Team Indigo: A 1050+ win Pokemon Emerald Battle Tower team

Current streak: 1071 wins (1st place for non-stall teams, 4th place overall)

Previous streaks: None

Close calls: Espeon4 (twice), Scizor4 (twice), Heracross3, Metagross8 (aided by misplay), Dugtrio4+Donphan4 (misplay)

Leaderboard: https://speedpastes.org/lnE7N_h3

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oreuixQblX4 (also see past broadcasts on twitch.tv/exarionu/videos)

 

A close call is defined as a battle in which the win rate dropped below 85%.

 

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THE TEAM (Level 50)

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Medicham (F) @ Choice Band

Ability: Pure Power

Adamant nature

EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe

Level 50 stats: 136 HP, 246 Atk, 95 Def, 72 SpA, 95 SpD, 132 Spe

Stats:

Brick Break

Shadow Ball

Fake Out

Rock Slide

Latios (M) @ Lum Berry

Ability: Levitate

Timid nature

EVs: 28 HP, 4 Def, 252 SpA, 4 SpD, 220 Spe

Level 50 stats: 159 HP, 85 Atk, 101 Def, 182 SpA, 131 SpD, 173 Spe

Psychic

Dragon Claw

Calm Mind

Thunderbolt

Suicune @ Leftovers

Ability: Pressure

Bold nature

EVs: 244 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpA, 4 SpD, 4 Spe

Level 50 stats: 206 HP, 72 Atk, 183 Def, 111 SpA, 136 SpD, 106 Spe

Surf

Ice Beam

Calm Mind

Substitute

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TEAM DESCRIPTION

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This is an attempt to create the best offensive team for the Battle Tower, for the purposes of attaining a long streak. Defensive teams win using heavy PP stalling strategies, which prolong battles to such a degree that they aren't fun to play or watch.

 

Team Indigo is based off Kommo-o's "Team Azure" of Latios/Suicune/Steelix, which previously had the longest streak of any offensive team at 650 wins.

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TEAM STRATEGY

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Medicham is the best offensive Pokemon for defeating major threats. These include Lapras, Rhydon, the Regis, and the Latis. So leading it allows these Pokemon to be OHKO'd without getting a single turn. Medicham also often sweeps battles against type-themed opponents (e.g., Brick Break the Rock/Steel/Regi trainers, Shadow Ball the Psychic trainers).

Medicham struggles against basic Electric, Grass, Poison and Flying types, but Latios handles these easily and is usually a safe switch. Medicham can also use Fake Out before switching when it sees a lead it doesn't like. A common pattern is Fake Out --> switch into damaging move that Latios resists --> Calm Mind --> status move that is cured by Lum Berry --> Psychic.

 

Fake Out is extremely useful. It can be used to scout opponent sets without the risk of giving it a turn. For example, against Regirock, the only set that scares Suicune on the switch is the one with Leftovers (Regirock4) because I could be switching into a Thunder Wave. So I use Fake Out, and if Regirock recovers with Leftovers, I let Medicham die and then send in Suicune and Substitute to block the incoming Thunder Waves. Then I set up to +6 for an easy win.

Rock Slide has only been used once in 1071 battles. It's theoretically useful in a pinch, but pretty much any move could be used in the 4th slot as long as it's not a Hidden Power that reduces Medicham's stats. Adedede's Medicham/Latios/Blissey team (441 wins and counting) used Swift instead of Rock Slide, but I can't think of a single time I would have used Swift, since you still lose to Brightpowder mons if you click it, and Suicune owns Double Team users. Hidden Power Ground is a possibility since it helps against Muk, Metagross and Horn Drill Nidoking and doesn't reduce Medicham's stats.

 

Latios runs 173 Speed to outspeed Gengar, Espeon, Starmie, Raikou, Dugtrio and Sceptile. I've had close calls against all of these except Raikou (which is also very dangerous if Latios is fainted), so the investment is definitely worth it! Otherwise it's just the standard Latios set, with Calm Mind being a clear choice over Surf since Medicham and Suicune cover the Surf targets.

 

Suicune is a physical wall that can switch in with minimal risk against the likes of Salamence, Metagross and Aerodactyl. It also can set up and sweep most teams due to its high bulk and strong defensive typing. And it's a reliable backup if Medicham gets OHKO'd by a strong Quick Claw user.

