Should I try to get Hariyama or Lairon in Victory Road in my Emerald Nuzlocke against the Elite Four (and Steven)?

I’m currently leaning towards Hariyama because it can beat Sydney and does decently against Glacia, however my Clamperl could probably beat Glacia with Toxic stall too, but Aggron is a titanic wall with base 180 defense and hits hard too, so I’m wondering which is better.

PS: This question could be irrelevant, especially if I get something I don’t want (Lairon / Hariyama or Mawile) in the E4, because then I’d be forced to work with it. However, if Lairon is the better choice, I think there is a way I can manipulate with Repels to get a Lairon

Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.

Aggron is sorely disappointing, and has no good STAB (Iron Tail’s unreliable accuracy will get you stuck in a tough spot) and it is weak to Wallace. As much as I wanted to make it work for my own run, it requires you to specifically want to use it to make it work at par with the myriad other options available.

As far as your Clamperl’s Toxic Stall strategy is concerned, be warned that E4 members carry Full Restores, so you’ll quickly run out of Toxic PP by the second or third member. I know because I’m currently the same issue with using Toxic Swalot.

Honestly, I’d keep Sableye but train it at Mt. Pyre till it learns Shadow Ball, which will make it reliable against Phoebe. I also think you might struggle against Drake because your own Flygon is weak to Dragon types. I suggest getting TM 13 Ice Beam from the Abandoned Ship between Dewford and Slateport, and teaching it to your Tentacool/Tentacruel, or, with an X Accuracy, Blizzard from the Lilycove Dept Store.

Other suggestions include teaching Calm Mind to your Grumpig and watching it rampage with Psychic if you manage to get to +2. You can even teach it Shock Wave to help out with Glacia and Wallace, and I suspect you’ll have a bit of trouble against the Champion due to a lack of brute force/ firepower, so be sure to have some setup moves and X items handy. Good luck!

P.S. Hariyama & Flygon should be more than enough to deal with Steven provided you can take care of Metagross and Skarmory with powerful Special type STAB moves.