How to Beat Mossdeep Gym in Pokemon Emerald

Are you having trouble with the psychic duo? Here’s everything you need if you’re wondering how to beat Mossdeep Gym in Pokemon Emerald.

The Mossdeep City Gym in Pokemon Emerald offered one of the first unique takes on gym battles.

We saw double gym battles debut in this building with the iconic psychic partners Tate and Liza. In case you find beating them too hard, this guide will help you greatly.

I’ll show you the best strategies and preparations when facing the Mossdeep duo. Here we go!

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The Mossdeep Gym in Hoenn

Mossdeep Gym is located in Mossdeep City, an island east of Route 124. On your first time arriving here, you would need to Surf. 

The Mossdeep Space Center and Steven’s house are also located in this city.

But we’re here for the Mossdeep Gym. Upon entering, you’ll be greeted by our favorite gym guy in the green suit. 

This gym features a puzzle that revolves around rotating platforms activated by switches.

You need to rotate them to open a path until you get to the gym leaders. Along the way, you will face trainers and potential double battles, perfect for some last-minute grinding before facing the gym leaders.

Trainers and Pokemon in Mossdeep Gym

The Mossdeep Gym is a Psychic-type gym. Here are the trainers you can face on your way to Liza and Tate.

Mossdeep Gym: West-Central Room

Trainer	Pokemon Team	Reward	Outcome
Psychic Preston	Kirlia ♂ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Psychic Maura
Psychic Maura	Kadabra ♂ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Psychic Preston

Mossdeep Gym: Southeast Room

Trainer	Pokemon Team	Reward	Outcome
Psychic Samantha	Xatu ♀ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Psychic Blake
Psychic Blake	Girafarig ♂ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Psychic Samantha

Mossdeep Gym: Southwest Room

Trainer	Pokemon Team	Reward	Outcome
Psychic Macey	Natu ♀ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Gentleman Clifford
Gentleman Clifford	Girafarig ♂ (Lv. 36)	$2880	Potential Double Battle with Psychic Macey or Hex Maniac Kathleen
Hex Maniac Kathleen	Kadabra ♂ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Gentleman Clifford or Psychic Nicholas
Psychic Nicholas	Wobbuffet ♂ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Hex Maniac Kathleen

Mossdeep Gym: Northwest Room

Trainer	Pokemon Team	Reward	Outcome
Gentleman Nate	Spoink ♂ (Lv. 36)	$2880	Potential Double Battle with Psychic Virgil
Psychic Virgil	Ralts ♂ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Gentleman Nate or Hex Maniac Sylvia
Hex Maniac Sylvia	Meditite ♀ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Psychic Hannah or Psychic Virgil
Psychic Hannah	Kirlia ♀ (Lv. 36)	$864	Potential Double Battle with Hex Maniac Sylvia

How to Beat Mossdeep Gym in Pokemon Emerald

If you want to defeat the dynamic duo of Liza and Tate, preparation and strategy are the keys. Here are the points I apply when getting ready to face them.

When battling strong opponents, knowing more information about them is crucial. In your first battle, they will use 4 Pokemon:

Now that we know what we’re dealing with, it’s time to gear up.

First is your choice of Pokemon. The Mossdeep Gym uses Psychic types, so Dark-types are your best friends. 

Sableye, Mightyena, and Absol are awesome picks because of their Psychic immunity and Dark-type moves.

Water types like Swampert, Ludicolo, or Tentacruel can counter Solrock and Lunatone’s Rock-typing with Water moves

Meanwhile, Steel-types such as Metagross or Aggron can tank Psychic moves and deal consistent damage.

Useful Moves

• Surf: A multi-target water move to hit both Lunatone and Solrock, which is great for double battles.
• Thunderbolt: To deal with Xatu.
• Ice Beam: Effective against Claydol.
• Taunt: To prevent Lunatone and Solrock from boosting with Calm Mind.

Avoid These Pokemon:

• Fighting-Types: Weak to Psychic moves.
• Poison-Types: Psychic attacks annihilate them.

Healing Items

Gym Leaders abuse healing items, so why not do it yourself? Stacking up on Hyper Potions and Revives can never be a bad thing. 

If you end up not needing them in this gym battle, great, you can reserve it for next time.

Giving your Pokemon status-healing Berries to counter moves like Hypnosis will also save you from status conditions.

Levels

The Pokemon of Liza and Tate are Level 41 and 42. So grind up to at least Level 40 before attempting to take them down.

Main Strategy for Beating Liza and Tate

Tate and Liza rely on the great synergy between their Pokemon. They often use Earthquake with Claydol while their Flying and Levitate Pokemon remain unharmed. 

Here’s how to counter them:

Pokemon	Best Counters
Claydol	Use Water, Grass,  or Ice-type moves to exploit its Ground-typing.
Xatu	Electric or Dark moves work best against this Flying/Psychic Pokemon.
Lunatone and Solrock	Both Pokemon are weak to Water, Grass, Bug, Ghost, and Dark moves. Surf is your best friend. Don’t let them set up with Calm Mind.

Victory at Mossdeep Gym

Now you know how to beat Mossdeep Gym in Pokemon Emerald. With these tips and strategies and proper preparation, you should be able to defeat Liza and Tate. 

After defeating them, you will receive the Mind Badge as well as TM04 (Calm Mind) as a reward.

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