Pokemon Advice

Okay, I know it seems nerdy, but I have tips on Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum that no one else will probably give. This is based on what works for me, not what works for everyone else. This is from my Elite Four adventures.

Here is the set-up for my current team before facing Cynthia, which will be changed a little once I get some Heart Scales and TMs:

Floatzel Lv. 51 w. Swift Swim Item: Fist Plate Lax nature, HP 161 Attack 117 Defense 77 Sp. Atk 100 Sp. Def 61 Speed 135 Moves: Crunch, Focus Blast, Surf, Iron Tail
Staraptor Lv. 55 w. Intimidate Item: Shell Bell Modest nature, HP 177 Attack 145 Defense 102 Sp. Atk 85 Sp. Def 66 Speed 136 Moves: Close Combat, Fly, Brave Bird, Return
Giratina Lv. 49 w. Pressure Item: Dread Plate Modest nature, HP 212 Attack 108 Defense 125 Sp. Atk 114 Sp. Def 128 Speed 102 Moves: Shadow Claw, Dark Pulse, Dragon Claw, Shadow Force
Azelf Lv. 55 w. Levitate Item: Mind Plate Quirky nature, HP 151 Attack 155 Defense 99 Sp. Atk 154 Sp. Def 93 Speed 143 Moves: Extrasensory (to be replaced with Psychic), Thunder (to be replaced with Thunderbolt once I find the TM), Flamethrower, Nasty Plot
Glaceon Lv. 48 w. Snow Cloak Item: NeverMeltIce Timid nature, HP 135 Attack 71 Defense 117 Sp. Atk 138 Sp. Def. 100 Speed 84 Moves: Ice Shard, Shadow Ball, Bite, Ice Fang (to be replaced with Ice Beam)
Empoleon Lv. 53 w. Torrent Item: Amulet Coin Naive nature, HP 162 Attack 111 Defense 127 Sp. Atk 141 Sp. Def. 105 Speed 104 Moves: Flash Cannon, Surf, Waterfall (to be replaced with Ice Beam or Blizzard), Brine

Here's my list of tips for beating the Elites:

Tip #1: 20 Revives, 40 Hyper Potions, 6 Full Restores, 6 Full Heals and whatever random healing BERRIES that you find on your journeys are the healing items you will actually NEED on your Elite Four Runthrough.
Tip #2: Do not start with the fire monkey. It'll only make things harder. I started with the penguin of doom in both Diamond and Platinum, and my life was a LOT easier because of it.
Tip #3: Staraptor is your best friend. Love it, make sure it doesn't faint, teach it Return. That move is awesome when Staraptor is at full friendship, and I thank Marriland for the idea for me to teach it to Staraptor. Combine the already high attack power of Staraptor with Return (which does STAB damage, by the way) and you have a very nice attack.
Tip #4: Catch Azelf. Out of the three Pokemon of the lakes, it has the highest Attack and Special Attack, if I remember correctly, and it knows Nasty Plot, which ups its Special Attack by two levels so you can get past that nasty Bronzong Lucian has and all those pesky Bug-types on Aaron's team. Teach it Flamethrower for the Bronzong and Thunderbolt (if you can freaking find it) or Thunder for the Flying-types, as there are a lot of them. I thank Marriland again for the inspiration for this
Tip #5: Do NOT let your Staraptor kill itself. This is why I originally avoided Brave Bird as a move ON PRINCIPLE. I've learned. The hard way.
Tip #6: Stall Walls are your best friend sometimes. Get something with a lot of Defense and Special Defense to save your team's butt.
Tip #7: Give ONE of your Pokemon an Amulet Coin. You will have to level, and you will die. A lot. The Amulet Coin will give your team at least a little bit of extra cash in the battles they DO win.
Tip #8: Cynthia's Milotic has Mirror Coat. One-shot kill it if you can. Azelf will come in handy here with Nasty Plot.
Tip #9: Make sure EVERY POKEMON ON YOUR TEAM IS AT FULL HEALTH BEFORE THE MATCH STARTS. Yes, even your little HM Slaves if you use them (although personally I don't bring an HM Slave into a fight with the Elite Four anymore due to the fact that I need to beat them with my best or not beat them at all).
Tip #10: Spiritomb must be beaten with a powerful attack. Do NOT send out your Empoleon against it, for Cynthia may follow with her Garchomp, and that is NOT good for anyone. Especially not your Empoleon.
Tip #11 (Platinum Only): Catch Giratina. It's a functional stall-wall and it also works to take care of Lucian's Mr. Mime quite quickly. Plus, its Attack is beastly. I taught mine Shadow Claw, which is a nice compliment.
Tip #12 (Platinum Only): Glaceon can be quite nice to have around. Ice-type attacks are useful to have against the Garchomp that Cynthia has, just make sure it gets LOTS of Carbos and Speed EVs.
Tip #13 (Platinum Only): Gallade is a beast (very high Special Attack). So is Magmortar (very high Special Attack with Thunderbolt and Hyper Beam). And Gliscor (very high Attack and all three Fang). And Rhyperior (very high Attack without the Fangs). And Togekiss (defensively, plus it has Shock Wave). And even Yanmega when it gets high enough Speed. Kill them quickly. And I mean REALLY QUICKLY.

That's all I have for now, I'll add more as more ideas on how to beat the Elites come up.