This sweltering jungle is the site of the Grass-type trial. Naturally, Fire, Flying, Bug and/or Poison-types are highly recommended. You can find a bunch of Fire-types back at Wela Volcano Park. For Flying-types, there’s Trumbeak and Fletchinder on Route 8. Finally, you can trade for an Arbok in the Route 8 Pokémon Center.

Anyway, approach Captain Mallow up ahead to begin the trial in earnest. She’ll hand you a Forage Bag and request you to obtain 3 specific ingredients from the jungle. To make things even easier, she’ll lead you directly to the areas where the ingredients are found. As before, it’s not possible to catch Pokémon during the trial.

The first area, to the west, is where Mago Berries grow. To obtain a Mago Berry, inspect one of the three glowing spots. There’s one towards the east, near the entrance, and two towards the far west. Sounds easy? Wait, there’s a catch! If you pick up a Mago Berry that belongs to a Fomantis, the Fomantis will attack you at the very end.

For safety purposes, the Mago Berry you want is the one from the west-most glowing spot, where the scent is sour, not sweet. While you’re here, you can pick up a Super Potion below the grassy mound near the center. There’s also a Photo Spot towards the north-west corner. Hand Mallow the berry when you’re ready to proceed.

The second area, to the north, is where Honey is found. To obtain Honey, you need to inspect the flower bushes dotted around. Like before, picking the wrong bush will cause a Pokémon–Comfey–to attack you later. The correct bush is the one towards the south-west, with “few flowers”. Give Mallow the Honey to leave.

Before leaving though, head west towards the patch of short grass surrounded by tall grass. Search here to find a Revival Herb. Next, go south-west towards the nearby tree trunk. It’s hard to see, but there’s a small hole you can squeeze through with the A button. On the other side is TM86 Grass Knot, visible from the west area.

Back in the flower bush area, head east towards Kiawe in the center, then go north up to the tree trunk. Immediately to the left is a Max Revive obscured by the tall grass. Continue east.

Finally, head south from the mossy rock, towards the tall grass in the corner. Sniff around to find a hidden Hyper Potion. The last area, to the east, is where Big Roots can be dug up. Big Roots grow under trees that look like Sudowoodo and, well, actual Sudowoodo. Taking from a real Sudowoodo will obviously lead to trouble later.

Anyway, from the entrance, make your way east. Along the north, near the second Sudowoodo, is an X Defense on the jungle floor. Nearby to the right, you may notice a massive, cube-shaped boulder. Ignore it for now and proceed south towards Lana. To Lana’s east is an actual tree, as indicated by its very slightly fuzzy-looking leaves.

Pick up the Big Root from this tree, then head a few paces to Lana’s west. Search the dark patch of ground just before the exit to find a hidden Heal Powder. Now go back around to Mallow and hand her the final ingredient. She’ll take you straight back to the entrance, where she’ll make preparations to summon the Totem Pokémon.

At this point, if you picked the wrong ingredients, you’ll have to fight the angry Pokémon in succession: Fomantis, Comfey and Sudowoodo. Unless you’re feeling brave and/or masochistic, we’d advise not provoking their wrath. This is because the Totem Pokémon battle will begin immediately afterwards, without a moment to rest.

Totem Pokémon¶

This gigantic flower mantis isn’t a Bug-type, despite appearances, but a pure Grass-type. It has solid stats all around, offset by its low Speed. However at the beginning of battle, it will receive a big boost to Speed, patching up this vulnerability. Fire, Flying, Bug and Poison-types are the bane of its existence.

If coming in underprepared, Totem Lurantis is a force to be reckoned with. For attacks, it uses the Bug-type X-Scissor for dishing out damage and the Fighting-type Low Sweep to punish Ice-types and slow down its opponent. When pushed, it can use Solar Blade straight away thanks to its Power Herb and Synthesis to restore HP.

Its ally can be Kecleon, which changes Type according to the move it’s hit with. This crafty chameleon also uses Ancient Power to damage Fire, Ice and Flying-types and Screech to lower Defense. Or you may fight Comfey, a Fairy-type. This supporter uses Floral Healing to restore Lurantis’s HP and Flower Shield to boost Defense.

Both allies can use Sunny Day to cause sunshine. This allows Lurantis to spam Solar Blade, which normally requires 1 turn to charge, even after it has used up its Power Herb. Furthermore, the HP restored by Synthesis is greatly boosted. However sunshine is a double-edged sword, as it boosts the power of Fire-type moves.

There are a few ways to safely approach this battle. Ideally, you should combat Lurantis with a tough and reliable Fire-type Pokémon. If durability is a concern, use a X Defense or Roto Boost on the first turn. Next, use Flame Charge (gotten from Colress) to guarantee your Fire-type is faster than Lurantis and also to cause decent damage.

Bide your time until Lurantis calls an ally, who will almost definitely use Sunny Day on their first time. Immediately use your Fire-type Z-Move when Sunny Day is up, likely inflicting a one-hit KO if your Pokémon is strong enough. Afterwards, you can clean up the remaining ally Pokémon any way you want.

If you don’t have a Fire-type, the next best thing is fielding Arbok from the Route 8 Pokémon Center trade. While Arbok has rubbish moves, you can use Glare to paralyze Lurantis and its ally Pokémon, reducing both of their Speed and preventing them from attacking every so often. Keep in mind that Lurantis cannot be paralyzed when it’s sunny.

From there, you can switch in your stronger Pokémon to fight the crippled pair of Pokémon, ideally taking out Lurantis first. If Lurantis’s damage output is hard to stomach, you can repeatedly switch Arbok in to spam Intimidate, lowering both Pokémon’s Attack. Or use an X Defend or Roto Boost, etc.

Afterwards, Kukui will come on over, with his own little gift, TM67 Smart Strike. You’ll then be taken back outside to Route 5.