How to Beat Elite Four Lucian in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Lucian is the only Elite Four member that bothered to pay attention to the rules and bring a full Psychic team. Dark and Ghost Type moves will serve well for the fight but his team can still be tricky to face. The main obstacles between him and the Champion for the player will be his Alakazam and Medicham.

Lucian's Team

• Mr. Mime Lvl 59 - As a Pyschic/Fairy Type, Dark moves will be neutral against this Pokémon. With its high Speed and Special Attack, Mr. Mime poses as a powerful threat when using Pyschic or Dazzling Gleam. Filter, its Ability, reduces the damage of super effective moves by 25 percent so hitting it with a Ghost Type move won't always be the best option. It has Light Clay which makes its Light Screen and Reflect last eight turns instead of five.
• Girafarig Lvl 59 - Because of its Normal Typing, this Pokémon is immune to Ghost Type moves. It has Sap Sipper which absorbs Grass Type moves to increase its Attack but there should be no reason to use Grass moves during the battle. It will attempt to setup Trick Room which can be good for Lucian's Bronzong but terrible for his Alakazam. It won't hit as hard with its Psychic or Thunderbolt as Mr. Mime but will be hard to take out if the Screens are up.
• Alakazam Lvl 60 - With the Magic Guard Ability, Alakazam takes advantage of its damage boost from Life Orb without suffering from the recoil. Status ailments like Burn and Poison also won't deal damage to it. It will attempt to boost its Special Attack with Nasty Plot so it is best to take it out as quickly as possible. It has very low Defense but very high Speed, making it Lucian's most powerful threat if its stats are boosted.
• Medicham Lvl 60 - This Pokémon is a full offensive threat that has two STAB moves in Zen Headbutt and High Jump Kick and two coverage moves in Thunder Punch and Ice Punch. Medicham is frail but Light Screen and Reflect will most likely still be up by the time players get to them. It is weak to Ghost and Flying Type moves, which are fairly common TMs that players can teach most Pokémon.
• Bronzong Lvl 63 - Immune to Ground Type moves, Bronzong will try to take advantage of Trick Room or set it up itself to move first in battle. It has high Defense and Special Defense and high Base Power Moves in Earthquake and Gyro Ball. The faster the player's Pokémon is to Bronzong will determine how powerful Gyro Ball, maxing out at 150 Base Power if the opposing Pokémon is over five times its Speed.

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Team

Psychic Type Pokémon have three weaknesses in Bug, Ghost, and Dark. Lucian's team and their typing make it so only Girafarig is immune to Ghost Type moves. Dark moves will hit every Pokémon for super effective damage except for Medicham and Mr. Mime.

Ghost And Dark Types

• Mismagius - Sending in this Pokémon turn one can give it ample time to setup as Mr. Mime will use Reflect and Lightscreen for the rest of Lucian's team. Using Substitute can guarantee safety while using Nasty Plot to increase Mismagius's Special Attack enough to be able to one hit KO everything. It learn Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse, giving it super effective coverage for anything weak to it. Alternatively, Calm Mind can be used to increase its Special Defense and Special Attack for a more bulky playstyle. The biggest threat to it is Medicham's Physical moves or Bronzong's Payback but Mismagius can outspeed them both as long as Trick Room isn't set up.
• Gengar - Another setup Pokémon but with a glaring weakness to Psychic moves, Gengar can still do lots of damage with the right investment. With 130 Base Special Attack and 110 Base Speed, it is capable of taking out most of Lucian's team with one Shadow Ball. Mr. Mime's Screen setup will make that job difficult so taking it out as quickly as possible should be priority for anyone using Gengar. Alakazam will still outspeed it and do super effective damage with Psychic, so player's will need to increase its Speed or hide behind a Substitute. Gengar is a risky Pokémon to bring in but can sweep the team under the right conditions.
• Driflblim - With its high HP, Drifblim is one of the safest options against Lucian's team. It can learn Payback and Shadow Ball to hit everything for super effective damage as well as use Stockpile to increase its Defense and Special Defense. Minimize is also a valid strategy as players can get a few Evasiveness boosts and then heal off damage before going for damage. In a Hardcore Nuzlocke, Roost can be used instead.
• Honchkrow - This Pokémon can use both Physical and Special Attacks to great effectiveness but has poor Defenses. It is weak to Fairy Type moves so sending it in turn one will require some Special Defense investment. It can setup with Nasty Plot and Tailwind to increase its Speed and Special Attack, following up with Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse. Without setup, it can still do lots of damage with Sucker Punch and with its Ability Super Luck, it can Crit easily with Night Slash.
• Weavile - High Attack and Speed give Weavile an edge in fighting Lucian's team but like Honchkrow, its weakness to both Fighting and Fairy Type moves make it very frail for the battle. Swords Dance will make sure it Knocks Out Pokémon with Night Slash even with Reflect up. Against Mr. Mime it can learn Poison Jab and against Medicham it can learn Shadow Claw. Alakazam outspeeds it but can only hit it Weavile with its move Shock Wave for not much damage.

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Generall Good Pokémon

• Gyarados - There aren't many battles where Gyarados isn't amazing in. Dragon Dance is one of the best moves in the game and because of the Speed increase, players can easily take out Girafarig before it sets up Trick Room. Three of Lucian's Pokémon have Electric Type moves so Gyarados will only be effective against two of the team unless it can outspeed and take out the other three in one hit. Crunch will work for everything it is super effective against while Waterfall does good neutral damage with a chance to make the opposing Pokémon flinch.
• Garchomp - Apart from Mr. Mime, nothing on Lucian's team can hit Garchomp for super effective damage. It can learn Crunch for Alakazam, Bronzong, and Girafarig as well as Poison Jab or Iron Head for Mr. Mime. Earthquake on its own will do plenty of damage and will be more powerful than using Shadow Claw on Medicham even with the super effective bonus. If Reflect or Light Screen is up, Brick Break will shatter them but Garchomp can choose to use Swords Dance to setup and guarantee easy Knock Outs. Roar can be used against a stat increased Alakazam but its unlikely that it will survive even a single Crunch.

For more Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl guides, check out How to Beat Elite Four Flint in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl on Pro Game Guides.