5th Gen Black 2 Iris Battle Help...?

Hi guys, I'm super new here... I've almost beaten Black 2, and I asked for help on the Serebii forums on December 26th (?) and I still haven't gotten any answers... I apologize in advance if this thread is posted in the wrong part of the forums, by the way :P This is my exact post from the Serebii forums:

Okay... I'm incredibly new to both playing Pokémon games (although I've been familiar with the series through the anime for my entire life) and to this forum, though I've been lurking every now and then, for a while... and if I'm in the wrong thread/forum, then just tell me so... but I've been trying to beat Iris in Black 2 for a while now, and I need help.

My brother's told me that my team isn't strong enough and that I should train more, but I've been able to defeat 5 out of her 6 Pokémon and am confident that I can beat her, overall... since you guys obviously know more about strategizing and using teams to their highest potential, I thought that I'd ask for help here... my team is as follows:

Virizion, lvl 52. Knows Toxic, Flash, Giga Drain, and Sacred Sword.

Arcanine, lvl 54. Knows Flare Blitz, Heat Wave, Flamethrower, and Outrage.

Cobalion, lvl 53. Knows Toxic, Retaliate, Iron Head, and Sacred Sword.

Samurott, lvl 52. Knows Cut, Razor Shell, Aqua Tail, and Ice Beam.

Lucario, lvl 52. Knows Dig, Me Fist, Force Palm, and Aura Sphere.

Golduck, lvl 53. Knows Surf, Waterfall, Strength, and Aqua Tail (at lvl 54 he learns another move with a base PP level of 5, but I don't remember what move it is).


I need help ASAP... with my Pokémon Team, is it possible to beat Iris, and if so, how? I'll give any additional information, if prompted to do so. Thanks to all!

Personally I would replace golduck with cursed body ability jellicent(around 52~55) with the moves Confuse ray, will o' wisp, energy ball/shadow ball, ice beam as a counter to iris haxorus

technically you could teach dragon pulse to Arcanine(yours is a intimidate arcanine right?) from the move tutor at letemimas town but you need 10 blue shards for that.

Lastly there is also dragon tail that you can teach to Summerott to shut down Haxorous dragon dance buff but it only works if she still has other pokemon on her.

Personally I recomend grinding to lv57~60 if you want a easy time.

llysender said:

Personally I would replace golduck with cursed body ability jellicent(around 52~55) with the moves Confuse ray, will o' wisp, energy ball/shadow ball, ice beam as a counter to iris haxorus

technically you could teach dragon pulse to Arcanine(yours is a intimidate arcanine right?) from the move tutor at letemimas town but you need 10 blue shards for that.

Lastly there is also dragon tail that you can teach to Summerott to shut down Haxorous dragon dance buff but it only works if she still has other pokemon on her.

Personally I recomend grinding to lv57~60 if you want a easy time.

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What I could recommend is you send Arcanine out when Haxorus comes out so Intimidate weakens its Attack stat. Watch out for Earthquake though.

Summurott can learn dragon tail though tm

Jelleicant pretty much shuts down haxourous via confuse ray will o wisp and cursed body though

Hikamaru said:

What I could recommend is you send Arcanine out when Haxorus comes out so Intimidate weakens its Attack stat. Watch out for Earthquake though.

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I second this suggestion; lowering Haxorus's Attack will help enormously. I'd also recommend giving someone Taunt in order to stop it using Dragon Dance; unfortunately Arcanine can't learn it, but Virizion can, and all of Haxorus's attacks do neutral damage to Virizion. I'd recommend replacing Virizion's Flash with Taunt, and sending Arcanine in against Haxorus first to let Intimidate kick in; then immediately switch out to Virizion and Taunt it. Alternatively, you could replace Samurott's Cut with Dragon Tail in order to force Haxorus out and remove its Dragon Dance buff, but only if Iris still has another Pokémon to switch it with. Just be aware that Haxorus holds a Focus Sash, so you won't be able to one-hit KO it.

Also, watch out for her Hydreigon; its moves give it pretty wide type coverage, but Samurott's Ice Beam or Lucario's Aura Sphere should do the trick. Also, if you level Lucario up to 55, it'll learn Close Combat, which might give it a chance to one-hit KO Hydreigon; replace Force Palm or Aura Sphere if you choose to go with it.

I hope some of this helps!

Just to warn you, Dragon Tail may be risky since it makes you move last and Samurott may not have the defenses to take a hit from Haxorus. Having something that can learn Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave can help as well.

Wow... thanks a ton, guys, I really appreciate it. I think that the one move that all of my Pokémon have trouble defending against is Haxorus' Earthquake, since Haxorus is really the only Pokémon that's giving me trouble. Would you say that it's easier to grind my Pokémon to a higher level or to take a chance on my Pokémon's defense and try to beat Haxorus by lowering its defense? Also... ShiningKami, sorry if it's a stupid question, but can HMs not be replaced once they're given to a Pokémon? ...Again, sorry if that's a stupid question... :P

FullmetalOddish said:

Also... ShiningKami, sorry if it's a stupid question, but can HMs not be replaced once they're given to a Pokémon? ...Again, sorry if that's a stupid question... :P

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I may not be Kami, but yes unfortunately they can't be removed on your own. You need to visit the Move Deleter to remove HM's. He's in the PWT if you're looking for him.

if you could do a little training (Lucario to Lvl 60) you can beat her easily since Lucario Learns Dragon Pulse at Lvl 60 which will do a lot to any of her Dragons..

FullmetalOddish said:

Wow... thanks a ton, guys, I really appreciate it. I think that the one move that all of my Pokémon have trouble defending against is Haxorus' Earthquake, since Haxorus is really the only Pokémon that's giving me trouble. Would you say that it's easier to grind my Pokémon to a higher level or to take a chance on my Pokémon's defense and try to beat Haxorus by lowering its defense? Also... ShiningKami, sorry if it's a stupid question, but can HMs not be replaced once they're given to a Pokémon? ...Again, sorry if that's a stupid question... :P

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Hikamaru said:

I may not be Kami, but yes unfortunately they can't be removed on your own. You need to visit the Move Deleter to remove HM's. He's in the PWT if you're looking for him.

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Don't worry, it's not a stupid question at all. :) As Hikamaru said, you can go to the Move Deleter at the Pokémon World Tournament (south of Driftveil City) to remove any unneeded HM moves.

As for when to attempt the battle... Iris's Haxorus is level 59, so I'd say to grind up to at least level 55 if possible; that way, Lucario can get Close Combat, and Golduck can get Hydro Pump if you want it (although I'd recommend using Scald over Hydro Pump; that way you have a chance to burn the opponent, which has the useful side effect of cutting their Attack in half). If you have a Heart Scale handy, you could go to the Move Reminder (also in the PWT) and teach Arcanine Extreme Speed, in place of either Flamethrower or Heat Wave. Arcanine can then hit Haxorus before it attacks! Also, remember that Virizion resists Earthquake due to being a Grass-type. Give it a try and see how you do.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask; I'm happy to help. :)