Which gym should I do first?
Scarlet and Violet actually have 18 Badges in all–eight Gym Badges, five Team Star Badges, and five Titan Badges. These are your rewards for the three different mission types in the game: Victory Road, Starfall Street, and Path of Legends. By the time the tutorial is complete, you’ll have every mission marked on your map for each of these three mission types, and you’ll be able to roam freely. However, the game doesn’t tell you what level your opponents will be, so it’s easy to wander into a gym that’s too hard for you. Similarly, later Team Star and Titans bases will be set at much higher levels. As a general rule, the further north you go, the harder the missions will be. Since you need gym badges to get higher level Pokemon to listen to you, you’ll probably need to do them roughly in order of the gyms themselves so you have powerful monsters to match. Gyms in Scarlet and Violet often revolve around some non-combat activity, so you may not know how tough your Gym Leader opponent will be until you come face-to-face with them in battle. See below for recommended levels to take at certain gyms.
Recommended levels for gyms
Cutting gym (Bug) – 10-15 Artazin Gym (Grass) – 15-20 Cascarrafa Gym (Water) – 25-30 Levincia Gym (Electric) – 30-35 Gymnastics medal (Normal) – 35-40 Alfornada Gym (Psychic) - 40-45 Montenevera Gym (Ghost) – 40-45 Gym Frosting (Ice) – 45-50
Order Path of Legends
But tough battles aren’t the only way Scarlet and Violet subtly take care of your progress. Path of Legends matches are how you’ll gain new traversal abilities, and some gyms are much easier to access if you’ve unlocked certain modes of travel. These unlocks are tied to specific Titans, which you can find below. You’ll need a high jump or a slide to cross some chasms in the northern areas. The final ability, Climb, essentially gives you full access to any area since you can climb cliffs. This is especially useful for getting to the Alfornada gym, as it provides an easy shortcut instead of traversing a maze-like cave. You also need the Surf skill to even get to the final Titan.
Titan Abilities / Recommended Order
Stony Cliff Titan – Dash Open Sky Titan – Surf Lurking Steel Titan – High Jump Quaking Earth Titan – Glide False Dragon Titan – Ascent
Group star battles
Team Star battles are less necessary for save content. They don’t give you a Pokemon obedience level boost and they don’t give you new traversal options. Currency and TMs are helpful, but not absolutely necessary. However, these get progressively tougher, and the toughest Team Star base is one of the toughest fights in the game. So you’ll want to keep up with your Team Star challenges, mostly taking over bases that are closest to other missions you’ve completed. One nice thing about the Team Star missions is that once you run the gauntlet and shoot the commander, you don’t have to repeat that part. If you fail to defeat the Team Star commander, you can simply go back and jump right into the battle. For more on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, check out our launch evolutions guide and a bunch of things we wish we’d known from the start. And while you’re at it, be sure to read our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet review. The products discussed here were independently selected by our editors. GameSpot may receive a share of the revenue if you purchase anything featured on our site.
