Pokemon Emerald Team Builder

How the Pokemon Emerald team builder works

Pokémon Emerald is the third and definitive version of the Hoenn games, first released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. It mixes the Pokémon of Ruby and Sapphire, adds a few Johto species and ends with the Battle Frontier, so a generic planner that lists every Pokémon ever made is more confusing than helpful. This Pokemon Emerald team builder starts from the Pokédex of the game itself: the Hoenn Pokédex tab has 195 Pokémon you can obtain in Emerald, and the National Pokédex tab adds 45 more that appear after the main story. Pokémon that can only be transferred from another game, such as the Kanto starters, are left out.

Every Pokémon shows its Gen 3 typing. That matters more than it sounds: Fairy did not exist yet, so Gardevoir is pure Psychic, Azumarill is pure Water and Steel resists Ghost and Dark. The weakness panel uses the same pre-Fairy type chart, so the numbers you see are the numbers you will face against Wallace. When the team looks right, the Pokemon Emerald team builder sends it to our full planner with one click, where you can compare stats, filter by evolution stage and share the link.

Sample teams in the Pokemon Emerald team builder

The three sample teams above are starting points, one for each starter. Each one is built from Pokémon you can catch during the main story, covers the eight Gyms and the Elite Four, and gives one team member an HM-friendly move pool. Load one into the Pokemon Emerald team builder, then swap members to match the Pokémon you actually like.

Want the reasoning behind a full play-through team, with move sets and catch locations? Our best Pokémon Emerald team guide walks through one complete line-up from Littleroot Town to the Champion.

Emerald Gym Leaders your team has to beat

Emerald changed some Gym line-ups from Ruby and Sapphire, and the last Gym is led by Juan instead of Wallace. The table lists every Leader in the order you face them with their strongest Pokémon in the first battle:

The early Gyms decide how comfortable your first hours are. Roxanne and her Nosepass punish a Torchic team, so Torchic players should catch Shroomish in Petalburg Woods or Lotad on Route 102 first. Wattson's Electric Gym is trivial for Marshtomp and Swampert. Norman's Slaking hits harder than anything else at that point in the game, and a Fighting-type is the cleanest answer. Before Juan, bring Electric or Grass attacks for most of his team and a Dragon move for Kingdra, which is Water/Dragon and only weak to Dragon.

Elite Four and Champion Wallace

The Hoenn League is a Pokemon Emerald team builder check in its own right: four specialists plus a Water Champion. Sidney's Dark team folds to Fighting moves. Phoebe's Ghost-types are immune to Normal and Fighting, so bring Dark or Ghost moves. Glacia mixes pure-Ice Glalie with Water/Ice Sealeo and Walrein, so Fighting and Rock moves are the ones that hit her whole team. Ice moves hit four of Drake's five Dragons for at least double damage (Kingdra is the exception), and Wallace closes with Milotic, Ludicolo, Gyarados, Whiscash, Tentacruel and Wailord. Load your team into the Pokemon Emerald team builder and look at the Water, Dragon and Ice rows of the weakness panel: if two of them are red, that is where the League will hurt.

Gen 3 rules the Pokemon Emerald team builder accounts for

Two Gen 3 mechanics change which Pokémon are good, and both are easy to forget if you mostly play newer games:

• The physical/special split is by type. Every Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost and Steel move is physical; every Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Ice, Dragon and Dark move is special. A high-Attack Pokémon like Breloom is great with Fighting moves, while Gyarados, also an Attack specialist, gets little out of its Water moves.
• No Fairy type. Dragons are only resisted by Steel, and Steel resists Ghost and Dark, which makes Skarmory, Metagross and Aggron even better than in later games.

The weakness panel of the Pokemon Emerald team builder already uses the Gen 3 chart, so you do not need to adjust anything by hand.

Plan your HMs before you lock in a team

Emerald has eight HMs: Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength, Flash, Rock Smash, Waterfall and Dive. You need Surf, Waterfall and Dive to finish the story and Strength and Rock Smash for Victory Road. HM moves cannot be forgotten without the Move Deleter in Lilycove City, so give them to one or two Pokémon you do not mind carrying them. Swampert alone learns Surf, Waterfall, Dive, Strength and Rock Smash, which is one reason every sample team in this Pokemon Emerald team builder has a Water-type.

Tips for building an Emerald team

• Aim for six different types, then check the weakness panel. Two members sharing a weakness is fine; three is a red row.
• Keep one Electric or Grass answer for Juan and Wallace, and one Fighting answer for Norman and Sidney.
• Late catches like Bagon and Beldum (a gift from Steven after you become Champion) are strong but arrive after most of the story. Plan a mid-game substitute.
• Check single matchups with the type calculator, and use the version exclusives tool if you trade with Ruby or Sapphire.

Pokemon Emerald team builder FAQ