31: The Elite Four Battle II -- Phoebe

31: The Elite Four Battle II -- Phoebe

The second member of the Elite Four is Phoebe.  Where Sidney was simple and predictable (and the easiest of the four) Phoebe is slightly more complicated and less predictable.  She favors Ghost-type Pokemon, which limits your choices, narrowing your selection to the most effective member of your team versus that type. 

Due to the limited variety of her team she tends to use the same strategies and move combinations over and over -- but that does not make her easy to predict, because she is prone to rash and often random attack sets.

Her team consists of the following Pokemon in alphabetical order (the order they are used varies):

Banette (Level 49)
Banette (Level 49)
Dusclops (Level 48)
Dusclops (Level 51)
Sableye (Level 50)

- - - - - - - - - -

-- Phoebe's Pokemon Team --

Level 49 Banette (Ghost)
Moves:  Faint Attack, Grudge, Shadow Ball, Will-o-Wisp

Strategy:  This is an opponent that is perfect for blitz attacks, but you need to be wary of its Grudge attack -- if you kill it during the same move that it used Grudge you zero out all of the PP of the move that you used to kill it.  Obviously that could be a very bad thing to do if that happens to be your only Ghost-effective Pokemon, since you will have removed 1/4 of its abilities.  Obviously there is no way to predict when -- or if -- she will use Grudge, so this is a real catch-22 situation.  You want to blitz, but you do not want to lose a move to do it.  I wish I could give you a certain sure strategy to use but in this case, there is not one.

- - - - - - - - - -

Elite Four Battle II - Phoebe

- - - - - - - - - -

Level 49 Banette (Ghost)
Moves: Facade, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt

Strategy: As with the other Banette, you are facing a predictable line of attacks, but unlike the other once, this one does not have Grudge!  Ghost-type Pokemon are weak against Ghost-types but the same holds true in the other direction... Still if you have one this would be the time to use it.  Blitzing this is the obvious strategy.

- - - - - - - - - -

Level 48 Dusclops (Ghost)
Moves: Confuse Ray, Curse, Protect, Shadow Punch

Strategy: You do not have to face it very many times to grow to hate the move Protect -- it has a very high annoyance factor, and she uses it a lot.  When Protect is combined with Confuse Ray, the annoyance level quadruples.  By the end of your battle you will be so thankful for the Yellow Flute, and yet wish you did not have to use it.   Defusing Confuse eats up a lot of time and effort and keeps you from being able to blitz this, so you have to make a decision: play it safe and remove the stat-altering condition to avoid hurting yourself, or roll the dice and attack through it.

- - - - - - - - - -

Level 51 Dusclops (Ghost)
Moves: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Rock Slide, Shadow Ball

Strategy:  First, you do not want to use your Flying-type team member with this particular opponent, even if it seems like a good idea (ie Earthquake) because of its other moves, which can do serious damage to a Flying-type.  Obviously Earthquake is an issue -- and she WILL be using it -- so blitz right out of the gate, but try not to trigger her use of a restore or max potion, right?

- - - - - - - - - -

Level 50 Sableye (Dark/Ghost)
Moves: Double Team, Faint Attack, Night Shade, Shadow Ball

Strategy:  This would be the leader of her team -- her big gun.  I really do not like Sableye Pokemon as opponents, though they are fun when they are in your team...  What I did here was brought out my big gun and burned it in one go and I suggest you do the same.  And when I said burned it in one go I meant just that, as I used Ember to take this puppy out painlessly.

- - - - - - - - - -

After the battle ends the Trainer will tell you whatever is on their mind or reflect upon their experiences in battling you as they unlock the door in the north wall behind them and open it to allow you to pass.  On the other side of that door is a set of stairs leading to yet another door and the next battle area.

Before walking through the second door and entering the next arena, pause and check your team, healing any members that need to be healed using potions or other kit items.  Then check the PP levels of their moves.  The smallest replacement level is 10 PP and obviously as this particular item is rarer, more valuable, and harder to obtain, you will want to only use them to your best advantage, so if the PP level is marginal -- say less than 8 points gone -- there is no point in using a PP restoring item from your kit unless you absolutely need to have that move topped off.

Obviously you should correct any lingering status issues now, and review your team positions to put the best member in the number one slot for the coming battles (based on types).  Last, you should save ONLY if you are sure you can carry the day and win the battles ahead. 

If there is any doubt in your mind -- any at all -- do NOT save the game.  If you do save the game you are locking yourself into this battle series as there is no way out of here save for winning and becoming the Pokemon League Champion.  As long as you do not save inside the arena areas, you can always reload to your last save point -- which we made in the Lobby of the Pokemon League -- allowing yourself the option of some more leveling, or adding kit items, what have you.  The point is that by not saving inside the arenas you give yourself the ability to learn from your experiences here and tweak both your team and your kit to address any weaknesses you uncover.

Once you have finished taking care of recovering your team's capability for battle -- and save or not save depending -- walk through the second door and begin your next battle!