Building a team

A good story team is built around the gyms ahead of you. This page lists what each Gym Leader’s team is weak to and which Pokémon you can catch early to cover it. It also covers natures and starters.

Principles for a story team

Cover the leaders’ types

Every Gym Leader’s team is built around one type, and many leaders carry a move or two against the obvious counter. Spread your team’s moves over several types instead of relying on one Pokémon.

The Hit with column in each region’s gym table lists the attacking types that are super effective against most of that leader’s team. The walkthrough for each gym (linked from the leader’s name) lists the exceptions.

To check a matchup yourself:

In chat: type /weak and a Pokémon’s name, for example /weak Onix, to list its weaknesses, resistances and immunities. See chat commands.
In battle: hover over the opposing Pokémon (on a phone, touch and hold it). Its card has a Type Matchups section with Weak, Resists and Immune rows.
On this wiki: the type chart lists every matchup, from both the attacker’s and the defender’s side.

Info card for a wild Gastly showing its Ghost and Poison types, HP, possible ability, possible stats, type matchups and known moves — In battle, the opposing Pokémon's card lists what it is weak to, resists and is immune to.

Train 4–6 Pokémon

Leaders bring more Pokémon as you go: the first leader in each region has 3 Pokémon. From the 6th gym on, every leader has 6, and so does every Elite Four member.
Experience isn’t split: in wild battles, every Pokémon that took part and didn’t faint gets the full amount. A Pokémon holding an Exp. Share gets a smaller share without battling. See who gets experience.
Aim for the leader’s level: the Highest level column shows each leader’s strongest Pokémon. Train your core of 4–6 to about that level.

Catch a new team in each region

Pokémon remember the region they were caught in, and other regions hold them back until you are Champion of the region you are in:

Jvaloh and Hoenn: Pokémon from an earlier region battle at no more than level 5, plus 5 for each badge you hold there.
Kanto: Pokémon from any other region battle at level 1.
Sinnoh: every Pokémon battles at its real level.

The leaders’ levels rise faster than that cap. So catch Pokémon in each new region and train them. Level caps by badge count has every cap, and a Region Changer can make a few of your old Pokémon native to a new region.

Skip the HM Pokémon

HMs are used from your Bag, and no Pokémon has to know the move. So all 6 party slots can go to Pokémon that battle. See why you can’t teach HMs.

Field abilities such as Synchronize work from the first party slot, even if that Pokémon has fainted. See field abilities.

Sinnoh

Sinnoh is your first region, and every Pokémon battles at its real level here.

Sinnoh gyms

Badge	Leader	Type	Highest level	Hit with
1	Roark	Rock	15	Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Steel
2	Gardenia	Grass	25	Fire, Flying, Ice
3	Fantina	Ghost	31	Ghost, Dark
4	Maylene	Fighting	39	Flying, Psychic, Fairy
5	Crasher Wake	Water	42	Grass, Electric
6	Byron	Steel	50	Fire
7	Candice	Ice	53	Fire, Rock, Steel, Fighting
8	Volkner	Electric	61	Ground

Fire, Ground, Flying, Grass, and Ghost or Dark moves between them hit most of every Sinnoh leader’s team. The Elite Four are levels 65–69, and Champion Cynthia’s strongest Pokémon is level 70.

Early catches in Sinnoh

Pokémon	Where	Rarity	Good for
Starly	Route 201	Very Rare	Flying for Gardenia and Maylene
Shinx	Route 201	Common	Electric for Crasher Wake
Buizel	Route 202	Common	Water for Roark
Cubone	Oreburgh Gate	Rare	Ground for Roark and Volkner
Drifloon	Valley Windworks, at night	Rare	Flying for Gardenia and Maylene, Ghost for Fantina
Ponyta	Route 207	Uncommon	Fire for Byron and Candice
Machop	Route 207	Rare	Fighting for Roark and Candice

Cubone evolves at level 28: into Marowak by day, or into Alolan Marowak (Fire/Ghost) by night. The night form suits Fantina, Byron and Candice instead.

