WarriorCat33 wrote: recently got HeartGold; and I can't beat stupid Clair. >:(
Does anyone have any tips on how to beat her?
Prepare for tl;dr! I like writing a lot about strategy.
Clair is tough. If you don't have anything that can take them on with type advantage (Ice and Dragon) then target their weakest defense stat. Your only options for Dragon/Ice moves up to this point are a Water type with Blizzard (Purchasable at Goldenrod)/Ice Beam (found in the Seafoam Islands or the
Lame Game Corner in Goldenrod), anything you picked up at the Ice Path, and Dratini you get off the Pokewalker at Blue Lake or Lame Corner at Goldenrod (I refuse to call it the Game Corner in this game.)
Twister is a Dragon type move and you have access to it. Pidgeotto/Pidgeot can learn Twister but their Special Attack is too bad to make anything good of a 40 power attack. Dratini can also learn Dragon Rush and level 35 if you're willing to stop it from evolving into Dragonair for five levels. It's a 100 power move, which is bueno. The no bueno part is it's only 75% accuracy.
Dragonair's weakest defense is its normal defense. Send out something that can take a lot of blows and deal a lot of blows. Rock/Ground types are a horrible idea since all her 'mon know Surf. Ampharos can take a few hits, Thunderpunch is a physical attack, and it gets STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus, which multiplies damage by 50%), so it'll be great here. Feraligatr is also a good choice with a high attack score and the fact it learns Ice Fang as Croconaw.
Clair's nightmare is Vaporeon. Vaporeon is a tank that can take a savage beating without going down for several turns, resistant to Surf, and can learn Ice moves even without TMs (Aurora Beam at level 36.) Aurora Beam has a chance of lowering Attack too, which is a stat Dragon types rely on heavily, particularly Dragonair.
Kingdra is a beast in this battle. Take it out hard and fast. All its base defense stats are equal, so high-powered STAB attacks that deals normal damage to Dragons (Discharge with Ampharos like Zapi said is a great idea) Avoid Ice, Water, and Fire moves with Kingdra, it'll laugh at your feeble attempts to deal damage. Status effects like Ampharos's Thunder Wave will slow it down enough for you to take it out.
I used Ampharos (Discharge, Thunderpunch, Thunderwave, something I forgot), Vaporeon (Surf, Bite, Ice Beam, Quick Attack), and a traded Kingdra (Surf, Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, Waterfall) for this fight.