 

The team has good defensive synergy and also plays well in 2v3, 1v2 and 1v3 situations. Sometimes the best line to victory is to identify which of Medicham, Latios, and Suicune is most expendable against the trainer you are facing given their pool of Pokemon, and then sacrifice that Pokemon so that you don't have to risk a switch. For example, against a Gengar lead on a Fire trainer, you should keep Medicham in and risk losing it to a crit or Shadow Ball high roll. Latios can revenge kill Gengar, and then you likely have Latios/Suicune against 2 Fire types, which is basically a guaranteed win. Against Ruin Maniacs (Regis, Grounds, Rocks and Steels), the Pokemon to sacrifice would be Latios; against Bird Keepers, it would be Medicham; against Psychic trainers, it would usually be Suicune. I also try to avoid any risks with Latios on a trainer that could have Heracross, since Heracross can beat Suicune and Medicham 1v2.

 

Team Indigo's main difference from Team Azure is that it leads a faster Choice Band user for immediate OHKOs against major threats.

 

Other differences:

- This team does not need to swap stall to beat threats like Regice and Lapras.

- Steelix's defensive typing is sorely missed against scary Sludge Bombers, scary Electric types, and Espeon4.

- Gardevoir3/4 are easier with Medicham than Steelix because Medicham outspeeds the 21 IV variants and speedties the 31 IV variants.

- I run Ice Beam on Suicune instead of Rest. This allows it to defeat Water Absorbers (Lapras, Vaporeon, Quagsire) and Ludicolo, switch in to Salamence easily, sweep more consistently at +6, and finish off scary mixed attackers like Sceptile and the Latis in a pinch. Having 40 attacking PP instead of 24 is helpful against Double Team users as well. Despite the lack of a healing move, Suicune can often set up to +6 with a Substitute thanks to Leftovers recovery. I also don't like that Rest is primarily used to PP stall.

- I run maximum Defense on Suicune and only 106 Speed instead of 121. This helps Suicune defeat and set up against the physical attackers it is designed to beat. Suicune is more likely to survive random Explosions from the likes of Regirock and Forretress. It can also survive 3 Megahorns from Heracross with favorable rolls. The Pokemon between 106 and 121 Speed are generally handled by Medicham and Latios, except a few Metagross variants that Suicune can still beat while slower.

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THREATLIST

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- Almost entirely Brightpowder mons; Medicham and Suicune match up incredibly well against Quick Claw users

- Espeon4: Brightpowder and Calm Mind. Missing Shadow Ball into Calm Mind would be a loss if not for Medicham's Fake Out (which still has to hit).

- Heracross3: Brightpowder; if it's the lead, you must sacrifice Medicham or send in Suicune for a ~55% chance to beat it at low HP. Latios OHKOs it with Psychic, but you usually lose if you miss.

- Scizor4: Brightpowder + can't be OHKO'd + Swords Dance/Agility and Silver Wind boosts. When it runs out of Silver Wind PP, it will Baton Pass its boosts to the next teammate (often a strong Bug, Rock, or Steel type).

- Sceptile4: Brightpowder + outspeeds Medicham + strong moves against the whole team

- Alakazam4: Brightpowder + outspeeds Medicham + strong moves against the whole team

- Kangaskhan4: Brightpowder + outspeeds Medicham + strong moves against the whole team

- Crobat4: Brightpowder + outspeeds the whole team and has Confuse Ray. Suicune isn't a reliable counter once it gets poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

- Muk4: Can beat Medicham with a crit or Quick Claw activation, and then Quick Claw explode on Latios or Suicune to force you into a 1v2

- Metagross8: The other tricky Quick Claw user. Can be big trouble if it gets the Attack boost from Meteor Mash on the switch to Suicune, since it then beats Suicune 1v1 and OHKOs Medicham and Latios. This is the one Pokemon that punishes Suicune for not running 112 Speed.

- Zapdos: Usually beats Medicham and Suicune, so it's big trouble if Latios is dead.

- Ursaring1/2/4: Quick Claw and Brightpowder + usually OHKOs Medicham. Suicune usually takes a lot of damage before beating it.

 

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TEAMBUILDING PROCESS

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This team materialized over 20 years of playing and testing various combinations of the Tower's best mons, along with some personal favorites. Until this team, I had never attempted a serious streak using Latios because I thought it was too overpowered. I was hoping the best team would not use Latios, especially since it has so many frustrating weaknesses (mostly hax).

