Help with Champion Lance in Pokemon HeartGold

[MajeStar3800]

Well, I just swept the Elite Four in Pokemon Heartgold, and I am having trouble with lance. Here is my team:

Typhlosion Level 43 @ Charcoal(Was choice specs)
Lonely Nature
-Earthquake
-Blast Burn
-Flamethrower
-Lava Plume

Crobat Level 38
Sassy Nature
-Wing Attack
-Dark Pulse
-Confuse Ray
-Roost

Pidgeot Level 38
Adamant Nature
-Wing Attack
-Fly
-Pluck
-Sand Attack?

Ho-Oh Level 45 @ Sacred Ash
Gentle Nature
-Sacred Fire
-Fire Blast
-Sunny Day
-Extrasensory

Gyarados Level 38
Modest Nature (sadface)
-Ice Fang
-Bite
-Waterfall
-Aqua Tail

Umbreon Level 37
Modest nature
-Confuse ray
-Shadow Ball
-Sand Attack
-Quick Attack


I need help with defeating Lance with this team. Help?

 

[jab2033]

Biggest thing is that you need to level up. Your entire team needs to be at least Lv45 to have a decent chance.

Next, 4/6 of your team is weak to Electric and 5/6 is weak to Rock. One of Lance's Dragonites has Thunderbolt/Thunder so that will cause issues.

Your movesets also need work. You have 3 Fire moves on Typhlosion and that's a big no-no. Try Rock Slide over Blast Burn for QuakeEdge coverage (Rock + Ground). Don't use Blast Burn as that turn wasted recharging can hurt you. You can keep Lava Plume if you like to Burn things, if not, try Return, since Typhlosion's happiness should be near max.

Pidgeot wants Roost, and maybe Return as well.

Gyarados loves Dragon Dance, as a boost or two can make up for its bad nature. Dragon Dance > Aqua Tail

Crobat wants a Speed-Boosting or Attack-boosting Nature.

Speaking of Natures:
Crobat = Adamant/Jolly
Ho-oh = Adamant
Gyarados = Adamant/Jolly
Umbreon = Careful/Impish

 

[MajeStar3800]

Where do you get Rock Slide?
Also, I don't have enough time and resources to get a newer Eevee, and that also means i have to purposely lose to Lance to retrain pokemon.
What's the best way to train them?

When does Gyarados learn Dragon Dance, and where do I get Roost and return?

 

[jab2033]

Where do you get Rock Slide?
Also, I don't have enough time and resources to get a newer Eevee, and that also means i have to purposely lose to Lance to retrain pokemon.
What's the best way to train them?

When does Gyarados learn Dragon Dance, and where do I get Roost and return?

Gyarados Learns DD at Lv44. Pidgeot also learns Roost at Lv44. Not sure on Return or Rock Slide.

Best way to train would probably be to purposely loose to Lance and keep battling the E4 to level up, since they have the strongest Pokemon to train with.

 

[Ephemeral Euphoria]

Definitely replace Aqua Tail with Dragon Dance on your Gyarados, that will greatly increase your chances of winning against Lance.

I'd also level up your team to be around level 47 each or at the very least level 42 a piece.

That, and I'd replace Pidgeot with something like a Lapras as Lapras is good at taking hits and can learn moves like Ice Shard and Ice Beam as well.

I'd also replace Crobat with a Rhydon too. You can get a Rhyhorn in Victory Road. It's a good backup Pokemon to have as it learns Stone Edge which is pretty useful against pretty much all of Lance's team but I'd keep Rhydon away from Gyarados and Aerodactyl.

Lastly I'd consider cutting Umbreon for Ampharos or another electric type of choice as that automatically makes Lance's Gyarados pretty much null and void when it comes to overall usefulness unless his Gyarados outspeeds your electric type and OHKO's but if you can outspeed or survive a hit from the Gyara and OHKO it, you should be off to a good start when it comes to that fight.

Good luck.

 

[MajeStar3800]

Will 44-45 suffice?
Oh, and do I need Lapras? I don't like waiting for Friday for it.

I plan on getting a Lanturn to a pretty high level, let's say 45, make it use 3 stockpiles, and surf/blizzard kill. Is that reliable?

 

[Ephemeral Euphoria]

Yeah that'll work too.

You can alter the in game clock around for it to appear. I don't think Lanturn is as bulky though and doesn't benefit from STAB either. That, and as I said before Lapras can learn Ice Beam by leveling up so that should be reliable enough on its own but it might have some trouble with Aerodactyl.

You could replace Umbreon with Lanturn though.

 

[7Mufasa7]

the main problem i see is that 4/6 of your pokes are supereffective against electric.

are lances dragonites thunderbolting/ice beaming you to death?

ditch pidgeot and umbreon. get yourself a haunter, kadabra, or hypno. and a nidoking or magneton.

teach typhlosion sunny day, focus blast, solarbeam, flamethrower/lava plume.

gyarados needs a little leveling and ice fang + dragon dance for bite + aqua tail should help.

i would say get them all to 40 at victory road or something and you should do just fine.

i beat my first E4 in SS with lv 38s-42s.

