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The Battle Tree

By
Vincent Lau

This is the endpoint of your postgame journey. Inside, step forward a few paces to meet two of the toughest Pokemon trainers in the history of the Pokemon franchise. Of course, you won’t be able to back down without a fight, although you can pick which trainer to challenge.

Pokemon Trainer Red

Pokemon Level Type
"Pikachu" IconPikachu 70 Electric
"Lapras" IconLapras 65 Water/Ice
"Snorlax" IconSnorlax 65 Normal
"Charizard" IconCharizard 66 Fire/Flying
"Venusaur" IconVenusaur 66 Grass/Poison
"Blastoise" IconBlastoise 66 Water

Red is the protagonist of the original Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow and the Champion of the Kanto region AKA you in the distant past.

His "Pikachu" IconPikachu is the definition of a glass cannon; it can cause lots of damage with Volt Tackle, but is easily KO’d by most powerful hits, even if they’re not super-effective. It can also use Nuzzle to paralyse and Light Screen and reduce the power of special moves.

"Lapras" IconLapras is where the real fun begins. This monster has high HP and solid bulk, so it’s tough to defeat, even with super-effective moves. Electric-types are best since it carries Blizzard. Beware of its Ice Shard when at low HP.

"Snorlax" IconSnorlax is terrifying with high HP, Attack and Special Defence. Thankfully, it doesn’t have Rest, but it does have many coverage moves, such as the Steel-type Heavy Slam and Ground-type High Horsepower. Fighting-types are your best bets or any strong physical attacker

"Charizard" IconCharizard isn’t too bad. It’s immensely weak to Rock-types, but carries Focus Blast to make them squirm. If you have a fast Rock Pokemon like "Lycanroc" IconLycanroc or "Archeops" IconArcheops, you could take the risk. In addition, it has Will-o-Wisp to punish physical attackers.

"Venusaur" IconVenusaur has good all-round stats, with Special Attack and Special Defence being the highest ones. Besides its STAB moves, it has Leech Seed to drain HP and Bulldoze to mess up Fire-types. Hit it hard with physical attackers if you can, especially Psychic or Flying ones.

Finally, his "Blastoise" IconBlastoise has high defensive stats, so you’ll want something fairly bulky to survive an inevitable attack. This turtle is an all-attacker with Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Dark Pulse and Flash Cannon. Electric or Grass-types will be key players.

Pokemon Trainer Blue

Pokemon Level Type
"Alakazam" IconAlakazam 65 Psychic
"Arcanine" IconArcanine 65 Fire
"Exeggutor" IconExeggutor 65 Grass/Psychic
"Aerodactyl" IconAerodactyl 65 Rock/Flying
"Gyarados" IconGyarados 65 Water/Flying
"Machamp" IconMachamp 65 Fighting

Blue is Red’s rival in the original Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow and the Champion before Red stole his title. In other words, Gary from the Pokemon cartoon. His team should be familiar to old-time players.

His first Pokemon Akalazam has Psychic and Ghost-type moves only, so an easy win for a Dark-type. However it loves to use Reflect to reduce the power of physical moves. It’s extremely fast as well, so it will probably manage to set it up.

"Arcanine" IconArcanine is a well-rounded Pokemon with a plethora of dangerous moves: Flare Blitz, Thunder Fang, Bulldoze and Extreme Speed. It also has Intimidate to reduce Attack. Ground-types are recommended, unless your Water and Rock-types can take a few hits.

Blue’s "Exeggutor" IconExeggutor is the one not found in Alola, so it’s part Psychic rather than Dragon. Thus it’s exceptionally weak to Bug-types and typically weak to Fire, Flying, Ice, Ghost and Dark-types. Anything’s good, but keep in mind that it hits hard.

"Aerodactyl" IconAerodactyl has crazy Attack and crazier Speed, so you’ll want a bulky Pokemon, especially one that resists Rock-types. On top of STAB moves, it has Flash Cannon and Crunch. A good Steel Pokemon should do the trick. Beware of its annoying Sky Drop if you’re neutral to Flying.

