Trying to get your Normal Badge in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?
Not sure what the best strategies are for Medali Gym?
You will learn all you need to pass your Gym Test, dominate Gym Leader Larry, and kick Nemona’s butt in this guide.
What do they call actual workout gyms in Pokémon?
Where Is the Fifth Gym Leader in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?
Unlike previous games in the series, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are not linear. Besides a few specific situations, you can tackle the gyms, Team Star tasks, and Titans in almost any order.
That being said, if you’re taking on the Victory Road gym challenges, you’ll probably want to make Medali Gym your fifth destination. It’s got a level 34-37 level range that’s perfect if you have Pokémon in or above that range.
Medali is a city just northwest of the Great Crater of Paldea. It’s directly northeast of Cascarrafa, most people’s fourth gym spot, so it’s a pretty straight shot if you’re coming from there. You can ride your legendary mount there quite easily.
Before Going to the Medali Gym
If you haven’t read any of our other guides, like the Cascarrafa and Cortondo ones, before you face a gym leader, you need to read up on type matchups.
Some types are resistant to moves from one type but weak against another. Same thing with their moves’ offensive capabilities: sometimes they’re super effective and sometimes not very effective.
This gym grants you the Normal Badge when you beat the leader, so, of course, he uses Normal-types.
Including the fights against other trainers before facing the leader, you’ll go against nothing but pure Normal-types until you face Larry’s last Pokémon, a dual Normal and Flying-type whose tera type is pure Normal.
Pure Normal-types are a little weird. Normal-type moves aren’t super effective against any other types, and they’re resisted by Rock- and Steel-type Pokémon. In terms of defense, they aren’t resistant to any type of moves and are weak against Fighting-type moves. They do have the advantage of being completely immune to Ghost-type moves, but Ghost-types are immune to Normal-type moves.
For your team build, you have a few options. Since Normal-type moves are not very effective against Rock and Steel-types, you can build a strong defense by using some of these Pokémon, especially if they have any Fighting-type moves. You can also use pretty much any other type of Pokémon, including Fighting- and Ghost-types, if they have that fighting-type moves. This is one of the few gyms where you have a lot of options. Just keep these matchups in mind when building your team.
Make sure your team is in the level 34-37 range or higher to take this gym on, otherwise even a strong type matchup can be crushed by level differences.
Medali Gym Test: Order the Secret Menu Item
Tired of all these gym tests? You’re in luck! You can skip this section and head straight to the answers. If you want a little help doing it the legitimate way, keep reading this section of our walkthrough.
When you first enter the Medali Gym, you should talk to the receptionist as per usual. You’ll be tasked with ordering the secret menu item at a restaurant called Treasure Eatery.
Pokémon: a game where children are encouraged to talk to strangers at bars.
Clue #1: Find Out How the Regulars Season Their Dishes
Head to the Treasure Eatery pictured here. It’s hard to miss.
Go inside, and talk to the man in the picture above. He’ll let you know that a “nice squeeze of lemon gives any dish a refreshing kick.” This will be important later when ordering the item.
Clue #2: Defeat Adara the Student
In the plaza across from the restaurant, you’ll run into a little girl named Adara the Student. She’ll give you her clue if you can defeat her in battle.
She has two level 34 Pokémon: a Gumshoos and a Greedent. The Gumshoos knows Super Fang, and the Greedent knows Counter and Body Slam, which might cause Paralysis in your Pokémon if landed successfully.
Both are pure Normal-types, so simply use the strategy outlined above of using type matchups to your advantage, and knock them out with a couple of fighting type moves.
After defeating Adara, she’ll let you know to look for “something that’s the odd one out at one of the ice cream stands.” They’re just to the right of Adara. The ice cream stand on the right will have grilled rice balls on the menu. This is your next clue.
While you’re in the area, if you go behind the carts, you can obtain TM074 Reflect.
Clue #3: Defeat Santiago the Student
This trainer is out front of Deli Cioso. Check the map above for his location.
He’ll have a level 34 Dunsparce, another pure Normal-type. This Pokémon is rather weak, so you should be able to knock it out with a good Fighting-type move in one hit.
After defeating him, he’ll tell you to “listen really closely to the blue bird Pokémon.” At this point, start walking in the direction of the main restaurant, then stop when you get to the intersection with the Squawkabilly on top of the man with the helmet.
He’ll go through a few phrases before squawking out “Meedyum! Meedyum!” This, of course, is medium, the size of the secret dish you’ll order.
Clue #4: Defeat Gisela the Student
On the right side of the gym, you’ll see a sort of amphitheater area. There should be a trainer near there named Gisela the Student. Challenge her to get your final clue.
She’ll send out a level 34 Ursaring, a, you guessed it, pure Normal-type. It knows the move Play Nice.
After defeating her, head down the stairs to the iron gate and get your last clue: some faint writing that says “Fire Blast” which is how your dish will be cooked.
Heal your team then head back to Treasure Eatery.
Medali Gym Test Secret Menu Answers
To sum it up, in the correct order, your answers will be:
- Grilled rice balls
- Medium serving
- Extra crispy, Fire Blast style
- Lemon
If you entered this correctly, it’ll a trigger cinematic showing you that the gym leader was the office worker who gave you clue #1 all along.
Gym Leader Larry, the Exceptional Everyman
Larry starts off the fight by sending out a level 35 Komala. It has the Comatose ability, which means it starts the fight out asleep. This is good for you if you have a Fighting-type move with some punch behind it as you can easily knock it out in one hit.
