Shelly is beating me up

[Silversixx 10]

After demolishing Corey on the first try, I was feeling a surge of confidence in Reborn.  All of that was quickly slapped away when Shelly decided to put me in my place.  The double battle in a gym really caught me off guard, and it seems like every move she uses hits both of my Pokémon that are out every time.  I’m also a little confused on my level cap at this point of the game, can I get my Pokémon to 35 for Shelly, or do I have to keep them at 30?  I’ve been keeping them at 30 since I don’t relish the idea of using common candy and wasting exp.  

 

The line up I am currently using against her is a Growlith, Ponyta, Graveler, Klink, Persian and Castform, all of which are 30ish. 

[Wolfox 2093]

You can go up to level 35, 36 is where they stop listening 

[Gentleman Jaggi 99]

You can always check your level cap on your trainer card - the little squares where the Badges go show the your level caps until you get each Badge.

If you need to grind and are out of trainers the deepest part of Below the Grand Staircase has wild Unown that can go pretty high in level while also being pretty easy to beat.

 

The go to strategy for Shelly is to use a Pokémon with Fake Out to stop her Prankster Illumise from setting up Rain Dance (your Persian should have this, otherwise wild Espurr in the Aqua alleyway already have it in their movepool). A Fire Pokémon can then KO Illumise with a move that changes the Field to Burning. This also stops her Swift Swim Anorith from wreaking havoc on your team with Rock Slide.

[Goatenks 1]

You need a really good rock type for shelly, Sudowoodo with Rock slide + Telluric Seed helped me sweep her. You can catch a Bonsly at Obsidia Park.

[Silversixx 10]

I leveled up my team to all 35 and beat her bug cheeks . Thanks guys!