There’s one last obstacle for you to face after you complete the Island Challenge. To truly become the best you must defeat some of the strongest trainers in all of Alola. But for those that are struggling to deal with these final foes, we bring you our Pokémon Sun and Moon guide on how to prepare for them.
This guide will detail what each individual Elite Four specializes in as well as what kind of Pokémon you should have in your party.
Before anything else, be warned because this is spoiler territory. If you haven’t taken on the Elite Four yet then this guide will spoil you on who the members are as well as who the Champion is.
Pokémon Sun and Moon Guide: Be Prepared
First and foremost, before beginning your final challenge to become Champion, make sure to stockpile on a lot of restoration items.
Be ready to have Revives, Potions, and cures for status ailments since you can’t leave the arena until you’ve beaten everyone.
There is a Pokémon Center right outside where you fight the Elite Four where you can purchase a lot of these items.
An average of about 20 – 30 of each should suffice if you can afford it.
Hopefully you’ve been saving up the Ethers that you’ve found on your journey, because a lot of the most powerful moves your Pokémon should have access to only have a handful of PP and will probably need to be restored in between fights.
Once you’ve gotten your items ready let’s discuss your enemies — Elite Four.
Pokémon Sun and Moon Guide: The Elite Four
Here are some basic rules that are common across each member of the elite four:
- They each have five Pokémon. Four of them will be level 54 and the last will be level 55.
- Each Elite Four member focuses on a specific type that all their Pokémon share.
- Each of the level 55 Pokémon carries a Z-Crystal of that trainer’s type.
As you can see, the Elite Four have Pokémon in levels higher than any other trainer you’ve met so far.
To stand a chance against them, it’s best to have a party within the same level range of at least 55 each.
It’s also a series standard that each Elite Four focuses on a specific type, so it’s best to have at least one Pokémon that directly counters that type.
However, some of their Pokémon come equipped with attacks that directly counter their common counter, or are hybrid types that remove their obvious weakness. So it’s best to have more than one for each type, just to be safe.
For each trainer in this Pokémon Sun and Moon Guide, we’ll list down the common type that all their Pokemon share, their entire party, as well what kind of attacks or Pokémon to bring with you.
Elite Four #1: Hala
- Common Type: Fighting
- Party: Hariyama, Primeape, Bewear, Poliwrath, Crabominable (Level 55)
Just like when you first fought him in Melemele island, Kahuna Hala focuses on Fighting type Pokémon.
Because he uses Fighting Pokémon your best choices are Flying, Psychic, and Fairy types.
However, be careful with the first two choices. Some of his Pokémon come armed with Dark type attacks that could easily destroy a Psychic type.
Likewise, his strongest Pokémon is an Ice hybrid that can take down any unsuspecting Flying types.
Elite Four #2: Olivia
- Common Type: Rock
- Party: Relicanth, Carbink, Golem (Alola), Probopass, Midnight Lycanroc (Level 55)
The second of the Elite Four is Olivia, the Kahuna of Akala Island. Just like before, she still focuses on Rock type Pokémon.
Rock type Pokémon have several weaknesses. Namely Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, and Steel.
But it’s not that straightforward because, besides her Lycanroc, all of her Pokémon are hybrid types.
Relicanth is part Water, Carbink part Fairy, and Probopass part Steel. That means there’s at least one Pokémon in her party that can resist one of the weaknesses. With the sole exception being Ground type.
So if you don’t want to bring at least two of the weaknesses, make sure to have at least one powerful Ground type or a Pokémon that can use Ground attacks.
Elite Four #3: Acerola
- Common Type: Ghost
- Party: Sableye, Drifblim, Dhelmise, Froslass, Palossand (Level 55)
Players meet Acerola earlier on as one of the Trial Captains for Ula’ula Island. Specifically, her trial focused on Ghost type Pokémon.
And just like her trial, she also focuses on Ghost types as a member of the Elite Four.
Her battle is arguably one of the harder ones to prepare for because Ghost type Pokémon are weak to only two other types — Dark types and fellow Ghost types.
This means if you want to take advantage of the type weakness, it’s best to take her on with these types of Pokémon or attacks.
However, her Sableye is a hybrid Dark type meaning Dark attacks lose their advantage.
Also, as previously stated, Ghost is effective against Ghost. What this means is that if you want to use Ghosts against her, make sure that your Pokémons are faster and stronger so that she can’t counter attack.
Another good strategy is to bring a Normal type Pokémon that can use Dark type attacks. Ghost type attacks have no effect on Normal type Pokémon, so this already gives you immunity to several of the possible attacks her Pokémon have.
Elite Four #4: Kahili
- Common Type: Flying
- Party: Skarmory, Crobat, Oricorio (Fire), Mandibuzz, Toucannon (Level 55)
Kahili is the only Elite Four member that you don’t meet at any point before the fight. She specializes in Flying type Pokémon.
Flying type Pokémon have three weaknesses: Electric, Ice and Rock. However just like the others she has a few hybrid types that remove some of the type advantages.
To be specific, her Skarmory is part Steel so it removes the Rock advantage and her Oricorio is part Fire thus taking away the Ice advantage.
The easiest way to deal with her is to stick with an Electric type Pokémon as it should deal heavy damage to her entire lineup.
Now that you’ve dealt with the Elite Four, there’s still one final challenge left: the Pokémon Champion.
Final Challenge: Professor Kukui
- Common Type: Nothing
- Party: Midday Lycanroc (Level 57), Ninetales (Level 56), Braviary (Level 56), Magnezone (Level 56), Snorlax (Level 56), Fully Evolved Starter Strong Against Yours (Level 58, Has Z-Crystal)
The last obstacle on your way to becoming Champion is none other than Professor Kukui himself.
He has a very well rounded party with no one common type between them. His strongest Pokémon will always be the fully evolved form of the starter that counters the one you picked.
Because his team has no one common type, there’s really no set strategy for beating him easily, especially if you set up your team in a way that counters each of the Elite Four types.
Your best strategy is to just think ahead, especially now that you know what Pokémon he has. Switch out when necessary to take advantage of type differences and use your recovery items wisely.
Once you’ve finished this last trial, you will officially be named Alola’s first Pokémon Champion.