Up next, you’ll face off against a rather tanky Level 35 Dudunsparce. It knows Glare and Hyper Drill. This is one of the harder fights in this whole challenge due to the strength of Hyper Drill, but if you’re using a Rock-, Steel-, or Ghost-type, you should be fine without using any potions. Don’t be afraid to use any if needed.
Lastly, you’ll go against a level 36 Staraptor, normally a dual Normal and Flying-type, but made into a pure Normal due to its Tera type. It knows the move Aerial Ace. This means if you were relying on a Fighting-type this entire time, you might get one- or two-shot, but if you land a strong enough hit, you can do the same to the Staraptor.
Fitting that the man who was secretly the gym leader gives you a move called facade.
After the last battle, you’ll be granted the Normal Badge. This allows you to catch and command Pokémon up to level 45 and grants you TM025 Facade.
You can now head back to the gym to have a cinematic with Geeta and Nemona. Don’t rush over there yet as you’ll want to ensure your team is healed and change any Pokémon you think you need to.
Before Fighting Nemona
As with all Nemona fights, her final Pokémon depends on which starter you picked. I went with the Fire-type, so she has Meowscarada, her newly evolved dual Dark- and Grass-type. You might face off against Ghost- and Fire-type Skeledirge or Fighting- and Water-type Quaquaval.
She will be using a pure Rock-type (Lycanroc), a pure Dragon-type (Goomy), and a dual Fighting- and Electric-type (Pawmo) besides her fully evolved starter.
Rock-type moves are super effective against Bug-, Fire-, Flying-, and Ice-type Pokémon and not very effective against Fighting-, Steel-, and Ground-types. In terms of defense, Rock Pokémon are weak against Fighting-, Ground-, Steel-, Water-, and Grass-type moves while being resistant to Normal-, Flying-, Fire-, and Poison-type moves.
Dragon-type moves are super effective against other Dragon-types and not very effective against Steel-types. Defensively speaking, these Pokémon are weak against Dragon-, Fairy-, and Ice-type moves while being resistant to Electric-, Grass-, Fire-, and Water-type moves.
The dual Electric- and Fighting-type is weak to Ground-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type moves while resisting Rock-, Bug-, Steel-, Electric-, and Dark-type moves. In terms of offense, Electric-type moves are super effective against Flying- and Water-types while being not very effective against Dragon-, Electric-, and Grass-types. Fighting-type moves are strong against Dark-, Ice-, Normal-, Rock-, and Steel-types while being resisted by Bug-, Fairy-, Flying-, Poison-, and Psychic-type Pokémon; Ghost-types are immune to these moves.
At this point, you should still be able to easily defeat Nemona’s starter with your own starter.
If you’re fighting against Skeledirge, the dual Fire- and Ghost-type, it’s weak to Ground-, Rock-, Ghost-, Dark-, and Water-type moves while resisting Poison-, Bug-, Steel-, Fire-, Grass-, Ice-, and Fairy-type moves. It’s immune to Normal- and Fighting-type moves. It’ll likely hit you with Fire-type moves that are super effective against Bug-, Grass-, Ice-, and Steel-type Pokémon, but weak against Dragon-, Fire-, Water-, and Rock-types.
If you’re fighting against Quaquaval, the dual Fighting- and Water-type, it’s weak to Flying-, Grass-, Electric-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type moves while resisting Rock-, Bug-, Steel-, Fire-, Water-, Ice-, and Dark-type moves. Water-type moves are super effective against Fire-, Ground-, and Rock-type Pokémon while being not very effective against Dragon-, Grass-, and Water-types.
If you’re facing Meowscarada, the dual Dark- and Grass-type, it’s weak to Fighting-, Flying-, Poison-, Bug-, Fire-, Ice-, and Fairy-type moves while resisting Ground-, Ghost-, Water-, Grass-, Electric-, and Dark-type ones. It’s immune to Psychic-type moves. Grass-type moves are super effective against Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types while being not very effective against Bug-, Dragon-, Fire-, Flying-, Grass-, Steel-, and Poison-type Pokémon.
Pokémon Trainer Nemona
Nemona first sends out a level 36 Lycanroc, a pure Rock-type. He knows Quick Attack. This means you should pick your Pokémon that is resistant to Rock-type moves and has moves that are super effective against it. A Fighting-, Steel-, or Ground-type is recommended here.
Up next, you’ll go toe to toe with a level 36 Goomy, the pure Dragon-type. A Steel-type with Fairy-, Dragon-, or Ice-type moves could be quite helpful in this fight and lead to a one-shot knockout.
Her third Pokémon will be a level 36 Pawmo, the dual Electric- and Fighting-type, who knows Thunder Wave and Spark. Since most, if not all, of the moves this Pokémon uses are Electric, try to pick a ‘mon that is resistant to them while having moves that are Ground-, Fairy-, or Psychic-type.
Lastly, she’ll send out a level 37 Skeledirge, Quaquaval, or Meowscarada based on your starter choice. I faced off against Meowscarada who used the strong Grass-type move Flower Trick during battle.
Once you’ve defeated Nemona, you’ll talk again with her and Geeta, and you’ll receive TM171 Tera Blast.
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Congratulations on your shiny new Normal Badge! Up next, you’ll want to head to the Montenerva Gym for the Ghost Badge. If you haven’t tackled them already, check out our guide for the Water Badge and Electric Badge. Don’t forget to read my review of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Check out our other Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Gym Guide