Jvaloh

Jvaloh’s leaders climb from level 17 to level 80, the steepest rise of any region. Start building your Jvaloh team on the first route.

Jvaloh gyms

Badge	Leader	Type	Highest level	Hit with
1	Ghadafi	Rock	17	Water, Steel, Fighting, Grass, Ground
2	Elleak	Electric	25	Ground
3	Izumi	Water	33	Grass, Electric
4	Aurelia	Normal	43	Fighting
5	Arturo	Ground	50	Water, Ice, Grass
6	Blitz	Fire	62	Ground, Rock
7	General Thanda	Ice	70	Fire, Fighting, Rock, Steel
8	Charil	Dragon	80	Ice, Dragon, Fairy

Water, Ground, Grass, Fighting and Ice moves between them hit most of every Jvaloh leader’s team. The Elite Four are levels 80–87, and beating the fourth member, Sheta, makes you Champion.

Early catches in Jvaloh

Pokémon	Where	Rarity	Good for
Psyduck	Route Sereny	Common	Water for Ghadafi and Arturo
Paras	Boulder Cavern 1F	Common	Grass for Ghadafi and Izumi
Diglett	Boulder Cavern 1F	Rare	Ground for Ghadafi, Elleak and Blitz
Crabrawler	Route 2	Rare	Fighting for Ghadafi, Aurelia and General Thanda
Oricorio (Pom-Pom)	Route 3 Cliffs	Rare	Electric for Izumi
Seel	Route 3, fishing	Rare	Water for Arturo, and Ice for Charil once it is a Dewgong (level 34)
Wooper	Route 4 Shores	Rare	Water and Ground for Arturo and Blitz; evolves into Quagsire at level 20

Getting ready for Jvaloh’s gyms

Plan ahead for three things:

Wild Pokémon lag behind: before the 6th and 7th gyms, the wild Pokémon on the way are 12–13 levels below the leader’s strongest Pokémon.
Held items: from Izumi on, almost every leader’s Pokémon holds an item, such as a Life Orb, Leftovers or a Focus Sash. General Thanda’s Glalie holds a Glalitite and Charil’s Charizard a Charizardite X, so both can Mega Evolve.
Weather: a sandstorm always blows in Arturo’s room, the sun always shines on Blitz’s peak, and it always snows in General Thanda’s room.

The last column is the highest level your Sinnoh Pokémon can battle at in that fight.

Gym	Highest level	Wild levels on the way	Sinnoh Pokémon cap
1, Ghadafi	17	2–10	5
2, Elleak	25	8–18	10
3, Izumi	33	16–20	15
4, Aurelia	43	18–30	20
5, Arturo	50	29–38	25
6, Blitz	62	38–49	30
7, General Thanda	70	49–58	35
8, Charil	80	58–75	40
Elite Four	87	70–75	45

Each leader also carries moves against the types you would bring:

Ghadafi: Rockruff’s Thunder Fang hits Water types.
Elleak: Chinchou’s Bubble Beam hits Ground types, and Joltik takes only normal damage from Ground moves.
Izumi: Whiscash’s Earthquake and Dewgong’s Drill Run hit Electric types. Frogadier’s Aerial Ace and Cloyster’s Icicle Crash hit Grass types.
Aurelia: Staraptor’s Brave Bird and Oranguru’s Psychic hit Fighting types.
Arturo: Thunder Punch, Thunderbolt and Grass Knot hit Water types. Nidoqueen’s Ice Beam and Garchomp’s Fire Fang hit Grass types.
Blitz: Thunder Punch and Ninetales’ Energy Ball hit Water types, and Close Combat and High Jump Kick hit Rock types. Infernape holds a One Time Air Balloon, so Ground moves miss it until it is hit.
General Thanda: Earthquake hits Fire, Rock and Steel types, and Weavile’s Low Kick hits Rock and Steel types.
Charil: Flash Cannon and Dragalge’s Sludge Wave hit Fairy types, and Kommo-o’s Flamethrower hits Ice types. Use Rock moves on Charizard: Ice and Fairy are not super effective on it.

