Gastrodon can be a tough Pokémon to crack without the right moveset in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

First Published December 5, 2021, 02:38

Sinnoh Pokémon League Champion Cynthia has a wide variety of Pokémon on her team when players fight her for the first time. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl has kept Cynthia’s team relatively the same as the original 2007 games, making the battle just as difficult as it was back then. 

When looking up her team, players might notice an inconsistency. Cynthia employs two Water-type Pokémon, Milotic and Gastrodon. Milotic is a standard Water-type while Gastrodon has the secondary Ground typing to make them even tougher to take down. For any player stuck on Cynthia’s Gastrodon or simply want some tips to make it faint, keep reading below. 

Gastrodon’s weaknesses in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Seeing as Gastrodon is Water and Ground, it has one glaring weakness and counter: Grass-type Pokémon. Grass is four times effective against Gastrodon and easily the most useful move that you can use in battle when facing the Pokémon. 

You’re mainly limited to Grass-type moves, as the Electric weakness on Water-types is negated by Gastrodon’s Ground typing. A Pokémon like Torterra is a great option if you chose the starter Turtwig at the beginning of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl. 

If you didn’t, then the next best option is Roserade. Roserade’s Poison typing isn’t great against Ground so you’ll want to only use moves like Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Solarbeam or Magical Leaf. You could also use Roserade to Toxic Spike Cynthia’s team or use Toxic on Gastrodon to make it faint quicker.

If your party is lacking in Grass-types, then you could use the free Mew if you decided to train it up. Mew can learn any move in the game, including some powerful Grass-type TMs. The free Manaphy given to you via the Mystery Gift system can also learn some Grass moves, including Grass Knot. 

In short, any Grass-type move is highly effective against Cynthia’s Gastrodon in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. 

Be sure to check out and follow our section dedicated to the Pokémon franchise to get the latest news, guides, leaks, update announcements and more about Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Featured image courtesy of Nintendo/The Pokémon Company.

Written by Joseph Carr

Joey Carr is a full-time writer for multiple esports and gaming websites. He has 6+ years of experience covering esports and traditional sporting events, including DreamHack Atlanta, Call of Duty Championships 2017, and Super Bowl 53.

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