After beating the Elite Four and the Top Champion Geeta, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players will find themselves with one final rival battle to complete. Unlike the previous ones, however, whether or not players beat Nemona actually matters this time around, so they'll need to bring their A-games as well as their best Pokemon if they're going to complete the Victory Road arc.
As one might expect from the final rival battle in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Nemona's team is fairly well-balanced, meaning that players will need to think carefully about which Pokemon they bring. The good news is that it's a six-on-six, so they'll be able to pick a Pokemon to counter each member of Nemona's team if their own Pokemon are a little under-leveled.
How to Prepare for the Battle with Nemona
There's no Gym Test or assessment interview this time around, so all players will need to think about is how to counter Nemona's team. She starts out with a Lycanroc with Ground and Rock-type coverage, so players should bring a Fighting, Grass, or Steel-type to deal with it. Goodra is a little trickier, but a non-Dragon-type with access to Ice and Dragon-type moves like Gyarados should make fairly quick work of it. Like Lycanroc, Dudunsparce can be taken out with a Fighting-type, so players should bring a Falinks if they have one.
Falinks will also be strong against Orthworm, as too will Corviknight due to it having access to Body Press. As for Pawmot, it's weak to Ground, Psychic, and Fairy-type attacks, though players may want to stick to Pokemon of the latter two types as Ice-Punch is super effective against Ground-type Pokemon. Nemona's last Pokemon will be the final evolution of the starter Pokemon that she picked at the beginning of the game, so, as in the previous four rival battles, players can use their own Starter Pokemon to deal with it.
How to Beat Nemona
Pokemon | Moves |
---|---|
Lycanroc (Level 65) | Accelerock |
Drill Run | |
Stealth Rock | |
Stone Edge | |
Goodra (Level 65) | Dragon Pulse |
Ice Beam | |
Muddy Water | |
Sludge Bomb | |
Dudunsparce (Level 65) | Coil |
Dragon Rush | |
Drill Run | |
Hyper Drill | |
Orthworm (Level 65) | Body Press |
Earthquake | |
Iron Tail | |
Rock Blast | |
Pawmot (Level 65) | Close Combat |
Double Shock | |
Ice Punch | |
Quick Attack | |
Tera Quaquaval (Level 66) | Aerial Ace |
Aqua Step | |
Brick Break | |
Ice Spinner | |
Tera Meowscarada (Level 66) | Flower Trick |
Play Rough | |
Shadow Claw | |
Thunder Punch | |
Tera Skeledirge (Level 66) | Earth Power |
Shadow Ball | |
Snarl | |
Torch Song |
Providing players bring Pokemon with type advantage they shouldn't have too much trouble beating Nemona in the final rival battle. The only Pokemon likely to cause them any real trouble is Goodra due to its high Special Attack and Special defense stats. However, if players hit it with a physical attacker with a reasonably high Special Defense stat (ie, Gyarados), it shouldn't put up too much of a fight.
Upon her defeat, Nemona will congratulate the player on having surpassed her; proclaiming them to be the strongest Pokemon trainer in Paldea. Once the conversation ends, players will be returned to their dorm room at the academy, after which, the Victory Road story arc will officially come to an end. Players won't get any prize money, though, assuming they've already completed the Path of Legends and Starfall Street arcs, they'll gain access to the final main story mission of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now for the Nintendo Switch.