Suggestions wanted: who should I take to face the Elite 4?

[Lady Vulpix]

So I've finally reached the Pokemon League. Again, I have too many Pokemon and their levels are too low (currently 53-54). I do intend to raise them a bit more before I face the E4, but I will still have to choose 6 out of my team to face them, so it would be interested to see what your thoughts are.

My team is the following:

Delphox
-Flamethrower
-Will-o-Wisp
-Psychic
-Shadow Ball
Notes: faster than lightning, but highly vulnerable.

Charizard
-Flamethrower
-Shadow Claw (may switch to Dragon Claw, even back and forth depending on who I must challenge)
-Wing Attack
-Slash
Notes: good stats overall, can megaevolve but that's a double-edged sword as it makes him weak to Dragon and Fairy type attacks.

Pidgeot
-Return
-Fly
-Featherdance
-Roost
Notes: fairly good at both attack and defense, pretty fast but not fast enough when her opponent's levels are so much higher.

Butterfree
-Sleep Powder
-Quiver Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Psychic
Notes: Sleep Powder may save the day, if it can be thrown in time and lasts long enough. Speed is good but again, levels don't help here.

Vaporeon
-Surf
-Blizzard
-Shadow Ball
-Swift (not expecting to use this move here)
Notes: good Special Attack, great against multiple opponents but that's not the case here, naturally high HP, other stats are... OK.

Snorlax
-Yawn
-Protect
-Body Slam
-Earthquake
Notes: Yawn+Protect make him a good alternative to Butterfree's Sleep Powder. HP-tank with high Attack, very slow but may attack first thanks to Quick Claw.

Kangaskhan
-?
-?
-?
-?
Notes: may get to megaevolve at some point, I haven't tried that yet. Good stats overall, but I haven't found a convincing moveset yet. She's usually the one who uses Strength, but she's also quite good in battle.

Roserade
-Toxic
-Leech Seed
-Venoshock
-Giga Drain
Notes: super high Special Attack makes Venoshock and Giga Drain effective in battle. He's already defeated a Greninja (with Ice Beam) and Xerneas in a random challenge. My main concern is that type matchups do not favor him against the Elite Four.

Aurorus
-Ice Beam
-Ancient Power
-Icy Wind
-Nature Power
Notes: Nature Power is better than I had expected, but Ancientpower is not that good, it is only there because I needed a special Rock-type move (because his Special Attack is better than his Attack). Icy Wind might help with Speed issues, even though it makes my ears ring when he uses it.

Steelix
-Iron Tail
-Dig (or maybe Earthquake? Earthquake is stronger, but Dig can be used strategically).
-Payback
-Double-Edge
Notes: Double-Edge has no recoil effect, and she can actually take advantage of her low speed. Huge Defense, good Attack.

Lapras
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Rain Dance
-Body Slam
Notes: I was unsure about Rain Dance, but it has proven to be helpful sometimes, especially against opponents who benefit from other weather conditions. His stats are all quite good, especially HP.

Lucario
-Aura Sphere
-Dig
-?
-?
Notes: I've been rotating the other 2 moves. He has good Attack and Special Attack and can megaevolve, but he can hardly take a blow, so he's the main candidate to not face the Elite 4.

Ditto
- Whatever moves the opponent has.
Notes: Imposter ability, fully EV-trained for HP, great against higher level Pokemon. I didn't think so at first, but I'm seriously considering taking it.

So... suggestions (and reasons)?

[Shadow Wolf]

Hmm... Well, I'm not sure if you'd want spoilers or not, but Ill try to give suggestions in a spoiler-free manner.

The first thing is to try and make a balanced team. With that in mind...

Charizard (Fire/Flying)
Lucario (Fight/Steel) or Steelix (Rock/Steel)
Roselia (Grass/Poison) (might need to consider evolving to Roserade for extra stats)
Lapras (Water/Ice) or Vaporeon (Water)
Snorlax (Normal) or Kangaskhan (Normal)

Now then, in making a balanced team is important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the pokemon. Because of that I would choose Charizard over Delphox since he's less vulnerable. I'm sure that you will consider mega-evolving or not depending on who you're facing. :)

This one I plan to leave it to you. I would take Lucario, but I believe Steelix has one less weakness than Lucario, so Steelix might be the better choice.

Is funny that I don't know much about grass type, especially considering that Grass starters have been my favorite in 3 of the 6 generations, so I don't much about Roselia. However, considering that we're trying to make a balanced team, I think Roselia is a better choice that Butterfree simply because it has better stats.

Now then, in the water/ice department, you have three pokemon at your disposal. I would choose Lapras because of the bigger overall stats, but the other two aren't too bad either. Vaporeon has less weaknesses I believe, so he could be a good choice too. I don't know about Aurorus, but if you go with Steelix over Lucario, then I would not recommend Aurorus since he's also has a 4x fight weakness with his dual type and is rock type too, like Steelix. and you already have two pokemon weak to fighting in a steel and a normal pokemon in your team.

