Badge #17, Pt 2: Operation Iskra

I do not like this part of the game.

Route 4

When you're ready, return to the area of Route 4 outside Calcenon City and Rock Climb up to the upper area. Follow the path through the trees to find another Rock Climb point; keep going until you find a junction.

If you follow the route to the north, then find the Rock Climb point at the north of that area, you'll get another area which has a field effect related message: "A chill spreads through the air". This means that you need to use Blizzard in a battle; if you do so, you'll find an area with an Ice Stone. (Not worth it.) There's also a Rock Climb point at the southeast of that area, but it's currently empty. It'll lead to a postgame area soon, so remember how to get there.

Return to the junction and go up the Rock Climb point to the east to find... a jumping puzzle. (Fuck! Seriously? This far into the game?)

There's four routes you can follow here.

  • The yellow-green coloured arrow leads to a Rock Climb point that leads to an snowed-over jumping puzzle. Use Heat Wave to melt the snow and open the puzzle up to the "cave" (it's actually part of Charous Mountain, an area you'll see soon.)

    Use Heat Wave inside the cave again to melt it, and surf across to get the Heracronite.
  • The route from the purple arrow leads to a small outcrop that requires a Blizzard-based field change to create a Rock Climb point. This will take you to a shed that has TM73 Thunder Wave in it.
  • The route from the blue arrow doesn't go anywhere yet.
  • The red arrow is the one you actually want to follow.

Past the red arrow is an area with yet another fork in the road. If you follow the path to the right, and use Heat Wave to melt the ice, you'll find the Lycantium-Z.

Lycanroc's Z Move, Splintered Stormshards, will destroy any field when you use it. A team based around a sand setter and Lycanroc is a good cheese team for the endgame.
Not the right way to to go.

This leads to two more paths! To the south-east is a Rock Climb point that leads to a chain of field effect requirement areas. Use Blizzard to create a Rock Climb point, then Heat Wave again to find... nothing. Go back and follow the Rock Climb point to find ANOTHER jumping puzzle. This one is linear, at least; follow the rocks to find the Glass Workstation.

Talk to Hardy above the workstation for a long (and, interactive!) cutscene before you can enter the workstation itself. If you go behind the workstation's main building, you can find a secret path that will eventually lead to the Mimikyum-Z.

The Glass Workstation

Obviously, this was a trap, and this is a Team Hitler base. This is a very long dungeon so get a drink and some cyanide pills to prepare yourself.

FULL Glass Workstation Puzzle Walkthrough

After a small cutscene with Bennett, you can leave the lift and climb up into a maintenance shaft, where you'll find a Glaceon to adopt. Follow it down to the molten glass section where it will freeze the path ahead for you and promptly get captured. Walk up and talk to the Team Hitler soldier who will lock you out of the room where the Glaceon has been captured. Walk around to the side and break the glass window to get inside.

Once you battle the Schutzstaffel soldier, exit through the broken window and interact with the molten glass to create a bridge across. The lava immediately to the left is blocked off by a pallet of glass, so continue to the far left to find a stream of... molten concrete? Freeze all of them in sequence and then walk into the room you find.

The door will get slammed in your face, and there's no path to a side window... or is there? If you go backwards, the glass that previously blocked you will be knocked out of the way and you can once again enter the side building. Once you battle the Schutzstaffel solder again, you'll find that the Espeon is locked in a cage, and you don't have the key; neither do the SS units inside.

Back outside and to the right is a set of stairs that goes up onto the railings above. Walk up onto them and all the way to another set of stairs. Walk over to the door at the south-west of the room to find the Cage Key being guarded by a Schutzstaffel soldier. Return back to free the Espeon; you'll now have two of them following you around.

You can switch between the two Eeeveelutions by interacting with them. Espeon can give you a poor quality vision of the future, or move the glass pallets around (but only either perpendicularly, or away from you).

This area is very long, with lots of interlocking parts; this is my best guess at the order of things you need to do.

First, make Glaceon sit here so you don't accidentally make it inaccessible. (Glaceon is the less useful of the two Eevees.) Then, make Espeon follow you and move the glass block immediately to your right upwards so that the path is no longer blocked.

Grab Glaceon again and bring it down here. Make it sit here, then return to Espeon.

Move the glass blocks out of the way, then set Espeon down near the stairs. Grab Glaceon, bring it over to the stairs too, then use Espeon to move the glass block out of the way and open up the path.

Bring Glaceon over to this area, and freeze the molten glass. Retrieve Espeon and move the glass blocks around at other side of the lava to find the Gyradosite. If you do the same in the bottom room you can find TM29 Psychic.

If you didn't already, move this glass block down to unblock the path to the first two lava bridges.

Cross over the left-most bridge and move these blocks out of the way. You'll need to go back and retrieve Glaceon from where you left it if you left it at the bottom of the map, too.

Use Glaceon to make a bridge across this part of the molten lava. You might want to talk to the Genie of Good Game Design next to it, too.


This is likely the point where you are - like me - going to get hard stuck with nowhere immediately obvious to go. You might have figured out that you need to get Glaceon onto the upper railings, but don't know how.

Luckily, there is a solution! Use Espeon to move this block to the left and break the glass. This will re-enable the lifts to the upper railings. It's a good thing that you left Glaceon up near the top lava bridges (you did.. right), as that way you can easily grab it.