Ways to catch up:

Train on the strongest wild Pokémon you can reach: a wild Pokémon above your Pokémon’s level gives more experience. Before Charil, the wild Pokémon in Jannat Village are levels 72–75.
Use the Region Changer: Region Changer Chavez in Prof. Blaze’s Lab makes up to 7 of your Pokémon Jvaloh-native, so the cap stops applying to them. He only takes Pokémon up to a level limit that grows with your Jvaloh badges; see changing a Pokémon’s region.
Buy in Jvaloh: a Pokémon you buy at the Trade House while you are in Jvaloh becomes Jvaloh-native. See buying at the Trade House.
Bring a friend: in a Co-op Duo, a partner with the same number of Jvaloh badges can battle the leader with you. See shared NPC battles.

Hoenn

Hoenn caps your Sinnoh and Jvaloh Pokémon the same way Jvaloh caps your Sinnoh ones; see catch a new team in each region.

Before Gym 5, Ace Trainer Pax at the Petalburg Gym door wants to see a Vigoroth or Slaking at level 35 or higher. Catch a Slakoth early (it evolves at level 18) and train it.

Hoenn gyms

Badge	Leader	Type	Highest level	Hit with
1	Roxanne	Rock	14	Water, Steel, Ground
2	Brawly	Fighting	16	Flying, Fairy, Psychic
3	Wattson	Electric	24	Ground, Grass
4	Flannery	Fire	35	Ground, Rock, Water
5	Norman	Normal	43	Fighting
6	Winona	Flying	49	Rock, Electric, Ice
7	Tate	Psychic	62	Ghost, Dark, Bug
8	Wallace	Water	68	Grass, Electric

Ground, Flying, Fighting, Electric, and Ghost or Dark moves between them hit most of every Hoenn leader’s team. The sun always shines in Flannery’s gym, which weakens Water moves, and it always rains in Wallace’s. The Elite Four are levels 76–84, and Champion Steven’s strongest Pokémon is level 85.

Early catches in Hoenn

Pokémon	Where	Rarity	Good for
Ralts	Route 102	Very Rare	Psychic and Fairy for Brawly
Wingull	Route 104	Very Rare	Water for Roxanne, Flying for Brawly
Taillow	Route 104 (North) and Route 116	Rare	Flying for Brawly
Shroomish	Petalburg Woods	Rare	Grass for Wallace, and Fighting for Norman once it is a Breloom (level 23)
Barboach	Route 110, fishing	Rare	Ground for Wattson and Flannery
Aron	Route 111 (Desert)	Rare	Rock for Winona
Misdreavus	Route 121	Uncommon	Ghost for Tate

Kanto

Kanto holds back every Pokémon from another region, and a Rare Candy can’t be used in Kanto or on Kanto Pokémon. Your Kanto team is made of Pokémon you catch and train there; see Kanto’s rules.

Kanto gyms

Badge	Leader	Type	Highest level	Hit with
1	Brock	Rock	16	Water, Grass, Fighting, Ice, Steel
2	Misty	Water	27	Grass, Electric
3	Lt. Surge	Electric	31	Ground
4	Erika	Grass	40	Fire, Ice, Flying
5	Koga	Poison	49	Ground, Psychic
6	Sabrina	Psychic	65	Ghost, Dark, Bug
7	Blaine	Fire	72	Rock, Water, Ground
8	Giovanni	Ground	75	Ice, Water

Water, Ground, Grass, Ice, and Ghost or Dark moves between them hit most of every Kanto leader’s team. The Elite Four are levels 85–87, and Champion Gary’s strongest Pokémon is level 88.

