Alright so yesterday morning I was stuck on that damn Dragon Gym Leader fight, right? Three tries in a row my best Pokemon got wiped out by his Hydreigon like it was nothing. I was getting seriously annoyed. Needed a new plan. Remembered hearing “exploit type weaknesses” but kinda forgot what those were for dragons off the top of my head.
The Problem: Dragons Smashing My Team
Looked it up, obviously. Dragons are tough, hit hard, but they got weaknesses just like anything else. Key ones are:
- Ice – Messes them up good.
- Fairy – Dragons literally can’t scratch most fairies properly.
- Dragon – Yeah, dragons are weak to their own type too. High risk, high reward though.
Glanced at my current team lineup. Mostly Water, Fire, Electric. Not much Ice or Fairy action going on. My Flygon? Well, it is Dragon/Ground, so it could hit back dragon-wise, but way too slow and squishy against that Hydreigon.
Building The Anti-Dragon Squad
Right, needed specialists. Went rummaging through my boxes. What did I have?
- Togekiss (Fairy/Flying) – Perfect! Fairy typing means it resists Dragon moves.
- Mamoswine (Ice/Ground) – Jackpot! Ice STAB for days.
- Garchomp (Dragon/Ground) – Still risky, but hits hard and fast. Backup plan.
Trained the Togekiss for speed and Special Attack EVs. Wanted it fast and hitting hard with Moonblast or Dazzling Gleam. Mamoswine I focused on Attack EVs, prepping Icicle Crash and Earthquake. Just needed them ready, stats maxed where it mattered.
Putting It To The Test… Again
Back to the Gym Leader. Sent out Mamoswine first this time. His Hydreigon starts spamming Dragon Pulse. Ha! Ground typing helps, barely took any damage. Slapped an Assault Vest on Mamo for extra tankiness. Icicle Crash smashed Hydreigon down to half in one hit!
Leader switched to Dragapult. Faster than my Mamoswine? Probably. It fired off a strong Dragon Darts. Mamo took it okay, but didn’t outspeed. Switched immediately to Togekiss. Dragapult hits it with… basically nothing! Fairy type immunity, baby! Togekiss blasted it away with Dazzling Gleam like it was target practice.
Final dragon? Some Haxorus thing. Hit hard. Tried switching back to Mamo, but Haxorus landed a brutal Outrage. Mamo fainted. Okay, no panic. Sent in Garchomp. Bit nerve-wracking, both dragons. Outspeed it thanks to good EVs! Boom, Dragon Claw straight to the face. Done. Leader defeated.
Worked like a charm. Took a bit of prep, getting the right mons trained, holding the right items (Assault Vest on Mamo, Leftovers on Toge), and actually remembering the switch-ins at the right moment. But using those weaknesses – Ice and Fairy especially – made what felt impossible before feel almost easy.