 

[Weavile05]

You definitely need an electric type. I recommend Ampharos, but Lanturn should work just fine too. Lapras shouldn't be required, since you have that Gyarados with Ice Fang (although a few dragon dances may help), but Lapras will also be a huge help. Finally, just some overall grinding for everyone except Typhlosion and Ho-Oh will help. As for what someone said about Rock Slide, you get that after the E4, when you fight Brock.

 

[MajeStar3800]

I can alter the clock? Cool. How do I do that?

@2ndabove: which would be better, Kadabra or Haunter?

and taking all your advice, my team should look a bit like this:

Typhlosion
Lapras
Kadabra
Gyarados
Rhydon?
Ampharos

Are those good?
I also took out Ho-Oh since I already have a Fire Type

 

[Ephemeral Euphoria]

If you manage to get 3 or more Dragon Dances on Gyara, you should sweep through most if not all of his team. Lapras and Lanturn should be there to lighten the burden on Gyara though and should serve as effective backups to keep you in the match if Gyara ends up being KO'ed along the line.

Go to the DS menu and you should find the options to edit the clock and date there.

I'd go with something like this tbh.
Typhlosion
Ho-Oh
Gyarados
Lapras
Lanturn
Rhydon

Despite half of your team being water type, you should be set.

 

[MajeStar3800]

Why the Ho-Oh though?

and what purpose does Rhydon serve?

 

[Ephemeral Euphoria]

Ho-Oh is very strong on its own and a lot more useful overall than say Pidgeot or Crobat imo.

Rhydon is a decent physical tank who can handle Lance's Dragonites on his own if all else fails. That, and he's pretty good against Koga as well.

 

[7Mufasa7]

mmmm rhydon isnt a must have for a team.

i'd do this.
Typhlosion
Lapras
Haunter (normal + ground cant touch him)
Gyarados
Ho-oh (just to get you through the 1st E4 then switch him, use him for support.)
Magneton

 

[Ephemeral Euphoria]

I never said it was but it is something decent to fall back to regardless if everything doesn't go according to plan.

I'd prefer Lanturn over Magneton though to be honest. Not as vulnerable to Lance's Charizard.

 

[MajeStar3800]

I Can use Lanturn to counter his 3 Hax Dragonites(hey, dont blame me fore saying that XD)
along with Lapras if one dies.

Lanturn can resist Charizards' STAB moves.... so, I've decided this is my team:

Typhlosion
Ho-Oh
Lapras
Lanturn
Rhydon
Gyarados

 

[Super-Mudkipz]

Well, It might not help due to this Pokemon isn't very easy to get, but I had an Electivire with these stats and moves:

Species: Electivire
Level: 48
Ability: Motor Drive
Nature: Brash
Moveset:
Ice Punch-Thunder Punch
Thunder-Rain Dance

With that Pokemon, I mowed through Lance with relative ease. I recommend raising the attack with a supplement or two. Again, that Pokemon with the Moveset is somewhat difficult to get, but it works.

 

[7Mufasa7]

idk about the thunderstorm combo (rain dance + thunder) on electivire. that'll work better on a lanturn. i tend to use electivire as a subpuncher w/ ice/thunder/fire punch + substitute or remove substitute and make him a physical attacker with cross chop.

im a big fan of lanturn dont get me wrong but i see too many water types in your team. im a bigger fan of lapras lol.

but for lance, i dont see you having any problems sweeping lance with just 1 pokemon. sorry for not mentioning this earlier.

lanturn w/ swift swim
moves:
rain dance
thunder
ice beam
surf

EVs 252 SpA and some on HP/Spe (sorry im in a hurry and dont have time to look it up atm) will edit when i come back. try for that.

 

[Ephemeral Euphoria]

Sounds good Majestar, think one of his Dragonites may know Thunder though but that shouldn't be too much of an issue if you can outspeed it with Gyara or tank it with Lapras. Having 3 of your guys being water on that team shouldn't hurt too much either due to all 3 not sharing the same weaknesses (Lanturn & Lapras are weak to grass while Gyara isn't, Gyara and Lapras are weak to electric while Lanturn isn't, they should be able to handle any grass types though and either Typhlosion or Rhydon should be able to handle any electric types.) and should be bulky enough to take a few hits respectively.

 

[MajeStar3800]

@mUFASA: I don't EV train before I beat the Elite Four. I'm too impatient and it would waste too much time.

Alright, I've been training, and here's my team so far:

Typhlosion Level 52(It swept the whole team of the Elite Four =P)
Blast Burn(Will be Focus Blast) Flamethrower, Lava plume and Earthquake

Gyarados Level 39(It's having a hard time beating stuff before it gets beaten)
Aqua Tail(90 Power, pretty Useful), Waterfall, Ice Fang, and Surf(will be removed at Level 44.)

Lanturn Level 38(It can KO Lance's Gyara and Bruno's Onix, if that helps)
Surf, Thunder, Signal Beam and Water Gun

Lapras Level 31(It can do anything once it has Hail up, just blizzard everything to bits. Still Training)
Surf, Blizzard, Hail, Water Pulse

Ho-Oh Level 49(Useful for the poison type, it has extrasensory.)
Fire Blast, Sacred Fire, Extrasensory, Fly

Rhyhorn Level 35(In the Day Care until Lanturn gets to Level 40-41.)
Rock Blast, Take Down, Fury Attack, Scary Face


I'm pretty much set, I'm gaining money as I can beat the elite four but lose to lance.

Thanks Guys! ;)