Pyramid King Brandon

Silver (floor 21): Regirock, Registeel and Regice. Gold (floor 70): Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. Brandon is the Battle Pyramid’s Frontier Brain and waits at the top of the Pyramid after your 3rd and 10th challenges in a row. The two teams need completely different answers, and the gold team’s Pressure makes your PP and Battle Bag matter.

When you face Brandon

• Silver Brave Symbol: at the top, after floor 21 (your 3rd challenge).
• Gold Brave Symbol: at the top, after floor 70 (your 10th challenge).
• After the gold he comes back every five challenges.

His challenges pay 10 BP extra: 16 BP for silver and 19 BP for gold.

Silver team

Pokémon	Item	Ability	Nature	Moves
Regirock	Quick Claw	Clear Body	Adamant	Explosion, Superpower, Earthquake, AncientPower
Registeel	Leftovers	Clear Body	Adamant	Earthquake, Metal Claw, Toxic, Iron Defense
Regice	Chesto Berry	Clear Body	Modest	Ice Beam, Amnesia, Thunder, Rest

Gold team

Pokémon	Item	Ability	Nature	Moves
Articuno	Scope Lens	Pressure	Mild	Blizzard, Water Pulse, Aerial Ace, Reflect
Zapdos	Lum Berry	Pressure	Mild	Thunder, Detect, Drill Peck, Light Screen
Moltres	BrightPowder	Pressure	Mild	Fire Blast, Hyper Beam, Aerial Ace, Safeguard

How to beat the silver team

All three Regis have Clear Body, so Intimidate, Screech and other stat drops don’t work on them. Plan to win with raw damage.

Regirock is extremely bulky physically and carries Explosion with a Quick Claw, so it can blow up before your faster Pokémon move. Its Special Defense is its weak side: special Water and Grass attacks are the best answer, and Fighting, Ground and Steel moves are also super effective. Ghost types are immune to Explosion.

Registeel walls almost everything and sets up Iron Defense while Toxic wears you down. Fire, Fighting and Ground moves are super effective, and Fire is special in Emerald, which helps against its high Defense. Don’t let it stall: Toxic damage adds up and you can’t heal between Pyramid battles without items.

Regice has huge Special Defense and boosts it further with Amnesia, then uses Rest with a Chesto Berry. Use physical attacks: Fighting, Rock and Steel moves are super effective. Fire is also super effective, but it’s special, so it gets weaker with every Amnesia.

How to beat the gold team

All three birds have Pressure, so every move you use against them costs 2 PP instead of 1. After seven floors of battles your best moves may already be low, so save PP-restoring items like Ethers from your Battle Bag for this fight.

Rock moves are your best friend. Rock Slide hits Articuno and Moltres four times as hard and Zapdos twice as hard. Rock is physical in Emerald, which suits a strong physical attacker.

Articuno uses Reflect to halve your physical damage, then attacks with Blizzard and Water Pulse; its Scope Lens raises the chance of critical hits. Rock, Fire, Electric and Steel moves are super effective. Hit it before Reflect goes up, or use special Fire or Electric attacks.

Zapdos sets up Light Screen against special attacks and uses Detect to stall. Rock and Ice moves are super effective, and Ground moves miss because it’s part Flying. Its Lum Berry cures one status condition.

Moltres uses Safeguard to block status and has Fire Blast and Hyper Beam. Rock, Water and Electric moves are super effective. BrightPowder makes it harder to hit, so favour accurate moves.

Team tips for both battles

• Bring both a physical and a special attacker. Regirock and Registeel are physically bulky, Regice is specially bulky, and the birds split their screens between Reflect and Light Screen.
• A Rock-type attacker handles the whole gold team.
• Fighting moves hit all three Regis super effectively.
• Save Ethers and healing items in the Battle Bag for the top of the Pyramid, especially for the gold fight’s Pressure.

The Battle Pyramid guide covers Battle Bag management and planning a 70-floor run.