Early catches in Kanto

Pokémon	Where	Rarity	Good for
Bellsprout	Route 1	Uncommon	Grass for Brock and Misty
Shinx	Route 1	Common	Electric for Misty
Cubone	Route 22	Uncommon	Ground for Lt. Surge and Koga
Paldean Wooper	Route 22	Very Rare	Ground for Lt. Surge and Koga
Krabby	Route 22, fishing	Uncommon	Water for Brock, Blaine and Giovanni
Mankey	Route 3	Common	Fighting for Brock
Abra	Cerulean City	Very Rare	Psychic for Koga
Shuppet	Pokémon Tower	Common	Ghost for Sabrina

Natures

A nature raises one stat and lowers another. For a story team, pick one that raises the stat your Pokémon attacks with:

Physical attackers use Attack, with moves such as Earthquake or Close Combat. Adamant raises Attack and lowers Sp. Atk.
Special attackers use Sp. Atk, with moves such as Surf or Flamethrower. Modest raises Sp. Atk and lowers Attack.

Both lower the attacking stat the Pokémon doesn’t use, which is the cheapest trade. Every nature is listed in natures.

Summary tab of an Adamant Garchomp's card: +Atk and -SpA next to the nature, the Attack number in green and the Sp. Atk number in red — Adamant raises Attack (green) and lowers Sp. Atk (red).

A nature is fixed when you catch the Pokémon. PBO has no mints and no NPC that changes it, so get the nature you want up front:

Catch it: lead with a Synchronize Pokémon of that nature. See field abilities.
Buy it: the Trade House can filter Pokémon listings by nature. See the Trade House.

Starters

You pick a starter in each region. Choose by type: this is what each one’s type is strong against in the region’s first 3 gyms.

Region	Starter	Type	Good against early
Sinnoh	Turtwig	Grass	Roark
Sinnoh	Chimchar	Fire	Gardenia, and Roark once it is a Monferno (Fire/Fighting, level 14)
Sinnoh	Piplup	Water	Roark
Jvaloh	Rowlet	Grass/Flying	Ghadafi and Izumi
Jvaloh	Litten	Fire	—
Jvaloh	Popplio	Water	Ghadafi
Hoenn	Treecko	Grass	Roxanne
Hoenn	Torchic	Fire	Roxanne, once it is a Combusken (Fire/Fighting, level 16)
Hoenn	Mudkip	Water	Roxanne, and Wattson once it is a Marshtomp (Water/Ground, level 16)
Kanto	Bulbasaur	Grass/Poison	Brock and Misty
Kanto	Charmander	Fire	—
Kanto	Squirtle	Water	Brock

Fire isn’t super effective against the first 3 leaders’ types in Jvaloh or Kanto. It pays off later against General Thanda (Ice) in Jvaloh and Erika (Grass) in Kanto.

A few more things make the choice less final:

Every starter has the Hardy nature, which changes no stat, and 20 IVs in every stat.
In Sinnoh and Kanto, your rival always picks the starter that beats yours.
Every starter can be caught later as an Ultra Rare. The Sinnoh three live in the Great Marsh, the Jvaloh three in Jannat Village, and the others in the Hoenn and Kanto Safari Zones.
A few NPCs give you more Pokémon for free, such as a Rockruff in Sinnoh and a Maschiff in Hoenn. See gift Pokémon.

Competitive teams

PvP and the endgame play by different rules from the story. Ranked OU and UU scale every Pokémon to level 100, so IVs, EVs, natures and moves matter, not levels. Start with Ranked PvP for tiers and bans, and the Battle Frontier for its weekly type rules. Dynamax Invasions explains damage teams, and stats, IVs, EVs and natures explains what to train.

WalkthroughsEvery region's story, gym by gym, with full leader teams.

Gyms, Elite Four and ChampionsMovesets, abilities and held items for every leader.

Experience and levellingWho gets experience, boosts and the region rule.

Stats, IVs, EVs and naturesEvery nature, and how IVs and EVs shape your stats.