Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Elite 4 teams and counters

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Published Mar 2, 2026, 1:08 PM EST

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Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen's Elite Four are the game's ultimate challenge, Kanto's top trainers and some of the trickiest opponents to deal with. They all specialize in one type of Pokémon, but fill their rosters with different types anyway, like Lance, who uses water-types and a rock-type alongside his dragons. You don't need a perfect team to win, though. The Elite Four members all share some common weaknesses to electric-types and psychic-types. That leaves four party slots for you to fill with whatever you prefer.

Below, we break down what to expect from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen's Elite Four and Champion the first time you fight them, including their full team rosters (with movesets courtesy of Bulbapedia) and which Pokémon to counter them with.

Elite Four Lorelei teams and counters

Lorelei says she uses ice-type Pokémon, though since FireRed and LeafGreen have no pure ice-types, all of Lorelei's Pokémon have several weaknesses you can exploit.

Pokémon

Type

Moves

Weaknesses

Dewgong (52)	Water/ice	Surf, Safeguard, Ice Beam, Hail	Electric, grass, fighting, rock
Cloyster (51)	Water/ice	Hail, Dive, Protect, Spikes	Electric, grass, fighting, rock
Slowbro (52)	Water/psychic	Surf, Amnesia, Yawn, Ice Beam	Electric, grass, bug, dark
Jynx (54)	Ice/psychic	Lovely Kiss, Ice Punch, Double Slap, Attract	Fire, steel, dark, bug, rock, ghost
Lapras (54)	Water/ice	Confuse Ray, Body Slam, Ice Beam, Surf	Electric, grass, fighting, rock

A fast, strong electric-type like Raichu can quickly take care of Dewgong, Cloyster, and Lapras. And Slowbro, though its special defense is higher and might require more than one attack to see it off. It's important to deal with Slowbro quickly before it puts your Pokémon to sleep with Yawn and uses Amnesia to raise its special defense even higher. That said, Slowbro's only offensive move is Surf, so if you have a water-type or grass-type, they can survive its attacks pretty handily if you get stuck in a drawn-out fight.

Jynx can cause some trouble with Lovely Kiss (confusion) and Attract (infatuation) attacks, though if you send a female Pokémon out, Attract won't work. Rock-types or steel-types are effective, since Ice Punch and Double Slap won't do much against them, but if you have a fire-type that knows Flamethrower, it'll take care of Jynx pretty quickly.

Elite Four Bruno teams and counters

Bruno is a fighting-type specialist, but there aren't many fighting-type Pokémon in Kanto, so he has to pad his roster out with rock-types.

Pokémon

Type

Moves

Weaknesses

Onix (51)	Rock/ground	Earthquake, Iron Tail, Roar, Rock Tomb	Water (x4), grass (x4), steel, fighting, ice
Hitmonchan (53)	Fighting	Mach Punch, Rock Tomb, Counter, Sky Uppercut	Flying, psychic
Hitmonlee (53)	Fighting	Brick Break, Facade, Mega Kick, Foresight	Flying, psychic
Onix (54)	Rock/ground	Earthquake, Sand Tomb, Iron Tail, Double-edge	Water (x4), grass (x4), steel, fighting, ice
Machamp (56)	Fighting	Scary Face, Bulkup, Cross Chop, Rock Tomb	Flying, psychic

Bruno requires a slightly different approach compared to Lorelei. Any water- or grass-type can knock out Onix quickly, but speed is essential for dealing with Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. Psychic-types are best for both. Hitmonchan's Counter won't work against special attacks like Psybeam and Psychic, and Hitmonlee's low special defense means you can usually see them off in one or two turns, before Hitmonlee can finish setting up a Foresight combo.

Stick to psychic-types for Machamp as well. Rock Tomb is bad news for flying-types, and Scary Face's speed reduction means your birds probably won't be able to KO Machamp before he uses it.

Elite Four Agatha teams and counters

Agatha is another hybrid Elite Four member. She prefers ghost-types, but the lack of them in Kanto means she also fills out her roster with poison-types. Your psychic-type from the Bruno battle will be especially helpful here.

Pokémon

Type

Moves

Weaknesses

Gengar (54)	Ghost/poison	Confuse Ray, Double Team, Shadow Punch, Toxic	Psychic, ghost, dark
Golbat (54)	Flying/poison	Confuse Ray, Air Cutter, Bite, Poison Fang	Rock, ice, psychic, electric,
Haunter (53)	Ghost/poison	Curse, Dream Eater, Hypnosis, Mean Look	Psychic, ghost, dark
Arbok (56)	Poison	Sludge Bomb, Screech, Iron Tail, Bite	Psychic, ground
Gengar (58)	Ghost/poison	Hypnosis, Nightmare, Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb	Psychic, ghost, dark

Speed is, once again, an essential part of dealing with Agatha. Her ghost-types can demolish your psychic-types quickly, so if you're using Alakazam or Hypno, you'll want to either put your opponent to sleep with Hypnosis first or fire off psychic quickly to get the job done. You can also rely on Pokémon who know Bite, like Arcanine, and aren't weak to any of Agatha's Pokémon. Your electric-type from the Lorelei battle will deal with Golbat fast, and a sturdy ground-type will be a good defense against Arbok.

Elite Four Lance teams and counters

Lance is the Elite Four's dragon-type trainer, which means ice-type Pokémon are your best bet. Except when he's using Aerodactyl, who isn't a dragon-type at all.