 

My best team from childhood was Leech Seed Sceptile, Dragon Dance Gyarados, and a variety of third mons that rarely saw use. I won 144 battles mostly by abusing Leech Seed and Substitute with Sceptile or setting up Gyarados. This was before I knew opponents' sets/stats and could calculate damage ranges. So when I returned to team building 15 years later, I wanted to try Gyarados, which had also performed well in testing my "manipless All Gold Symbols" speedrun team of Gyarados/Swampert/Slaking.

 

Gyarados is an amazing setup mon against non-legendary trainers, as it owns Special attackers without Electric moves and has tremendous physical bulk with Intimidate. And it's not difficult to find a teammate that can freely switch into Thunderbolts. My first serious team was Calm Mind Raikou, Dragon Dance Gyarados and Choice Band Steelix. I led Raikou but often won matches by swap stalling with Gyarados and Steelix. I didn't get any official high streaks, but I won about 400 matches in a row.

 

Unfortunately, Gyarados has a major weakness to legendaries with unpredictable sets, such as Latios, Latias and Regirock (Clear Body blocks Intimidate). You have to switch out in fear of Thunderbolt/Rock Slide, but you could end up switching into a Psychic or Curse instead. These trainers are hard enough already, and after my luck started to run out (frequent losses at streaks below 200), eventually I realized this flaw was too great to ignore.

 

I still wanted an Intimidate user and still liked how effectively Raikou could handle the special attackers that troubled Latios. So I kept Raikou and swapped out Gyarados for Salamence. That left my team too vulnerable to Water types to continue using Steelix, so I dropped it for Choice Band Medicham. I decided to lead Medicham because it could eliminate the Tower's scariest Pokemon instantly or Fake Out before switching out of bad matchups. That part of the strategy was successful, but Raikou and Salamence just weren't good enough against strong trainers. Raikou's Earthquake weakness and Salamence's 4x Ice weakness were the main problems. Getting OHKO'd by common moves is not good when so many opponents are running Quick Claw and Brightpowder. Also, Salamence needed to run high Speed to improve my matchups against Heracross3 and Alakazam4, but that left it without enough bulk to be an effective setup mon. My highest win streak was 271 wins, and again I concluded my team wasn't good enough.

 

A year later, I revisited Salamence again and ran into the same problems -- not enough Speed or bulk, and not enough Attack to be the team's Choice Band user. So I reluctantly switched to Latios, which naturally pairs well with Suicune. I hadn't used Suicune since childhood, but I had developed some ideas on how to improve it from the Team Azure version that uses Surf/Rest/Calm Mind/Substitute. I thought Suicune could be more fun and possibly more effective with Ice Beam instead of Rest. I figured since my Raikous had often been able to set up 6 Calm Minds without a healing move, Suicune should be able to as well. Leftovers is a pretty broken item. Ice Beam is also required to beat many Water Absorb mons and to safely defeat setup mons that resist Surf, such as Salamence.

 

Team Azure leads Latios and then has Suicune and Steelix in the back. The defensive synergy of these three -- and many similar Dragon/Water/Steel cores -- is incredible. But leading Latios just didn't feel right to me. So often you face a really dangerous Pokemon that you need to switch out of, or a Psychic type with an Ice move that can crit you through Calm Mind and outspeed the rest of your team. And Latios is the best Pokemon in the Battle Frontier, so losing it early is bad. Leading Suicune is risky against setup mons, and leading Steelix just doesn't work because of its awful Speed. I thought about my success using Medicham as a lead, and my success using Medicham and Latios together in a speedrun format -- the Gold Symbol WR is 1:41:29 using Latios/Medicham/Zapdos -- and decided to try it again. I was worried about the shared Shadow Ball weakness, but offensively I knew these two were perfect for each other, and I hoped Suicune would give the team the defensive backbone it needed to survive the Tower's hax.

 

My first draft of this team ran 121 Speed on Suicune, very similar to Team Azure. But I decided to go down to 106 Speed after some testing, as I realized Suicune was rarely used to defeat Pokemon with 107-120 Speed. I also really wanted maximum Defense on Suicune to improve its odds of surviving 3 Megahorns from Heracross3 if Latios misses Psychic. (Heracross3 is the team's second-biggest threat.) I later discovered a better strat for Heracross3 that makes use of Suicune's bulk -- Surf turn 1, then Substitute turn 2 to lower Suicune's HP into kill range for Heracross' weaker moves that don't break Suicune's Sub. This strat isn't nearly as effective with any less than maximum Defense, as Heracross is much more likely to hit Suicune to such low HP that Substitute fails. So I've decided to keep 106 Speed despite a scare against Metagross8 (111 Speed).

