pidgeot is his leadership and will use Feather Dance to lower your attack and Sand Attack to lower your accuracy. The problem with that is that Pidgeot is pretty fast, so you can’t avoid at least one of them. Pidgeot also has Whirlwind, but it will attack last with that move, so use your Electric-type against it, and if you don’t get it down and Pidgeot uses it, then go for your strongest attack.

Alakazam’s turn. It will set Reflect, and it also has Future Sight, which can’t be a problem if you fight against Alakazam with a Pokémon with a good Special Defense. Do that, or try to sweep it out as fast as possible because it has Recover, and it will try to be in the field a lot of turns. Don’t think about poisoning, burning or paralyzing it because it has Synchronize, which can work against you. If you have a Dark-type attack, don’t hesitate on using it against Alakazam.

Rhydon has Rock Tomb and Earthquake, so keep your Flying and Electric-types in their Pokéballs. Instead of them, use Water or Grass-types, and you’ll find against it. It isn’t a problem. Now, let’s check the rest of Blue’s team:

If you choose Bulbasaur:

Charizard, as we said, can’t handle a single Rock-type attack. Don’t think about it and go for the Rock Tomb or the Stone Edge; finish it.

Blue’s Gyarados isn’t as excellent as Wallace’s one, but it can be a problem if it uses Thrash; just try to get it down with a powerful Electric-type attack, and that’s all. Jolteon is a great example of a Pokémon you can use against Gyarados since it can handle a Thrash and then hit it hard with a Thunderbolt.

Exeggutor is a professional annoyer because it has Light Screen, Sleep Power, and Giga Drain, but it has an x4 weakness against Bug-type attacks. Go for it, but if you don’t have a Bug-type attack, a good tactic is to poison it and start attacking with some Fire or Flying-type attacks.

If you choose Charmander:

Arcanine doesn’t have a counter for its principal weakness: Ground and Rock-types. It has Roar, but if Arcanine uses it, it will attack last. It doesn’t have a good Defense either, so you can one-hit KO it with a good Earthquake. Blastoise is powerful, and it has Skull Bash, its signature move, but if you have a tanky Grass-type, like Exeggutor, you will be able to handle it. Use your best Grass or Electric-type attacks and get rid of Blastoise.

If you choose Squirtle:

Venusaur is a significant threat here because of its Sunny Day + Solar Beam combination. If you have a Pokémon that can change the weather, use it. If you do not, then go with a Fire-type with a good Special Defense and tank its Solar Beam while you try to get it down with a Fire-type attack.

That’s all for Gen 3, but now we will face the hardest champion ever: Cynthia. We will also meet Lance again in the Johto remakes, so let’s go!

Gen 4: Diamond & Pearl, Platinum, and HeartGold & SoulSilver

Gen 4 games are probably the hardest games, they are really tough. Cynthia is the perfect demonstration of that. Let’s take a look at her teams:

Cynthia (Diamond & Pearl)

Cynthia has the most balanced team of every champion; she covers every weakness her Pokémon can have. That’s why our recommendation is to train your Pokémon to a few more levels than her team has.

Spiritomb is her lead; it doesn’t have any weakness, so just go for your strongest attack and don’t let your Psychic, Ghost, Poison, or Dark-types in the field; try with any other thing that does neutral damage to it, regardless if it is Special or Physical. Just get it down.

Roserade has a great Special Attack, but its Speed is rather bad. So you have to go for the Physical Fire-type attack since Roserade’s defenses are bad too. It has Extrasensory, so don’t try to use Poison-types against it. Ghost-types will not work either because it has Shadow Ball.

Gastrodon is the first big obstacle since it can outplay its main weakness: Grass-types because it has Sludge Bomb. Anyway, you can take advantage of Gastrodon being one of the slowest Pokémon of Gen 4 and attack it with a Grass-type, aiming to deal the most damage you can. Its physical defense is low too, so go in that way.

Lucario has a weird move set; it is designed to counter its weakness, Psychic to counter its Fighting-type weakness, and Earthquake to counter its Fire-type weakness. Good thing you can go for the Earthquake, too, since your Ground-type user can handle all of its attacks only if it is tanky enough. Hippowdon can help you here, as an example.

