Battle Tower Guide

The Battle Tower is the Frontier’s straight test: bring three of your own Pokémon and win seven battles per round with no gimmicks. Salon Maiden Anabel is the 35th battle for the silver Ability Symbol and the 70th for the gold. Because nothing about the rules helps or hinders you, it’s all about a team that holds up across 70 battles in a row.

How the Battle Tower works

You pick a mode and a level, then fight seven battles in a row. Each completed set of seven is a round, and your streak counts every battle you win.

• Single Battles: you bring three Pokémon. This is the only mode where Anabel appears, so it’s the only way to earn the symbols.
• Double Battles: you bring four Pokémon and fight two at a time.
• Multi Battles: you and a partner each bring two Pokémon. Your partner can be a computer-controlled Trainer, or a friend linked with another copy of Emerald.

You choose Level 50, where no Pokémon above level 50 can enter, or Open Level, where opponents scale to your team’s level. Your Pokémon are fully restored after every battle, so each fight starts fresh.

Rules and bans

Three different Pokémon (four in Doubles) holding different items, and no Mew, Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys or Eggs.

Salon Maiden Anabel

Anabel is the last battle of your 5th round (battle 35) and your 10th round (battle 70), in Single Battles only.

	Silver (battle 35)	Gold (battle 70)
Lead	Alakazam (BrightPowder)	Raikou (Lum Berry)
Second	Entei (Lum Berry)	Latios (BrightPowder)
Third	Snorlax (Quick Claw)	Snorlax (Chesto Berry)

• Silver: Alakazam carries all three elemental punches plus Disable, Entei runs Calm Mind with Fire Blast and Return, and Snorlax uses Belly Drum with Body Slam, Yawn and Shadow Ball. Don’t let Snorlax get a free turn to Belly Drum.
• Gold: Raikou and Latios both run Calm Mind and recover with Rest or Recover, and Snorlax uses Curse with Rest. This team gets stronger the longer the battle lasts, so you need enough damage to break it before the boosts stack up. A Dark-type attacker is a strong answer to Latios, and a hard-hitting Fighting type handles Snorlax.

The BrightPowder on Alakazam and Latios lowers your accuracy, so prefer reliable moves over high-power, low-accuracy ones in these battles. Full movesets and counters will be on the Salon Maiden Anabel page.

Strategy: teams that last 70 battles

The Tower rewards consistency. The question isn’t whether your team can win a battle, but whether it can win 70 without a bad matchup or a lucky critical hit ending the run.

Team archetypes that hold up

• Balanced offence. A fast special attacker, a strong physical attacker and a bulky Pokémon that can switch in and take hits. The classic Emerald version is something like Salamence, Metagross and Suicune or Swampert. It covers most threats and doesn’t depend on one Pokémon.
• Bulky core with a cleaner. Two defensive Pokémon with recovery (Blissey, Skarmory, Suicune) and one fast attacker that cleans up once the opponent is worn down. Slower, but very hard to break.
• Calm Mind or Dragon Dance sweeper with support. One Pokémon that sets up and two that clear the way. Powerful against AI teams, but more fragile against critical hits and status.

The full breakdown, with sets, will be on the best Battle Frontier teams page.

What tends to end streaks

• Sleep and freeze. One Hypnosis or Ice Beam freeze can swing a battle. A Lum Berry or Chesto Berry and a sleep-proof backup help.
• One-hit KO moves. Opponents with Fissure, Horn Drill, Guillotine or Sheer Cold can end a run out of nowhere. Knock them out fast or keep a Pokémon with Sturdy.
• Explosion and Destiny Bond. The AI will trade a Pokémon to take out your best one. Ghost types are immune to Explosion.
• Shared weaknesses. Two Pokémon weak to Ground or Ice is a common hole that a single opponent can exploit.

The safest playstyle

Play every battle as if it’s battle 69. Switch out of bad matchups rather than gambling, keep your sweeper healthy instead of trading it early, and don’t rely on moves below 90% accuracy.

Common mistakes

1. Over-levelling for Open Level. Open Level opponents scale to your team, so grinding to level 100 gives you no level advantage.
2. Using low-accuracy moves. Thunder, Blizzard, Fire Blast and Hydro Pump miss often enough to cost a 70-battle run. Use Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Flamethrower and Surf instead.
3. No status plan. Without a Lum Berry, Chesto Berry, or a Pokémon that shrugs off status, one sleep move can decide a battle.
4. Building for Doubles or Multi. Only Single Battles lead to Anabel. Streaks in the other modes never earn a symbol.
5. Letting Snorlax set up. Both of Anabel’s teams use a Snorlax that boosts with Belly Drum or Curse. Hit it hard straight away.

BP rewards

BP is paid per round of seven. Anabel’s rounds pay 10 BP extra.

Round (Singles)	1	2	3	4	5 (Anabel)	6	7	8	9	10 (Anabel)
BP	1	2	3	4	15	6	7	8	9	20

Rounds keep paying a little more each time, up to 15 BP per round (25 when Anabel returns every five rounds). Double Battles pay slightly more per round early on (2, 3, 4…) but never include Anabel. See the Battle Points guide for what to spend BP on.

Two extra prizes: every Pokémon in a 56-battle streak earns a Ribbon, the Winning Ribbon at Level 50 or the Victory Ribbon at Open Level.

FAQ

When does Anabel appear in the Battle Tower?

As the 35th battle (end of round 5) for silver and the 70th (end of round 10) for gold, in one unbroken streak of Single Battles.

Is the Battle Tower the same as in Ruby and Sapphire?

It’s the same building, but Emerald adds Double and Multi Battles, replaces Level 100 mode with Open Level, pays Battle Points instead of item prizes, and adds Anabel.

What level should my Pokémon be?

For Level 50, exactly 50 is best, since nothing above 50 can enter. For Open Level, opponents match your team’s level, so there’s no benefit to going higher than you need.