Question

Tips on defeating Elesa in White?

Answer 1

Obviously, Elesa is probably one of the hardest gyms in the game. Not only having only one weakness, but her stubborn Emolga makes her immune to that weakness. Thankfully, Flying is quite vulnerable as it is.

Flying has an Ice and Rock weakness, which should be fairly easy to get. Especially Rock. Rock + Ground is a fairly common type matchup, especially since Nimbasa City is near a flippin' desert!
May I present to you the best Pokemon ever in this situation, Sandile!

This Pokemon here, is my baby. Yes, my baby. He helped me so much against the battle with Elesa, it brings tears to my eyes. :'D

Not only will you receive him/her with some sweet Ground moves like Mud Slap (okay, maybe not the best of Ground moves but you get Dig at Level 31 :P), AND he is the most common Pokemon on the route, AND he's Ground so he can reflect of any strong Electric-type moves, but you can get a Rock-move in the nearby Desert Resort - TM39 Rock Tomb.

So you can murder those yucky Emolga with Rock Tomb, and Zebstrika with Mud Slap, or Dig if you get it to Level 31. :D

Also, if it helps at all, I used Sandile in my Pokemon White game and he was a great party member, js. ;)

Hope I helped. :)
Source: Many Parts of Serebii

Comments

You can have dig before level 31, before the desert resort there is a house with a dude giving them tm for dig.

Answer 2

1) Bring an Ice or Rock Type move. Elesa, in White, has two near-identical Emolga. They utilize a Volt Switch strategy, and they both know Volt Switch, Aerial Ace, Quick Attack and Pursuit. Source.

2) Bring a Ground Type Pokemon and move. If you bring a Ground type, it ruins her Volt Switch strategy and Ground Moves kill Zebstrika quite easily, her signiture Pokemon. You can find Drilbur in Chargestone Cave or a Sandile on Route 4 and it can serve quite nicely.

That's essentially all you need to beat Elesa. Good luck!

Comments

Majorly ninja'd. o.o

Answer 3

Hello, ISuckatmath! (Okay, that sounded odd...) So, seeing that I only defeated Elesa about 5 days ago, I can say I feel your pain. Anyway, though you might have allready gotten the answer you needed, I thought I would say MY personal strategy, in hopes it might help out some other lost trainer!

What I did to defeat Elesa was to first train my Pokemon. A lot. (Duh :D ) I don't know what everyone else does, but I ALWAYS want my lowest level Pokemon to be at least one level higher than my oponents highest level Pokemon. This strategy has, so far, worked wonderfully for me. In my head, I'm going to have to train them to that level eventually, anyways, so might as well do it early!

Okay, now that I've got THAT out of the way, I'll go on to my more... strategic strategy. My secret weapon to defeat Elesa was this: Blitzle. Most wild Blitzle (and Zebstrika) have a wonderful ability called "lightning rod" where electric attacks do absolutely no damage and boost the Blitzle's speed. This alone makes Elesa's signature move (volt switch) all but useless.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "But, since Blitzle's an electric Pokemon, all of its electric attacks will be really weak against Elesa's Pokemon!" Well, yeah, that is true. However, Blitzle learns an attack at level 18 called flame charge, which is a pretty useful attack at this stage in the game. Basically, its a fairly powerful fire-type attack. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? No? Yes? Maybe? Anyway, teach this WONDERFUL move to your young blitzle, train it up, evolve it, face Elesa, and bombard her stupid Emolga and Zebstrika with Flame Charge! This might not take care of all three of her Pokemon, but if you can train up a grass Pokemon (which electric attacks are weak on) then you should be A-OK!

I hope this helps! It worked for me!

P.S. The idea of just using one attack over and over again is generally not a good idea later in the game. However, in this case, I think it's an exception!