Milotic can counter its Grass-type weakness with Ice Beam, but its Electric-type weakness isn’t covered, so you can think of attacking it in that way. The problem is that you can’t deal a lot of damage if you use Special attacks since its Special Defense is powerful. If you can’t attack it with a Physical attack, give it your best electrical shot.

Garchomp, the terrible. But this particular Garchomp isn’t the one that is a menace for every single Pokémon trainer. It has Brick Break to counter its Ice-type weakness and Dragon Rush to counter its Dragon-type weakness, so your best bet is to have an Ice-type attack from a, for example, Water-type Pokémon. Use that rest turn Garchomp has to have after a Giga Impact to heal yourself or attack it with your best shot. Ice-type attacks can hurt it a lot, so you can be able to get it down fairly quickly with that.

Cynthia (Platinum)

And now, the big one. This Cynthia’s team is the nightmare of every single kid who played Pokémon and started with Platinum. This is probably the hardest battle of Gen 4. As well as with Cynthia’s team in D&P, we recommend training your Pokémon to a higher level than her Pokémon have.

Her brand new team:

Both Spiritomb and Roserade are pretty much the same as their D&P versions: Spiritomb hasn’t a weakness, so go for the physical attacks and get it down as quickly as possible. Roserade isn’t much of a problem; just go for the Fire or Ice-type instead of the Poison-types, and you’ll be fine.

Togekiss is her brand new incorporation, and it is easier to defeat than the Gastrodon of her D&P team. Go for the Electric-type attack. It doesn’t have anything to counter it, don’t be afraid and shock it down.

This Lucario changed the strategy, but it maintains the central idea; Shadow Ball to counter your Psychic-types and Stone Edge to counter its Fire-type weakness. Go for the Ground-type attack or try to hurt it with Psychic or Fire-type attacks but not from a user of those types. Use your tanker Pokémon against Lucario, and you’ll be fine. If you want, use a Battle Item, like X Defense; that will help you a lot.

Milotic time. Don’t use Special attacks. Otherwise, it will use Mirror Coat and outplay you easily. Another good counter against it is to use a Dark-type Pokémon since it can’t use Mirror Coat against Dark-types. Its other attacks can’t hurt you much, so go for the Electric-type physical attack (like Thunder Fang), and it will fall.

Garchomp, once again. This is the big boy capable of outplaying every weakness it has by dealing an absurd amount of damage and having a competitive-like move set. Follow the same way you deal with the D&P Garchomp; Force it to use Giga Impact by using a Pokémon that doesn’t care about its other three attacks, then wait for Garchomp to use Giga Impact, and give it your best shot when it is resting. You can also use a Tanky non-Ice-type attacker with something like Ice Beam and just go for the attack, hoping you get it down. Resuming: Brute force.

Lance (HeartGold and SoulSilver)

As we said, Lance is probably the weakest champion of the game, so let’s resume this as quickly as possible.

Electric-type is the key against Lance: Gyarados doesn’t have something to counter it, as the first two Dragonites and Aerodactyl. On the other hand, Charizard can’t handle a single Rock-type hit, so go for the Stone Edge or Rock Tomb, and it will faint. The last Dragonite isn’t a problem; it has Hyper Beam, so attack it when it is resting or use that free turn to heal yourself; get that Dragonite down, and you’ll be Johto’s champion, once again.

Gen 5: Black & White, Black 2 & White 2

Black and White tried to deliver something different as usual by introducing N and Ghetsis and Team Plasma. But the truth is that after beating N and Ghetsis, you didn’t go into the Hall of Fame, so the real champion battle is when the Pokémon League is normal once again, so the fight is against Alder.

Alder (Black and White)

This technically happens in the post-game; that’s why the levels are too high for the standard. But don’t be afraid! Alder’s team is worse than other champions, so you’ll be fine.

Accelgor and Excavalier are really weak against Fire-type attacks; go for them since they don’t have something to counter you. Accelgor will be faster than you, but it won’t bother you as well as Excavalier. Vanilluxe suffers from the same problem, so like that, you got out three of Alder’s Pokémon.

Druddigon has Brute Force, but it is a relatively bad move to use since it loses Attack and Defense every time Druddigon uses it. But the key thing against this Pokémon is having a Tanky Ice-type that can handle this attack, like Beartic, and get it down relatively easy.