 

I briefly considered running a +Speed nature on Medicham with Double-Edge or HP Flying to deal with Heracross. But the extra Attack is too important, and it likely saved me in a battle against a double Silver Wind boosted Scizor. Medicham's fourth move has been Rock Slide the whole time, but there might be something better since I haven't used it once. Latios' spread is mostly self-explanatory -- 173 Speed is the golden number for Tower, and maximum Special Attack is needed to improve important ranges like Heracross2.

 

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WHY THIS TEAM IS GOOD

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Many readers might wonder how such a frail team could be so successful. It has two Pokemon with a common physical weakness and low physical defense, and no healing moves. I've wondered this myself. I don't know how much of the team's success is luck, how much is skill (decisions in battle), and how much is the team itself. But I'll try to explain it as well as I can.

 

First, I'll address some early criticisms that this team is too vulnerable to hax in general. Offensive teams cannot completely protect against hax such as multiple Quick Claw crits and consecutive Brightpowder misses. This flaw is why stall teams were created in the first place. So, within the limitations of a non-stall team, a good team should strive to create as many layers of defense as possible. As an example, let's look at Team Indigo's matchup with Rhydon3 and Rhydon4 (Quick Claw + Horn Drill + strong EQ). Unlike many teams, I lead a Pokemon that OHKOs Rhydon, so I don't have to risk getting Horn Drilled on the switch. That's the first layer of defense. Then, if Rhydon's Quick Claw activates against my lead, he's only about 30% to OHKO me because I survive most Earthquake rolls (as opposed to a Pokemon that is OHKO'd by Earthquake/Rock Slide/Megahorn). That's the second layer. Then, if Rhydon lands the Quick Claw OHKO, I send in Suicune, which OHKOs it and is only 3% to get OHKO'd first. That's a third and fourth layer of defense. I'm also 83% likely to beat Rhydon with a +1 Latios and guaranteed to beat Rhydon with Suicune's Substitute up. More layers.

 

Another example is Slowbro and Slowking, both of which have two offensive Quick Claw sets. Medicham OHKOs them. If their Quick Claw activates, they only OHKO me with a critical hit. If they get the Quick Claw crit, I'm still over 90% likely to win with either Latios or Suicune, and if Suicune wins, it faces the next Pokemon with many Calm Mind boosts. If I have Latios or Suicune out when I see Slowbro or Slowking, I only need to weaken them into Fake Out range (25% HP) to guarantee that Medicham wins. Overall the chance of losing to these Pokemon is extremely small.

 

Having said that, Team Indigo's win rate will always be capped by its vulnerability to fast Brightpowder foes. Winning 650+ is almost certainly luckier than average. However, I believe my previous analysis of my odds of dying to major Brightpowder threats was inaccurate -- I estimated 1 in 1000 to lose to Espeon4 and 1 in 1000 to lose to Heracross4, but I think it's less likely than that with proper play.

 

I think Medicham is an S tier Pokemon if you are committed to running an offensive team. Medicham isn't actually frail by offensive team standards, as it OHKOs so many of the heavy hitters that frail Pokemon worry about, such as Rhydon. It also isn't weak to any moves above 80 power, and the two 80 power moves it is weak to (Drill Peck and Shadow Ball) are rarely seen with strong STAB. Medicham's defensive strength is perhaps best shown through its matchups against Latios and Latias. These two legendaries have a variety of powerful coverage moves -- Psychic, Dragon Claw, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Earthquake and Shadow Ball -- across their 16 sets (8 for each Lati). But none of these 16 Latios and Latias have a move that can OHKO Medicham, and only two of 16 outspeed. And Medicham OHKOs all the Latis except the two with Earthquake/Shadow Ball, which are Suicune setup fodder.