"Gyarados" IconGyarados should be stopped with an Electric-type pronto, before it wreaks havoc with Dragon Dance. If you send out a neutral type, it can easily set up, then sweep your party with Aqua Tail, Ice Fang and Crunch.

Finally, "Machamp" IconMachamp has Knock Off to punish Ghost and Dark-types and Poison Jab to mess up Fairy-types. This leaves Flying-types as the only safe counter. The Superpower Pokemon is slow as heck so if you can land one super-effective hit, it should be plain sailing.

Some of these items are hard to come by without BP.

Hold your own against Red or Blue and you’re free to explore the Battle Tree. You don’t need to be disappointed about not fighting the other trainer, since you’ll meet both of them again if you progress far enough in the Battle Tree.

Up ahead, there’s an altar of sorts with an office worker in the middle. Chat to her to challenge the Battle Tree. Here, you’ll face off against computer-controlled Pokemon trainers in a never-ending gauntlet, until you lose or give up. Between battles, you are allowed to leave though.

The big thing to know is that the trainers here are much, much smarter and their Pokemon have competitive movesets. Furthermore, all Pokemon are set to Level 50 for the duration of battle. Therefore, the difficulty is lot higher than anything in the main story for a large margin.

So if you challenge the Battle Tree and immediately get trounced, do not panic and do not feel disheartened. It’s just that you weren’t properly prepared for the next level of play.

If hardcore Pokemon battling isn’t your cup of tea, that’s perfectly fine. We do recommend giving it a try eventually, but we do understand it’s not for everyone. Still, even if you’re not going to challenge the Battle Tree, you should continue to look around.

In front of the altar is a PC that you use to manage your Pokemon party etc. Useful for testing out new teams against the Battle Tree. To the right is an Ace Trainer who’s the IV Judge of this game. However, he may not be impressed when you first meet him.

To earn his favour, you need to show him a Pokemon with high IVs and you must have hatched 20 or more Pokemon Eggs. You can learn about IVs towards the end of our guide, in the Advanced Trainer Info section. But to save you the time, just show him a Legendary Pokemon.

Next, you can obtain Eggs from the Pokemon Nursery in Paniola Ranch on Akala Island. If you need help, check the Advanced Breeding section or flip back to the Paniola Ranch page. To help you, we recommend challenging Morimoto in the Game Freak offices at Heahea City.

You’ll earn the Oval Charm , which boosts the rate of finding Eggs. Next, you should catch a "Magby" IconMagby or "Magmar" IconMagmar from Wela Volcano Cave until you have one with the Flame Body Ability. If a Pokemon with this Ability is in your party, Eggs will hatch much quicker.

The lady nearby can tell you your Battle Tree records. In the north-west corner are some BP merchants. These offer anything from rare evolution items, useful battle items to exclusive Mega Stones. You’ll need Battle Points (BP) earned from the Battle Tree, Battle Royal, etc.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Nintendo
  • Platforms,
    DS
  • Genre
    RPG
  • Guide Release
    12 December 2016
  • Last Updated
    7 December 2020
  • Guide Author
    Vincent Lau, Cassie Sun

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Welcome to Alola, a region of tropical islands, filled with gorgeous natural beauty and Pokemon never seen before. Having recently moved to Alola, your journey begins soon afterwards. Your adventures will be filled with fascinating and colorful people with quirky island traditions and of course Pokémon. Delight in the mysteries of the brand new Alola region as your travels take you the length and breadth of the region and the secrets of the legendary Pokémon Solgaleo and Lunala are finally unveiled.

Our massive and comprehensive guide includes the following:

  • A full route and trial battle guide covering your journey from Pokémon novice to eventual Champion.

  • All dungeons and Rite of the Island challenges covered.

  • Detailed breeding and capture guide, including locations for every Pokémon as well as information on the new Alolan forms.

  • Gameplay strategies to maximise your team potential as well as details on Hyper Training.

  • Minigames and secrets uncovered.

  • An explanation of the brand new Rotom Pokédex and loads more!

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