Bouffalant has some exciting things since it can cover its only weakness (Fighting-types) with Megahorn. Go and attack it with your best Fighting-type attack from a non-Fighting-type, and you’ll get it down fast.

Lastly, Volcarona, such an interesting Pokémon. Give it your best shot as soon as possible since it will use Quiver Dance to buff itself, and that’s such a problem. Go for the Rock-type attack; it doesn’t have something to counter it, so a good Stone Edge and Volcarona is down.

Iris (Black 2 and White 2)

Iris has a mixed team, and she is such an upgrade considering how weak was Alder’s team.

First, Hydreigon. It has a Strong Attack and a Special Attack, but it is slow, and its defenses aren’t the best ever. So you can try to attack it with your strongest Fire. Bug, Fighting, or Dragon-type attack. Do your best and go with your sweeper (and with some levels higher than it), and you can get it down quickly.

Druddigon showcases the exact same challenge as Hydreigon. It is hard to take it down, but it is slow and fragile, so give it your best shot with a fast Pokémon, something like an Ice Beam, and it will fall.

Aggron is really weak against Fighting-type; the problem is that its defenses are probably one of the best in the game. We recommend going for a Special attack, something like Aura Sphere or Surf; that will hurt it a lot because its Special Defense is really bad. Aggron will not be a problem if you are prepared for it.

Archeops has Defeatist as its ability, and it can basically help you if it gets under 50% of its HP. From all Iris’ Pokémon, Archeops is the easiest to take down. Go for the Electric-type attack or with an Ice-type attack, but only if your Ice-type is strong and can handle a Rock-type attack without fainting. You’ll get no problems against Archeops.

Lapras doesn’t have how to counter its Electric-type weakness; go for it. Eelektross is perfect against it since it can handle any attack Lapras has while inflicting an astounding amount of damage.

Haxorus is her last Pokémon. You can’t one-hit KO because it has Focus Sash, so try to start with your tankiest Pokémon against it. It has two attacks to counter its Ice-type weakness, but it can have severe problems against another Dragon-type. Our recommendation is to train a Dragon-type for this battle; it will be beneficial. Don’t be afraid of that Haxorus. It can sweep your team, but you can get it down with an excellent Special Attacker and a good Physical defender.

Next: Gen 6, when Diantha and Steven, again, are waiting for us.

Gen 6: X & Y, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire

From here, the games were getting easier and easier and that includes champions. So, the guides will be quicker because you can get rid of the champions with a bit of intuition.

Diantha (X & Y)

Hawlucha is weak against Electric-types, and it doesn’t have a single Ground-type attack, so lead your team with your Earthquake user, and you’ll be fine. Aurorus is a problem only if you let it use Light Screen and Reflect. But an excellent Fighting-type attack (since it has an x4 weakness against it) can be enough. Sweep it out or use Brick Break, and you’ll be fine. Gourgeist can’t handle a Flamethrower or any single Ice, Ghost, Dark or Flying-type Special attack.

Now, the three strongest Diantha’s Pokémon. Tyrantrum can’t use its strongest attack if you fight against it with a Fairy-type; go for the Dazzling Gleam since its Special Defense is really bad, and it will fall.

Goodra has the exact same problem as Tyrantrum but with its Defense. A Fairy-type Pokémon can get rid of it without hesitation. Play Rough is your key against it.

Lastly, Gardevoir. It will mega evolve. Go for the physical attacks since Gardevoir is a Special Defender. Go for the Steel-type because it has things to counter its other weaknesses.

Steven (ORAS)

We know for sure how Steven’s team works, and he doesn’t change it from Ruby and Sapphire. So, you can follow that guide, it will work in this battle too. The only important change is Metagross, which has the Metagrossite and will evolve into Mega-Metagross. Follow the same strategy you use for the Metagross on R&S (which is stronger) and you’ll be fine.

If this battle is hard for you, get some levels higher than Steven’s team and that’s all. Now we are going tropical! Gen 7 is next.

Gen 7: Sun & Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon

Professor Kukui (Sun & Moon)

Professor Kukui is the champion, and this, like Steven, was an unexpected one. Let’s check that out!

His last Pokémon will depend on which starter you choose, having the one that is effective against yours.

If you choose Rowlet:

If you choose Litten:

If you choose Popplio:

Lycanroc will try to set the Stealth Rock, be aware of that, and don’t let your Fire-types land into Stealth Rocks since they will hurt them a lot. Lycanroc can fall easily with just a strong Fighting, Water, or Grass-type attack since it is basically fragile.

