Good day fans of Pokejungle! Mr. Bojingles is back from his vacation ready to start the ball rolling on the forthcoming gym leaders for BW2 Gym Leaders: UNTAMED! I must say that I’m quite glad to be back home. We were hit by some nasty typhoons during our travels, so it’s good to be in a place that’s. . .how should I put it. . .not flooded? Yeah, that’s about right. Anyway, I hope you’re all enjoying your summer vacations!
I’m going to jump right into this next article by going into the fourth gym leader of Black and White 2.
[spoiler]
Let’s give Elesa of Nimbasa City a warm welcome back to the Gen V universe! I’d have to say that Elese, out of all of the other gym leaders, has changed the most. Somehow it was possible to make ever even more sleek, stylish and sexy than before. She has now dawned a J-Pop/supermodel persona, which is apparent from her new outfit. She sports what looks like an oversized marshmellow-esque coat and a blue/yellow two piece skirt and top. Her electric blonde hair is now a charcoal black. She still wears headphones, although her new pieces have erect horns that match her clothing.
Not only has her appearance changed to fit a pop star, but her gym has also been transformed into a giant runway! Many of Elesa’s co-models will appear as you tread along the brightly lit walkway and attack you with electric type Pokémon. Once you defeat her fashion models, you’ll face against the ultimate model herself, Tyra Ba . . . erm, Elesa!
I won’t joke, Elesa was quite difficult in Black and White due to her quick Emolga and Zebstrika. Her difficulty this time around has declined a bit, probably due to her new career as a fully fledged model. She now uses a level 28 Emolga and Flaffy. Her final teammate is her level 30 Zebstrika. Before she used two Emolga, which is what made her fight annoying (at least for me). Flaffy is much slower and isn’t very powerful until it’s fully evolved, so it proves to be much less of a threat. Still, the electric type is easily one of the best types in the Pokémon universe due to its overall versatility, lack of abundant weaknesses and powerful contenders.
As for Elesa’s initial team, her Emolga hasn’t changed at all. It comes with Quick Attack, Pursuit, Aerial Ace and Volt Switch. Quick Attack isn’t that dangerous, but the other three moves are something you should look out for. Aerial Ace works well against ground types for a powerful neutral hit, and Volt Switch serves as both a powerful attack and an annoyance since it switches Emolga out. It’s also blessed with the dual typing of Flying tacked on with Electric, so it nullifies any ground type moves. Thankfully you have access to rock types such as Onix and Roggenrola at this point, so they might be the better Pokémon to use as Drilbur and Sandile have fairly weak defenses.
Her second Pokémon is a level 28 Flaffy. The Mareep line is actually my favorite Gen 2 group (I’m even using Ampharos in my W2 playthrough), but I wish they would have chosen a better Pokemon for her. Maybe an Electabuzz (although it might be a tad too overpowered) or even a Luxio/Pikachu. Oh well, it’s no skin off our noses. Anyway, Flaffy comes with Take Down, Confuse Ray, Thunder Wave and the infamous Volt Switch. The Thunder Wave/Confuse Ray combo can get extremely irritating if pulled off correctly (it’s my favorite when using Lanturn), as it basically negates your attacks 60% of the time between paralysis and confusion. Thankfully Flaffy is slow and can be taken out easily with a ground type move. Remove it before it gets off those two annoying attacks!
Lastly is Elesa’s level 30 Zebstrika. This one has changed a bit since your last visit; it comes with Volt Switch, Stomp, Pursuit and Flame Charge. The main thing you have to worry about with this electric zebra is its above average speed and semi decent attack stats. Stomp and Volt Switch can be painful if used against a Pokémon with weak defenses. Onyx is resistant to all of its attacks and immune to Volt Switch, so Zebstrika isn’t much of a threat if planned out properly.
For Elsa’s challenge mode, her initial three teammates all stay the same (aside from the level difference), which again is disappointing. Her team now comes with a Joltik, the super cute electric/bug Pokémon. It has the best move set of all of her teammates; Volt Switch, Energy Ball, X-Scissor and Thunder Wave. Each offensive move is both powerful and versatile, and Thunder Wave is just there to add that extra bit of annoyance. While Joltik’s typing is unique, it comes with a few major weaknesses such as fire and rock. Your best off using a fire type for this Pokémon so you can avoid the weakness to Energy Ball.[/spoiler]
That does it for the 4th gym leader, folks! I hope you enjoyed this installment. Leave feedback and comments below! Cheers!