One of the three central storylines in Pokémon Scarlet/Violet is getting all of your gym badges, so you can face off against the Elite Four. I debated putting them together here, but I ultimately decided they were going to be separate posts. Similar to Pokémon Sword/Shield, you take on gym challenges before you face the actual gym leader. Sometimes these challenges involve facing off against trainers and other times they don’t. It just depends on the gym. You also sometimes face off against your rival, Nemona, before or after the gym. So, you have to consider the possibility of running into her. Unlike the gyms themselves, Nemona’s fights are scaled based on how many badges you currently have. I wish the gyms scaled like that too but they didn’t. So, it’s really easy to go in the wrong order without knowing it as the gym doesn’t really tell you which order to go in.
I definitely did not go in order. But I’m going to arrange these into the recommended order, that way if you wanted to take them on in order, you can. Or at least you would know which one is going to be the hardest to face off against.
Cortondo Gym (Katy)
The first gym is the Bug-type gym, after completing the olive run (bringing an olive through an obstacle course where you can either face the trainers or skip them) you face off against Katy, the baker.
Her pokémon team is:
- Nymble (Level 14)
- Tarountula (Level 14)
- Teddiursa (Level 15) – Bug-type Terastallized
So, your best moves are going to be fire, flying, or rock.
Artazon Gym (Brassius)
The next gym is the Grass-type gym. You first have to find a bunch of Sunflora and usher them back to their pin before you can take on Brassius, an eccentric artist.
His pokémon team is:
- Petilil (Level 16)
- Smoliv (Level 16)
- Sudowoodo (Level 17) – Grass-type Terastillized
So, your best moves are going to be fire, ice, poison, flying, or bug.
Levincia Gym (Iono)
The next gym is the electric-type gym. You will play a game of find waldo with your director with a battle following each round. After you pass the test, you face off against influencer and streamer Iono.
Her pokémon team is:
- Wattrel (Level 23)
- Bellibolt (Level 23)
- Luxio (Level 23)
- Mismagius (Level 24) – Electric-type Terastallized
So, your best moves are going to be ground type. Note, her first pokémon is dual-type with flying, so you can get some advantage with ice and rock as well.
Cascarrafa Gym (Kofu)
The next gym on the list is the water-type gym. You start out by having to return the leader’s wallet to him in another town (Port Marinada) and then win an auction. Afterward, you’ll head back to face off against Kofu (an older gentleman that likes to cook).
His pokémon team is:
- Veluza (Level 29)
- Wugtrio (Level 29)
- Carbominable (Level 30) – Water-type Terastallized
So, your best moves are going to be electric or grass. Veluza is dual-type with psychic so bug, ghost, and dark-type moves can also be of use against that pokémon.
Medali Gym (Larry)
The next gym is the normal-type gym. You have to order the secret menu item in order to pass the gym test. You can either guess (like I ended up doing) or go to the other trainers to get the clue they were provided by the gym leader, Larry. Of the gym leaders, Larry is my favorite. He is a businessman that is sick of work and complains about it. But he’s hardworking as he’s also part of the Elite Four.
I won’t spoil what the secret menu item is, so have fun figuring that out.
Once you order the secret dish, you face Larry’s team consisting of:
- Komala (Level 35)
- Dudunsparce (Level 35)
- Staraptor (Level 36) – Normal-type Terastallized
So, your best moves are going to be fighting.
Montenevera Gym (Ryme)
Next on our list is the ghost-type gym. You have to do three dual battles as a warm-up to pass the gym test. Afterward, you face off against Ryme an older lady who loves to rap and rhyme. Also known as MC of RIP. Get it because she’s the ghost-type leader.
Anyways…
Her team consists of:
- Banette (Level 41)
- Mimikyu (Level 41) – Ghost/Fairy
- Houndstone (Level 41)
- Toxtricity (Level 42) – Ghost-type Terastallized
Your best moves are going to be dark-type as ghost is also weak to other ghost-types. Though you can make use of those as well, just watch out as you might run into some trouble, especially against Houndstone.
Alfornada Gym (Tulip)
Probably my least favorite of the gym leaders for this generation. Tulip is a model and makeup influencer. She’s the psychic-type gym leader. She requires you to do a game of Simon says (display emotions by hitting the right button) in order to pass her gym test. Once you manage to do that and fight two trainers during the process it’s time for the gym leader’s team:
- Farigiraf (Level 44) – Normal/Psychic
- Gardevoir (Level 44) – Psychic/Fairy
- Espathra (Level 44)
- Florges (Level 45) – Psychic-type Terastallized
Your best moves are going to be bug, ghost, and dark-type. Though with the dual-type for Gardevoir, I would skip the dark type as it’s not going to be as effective.
Glaseado Gym (Grusha)
The final and toughest gym is the ice-type gym. You have to do a ski race down the mountain on your pokémon within a certain time frame. Once you succeed at that, you face off against Grusha, an ex-professional snowboarder.
His team consists of:
- Frosmoth (Level 47) – Ice/Bug
- Beatric (Level 47)
- Cetitan (Level 47)
- Altaria (Level 48) – Ice-type Terastallized
Your best moves are going to be fire, fight, rock, and steel. Even with the dual-typing, this remains the same if not even more effective. So, while it might be the toughest as long as you got a fire pokémon you should be more than fine for this gym.
As I mentioned, I did not go in the recommended order. I went in this order (by type): grass, electric, bug, normal, water, ice, ghost, then psychic. So, I was either under-leveled or over-leveled as I went to each of the gyms. And typically I ended up going to the gyms purely to make catching wild pokemon easier or to unlock better healing and pokéballs. Or to get pokémon that I traded for that were over my badge level to listen to me.
What order did you take on the gyms? Or which one did you find to be the most difficult or easiest?
Love ya,
Mae Polzine
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