The Alolan Ninetales isn’t a problem; it is meant to outplay Incineroar but not all Fire-types; go ahead and burn that fox down. Braviary will fall with a Thunder, It can use Whirlwind, but if you sweep it in one turn, you’ll be fine. Get it down with whatever you can if it uses Whirlwind; its defenses aren’t good.

Magnezone has Mirror Coat; attack it with a Physical move, don’t let it use Mirror Coat since it will hurt. Go for the Fire-type. It has Sturdy as its ability, so don’t think about sweeping it. An earthquake is a great option too. Snorlax is tanky; go for the Fighting-type. It will be there for a lot of turns, though. It has Thick Fat, so don’t think about Fire or Ice-type attacks. Don’t let your Electric-type do the job because of High Horsepower.

And now with the starters:

• Incineroar doesn’t have a chance against Fighting-types. Go for it.
• Go for the Electric-type against Primarina.
• Fire, Ghost, Ice, Dark, and Flying-types will end with Decidueye.

Don’t be afraid; they are not strong. Go for it, and you’ll win easily.

Hau (US & UM)

Well, in this particular game, Kukui isn’t the champion. You are, in fact, the champion because you were the first one is going through the Pokémon League. But Hau did it too, so it’s time to battle against him for the place in the Hall of Fame.

Believe it or not, Hau has a more balanced team than Kukui. First off, you have Alolan Raichu. Don’t go for the Dark-type since it has Focus Blast. Instead of that, go for the Ground-type attack.

Tauros counters its fighting-type weakness with Zen Headbutt. It can fail but don’t take that for sure. Incineroar is perfect against Tauros, but if you don’t have one, go with a Dark-type with a Fighting-type move or a Special attack.

Noivern doesn’t have anything against Ice-type, and that’s a problem against Noivern since it has an x4 weakness against it. Ice Beam, and it will fall.

Crabominable has two bad things for you; It has an excellent type combination, and it also has Power-Up Punch and Dizzy Punch, which is a big problem. Go for the Fairy or Psychic-type (or even Fire-type) instead of Flying or Fighting-type. It is slow and also a bad defender, so don’t be afraid and hit it hard.

Let’s take a look at his last two Pokémon; they will vary depending on your starter.

If you choose Rowlet:

If you choose Litten:

If you choose Popplio:

The Eeveelutions are really easy to get down: Go with the Fire-type against Leafeon, Electric or Grass-type against Vaporeon, and Ground or Rock-type against Flareon. This battle is weird because Hau’s starters don’t have moves to outplay your starter. The starters even only have 3 moves! Use your own starter against it, and that’s all. Basically, Hau gifts you the battle.

Last battle: Leon, in Galar.

Gen 8: Sword and Shield

Leon (Sword and Shield)

Once again, Leon changes his team depending on your starter, let’s check out his team:

We have seen Haxorus and Charizard before: Charizard can’t handle a Rock-type attack, go for it, and it will fall quickly. Haxorus has a good move set, but as we said, with a good and fast Ice-type sweeper (or a tanky Ice-type Pokémon), you can get it down.

Dragapult can counter all its weaknesses, except for the Dark-type. If you have Crunch, go for it, it isn’t a good defender, so don’t worry.

Aegislash is a problem because you have to wait for it to make an attack to faint it. Its Defense stance is almost perfect; you can still attack it, but it will easily handle those attacks. It doesn’t have Swords Dance, so just attack it with some Fire-type attacks until it falls.

Let’s check his last two Pokémon:

If you choose Grookey:

If you choose Scorbunny:

If you choose Sobble:

This part is easy; you can faint Leon’s fifth Pokémon with your starter; Seismitoad can’t handle a Grass-type attack, Mr. Rime is weak against Fire-types, and Rhyperior doesn’t have a chance against Water-types.

The starters are easy too, just use what you know will hurt them, and that’s all; Cinderace will fall against Ground-types, Inteleon can’t handle an Electric-type attack, and Rillaboom will faint if you go with the Fire-types.

FAQ

Conclusion

Every champion has their own strategy to defend their throne, but you can also have a strategy to win against them; this teaches us a lesson: there’s no invincible team.