Ah, Castelia City… How long has it been since we last came here? First stop, let’s head for Fennel’s lab, located on the 3rd floor of the building opposite Castelia City Gym .

There, speak to Amanita, who manages the Pokemon boxes, to receive an Eevee for free. While you can catch Eevee in Castelia Park, the one you receive from Amanita is special because it has its Hidden Ability, Anticipation.

Next, head for the Game Freak building , which is the first building on your right if you enter Castelia Street from the Pokemon Centre side. Take the elevator to the top floor, where Nishino and Morimoto are. If you speak to them now, you can fight them with a range of tougher Pokemon.

As before, you can battle both again once per day. Depending on your current progress, it’s likely that both of them are too tough for you to handle. In which case, you should make a note to return here later when you’ve trained your Pokemon a bit more.

Trainer Battle: Game Freak Nishino¶

Nishino’s Pokemon are all fairly durable Normal or Water-type Pokemon. Fighting-, Grass- and Electric-types are going to be your MVPs here, or Pokemon with those types of moves.

His opener, Clefable can be tricky if Sing hits your Pokemon, enabling it to freely use Cosmic Power to buff its defences. The more times Cosmic Power is used, the more dangerous Stored Power will become too–but If you have Dark-types, they will simply shrug it off.

Next up in the spotlight is Azumarill , another cutesy Pokemon. Despite its cute looks, it’s deceptively strong with Superpower and Double-Edge. Thankfully, it’s not very fast, so pummel it quick with super-effective moves and you should be okay.

Lickilicky and Wigglytuff are quite similar in some regards. Both have varied movepools, so it’s hard to find a good type to use besides Fighting. If you don’t have Fighting moves, take advantage of their terrible Speed to cause massive damage fast.

We’re almost there… Alomomola can be annoying if unprepared. Poison- or Steel-types are your safest bets, so long as they have moves neutral or strong against it. This is because it can cause major damage by using Toxic, then stalling with Wish and Protect. Hammer it with Special moves for best results.

Finally we have Snorlax… shudder This one isn’t so bad, as it doesn’t have Rest or Belly Drum and instead has Yawn to lull your Pokemon to sleep. Fighting Pokemon will shine here, or other Pokemon not Psychic, Ghost, Dark, Rock or Steel with strong Physical moves.

Trainer Battle: Game Freak Morimoto¶

Morimoto’s Pokemon are quite diverse, but could have been much worse. All but one are mono-types, so finding a good Pokemon for each shouldn’t prove too taxing.

Liepard is pretty easy if you have a Fighting- or Steel-type Pokemon or a durable Bug-type. Do be careful when both Liepard and your Pokemon have low HP. Its Sucker Punch always goes first unless you don’t use an attack move or you’re faster and use a similar priority move.

Then we come to Morimoto’s old Pokemon–the monkey trio –that he’s apparently evolved. All three know Acrobatics, Crunch, Payback, plus an attack of their type. Don’t think too hard and simply field a Pokemon strong against their type, except use an Electric-type in place of a Grass-type.

What you may have to worry about is letting them eat their Petaya Berry , which they’ll do at low HP. This will greatly boost their Special Attack, making their STAB moves more powerful. Plus, once they’ve lost their held item, Acrobatics will also do twice the normal damage.

Nearly there… Swoobat isn’t particularly dangerous, but can be a nuisance. Its Endeavour cuts your Pokemon’s HP to equal Swoobat’s. So if you knock off most of Swoobat’s HP, you can expect the same to happen to your Pokemon. It’s also pretty quick, so it can get the KO before you do.

Finally it’s Zebstrika time! For this electric zebra, Ground-types all the way! Although Zebstrika is fast and hits hard, it doesn’t have much else going for it. Giga Impact can be a surprise, but if it uses that, you get a free turn to have your delicious revenge.