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Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

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How to Beat Jacq (Academy Ace Tournament)

By
Vincent Lau

This is a guide for defeating Jacq the Instructor during the Academy Ace Tournament in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.

Jacq means business.

Jacq, your homeroom teacher, is one of the trainers you can fight in the Academy Ace Tournament. In the very first tournament, he will always be your Round 2 opponent.

From the second tournament onwards, you can randomly encounter him as a opponent during the first three rounds.

What is the Academy Ace Tournament?

The Academy Ace Tournament is a single elimination tournament, consisting of 4 rounds, that you can participate in during the postgame. Your opponents will be trainers and faculty members from Naranja/Uva Academy.

To unlock the Academy Ace Tournament, you must complete the Area Zero story, perform the Gym Inspection for Geeta and report the results to her back at Naranja/Uva Academy.

Recommended Pokémon for Jacq (Academy Ace Tournament)

You’ve never had a chance to fight Jacq before, so you might not know what to expect. Anyway, his team has good variety of types, so your team should be somewhat varied as well. Despite being the opponent after Arven, his Pokémon are slightly weaker, between Level 65 to 66. You should have minimal problems with Level 66+ Pokémon.

Here are some recommendations, if you need help:

  • The Level 75 Tera "Lucario" IconLucario at Dalizapa Passage, in the underground tunnel. High level and a great all rounder. Type-wise, somewhat disadvantaged for this fight, but you could teach it "Bulldoze" iconBulldoze or "Earthquake" iconEarthquake.
  • The Level 75 Tera "Dragonite" IconDragonite, found north-east from Levincia. High level and a physical powerhouse. Only super-effective against one Pokémon, but its high Level and high Attack will leave a massive dent on the others.
  • Great Tusk or Iron Treads, common but powerful Ground type Paradox Pokémon found in Area Zero.
  • If playing Scarlet, Sandy Shocks, a versatile Electric and Ground type Paradox Pokémon, found in the rocky, outdoor parts of Area Zero.
  • Pretty much any of the Treasures of Ruin, to counter Jacq’s Terastallized Pokémon.

What Pokémon Does Jacq (Academy Ace Tournament) Use?

Pokémon Level Type
"Arcanine" IconArcanine 65 Fire Fire
"Lurantis" IconLurantis 65 Grass Grass
"Swalot" IconSwalot 65 Poison Poison
"Mudsdale" IconMudsdale 65 Ground Ground
"Slowbro" IconSlowbro 65 Water Water Psychic Psychic
Farigiraf 66 Normal Normal Psychic Psychic (Tera Type: Psychic Psychic)

Arcanine

Intimidate will weaken most physical attackers.

Jacq leads with an "Arcanine" IconArcanine. This fiery dog can use "Flare Blitz" iconFlare Blitz for hard-hitting STAB, "Close Combat" iconClose Combat to thwart Rock types, plus "Psychic Fangs" iconPsychic Fangs and "Play Rough" iconPlay Rough for general coverage. Its Intimidate ability will lower your Pokémon’s Attack stat when it enters battle.

Water types are highly recommended and Ground types should do pretty good too. To avoid being affected by Intimidate, we also suggest using a special attacker, if possible.

Lurantis

Jacq’s "Lurantis" IconLurantis is carrying Leaf Blade for STAB, "Leech Life" iconLeech Life to steal HP, "Brick Break" iconBrick Break to hurt Ice types and shatter barriers and Night Slash for additional coverage.

Fire, Flying, Bug and Poison types should have a field day here.

Swalot

When facing Jacq’s "Swalot" IconSwalot, beware of the "Toxic" iconToxic and "Protect" iconProtect combo. It loves to use Toxic to inflict poison that gets worse with each turn, then use Protect to shield itself from harm, while watching you slowly succumb to poison. Besides that, it can use "Ice Punch" iconIce Punch to scare Ground types and "Fire Punch" iconFire Punch to tickle Steel types.

For damage dealing, Psychic and Ground types are recommended. Ground types may be susceptible to Ice Punch, but Swalot’s offensive stats aren’t that impressive. If you’re hit with Toxic, cure it ASAP.

Mudsdale

Be careful when using physical attackers to fight Mudsdale.

"Mudsdale" IconMudsdale can be a tough cookie if you’re careless. For attacks, it can use Earthquake for STAB, "Stone Edge" iconStone Edge to smack Flying and Ice types, plus Close Combat and "Heavy Slam" iconHeavy Slam for additional coverage (and more ways to crush Ice types). Its Stamina ability raises its Defense for each hit it sustains.

Grass types are highly recommended and Water types aren’t too shabby either. Use special attackers where possible, so Stamina isn’t an issue. Do not use "Bullet Seed" iconBullet Seed or "Icicle Spear" iconIcicle Spear, otherwise you could raise its Defense to near max before you know it!

Slowbro

"Slowbro" IconSlowbro plays the role of tank, sort of. Jacq’s one can use "Surf" iconSurf and "Psychic" iconPsychic for STAB, "Flamethrower" iconFlamethrower to burn Grass types and "Light Screen" iconLight Screen to weaken your special moves.

Electric and Grass types would be ideal here. Although Grass types are weak to Flamethrower, Slowbro shouldn’t do too much damage with it. Use special attackers if you can, since Slowbro has high Defense. Light Screen can be problematic, but since Slowbro is, well, slow, you can probably do a lot of damage before it gets a chance to use it.

Terastallized Farigiraf

The Treasures of Ruin, being Dark types, can easily handle Farigiraf.

Finally, Jacq will Terastallize his Farigiraf into a pure Psychic type. In terms of attacks, it’s got Psychic for STAB, "Shadow Ball" iconShadow Ball to counter Ghost types, plus "Thunderbolt" iconThunderbolt and "Energy Ball" iconEnergy Ball for general coverage. Its Armor Tail ability negates priority moves used against it, like Sucker Punch.

Dark types are ideal, to shrug off Tera and STAB-boosted Psychic. Bug types should do fine too, but they may take heavy damage from Psychic.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Nintendo, Pokemon Company International
  • Platforms,
    Switch
  • Genre
    RPG
  • Guide Release
    17 November 2022
  • Last Updated
    3 January 2024
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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