At the Indigo Plateau, five elite trainers await you without respite: Will and his Psychic types, Koga and his poison, Bruno and his fighters, Karen and her Dark Pokémon, then Lance, the Dragon master Champion. Here are their full teams and the best way to beat them.
Before you enter
- Level: aim for 45 to 50 for your team. Lance fields a level 50 Dragonite.
- Healing: about twenty Hyper Potions or Max Potions, plus Revives and Full Heals. You will not be able to leave between battles.
- Coverage: at least one Ice move (essential against the Dragons), one Electric move, one Dark or Ghost move (against the Psychic types) and one Fighting or Bug move (against the Dark types).
- Saving: you can save between rooms; a defeat sends you back to the start of the League.
Will, master of Psychic
Will
📍 First roomPsychic
- Quick Attack
- Future Sight
- Psychic
- Confuse Ray
- Reflect
- Egg Bomb
- Psychic
- Leech Seed
- Amnesia
- Curse
- Psychic
- Body Slam
- Ice Punch
- Double Slap
- Psychic
- Lovely Kiss
- Quick Attack
- Future Sight
- Psychic
- Confuse Ray
Dark and Ghost moves are king. Xatu (×2) fears Electric, Ice, Rock, Ghost and Dark; Jynx, Fire, Rock, Steel, Ghost, Bug and Dark; Exeggutor, Bug (×4); Slowbro, Electric and Grass (and watch out for its Amnesia).
Koga, the poison ninja
Koga
📍 Second roomPoison
- Spider Web
- Double Team
- Baton Pass
- Giga Drain
- Spikes
- Swift
- Protect
- Explosion
- Toxic
- Psychic
- Gust
- Supersonic
- Wing Attack
- Toxic
- Double Team
- Quick Attack
- Acid Armor
- Toxic
- Minimize
- Sludge Bomb
Toxic and Double Team everywhere: hit with powerful, accurate moves. Psychic and Ground (except against Crobat, which flies) do a lot of damage. Forretress, which knows Explosion, goes down to Fire (×4).
Bruno, brute force
Bruno
📍 Third roomFighting
- Quick Attack
- Dig
- Detect
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Mach Punch
- Double Kick
- Foresight
- High Jump Kick
- Swagger
- Rock Slide
- Sandstorm
- Earthquake
- Bind
- Rock Slide
- Foresight
- Cross Chop
- Vital Throw
Psychic and Flying against the four Fighting Pokémon; Water and Grass (×4) against Onix. Machamp (level 46) is the most dangerous with Cross Chop.
Karen, queen of Dark
Karen
📍 Fourth roomDark
Fighting and Bug against Umbreon, Murkrow and Houndoom; Fire, Flying or Psychic against Vileplume. Gengar knows Destiny Bond: be careful when you knock it out. Houndoom (level 47) fears Water, Fighting and Ground.
Lance, the League Champion
Lance
📍 Champion's roomDragon
- Flail
- Surf
- Rain Dance
- Hyper Beam
- Twister
- Thunder Wave
- Blizzard
- Hyper Beam
- Flamethrower
- Slash
- Wing Attack
- Hyper Beam
- Rock Slide
- AncientPower
- Wing Attack
- Hyper Beam
- Twister
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Hyper Beam
- Safeguard
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Beam
Three Dragonite: Ice deals quadruple damage to them. Gyarados and Charizard fear Electric (×4 for Gyarados), and Charizard also fears Rock (×4). Aerodactyl fears Water, Electric, Ice, Rock and Steel. Take advantage of the recharge turns after each Hyper Beam.
After the victory
Beating Lance opens the doors to the Hall of Fame… and to Kanto. You can come back and challenge the Elite Four as many times as you like: in Gold, Silver and Crystal, their teams do not change level, which makes the League a good training ground (and a source of income) in the late game.
