What is more useful against the last gym leader and elite four in X/Y?

Question

Is Xerneas or Yveltal more useful? I got X, I want to know if I should have gotten Y. They are both cool...

or ??

Answer 1

Well, lets look at the typings of the five trainers you have to face:
Ice
Water
Fire
Steel
Dragon

Both Pokemon have great Atk and SpAtk stats and here are movesets you can cover both with:

Yveltal @ BlackGlasses
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 SpAtk, 4 HP
Nature: Serious
Dragon Claw
Focus Blast
Oblivion Wing
Dark Pulse

Xerneas @ Lum Berry
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 SpAtk, 4 HP
Nature: Serious
Outrage
Close Combat
Horn Leech
Moonblast

These sets are basically the same, a Dragon Move for Drasna, a Fighting move for Wikstrom and Wulfric, a recovery move in case your health gets low, and a STAB Move powered up by their aura.

These sets are the same because their Base Stats are exactly the same. There really is no better Pokemon, but if I had to pick one, it would be Xerneas. It has an edge over most of the Elite Four and Diantha.

Comments

Well honestly, I never really use my legendaries in the Elite 4 or any gym. I don't know how, but they can ruin the fun of taking things steadily, and enjoying the time you have to play the game.

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Me too! I always think of it as cheating (even though its not.)

Answer 2

They're kind of balanced in this sense.

Ice Gym: Xerneas, Yveltal is weak to Ice
Steel E4: Yveltal, Xerneas is weak to Steel
Fire E4: Yveltal, Xerneas's Fairy moves are resisted by Fairy
Dragon E4: Xerneas, its Fairy moves are super-effective and is immune to Dragon.

As for the Champion, I've heard that Yveltal was able to handle Diantha quite well, but Xerneas has the edge, hitting 4 of 6 of her Pokemon (Hawlucha, Tyrantrum, Aurorus, Goodra) while Yveltal only hits 3 (Hawlucha, Gardevoir, Gourgeist) and is weak to Aurorus.

Xerneas has the slight edge, but they both are able to handle the late game trainers. Yveltal however, does have the upper hand in beating one of the toughest Pokemon you'll face in the game and that's the Champ's Mega Gardevoir.

Comments

Xerneas learns Horn Leech.

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I'm really just looking at basic weaknesses and resistances.

Answer 3

Personally I prefer Xerneas, not because of usefulness but because it's a moose-thingy :D?
Anyway, the last gym is Ice Type, so Xerneas would hold the edge over Yveltal there since Yveltal is part flying. I'd also say Xerneas is more useful against the Elite 4, due to it's STAB fairy attacks allowing it to kill Drasna and about half of Diantha's team. Though, Malva and Wikistrom's teams have the advantage against it.
That's just typewise anyway, it will vary on opinion. They're both great though ;3