Pokémon

Type

Moves

Weaknesses

Gyarados (56)	Water/flying	Twister, Hydro Pump, Dragon Rage, Bite	Electric (x4), ice
Dragonair (54)	Dragon	Outrage, Hyper Beam, Dragon Rage, Safeguard	Ice, dragon
Dragonair (54)	Dragon	Outrage, Hyper Beam, Thunder Wave, Safeguard	Ice, dragon
Aerodactyl (58)	Rock/flying	Hyper Beam, Scary Face, Wing Attack, Ancientpower	Water, electric, ice, rock, steel
Dragonite (60)	Dragon/flying	Outrage, Hyper Beam, Wing Attack, Safeguard	Ice (x4), dragon, rock

Your electric-type can fell Gyarados in one hit, thanks to its double weakness to electric-type moves, though it's a riskier gambit with Aerodactyl, whose dual-typing means it won't take quite as much damage. That leaves room for it to pull off Hyper Beam or Ancientpower and potentially knock out your fragile electric-type, so water-types or a Pokémon that knows a strong steel-type attack may be your best bets here. Dewgong or Lapras are good options against the Dragonair duo. And for Dragonite, if they're too worn out by the time both Dragonair go down, use an electric-type instead. Bear in mind, too, that Pokémon have to rest for one turn after using Hyper Beam, which lets you swap in a more advantageous Pokémon if you need to or use that turn to heal another Pokémon on your team and get them back in the fight.

Your Rival, the Champion, teams and counters

Your rival's team depends on which starter Pokémon you chose, though he'll always have these Pokémon:

Pokémon

Type

Moves

Weaknesses

Pidgeot (59)	Normal/flying	Aerial Ace, Feather Dance, Sand Attack, Whirlwind	Electric, rock, ice
Rhydon (59)	Rock/ground	Earthquake, Rock Tomb, Scary Face, Take Down	Water (x4), grass (x4), ground, fighting, steel
Alakazam (57)	Psychic	Recover, Psychic, Future Sight, Reflect	Dark, bug, ghost

Your electric-type from the Lorelei battle will be just fine for dealing with Pidgeot, and while Alakazam is tough, it's no match for a sturdy Pokémon with strong physical attacks. Rhydon has several weaknesses, but your water-type from the Lance fight is a solid option for bringing it down — unless it's an ice-type as well, in which case you may want to bring out a grass-type or your own ground-type if you have one. Rhydon's special defense is low, though, so your psychic-type from the Agatha battle will also do well here.

If you chose Squirtle...

Your rival will send out:

Pokémon

Type

Moves

Weaknesses

Gyarados (59)	Water/flying	Dragon Rage, Bite, Thrash, Hydro Pump	Electric (x4), rock
Arcanine (61)	Fire	Bite, Extremespeed, Roar, Flamethrower	Water, ground, rock
Venusaur (63)	Grass/poison	Sunny Day, Synthesis, Solar Beam, Growth	Fire, ground, psychic

You've already dealt with Gyarados, and your starter or other water-type from previous battles will be more than enough to handle Arcanine as well. That said, Arcanine can be a little tricky thanks to Extremespeed. It always goes first, and its base power is quite strong, maybe not enough to take down Lapras or Blastoise in one hit, but enough to make a sizable dent in their HP pool. It won't matter if you're using a rock-type thanks to their high defense, though.

Make sure to knock out Venusaur quickly. If your rival manages to set up a combo with Growth, Sunny Day, and Solar Beam, it'll hit hard. However, since Solar Beam is its only attack, you should be able to use a fire-type, ice-type, or flying-type to quickly take it out.

If you chose Charmander...

Your rival will send out:

Pokémon

Type

Moves

Weaknesses

Arcanine (59)	Fire	Bite, Extremespeed, Roar, Flamethrower	Water, ground, rock
Exeggutor (61)	Grass/psychic	Egg Bomb, Giga Drain, Light Screen, Sleep Powder	Flying, ice, fire, ghost, bug (x4)
Blastoise (63)	Water	Rain Dance, Hydro Pump, Skull Bash, Surf	Electric, grass

Rock-types or water-types are your best bet for Arcanine, but a bit of a burden for the rest of the fight thanks to Exeggutor and Blastoise. If you want to take a risk, you could use ice-type moves against Exeggutor, but fire-type or flying-type Pokémon are safer options. Blastoise is sturdy and has some hard-hitting attacks, but you should be well-versed in defeating it with a grass-type or electric-type counter by now.

If you chose Bulbasaur...

Then your rival will send out:

Pokémon

Type

Moves

Weaknesses

Gyarados (61)	Water/flying	Dragon Rage, Bite, Thrash, Hydro Pump	Electric (x4), rock
Exeggutor (59)	Grass/psychic	Egg Bomb, Giga Drain, Light Screen, Sleep Powder	Flying, ice, fire, ghost, bug (x4)
Charizard (63)	Fire/flying	Fire Blast, Fire Spin, Aerial Ace, Slash	Rock (x4), water, electric

Your electric-type's getting a workout in this battle. You'll want to rely on them for handling Gyarados and Charizard, which they should be able to do without too much trouble, though Charizard's Slash and Fire Blast may pose a greater threat thanks to how fragile most electric-types are. Exeggutor's the tricky one in this scenario. You'll want to bring a fire-type of your own, like Rapidash or Ninetales, or a ghost-type if you want a type advantage over that one, or if you used a flying-type against Bruno, bring them out again for this battle.

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