BW Elite 4 UNTAMED: Alder

안녕하세요 (an-yang-ha-say-oh, or “hello”)! 저는 저수틴 이에요 (my name is Justin). Impressed by my Korean skills? Thought so How’s everyone holding up? Are you all playing Black and White 2? I sure am, and let me tell you, it’s amazing! So far I’m through the third gym and my team is all in the mid 20s. I’m quite impressed with the changes they’ve made in this installment. It’s almost like playing a new game, minus the lack of new additions to the Pokedex. I’m curious to see what they’re going to do with the next game, assuming they make one. If they do, it better be for the 3DS!

Spoiler	Select Show
Alright, time to get started with the final BW Elite 4: UNTAMED article. Our last challenger is the Elite 4 champion, Alder. Unlike the previous games, you won’t fight the champion until you defeat the entire Elite 4 team and challenge them for a second time. This is probably for the best since Alder has a particularly strong lineup. Since you’ve already defeated the Elite 4 by now, you’ll have the end game cities to explore, which means more Pokemon to catch (especially if you have access to White Forest). I used a Volcarona who was in his high 60s for this fight. It pretty much walls his first teammate, which will allow you to set up with a couple of Quiver Dance moves (which raises the user’s special attack, special defense and speed. Ridiculous, I know.). After about 3-4 Quiver Dances, I was able to 1HKO his opponents with neutral attacks. If you’re not using Volcarona, though, you’ll have a bit more planning to do! An attack based Staraptor with Close Combat and Aerial Ace can do some damage, since fighting and normal attacks will do double damage to more than half of Alder’s team. Emboar can also take out Alder with fire and fighting attacks. And for added preparation, stock up on Full Restores and Revives. You might need a few! At the start of the fight you’ll be faced with Alder’s level 75 Accelgor, the ninja-looking carapace. Albeit frail, Accelgor has great special attack and one of the highest speed stats in the game, hence the punny prefix. His set up consists of Focus Blast, Bug Buzz, Me First and Energy Ball. His moves cover quite a bit of opposing types, so be sure to steer clear of using anything weak against fighting, bug and grass. As mentioned before, he’s quite frail. Take him out with a strong fire, rock or flying attack. He also comes with the Hydration ability, so he can heal status while in the rain. Not a huge threat, but good to know anyway. After knocking out Accelgor, Alder will send out his level 75 Bouffalant. This steroid-induced relative of Taurus has massive attack and HP stats as well as decent defenses. The only real thing holding him back is his sub-par speed. He comes with a wide array of attack types including the normal type Head Charge, bug type Megahorn, ground type Earthquake and rock type Stone Edge. Struck by a STAB Head Charge and you’re down for the count. Thankfully it leaves recoil, but the amount of damage he’ll do is worth the risk. I would suggest a sturdy or quick fighting type to take him out before he can unleash his afro-fury. He also comes with the Sap Sipper ability, which will allow him to absorb grass attacks and boost his attack stat, so make sure to keep your grass types in the sidelines! His third opponent is a level 75 Druddigon. While not the best dragon type out there, his high attack and defense stats are still quite formidable against unsuspecting opponents. He’ll come with Outrage, Superpower, Night Slash and Payback. Not the best moveset, but Outrage and Superpower can cause some damage on weak teammates. A faster dragon type i.e Haxorus can take him out easily. Be sure to take him out in the fewest hits possible to avoid chip damage from his Rough Skin ability! His fourth and probably least threatening teammate is the ice cream cone Vanilluxe. This ice type has dangerously high special attack stat, but lucky for you it’s an ice type, which aren’t that great to begin with. Ice types come with four glaring weaknesses and one mere resistance. However, you should be careful of his Blizzard attack. It could deal some hazardous damage with when you combine its special attack and STAB. Flash Cannon is pitiful, so you needn’t worry about that unless you’re using a rock type. It’s imperative to take him out quickly as he can let off a Light Screen or Acid armor to boost his defenses. Alder’s second to last teammate is the counterpart to his Accelgor; a level 75 Escavalier. Unlike Accelgor, Excavalier’s speed and special attack stats are extremely low, with his speed stat plummeting to one of the lowest in the game. What he makes up for in speed and special attack he compensates in attack, defense and special defense. Combined with his defensive typing makes him a formidable opponent. Beware of X-Scissor and Iron Head, as they come with both high power and STAB. Giga Impact and Aerial Ace aren’t very threatening, but they can do some damage if you’re using a fire type like Emboar or a bug type like Volcarona. Lastly you’ll face against his level 77 Volcarona, the bread and butter of his team. This bug/fire type comes with Overheat, Quiver Dance, Bug Buzz and Hyper Beam. If you let him take off with a Quiver Dance, chances are you might get killed in one hit even from a neutral attack. Thankfully, Volcarona’s defenses are low, so make sure to switch to an opposing type like Jellicent to absorb his attacks and lead the offense.

