WTF did I do wrong?

[Dark Dragonite]

I've had Emerald a while, stopped playing it do to frustration...but basically, I'm about to enter victory road again...I already beat the snot out of wally...but my pokemon are no match for the E4...I know I screwed up somewhere...but I did beat most of the wild trainers, and the Gym Trainers...

My team(I have a few wild caught pokes near 40...

Swampert Lv46 Hardy
Mud Shot, Muddy Water, Surf, Dig

Swellow Lv.37 Hardy
Fly, Wing attack, Endeavor, Quick attack

Altaria Lv.38 Jolly
Safeguard, Mist, Take Down, Dragonbreath

Breloom Lv.37 Modest
Mega Drain, Sky uppercut, stun spore, mach punch

Manectric Lv.44 Calm
Thunderbolt, Bite, Spark, Roar

I haven't used any TMs other than Dig, I have an egg to hatch with me, but also have a Lv.29 Sableye I want to work with...standard to it's level...

I was thinking about getting Fire Red, trading some pokes over to work things out in both games...but that's a while away, I just want to beat E4 to get the legendaries...what the hell can I do?

[Poryhedron]

I've had Emerald a while, stopped playing it do to frustration...but basically, I'm about to enter victory road again...I already beat the snot out of wally...but my pokemon are no match for the E4...I know I screwed up somewhere...but I did beat most of the wild trainers, and the Gym Trainers...

My team(I have a few wild caught pokes near 40...

Swampert Lv46 Hardy
Mud Shot, Muddy Water, Surf, Dig

Swellow Lv.37 Hardy
Fly, Wing attack, Endeavor, Quick attack

Altaria Lv.38 Jolly
Safeguard, Mist, Take Down, Dragonbreath

Breloom Lv.37 Modest
Mega Drain, Sky uppercut, stun spore, mach punch

Manectric Lv.44 Calm
Thunderbolt, Bite, Spark, Roar

I haven't used any TMs other than Dig, I have an egg to hatch with me, but also have a Lv.29 Sableye I want to work with...standard to it's level...

I was thinking about getting Fire Red, trading some pokes over to work things out in both games...but that's a while away, I just want to beat E4 to get the legendaries...what the hell can I do?

Well, I heartily recommend random training to build your level. The higher your level, the better. In fact, I recommend specifically having as many pokémon over level 54 as possible, because that will make you immune to Walrein's Sheer Cold.
As far as strategies going in...open against the first guy with Altaria, use Safeguard, and then switch to Breloom. Switching will rid you of the enemy Mightyena's Intimidate, and Safeguard will protect you if the enemy uses Swagger. Breloom's Fighting-type attacks can handle pretty much all of Sidney's Dark-type team. The only risk I can see there would be his Shiftry's ExtraSensory attack.
I'm not sure who to suggest against Phoebe's Ghost-type team. Sableye could have the advantage of a STABbed Shadow Ball, but a) its stats aren't terrific, and b) you have a long way to go to raise it.
Manectric should be useful against Glacia's Water/Ice-types, but she also has two Pure-Ice-types that could be trouble. Fighting attacks are strong against Ice-types, but Breloom is weak against Ice-type attacks...
As for Drake, he falls to Ice Beam faster than Lance ever did. Seriously, if you want to beat Drake, see who can use a TM13.

[mr_pikachu]

Ooh, that's rough. Sorry to hear that; the same thing happened with my FireRed pack. My problem, though, was that I couldn't get through Victory Road in the first place...

Pory's given some solid tactics, so let me offer a little advice on fast training.

Do you have Ruby or Sapphire? If you do, I'd advise you to mix records. Part of the problem is that you simply don't get any decent experience when you beat wild Pokemon. If you make secret bases on your other games and then mix records with your Emerald game, then you can battle your own teams in those secret bases, once per day. (You do get experience from this, by the way.) Also, if you keep mixing records repeatedly, you can break the "once per day" limit with each opponent. Just mix records again each time you want to have another battle. This is a much faster way to level up your Pokemon, provided that your Pokemon are able to beat those on your other games. (If not, you can always put a bunch of somewhat weaker Pokemon on those other teams, mix records, and then switch your teams back.)

By the way, that won't work for FireRed or LeafGreen, as you'd have no way to visit any secret bases (if that's even been implemented in FrLg... I'm not certain).

Otherwise, just battle like crazy. Maybe use the Match Call system to look for trainers who want a rematch. Fly in, sweep them out, then move to the next one. It won't be as effective as battling your teams, since they should be much stronger than those of the "average" trainers. But it's sometimes better than just battling wild Pokemon after wild Pokemon.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck in getting through the E4!

[Dark Dragonite]

Thanks guys, I'm pretty sure Swampert can learn Ice Beam...oh, and I forgot to mention a recent capture who may serve well...

Lv.40 Hariyama...Thick fat = half Ice damage...w00t