Now, Kangaskhan and Snorlax and two pokemon I don't much about either. However, Even though Snorlax has better stats than Kangaskhan, Kangaskhan is faster and can Mega-Evolve. So if you want someone faster, Kangaskhan is your choice. But if you want more defense, Snorlax could do good.

Now, the final space is open for the taking. I was wondering if you could add one more pokemon from your team, but I can't really find one. So my advice would be to et another 6th pokemon. And if I can give an advice, I would advise you either a Dragon type or an Electric Type. If you plan to Mega-Evolve Charizard during the Elite four, then I would suggest an electric type that is not Ampharos. Ampharos mega-evo is also Dragon type, so that would not help. If you wish, I could plan with you so that I can trade you an Electrike. Manectric might be a nice addition to your team, plus he can mega-evolve too. Another good choice is Garchomp but again, two dragons might not be good unless you may not want to mega-evolve charizard.

Oh, and one more thing: If your pokemon are EV-trained (I'm sure you confirmed this earlier), Try to teach sweet scent and petal blizzard to Roselia temporarily. Floatzel have a decent horde spawn rate in the victory road and they give a very good about of experience. Petal Blizzard is a move that hit all pokemon if memory serves, so you can take them down fairly quickly.

Anyway, I think that's all I have to give for now. Not sure if this is a good advice, but I hope that it is of some help. :)

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks for your detailed analysis. And sorry, I meant Roserade. I suppose that Ditto can fill the 6th spot, since it gets the opponent's stats and besides... how many Pokemon have defeated the Elite Four?

Based on your advice, I'm leaning towards Charizard, Lapras, Roserade, Snorlax, Steelix and Ditto.

And Lucario is so fragile he can hardly deal a blow before he's knocked out, so yes, I'd rather go with Steelix. She won't strike first, but she'll take the first blow easily and strike back with ferocity.

[CaptainJigglypuff]

I personally say you should use these Pokemon:

Delphox
Lapras
Charizard
Roserade
Lucario

The last space is for your own choice. I think this team will help with the Elite Four. Mega Evolve Lucario or Charizard and you are almost certain a guaranteed win. If you got the Speed Boost Torchic event and evolved it into Blaziken, I highly recommend you Mega Evolve that in ALL the battles except for Siebold. Mega Blaziken is especially deadly with Blaze Kick, Sky Uppercut, and Power Up Punch. I seriously blazed through the Elite and Diantha with Mega Blaziken. Even with Siebold went down when I pulled out Blaziken as a last result. I also recommend carrying at least 10 Revives and 10 Full Restore with you. It helps out greatly.

[DivineAll]

I usually build my E4 and Champion team based on the Type weaknesses each member has. Water for Malva, Fire for Wikstrom, Fairy or Ice for Drasna, Grass for Siebold, and Steel for Diantha since half her team is weak against it. So by that logic, you should go for Delphox, Lapras, Roserade, and Steelix. Snorlax would make a good backup tank and for choice 6... I'd go for Ditto mainly because it has Imposter.

[ChobiChibi]

I know you've got a lot of pokemon there, but how are they such low levels?! I just beat the E4 without grinding, my 'mons, with the exception of a newly trained Sylveon (replaced my level 60 Vivillion just before gym 8), were all in their 70's already. And Sylveon hit 70 by the time we'd finished O_o

You won't be able to mega-Kangaskhan til post-game. You can't get the megastone til then. I only used mine for tanking purposes...

I'd go for Earthquake on Steelix. You'll thank me later ^^

My bf can do the whole E4 with just a Garchomp. I am never battling that thing ><

EDIT: I apologise for the level thing. You raised 13, I raised 7. It makes perfect sense.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks, everyone. I finally made it!

I raised my Pokemon to levels 59/60 and faced the Elite 4 and the champion. The POkemon I took with me were: Ditto, Charizard, Vaporeon, Snorlax, Steelix, Roserade. All EV-trained and Snorlax was supremely trained, whatever that means for the game.

I kept Dig on Steelix, but all she really had to do was use Iron Tail once. That was a 1HKO on the champion's most powerful Pokemon.

The one who did the most 1HKOs, however, was Vaporeon (6 times, including all 4 Fire Pokemon). I'm glad I took him with me.

My only regret is that none of my Pokemon got experience from defeating Tyrantrum, since he knocked out my Charizard with Head Smash and knocked itself out from the recoil. But that was the only time one of my Pokemon fainted, so all things considered it was much easier than I had expected.

The only annoying part was Drasna's Altaria with its incessant singing. By the way, am I the only one who finds Drasna really creepy? She looks like the kind of character whose favorite meal is little children.