Spoiler

Show

Alright, time to get started with the final BW Elite 4: UNTAMED article. Our last challenger is the Elite 4 champion, Alder. Unlike the previous games, you won’t fight the champion until you defeat the entire Elite 4 team and challenge them for a second time. This is probably for the best since Alder has a particularly strong lineup. Since you’ve already defeated the Elite 4 by now, you’ll have the end game cities to explore, which means more Pokemon to catch (especially if you have access to White Forest). I used a Volcarona who was in his high 60s for this fight. It pretty much walls his first teammate, which will allow you to set up with a couple of Quiver Dance moves (which raises the user’s special attack, special defense and speed. Ridiculous, I know.). After about 3-4 Quiver Dances, I was able to 1HKO his opponents with neutral attacks. If you’re not using Volcarona, though, you’ll have a bit more planning to do! An attack based Staraptor with Close Combat and Aerial Ace can do some damage, since fighting and normal attacks will do double damage to more than half of Alder’s team. Emboar can also take out Alder with fire and fighting attacks. And for added preparation, stock up on Full Restores and Revives. You might need a few!

At the start of the fight you’ll be faced with Alder’s level 75 Accelgor, the ninja-looking carapace. Albeit frail, Accelgor has great special attack and one of the highest speed stats in the game, hence the punny prefix. His set up consists of Focus Blast, Bug Buzz, Me First and Energy Ball. His moves cover quite a bit of opposing types, so be sure to steer clear of using anything weak against fighting, bug and grass. As mentioned before, he’s quite frail. Take him out with a strong fire, rock or flying attack. He also comes with the Hydration ability, so he can heal status while in the rain. Not a huge threat, but good to know anyway.

After knocking out Accelgor, Alder will send out his level 75 Bouffalant. This steroid-induced relative of Taurus has massive attack and HP stats as well as decent defenses. The only real thing holding him back is his sub-par speed. He comes with a wide array of attack types including the normal type Head Charge, bug type Megahorn, ground type Earthquake and rock type Stone Edge. Struck by a STAB Head Charge and you’re down for the count. Thankfully it leaves recoil, but the amount of damage he’ll do is worth the risk. I would suggest a sturdy or quick fighting type to take him out before he can unleash his afro-fury. He also comes with the Sap Sipper ability, which will allow him to absorb grass attacks and boost his attack stat, so make sure to keep your grass types in the sidelines!

His third opponent is a level 75 Druddigon. While not the best dragon type out there, his high attack and defense stats are still quite formidable against unsuspecting opponents. He’ll come with Outrage, Superpower, Night Slash and Payback. Not the best moveset, but Outrage and Superpower can cause some damage on weak teammates. A faster dragon type i.e Haxorus can take him out easily. Be sure to take him out in the fewest hits possible to avoid chip damage from his Rough Skin ability!

His fourth and probably least threatening teammate is the ice cream cone Vanilluxe. This ice type has dangerously high special attack stat, but lucky for you it’s an ice type, which aren’t that great to begin with. Ice types come with four glaring weaknesses and one mere resistance. However, you should be careful of his Blizzard attack. It could deal some hazardous damage with when you combine its special attack and STAB. Flash Cannon is pitiful, so you needn’t worry about that unless you’re using a rock type. It’s imperative to take him out quickly as he can let off a Light Screen or Acid armor to boost his defenses.

Alder’s second to last teammate is the counterpart to his Accelgor; a level 75 Escavalier. Unlike Accelgor, Excavalier’s speed and special attack stats are extremely low, with his speed stat plummeting to one of the lowest in the game. What he makes up for in speed and special attack he compensates in attack, defense and special defense. Combined with his defensive typing makes him a formidable opponent. Beware of X-Scissor and Iron Head, as they come with both high power and STAB. Giga Impact and Aerial Ace aren’t very threatening, but they can do some damage if you’re using a fire type like Emboar or a bug type like Volcarona.

Lastly you’ll face against his level 77 Volcarona, the bread and butter of his team. This bug/fire type comes with Overheat, Quiver Dance, Bug Buzz and Hyper Beam. If you let him take off with a Quiver Dance, chances are you might get killed in one hit even from a neutral attack. Thankfully, Volcarona’s defenses are low, so make sure to switch to an opposing type like Jellicent to absorb his attacks and lead the offense.

Well, folks, that just about ends it for the BW Gym Leaders: Untamed! Be sure to look out for the same series of articles for the newest installment B/W2 that will be coming up in the near future. I hope you all enjoyed this series and, as always, leave some feedback in the comments. This is especially encouraged since we’re starting up a new series soon, so I’d love to know if there’s anything that you’d like to see added. Cheers!

P.S Last random tid bit about myself; I play the piano. I’ve been playing for about 14-ish years now. While I’m out of practice, I can still read music and pick up any piece of music and start going at it (not well, but with some practice I can be pretty decent). I play anything from classics (Chopin, Tchaikovsky or Beethoven) to show tunes to video game music.