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Lucian is the only member of Elite Four who has bothered to pay attention to the rules and bring a full psychic team. Dark and Ghost-type moves will serve well for combat, but his team can still be tough against. The main obstacles between him and the champion for the player will be his Alakazam and Medicham.
Lucian's team
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- Mr. Mime Lvl 59 – As a Psychic/Fairy type, dark moves will be neutral against this Pokemon. With his high speed and special attack, Mr. Mime poses a powerful threat when using Pyschic or Dazzling Gleam. The filter, his ability, reduces damage from super effective moves by 25%, so hitting him with a ghost-like move won't always be the best option. He has Light Clay which makes his Light Screen and Reflect last eight turns instead of five.
- Girafarig Lvl 59 – Due to its normal strike, this Pokemon is immune to Ghost-type moves. It has Sap Sipper which absorbs grass-type moves to increase its attack, but there should be no reason to use grass-type moves during battle. He will attempt to set up Trick Room, which may be good for Lucian's Bronzong but terrible for his Alakazam. He won't hit as hard with his Psychic or Thunderbolt as Mr. Mime, but he'll be hard to take down if the screens are on.
- Alakazam Lvl 60 – With the Magic Guard ability, Alakazam takes advantage of its Life Orb damage increase without suffering from knockback. Status effects such as Burn and Poison will also not deal damage to it. He will attempt to boost his special attack with Nasty Plot, so it's best to take him down as soon as possible. He has very low defense but very high speed, making him Lucian's strongest threat if his stats are boosted.
- Medicham Lvl 60 – This Pokemon is a complete offensive threat that has two STAB moves in Zen Headbutt and High Jump Kick and two cover moves in Thunder Punch and Ice Punch. Medicham is flimsy, but Light Screen and Reflect will likely still be in place by the time players access it. It's weak to Ghost and Flying-type moves, which are fairly common TMs that players can teach most Pokemon.
- Bronzong Lvl 63 – Immune to ground-type moves, Bronzong will try to take advantage of the tower room or configure himself to move first in combat. It has high defense and special defense and high base power moves in Earthquake and Gyro. The faster the player's Pokémon in Bronzong will determine the power of the Gyro Ball, reaching a maximum of 150 Base Power if the opposing Pokémon is more than five times its speed.
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Our team
Psychic-type Pokémon have three weaknesses in Bug, Ghost, and Dark. Lucian's team and their strike cause only Girafarig to be immune to ghost-type moves. Dark moves will hit all Pokemon for super effective damage except for Medicham and Mr. Mime.
Ghost and dark types
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- Mismagius – Sending out this trick Pokémon can give him plenty of time to settle down as Mr. Mime will use Reflect and Lightscreen for the rest of Lucian's team. Using Substitute can ensure safety while using Nasty Plot to boost Mismagius' Special Attack enough to be able to knock it all out in one hit. He learns Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse, which gives him super effective cover for anything weak to him. Alternatively, Calm Mind can be used to boost his Special Defense and Special Attack for a bulkier playstyle. The biggest threat to him is Medicham's physical moves or Bronzong's payback, but Mismagius can outplay them both as long as Trick Room isn't set up.
- Gengar – Another setup Pokémon but with a glaring weakness to psychic moves, Gengar can still do a lot of damage with the right investment. With a 130 base special attack and 110 base speed, he is able to take out most of Lucian's team with a single shadow ball. Mr. Mime's screen setup will make this job difficult, so removing it as soon as possible should be the priority for anyone using Gengar. Alakazam will still outrun him and deal super effective damage with Psychic, so the player will need to boost his speed or hide behind a substitute. Gengar is a risky Pokemon to bring but can sweep the team under the right conditions.
- Drifblim – With its high HP, Drifblim is one of the safest options against Lucian's team. He can learn Payback and Shadow Ball to hit everything for super effective damage and use Stockpile to increase his Defense and Special Defense. Minimizing is also a valid strategy, as players can get a few evasion boosts and then heal damage before dealing it. In a Hardcore Nuzlocke, Roost can be used instead.
- Honchkrow – This Pokemon can use both physical and special attacks with great effectiveness but has low defenses. He's weak to Fairy-type moves, so dispatching him in turn will require a special defense investment. It can be configured with Nasty Plot and Tailwind to increase its speed and special attack, followed by Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse. Without a setup he can still do a lot of damage with Sucker Punch and with his Super Luck ability he can easily crit with Night Slash.
- Weavile – High Attack and Speed give Weavile an advantage in the fight against Lucian's team, but like Honchkrow, his weakness to Fighting and Fairy type moves makes him very fragile for battle. Swords Dance will make sure it KOs Pokemon with Night Slash even with Reflect up. Against Mr. Mime he can learn Poison Jab and against Medicham he can learn Shadow Claw. Alakazam overtakes him but can only hit Weavile with his Shock Wave move for little damage.
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Good Pokemon in general
- Gyarados – There aren't many battles where Gyarados isn't amazing. The Dragon Dance is one of the best moves in the game and due to the increased speed, players can easily take down Girafarig before he sets up Trick Room. Three of Lucian's Pokémon have Electric-type moves, so Gyarados will only be effective against two of the team unless he can outrun and eliminate the other three in one hit. Crunch will work for anything it's super effective against, while Waterfall deals good neutral damage with a chance to flinch the opposing Pokemon.
- Garchomp – Other than Mr. Mime, nothing on Lucian's team can hit Garchomp for super effective damage. He can learn Crunch for Alakazam, Bronzong, and Girafarig as well as Poison Jab or Iron Head for Mr. Mime. The Earthquake alone will do a lot of damage and be more powerful than using Shadow Claw on Medicham, even with the super effective bonus. If Reflect or Light Screen is enabled, Brick Break will break them, but Garchomp can choose to use Swords Dance to set up and guarantee easy knockouts. Roar can be used against an increased Alakazam stat, but is unlikely to survive even a single Crunch.
For more Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl guides, check out How to Beat Elite Four Flint in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl on Pro Game Guides.
