As Pokémon’s first-ever open-world game, Scarlet and Violet allow players to craft their own paths without hand-holding or guidance. Still, many fans will keep their sights on the familiar Victory Road, a story that ultimately leads them to challenge the Elite Four and the Champion.
Geeta is Paldea’s Champion, the strongest Trainer in the land. Her team might not have much diversity, but she’s a capable adversary with intriguing strategies and will put up a worthy and challenging fight. Players should know several things before battle and employ these useful tips to make the battle easier.
Don’t Challenge The League Underleveled
The Pokémon League is usually the last challenge a Trainer faces in their journey. The Elite Four and the Champion are the strongest Trainers in the land and have teams of powerful and versatile Pokémon that will test the Trainer’s abilities and resolve.
Most Trainers should be at the right level to match the League — after all, if they made it all the way there, they probably bet the Gyms, the Team Star bosses, and the Titans. However, they should make sure not to arrive underleveled at the League or else things might get unnecessarily complicated. Geeta’s team is all at level 60+, so players should be at least at level 60 before challenging the Elite Four.
Don’t Be Afraid Of Healing
Even the most overpowered Pokémon in every generation get hurt after a particularly intense battle. The Pokémon League involves challenging four Trainers and the Champion back-to-back without access to a Pokémon Center, meaning a Trainer’s team can get dangerously close to fainting more than once.
Thus, players should have a wide selection of healing items. Revives are crucial, preferably Max Revives, to avoid wasting precious time in battle. The Elite Four enjoys inflicting status conditions, so instead of Potions, Full Restores are the way to go as they not only heal HP but also remove status conditions.
Items Are Your Friends
For all their flaws, the Sinnoh remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, gave fans the most challenging Pokémon League battle in years. The Elite Four and Cynthia, the all-time best champion in Pokémon, used items cleverly and strategically, making things considerably tougher for the player.
Shockingly, the Elite Four and Champion in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet don’t use any items in battle, but players should. Aids like the Leftovers, the Quick Claw, and the Focus Sash can bring out the best in a Pokémon and make up for any shortcoming (thus meaning the difference between victory and defeat).
Special Attacks Will Make Things Easier
Geeta’s first Pokémon is Espathra, a pure Psychic-type she mainly uses to set up. Espathra knows Reflect, a Psychic move that weakens Physical attacks for five turns. Reflect can be a real nuisance, preventing moves that should OHKO from doing it.
However, Reflect doesn’t shield against Special moves. Thus, players should ensure their team knows at least a powerful Special move. Ideally, Trainers should prevent Espathra from setting up at all, but if they fail, Special attacks will be the key to finishing the battle as quickly as possible.
Reflect Can Make The Difference
Players can use Reflect as part of their strategy. The main flaw many amateur Trainers have is that they cannot find the right balance of Physical and Special moves in their teams; surprisingly, Geeta makes this egregious mistake, as more than half of her team’s moves are Physical.
Players using Reflect should see their damage lower drastically. Indeed, they could keep using Reflect to weaken 5 out of Geeta’s six Pokémon. The one exception is her final Pokémon, Glimmora, who only knows Special moves; however, Reflect has a Special counterpart, Light Screen, which will come in handy.
Make It Burn!
If there’s a major issue with Geeta’s team is its lack of balance. Three of her Pokémon are weak to fire, meaning a powerful Fire move with STAB damage should be enough to deal with Gogoat, Avalugg, and Kingambit. Luckily, Scarlet and Violet introduce many worthy Fire-type Pokémon. From Armarouge and Ceruledge to Scovillain and Iron Moth, the games have no shortage of options for players to take to the Pokémon League.
However, Avalugg knows Earthquake, and Kingambit knows Stone Edge, moves that will be super effective against most Fire-types. None of the moves will have STAB, but it might be best not to rely on only a Fire Pokémon to deal with these pesky foes.
Have At Least One Electric Move
Geeta has the dual Water/Psychic-type Veluza in her team. Veluza has five weaknesses, but it’s highly unlikely players will have a Bug or Dark-type in their team. It’s easier to attack Veluza using electricity, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have several worthy Electric-types.
Still, an Electric Pokémon would only be super effective against Veluza unless it had a secondary typing that made it useful for Geeta’s other Pokémon. Instead of dedicating an entire slot to an Electric-type, it would be best if players would teach a strong Electric move to one of their Pokémon. It won’t have STAB, but Veluza’s Special Defenses are absolute trash, meaning a move like Thunderbolt will knock it out quickly.
Have At Least One Dark Move
As Psychic-types, Espathra and Veluza are weak to the underappreciated Dark-type. Dark is a tricky type to use; it doesn’t have a ton of options to choose from, is only super effective against two types and is weak to three, including the overpowered Fairy.
However, Dark moves can come in handy for most battles, and many Pokémon can access two of the most useful: Bite and Crunch. Either of these two will deal massive damage to Espathra and Veluza, even without the STAB damage. If not those, then any damage-dealing Dark move should suffice, but players should make sure to have at least one in their team.
Fighting Will Go A Long Way
If there’s a type that will make Geeta’s battle a walk in the park, it’s Fighting. Ice has some powerful moves in Pokémon, but it’s a frail type with multiple weaknesses, including Fighting. Because Geeta’s Aavalugg knows Earthquake, it might be best to attack it with a Special Fighting move to exploit Avalugg’s pitiful Special Defense.
As for Kingambit, the dual Dark/Steel-type is four times weak to Fighting. Even the weakest Fighting move will cause severe damage, especially considering it has a disappointing Speed stat, meaning it will never go first. A powerful Fighting Pokémon will make all the difference in Geeta’s battle, and players should consider including one in their final team.
Make The Ground Quake
Ground is one of the most overlooked types in Pokémon. It has great Pokémon and powerful moves and is the only super effective type against Electric Pokémon.
During Geeta’s battle, Ground will be the star of the hour. Her ace Pokémon, Glimmora, is a dual Rock/Poison-type, meaning it’s four times weak to Ground. Geeta will terastalize it, turning it into a pure Rock-type; however, it will still be weak against Ground.
Furthermore, Glimmora knows no move that will be super effective against a Ground-type, and players should seriously consider including one on their team if they want to take out her ace Pokémon with ease.