Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver Gym Leaders & Elite Four

Use Electric, Rock, or Ice types. Mareep (Route 32) with Thundershock is ideal — if you can catch one before challenging Falkner. Geodude (Union Cave) with Rock Throw also works. Watch out: Pidgeotto knows Roost to heal and Tackle for decent damage.

Use Fire, Flying, or Rock moves. Cyndaquil and SoulSilver's exclusive Vulpix are excellent. Pidgeotto also wins with Gust (4× damage). Real threat: Scyther's U-turn and Quick Attack can chip your team — bring someone bulky.

Whitney's Miltank is the most infamous Nuzlocke ender in the entire franchise. Use Fighting types like Machop (Rock Tunnel) or Heracross via Headbutt. The problem: Miltank's Rollout gets stronger each turn, Stomp causes flinches, Attract cripples male Pokémon, and Milk Drink heals 50%. You must paralyze her or use a female attacker to avoid Attract. Bring multiple Fighting-types if you can afford the switches.

Use Dark, Ghost, or Psychic moves. Umbreon (evolved Eevee at night with high friendship) with Bite/Faint Attack is perfect. Gastly and Haunter are Gen 1-style Poison types — weak to Psychic. Main threat: Gengar's Hypnosis + Dream Eater combo. If a Pokémon falls asleep, switch immediately. Mean Look traps you, so do not bring low-level fodder to scout.

Use Flying or Psychic moves. Crobat, Noctowl, or Kadabra all dominate. Danger: Poliwrath is Water/Fighting with Surf as coverage — do not send in Electric types that are weak to Fighting moves. Primeape has Rage (tricky) and is faster than you expect. Psychic attackers with Confusion handle both easily.

Use Fire, Fighting, or Ground moves. Quilava (or SoulSilver's Ninetales) destroys the Magnemites with STAB Fire. Machoke handles Steelix with Brick Break. Critical: Steelix knows Earthquake — do not send in any Fire type at low HP. Magnemites have Thunder Wave to cripple your Speed.

Use Fire, Fighting, or Rock moves. Seel and Dewgong are Water-type so Electric (Ampharos) handles them well. Piloswine is 4× weak to Water. Main threat: Piloswine's Blizzard can freeze and has high Attack with Earthquake. Dewgong also has Aurora Beam that can critical hit. Machoke with Rock Smash is a reliable Fighting option.

Clair is the hardest Johto gym. Ice destroys the Dragonairs (Piloswine's Blizzard, Lapras Ice Beam). Electric handles Gyarados (4× weak). Kingdra is the wall: only weak to Dragon moves in Gen 4. Use Ice Beam from a high Special Attack Pokémon (Lapras, Starmie if you got one). Kingdra's Hyper Beam can one-shot weakened team members. Ampharos with Thunderbolt handles the Gyarados safely. Save your strongest Ice attacker for Kingdra.

Use Dark, Bug, or Ghost moves. Umbreon with Faint Attack walls everything except Exeggutor. Heracross with Megahorn one-shots everything except Jynx. Watch for: Xatu's Psychic + Confuse Ray combo, Jynx's Lovely Kiss sleep, and Slowbro's bulk.

Use Psychic and Fire. Alakazam one-shots Muk, Venomoth, and Ariados with Psychic. Fire (Typhlosion or Ninetales) Flamethrower 4× destroys Forretress. Forretress has Explosion — switch to a Ghost-type like Gengar before the kill. Crobat is fast and hits hard with Cross Poison + Aerial Ace.

Use Psychic and Flying. Alakazam with Psychic one-shots the three Hitmon-brothers and Machamp. Crobat with Aerial Ace also cleans up. Water or Grass handles Onix (4× weak to Water, Grass). Machamp has Cross Chop and No Guard ability — Dynamic Punch never misses and causes confusion. Do not let Machamp set up.

Use Fighting for Umbreon and Houndoom. Fire (Ninetales, Quilava) Flamethrower kills Vileplume. Ground or Rock destroys Houndoom — Donphan with Earthquake is perfect. Houndoom's Flamethrower is dangerous if you can't resist Fire. Gengar knows Shadow Ball + Thunderbolt — bring a Dark type like Tyranitar. Murkrow has Drill Peck for coverage.

Ice Beam is the answer to everything. Lapras, Piloswine, Mamoswine, or any high Special Attack Pokémon with Ice Beam carries this fight. Electric (Ampharos) Thunderbolt one-shots Gyarados and hits Charizard 4×. Rock (Golem) destroys Charizard and Aerodactyl. Biggest Danger: All three Dragonites know Hyper Beam which can one-shot weakened team members. Stealth Rock before the fight helps. Lance's ace Dragonite at Lv.50 is extremely bulky — bring full Ice coverage and save your best Ice attacker for last.

Use Water, Grass, or Fighting moves. Feraligatr with Surf destroys Graveler, Rhyhorn, and Onix easily. Grass moves hit all five for super-effective damage. Watch for: Kabutops has Swords Dance and Cross Chop — hits Water resists hard.

Use Electric or Grass. Ampharos shines here — Thunderbolt destroys everything except Quagsire. Quagsire needs Grass (Meganium, Victreebel, Bellossom in SoulSilver). Lapras has Ice Beam that threatens Dragon types. Starmie is fast with Surf + Psychic.

Use Ground. Donphan and Rhydon with Earthquake one-shot his entire team (all Electric types are weak to Ground, and Magneton is 4× weak). Electrode has Self-Destruct/Explosion — switch to a Ghost-type (Gengar) before KO.

Use Fire, Flying, Ice, or Bug. Ninetales (SS) or Arcanine (HG) Flamethrower one-shots all four. Crobat's Aerial Ace also cleans up. Danger: Jumpluff has Sleep Powder — do not miss your one-shot.

Use Psychic or Fire. Alakazam one-shots the entire team with Psychic. Fire types handle the Bug/Poison crew easily. Watch for: Weezing's Explosion and Crobat's high Speed with Bite.

Use Dark, Bug, or Ghost. Umbreon, Tyranitar, Houndoom, Crobat with Bite/Crunch all destroy her team. Danger: Alakazam is extremely fast with Psychic + Recover. Use priority moves (Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch) if available.

Blaine has the lowest levels of any Kanto gym. Use Water, Ground, or Rock. Feraligatr Surf one-shots everything (Magcargo is 4× weak to Water). Minor threat: Rapidash is fast with Flamethrower — do not send in Grass types.

Blue has a mixed team — plan coverage carefully. Electric for Pidgeot and Gyarados (4× weak). Dark for Alakazam and Exeggutor. Grass or Water for Rhydon. Water or Ground for Arcanine. Biggest Danger: Alakazam's Psychic one-shots Fighting types. Gyarados has Dragon Dance setup. Bring a bulky team with at least 3 type matchups.

Red is the hardest fight in any mainline Pokémon game. His Pikachu at Lv.88 has perfectly chosen moves (Volt Tackle, Quick Attack, Iron Tail, Thunder). Every team member is fully optimized. Recommended counters: Ground for Pikachu (Donphan, Golem, Rhydon). Electric + Grass for Lapras (Ampharos). Fighting for Snorlax (Machamp, Heracross). Psychic for Venusaur (but watch for Sludge Bomb). Rock or Electric for Charizard (4× Rock weakness). Grass or Electric for Blastoise. Warnings: Snorlax has Curse + Rest setup and can sweep if given free turns. Charizard has Blast Burn for massive damage. Blastoise knows Ice Beam for Dragon coverage. Most Nuzlockers stop at Lance or the Kanto gyms — Red is pure bragging rights. You must grind significantly to approach his levels.