The Elite Four are the last bosses. After defeating them, you face the champion. (In Red, Blue, Yellow, Fire Red, and Leaf Green, this is your rival. Gold, Silver, and Crystal have Lance as the champion. In Ruby and Sapphire, you fight Steven. You battle Wallace in Emerald.) The Elite Four from Ruby and Sapphire will be covered here.
To beat them your Pokémon should be at least at Level 55 each. The simplest possible team that can win the tournament comprises four Pokémon: One fire, One Water,One Ice and One Electric type.
- The first of the Elite four is Sidney. He specializes in dark Pokémon.
He has an Absol, a Mightyena, a Shiftry, a Sharpedo, and a Cacturne.If you had the slightest thought of strengthening a Dustox or Beautifly, then Sidney's downfall is your reward. But his Shiftry knows the Psychic move Extrasensory, so beware!
Practically, any strong attack can crush Mightyena. Fighting or Bug Type will do well against all of the Dark Types. Blaziken and Swampert are fine choices too, but remember that Swampert is severely weak against Grass Pokémon. Also, if playing Ruby, the legendary Groudon is a good choice. Its fire moves will work well against Cacturne and Shiftry and its Grass move Solarbeam can knock out Sharpedo. Absol is left. Fine, use a gentle Fire attack on it first and then a strong Fighting attack like Double Kick.
- After Sidney comes Phoebe, a user of Ghost Pokémon.
She has a Sableye, two Dusclops, and two Banettes. Dusclops knows Ice Ball, so keep Rayquaza far away from it. Earthquake attack works well on this team. Ghost or Dark Types that you have will also score wins. Rather, power is all that's needed here. Type advantages are not a must for beating Phoebe.
- Next up is Glacia, with Ice Pokémon, though she brings Water-Ice too.
She has two Glalies, two Sealeo, and a Walrein. Make sure you have a strong Kyogre, because Walrein can use Sheer cold! The best you can do is bring some good Electric Types. Preserve your Fire Types for thawing Glalie.
If you have Groudon or a Grass Pokémon, then attacks like Solar Beam will ensure victory. You should not lose time however, because Ice ruins Grass and Ground.
Later when you get a Rayquaza, teach it an electric attack and teach Glacia a lesson; but again, don't give any foe a chance to attack as Ice type moves will devastate Rayquaza.
- Drake, the Dragon Master, is the final of the four.
He has an Altaria, Shelgon, two Flygon, and a Salamence! If you have a good Ice Type like Walrein, Regice or Kyogre, it will beat this crew! Finish Drake as fast as possible as dragons are nightmarish! Or pit Dragons against Dragons.
- The champion, Steven Stone, has mostly Steel Type and Rock Type Pokémon.
Beware the Skarmory, Aggron, Claydol, Cradily, Armaldo and Metagross! Get Fire Pokémon and prepare for a meltdown! Face Skarmory with Fire, Electric or Ice Pokémon(Ice won't win very quickly). Aggron can be dangerous, so the Ground attack Earthquake or the water attack Surf are the best. Even better, if you have a strong Pokémon that knows Sky Uppercut, the fighting type move can often knock Aggron out in one shot. Wash the next three with Water Pokémon. Hydro Pump is a crucial attack here. But other Water attacks are weak on Cradily, so Steel or Fighting attacks can be used too. Fire and Water attacks both work well on Metagross, as do Ground type moves. Fire and Ground are better, however, due to type advantage. However, Metagross's high stats and type combination leave him vulnerable to little else. An interesting alternative strategy to beating Metagross is to have the often overlooked and under-appreciated Shedinja on the team. Metagross's attacks are one of four types: Psychic, Steel, Ground, or Normal. Shedinja's Wonder Guard ability renders it immune to all four. Be careful if you choose this tactic, however: Steven's Skarmory knows Spikes, and if he uses it, and you do not use an appropriate move (such as Rapid Spin) to clear them away, Shedinja will faint the instant you call him out against the mighty Metagross.
Summing up, the legendary stars Kyogre and Groudon are useful allies in the final battle.
Once you beat Steven, you are the Champion in all of Hoenn. Your party Pokémon will enter the hall of Fame and will get a ribbon each. The end credits start rolling in but the game can be continued by restarting the Game Boy.
You can savour your victories in various ways: win the contests and catch the three Regi's if you didn't do that before. Go ahead on the quest to complete your Pokédex. You can now visit the enjoyable Sky Pillar and Battle Tower.