 

Medicham matches up well with many legendaries, but more importantly, it OHKOs almost all of the Tower's premier "hax mons." Every Lapras, Walrein, Dewgong and Rhydon is OHKO'd by Brick Break. So is every Snorlax, Ursaring, Aggron and Steelix. The notorious Quick Claw Slowbro and Slowking are OHKO'd by Shadow Ball and cannot OHKO Medicham without a crit. For hax mons that are faster, such as Jolteon4, Medicham often does 50-60% damage with Fake Out. So you can Fake Out once, switch, and if Latios or Suicune dies, Fake Out again for the win. You can also use Fake Out to finish off dangerous Salac Berry mons like Pinsir2.

 

Fake Out is a great move for a lead, because it's extra damage and scouting against almost every Pokemon that you wish to switch out of. The damage can make a huge difference in handling threats such as Houndoom and Jolteon4, as it allows Latios to KO them immediately after you switch. Sometimes you get favorable sequences like Fake Out --> switch to Latios on a Starmie's Psychic --> Calm Mind while Starmie uses Recover. Fake Out can also be spammed to sacrifice Medicham against a Pokemon that has Thunder Wave and is slower than Suicune. After Medicham dies, Suicune can safely set up a Substitute and 6 Calm Minds while the opponent spams Thunder Wave.

 

Medicham's effectiveness against dangerous leads acts as a variance reducer, which is huge for improving Tower win rates. Most offensive teams struggle against strong opponents (legendaries and hax mons) and overkill weaker opponents (Dodrio, Nidos, etc.). Team Indigo matches up well against stronger opponents and sometimes poorly against weaker opponents -- but you still beat them because they're weak. It's exceptionally unlikely to lose to anything except hax.

 

Team Azure, the 650-win team that Team Indigo is based off, leads Latios and has Suicune and Choice Band Steelix in the back. These three Pokemon synergize very well, but Latios as a lead can create some uncomfortable situations because he struggles against powerful hax mons. For example, if you face Rhydon, you'd want switch to Steelix to block Horn Drill and then switch to Suicune on the incoming Earthquake. But if Rhydon doesn't use Horn Drill on the switch to Steelix, then it can use Horn Drill on the switch to Suicune because it hasn't yet seen that Steelix has Sturdy. And if you keep Steelix in, Rhydon can beat Steelix 1v1 with STAB Earthquake. And crit Earthquake and/or Quick Claw can severely weaken or KO Suicune. If you keep Latios in from the beginning, you risk dying to Horn Drill or Megahorn. In general you don't want to risk losing Latios because he's the best Pokemon in the Tower, but you also don't want to switch when facing a powerful hax mon.

 

Medicham pairs particularly well with Latios because they cover each other's weaknesses almost perfectly. Medicham destroys the Pokemon that typically trouble Latios -- strong STAB Normals, tanky Ice types, some Steel types, and special tanks like Blissey and Umbreon. And Latios covers the Flying, Poison, Fire, Electric and bulky Fighting types that trouble Medicham. Suicune is an extra layer of hax protection, which is essential in the Tower, but it's often not needed.

 

Although Medicham is an uncommon choice for the Tower, it has a great track record. Adedede's famous 1090-win streak began with ~441 consecutive wins using CB Medicham, Latios and Blissey. He accomplished this streak despite a suboptimal Latios moveset of Psychic/Dragon Claw/Shock Wave/Surf and a major vulnerability to Metagross and Heracross. I've also won 200 in a row with Medicham, Latios and a suboptimal spread on Suicune (121 Speed) before losing to a misplay. I haven't found any other streaks from established players using Medicham. So you could say Medicham has over 1200 wins without a loss (as of March 7, 2026). What other Pokemon can say that?

 

(I did lose several times using Medicham/Raikou/Salamence last year. It seems that Latios is the key to unlocking Medicham -- or perhaps the other way around!)

 

Much has been written about the dominance of Latios and Suicune in the Tower. But I've never seen someone use the variant of Surf/Ice Beam/Calm Mind/Substitute on Suicune. I would encourage others to try it -- you'd be surprised how often you're able to fully set up without Rest. For Team Indigo in particular, Ice Beam might be necessary to safely handle Dragon Dance Salamence and salvage battles against crit-happy Sceptiles.

 

Some might wonder if this team made it far because of skill. Making the correct decisions in battle to fully optimize win rate is actually very difficult and requires a lot of patience. I don't know exactly how skilled I am compared to other Battle Frontier players. But I can safely say that my skill during this streak has not been exceptional, because I have played most of it with speedups and made many mistakes.