Pokémon: Every Elite Four, Ranked From Lamest To Strongest

The Elite Four includes four of the five best Trainers in any given region. Only the Pokémon League Champion surpasses them in power, and they represent a constant threat for the title. Indeed, some Elite Four members eventually become Champions, Lance being the most recent example.

Any Trainer that wants to challenge the Champion must first face the Elite Four. They need to battle all four consecutively without losing to any of them, in a task meant to prove their worthiness as Pokémon Trainers. So far, there are seven Elite Four groups present in seven of the current eight regions. And while all of them pose a considerable challenge, some are far more superior than others.

7 Kalos

It’s no mystery that the Generation VI games are a walk in the park. They present no real challenge, despite having a compelling story. The Elite Four fits Kalos’s weak theme, with Trainers that never quite reach the same heights as previous generations.

For starters, they only have four Pokémon, which is ridiculous considering they’re the final challenge before the Champion. Secondly, none of their Pokémon are particularly threatening. Wilkstrom is the toughest of the four because of Klefki and Aegislash, but a strong Fire-type will get the job done. As for the other three, Malva and Siebold are practically pushovers, and Drasna’s entire team will get wrecked with the newly introduced Fairy-type.

6 Hoenn

Kalos’s is the only Elite Four that is objectively weak. From here on, all regions have decent if not strong Elite Fours, starting with Hoenn. These four trainers are not mediocre, but they are unremarkable. Located at Ever Grande City, they specialize in four types usually reserved for Elite Trainers: Dark, Ghost, Ice, and Dragon.

What brings the Hoenn Elite Four down is their underleveled Pokémon. All of Sydney’s team and over half of Phoebe’s isn’t even level 50 yet, which is unacceptable. Glacia’s and Drake’s teams are also underwhelming. Two of her five Pokémon are Glalie, and two are Sealeo, which is not even a final form. As for Drake, he too has a middle-stage Pokémon, the disappointing Shelgon, as well as two Flygon. Their shocking lack of diversity really brings the whole team down.

5 Alola

Alola really mixes things up, which is a nice change of pace. It includes two types that don’t usually make it to the Elite Four, Rock and Flying. However, things go south pretty fast when looking at Hala’s and Olivia’s teams. More than half of their Pokémon don’t even have complete movesets. In fact, Hala’s Ploiwrath and Crabominable only have two moves, a ludicrous choice considering he’s one of the region’s most respected Trainers.

Olivia poses a good challenge, almost overcoming the Rock-type’s innate deficiencies. Kahill and Acerola are respectable representatives of the Flying and Ghost-types, respectively. In Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, Hala gets replaced with the far better Molayne, who single-handedly elevates the team thanks to the laughable Klefki and the fearsome Pseudo-Legendary Metagross.

4 Kanto

Located at Indigo Plateau, like Johto’s, Kanto’s Elite Four may not seem like much at first sight, but it is hard in the context of its generation. Back in Gen I, Ghost was only weak to itself, and there was only one fully-evolved Ghost-type, Gengar. Dragon was the other complicated type, vulnerable only to Ice and itself.

Kanto’s Elite Four lacks variety, though. Agatha, the so-called Ghost-type specialist, should be a Poison-type Trainer, considering more than half of her Pokémon aren’t even Ghost. Lance also suffers from the lack of Dragon-types in Kanto, having two Dragonair and one Dragonite. Lorelei manages to rise above the pitiful Ice-type, though, but Bruno and his two Onix bring down the team. Why doesn’t he have Primeape and Poliwrath, two Pokémon that are actually Fighting-type?

3 Johto

The Johto Elite Four, located at Indigo Plateau, includes a former Gym Leader, Poison master Koga, and a repeat member of Kanto’s Elite Four, Fighting specialist Bruno. Psychic and Dark-type specialists Will and Karen round up the team.

What’s annoying about this Elite Four is all the missed opportunities. For example, why doesn’t Karen, the first-ever Dark Trainer, have the generation’s most impressive Dark-type Pokémon, the fearsome Pseudo-Legendary Tyranitar? Why does she instead have a Vileplume on her team? And why does Bruno have an Onix instead of the far superior and actually Fighting-type Heracross? Things only get worse when taking into consideration that half of Will’s team is weak to Ice, while Koga’s Ariados and Forretress are less than stellar members in his. Still, these four do come up with some inspired strategies, guaranteeing at the very least an entertaining if not entirely arduous battle.

2 Unova

Some fans consider Unova to have the most challenging Elite Four in the games, and it’s easy to understand why, especially in Black 2 & White 2. Shauntal, Marshal, Grimsley, and Caitlin are all accomplished Trainers with individual strengths. Shauntal, arguably the best Ghost-type specialist in the games, has four bulky Ghost-types, and her Will-O-Wisp-spamming Confagrigus can be problematic. Caitlin’s team has varied movesets, and Grimsley’s Bisharp and Krookodile are truly admirable Pokémon.

Unova’s Elite Four is not without flaws. Marshall’s four Pokémon are pure Fighting-type unless playing in Challenge Mode, in which case he has a Lucario. In Black & White, most of their teams are level 48, with only their ace at level 50. The sequels fix this by having all their Pokémon in the low 50s. However, if playing in Challenge Mode, every Pokémon becomes a 60+ level beast. Unova’s Elite Four lived up to its game’s sense of rebirth, providing players with one of the toughest challenges in any main series game.

1 Sinnoh

Sinnoh gets extra points for daring to think outside the box. It’s the only Elite Four to have two types that wouldn’t exactly come to mind when thinking of a prestigious and burdensome challenge. Alas, Bug and Ground make outstanding showings in this group, with Aaron being the strongest Bug-type trainer in the franchise by far. Bertha, the Ground-type specialist, also proves a formidable enemy thanks, in large part, to Quagsire and Whiscash. Finally, Lucian, the Psychic-type Trainer, gives players a run for their money, thanks to his infallible duo of Alakazam and Bronzong.

Flint is the group’s weak link. After all, in Diamond & Pearl, he has Lopunny on his team. This is because of Sinnoh’s insulting lack of Fire-types, which does get resolved in Platinum. Overall, Sinnoh’s Elite Four is an excellent prelude to the main course, Cynthia. They certainly live up to their reputation, proving why they are the best Sinnoh has to offer.

About The Author

David Caballero
(796 Articles Published)

David is a twenty-eight-year-old Mexican writer and reader. Having studied Marketing in school, he spent three years working a nine-to-five desk job before deciding to pursue a writing career. He now works as a Senior Writer in ScreenRant and does some more freelancing job, talking about the entertainment business he so loves. Currently, he’s also writing his second novel while actively working to get his first one published.

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