Go into this lift and select B1F to get onto the railing with Glaceon. Walk down to the bottom of the railing to find a room with two Schutzstaffel agents in there, TM179 Nasty Plot, and an EV Tuner. Talk to the second agent (Simon) twice for him to wallow a bit (you don't get the option to kill him, but you should). (This is part of the Super Rod quest.)

On this railing are two rooms; one (on the left side) has the Master Ball (!!) in it but isn't accessible yet. The on the right has the Meteor Card in it, as well as two cryogenic storage units containing the bodies of Anna and Noel. If you gave the ring to Blake, then you get the Meteor Card by talking to Aster; if you didn't, it's just laying on a table.

If you wake Anna up using Glaceon, she'll tell you what route you're on. If her first dialogue ends with "Good night!", you're on the Determination (Good) route. If her dialogue ends with "Good night, [player name]", then you're not on the good route. If she says neither of those, you're on the other bad route.

Put Glaceon in this exact spot, then use Espeon to drag the glass box across. Put Espeon next to the molten glass where it won't block your path, then make a path across the glass with Glaceon. Move the box at the top out of the way of the computer, and scan the Meteor Card.

After that ordeal, it's time for the hardest fight in the game: you have to kill thirty Pokémon in a row (two sets of double battles, plus a single battle). If you talk to the Genie of Good Game Design next to the door, you can enable full heals between all three battles instead of just two, which makes the fight a bit easier. But not much.

Choose your team wisely.


As this is basically a superboss, here's some tips:

  • You're about to fight Cain and Shelly in a double battle, then Luna in a single battle, and finally Radomus and Serra in a double battle. This means Ground, Dark, and Fire types are your friends.
  • If you're quick enough, you can quicksave between the first double battle and the single battle.
  • The Factory Field remains the entire time, but it's not especially helpful. Just don't break it when you're fighting Luna as she'll get a nice power boost from her attacks as a result.
  • With the elevators enabled, you can easily fly out and catch things if you need to. Play around with your team composition a bit.
  • To some degree, this battle is balanced around being able to use healing items. I don't think many people really play without them on. So, if the difficulty feels too absurd, just keep that in mind.
  • Talk to the Genie! You'll get a full restore between Luna and the Double Battle! It's not cheating!
  • For that matter, neither is using the litemode password. You can buy data chips all the way back at 7th Street. It's an unfair fight anyway.

Battle #1: Shelly & Cain

Bookworm Shelly
Sprite Name Level Ability Held Item Moves EVs
Ribombee Ribombee 81 Sweet Veil Babiri Berry
  • Dazzling Gleam
  • Sticky Web
  • Pollen Puff
  • Light Screen
0/4/0/252/252/0
Spidops Spidops 80 Stakeout Synthetic Seed
  • First Impression
  • Sucker Punch
  • Brick Break
  • Poison Jab
0/252/252/4/0/0
Scolipede Scolipede 81 Speed Boost Muscle Band
  • Rock Slide
  • Stomping Tantrum
  • Steamroller
  • Poison Jab
0/4/252/252/0/0
Volcarona Volcarona 82 Swarm Leftovers
  • Heat Wave
  • Quiver Dance
  • Signal Beam
  • Hurricane
0/4/0/252/252/0
Yanmega Yanmega 83 Speed Boost Heavy-Duty Boots
  • Signal Beam
  • Shadow Ball
  • Air Slash
  • Giga Drain
0/4/0/252/252/0
Mothim Mothim 83 Swarm Mothimite
  • Bug Buzz
  • Shadow Ball
  • Psychic
  • Hidden Power
0/4/0/252/252/0
Pretty Boy Cain
Sprite Name Level Ability Held Item Moves EVs
Espathra Espathra 81 Opportunist Psychic Gem
  • Energy Ball
  • Lumina Crash
  • Roost
  • Flash Cannon
0/4/0/252/252/0
Skeledirge Skeledirge 81 Unaware Leftovers
  • Torch Song
  • Snarl
  • Shadow Ball
  • Earth Power
0/252/0/0/252/0
Primarina Primarina 82 Berserk Mystic Water
  • Dazzling Gleam
  • Hyper Voice
  • Blizzard
  • Icy Wind
0/128/0/128/252/0
Obstagoon Obstagoon 81 Reckless Chople Berry
  • Double-Edge
  • Gunk Shot
  • Obstruct
  • Body Press
0/128/252/128/0/0
Muk Muk-Alola 81 Alchemy Power Black Sludge
  • Gunk Shot
  • Thunder Punch
  • Knock Off
  • Rock Slide
0/252/252/0/0/4
Nidoking Nidoking 83 Rivalry Leftovers
  • Earth Power
  • Blizzard
  • Thunder
  • Flamethrower
0/4/0/252/252/0

Battle #2: Luna

??? ?????
Sprite Name Level Ability Held Item Moves EVs
Weavile Weavile 83 Pickpocket Focus Sash
  • Icicle Crash
  • Poison Jab
  • Brick Break
  • Night Slash
0/4/252/252/0/0
Grimmsnarl Grimmsnarl 83 Prankster Light Clay
  • Sucker Punch
  • Reflect
  • Spirit Break
  • Light Screen
0/252/252/0/0/4
Polteageist Polteageist 84 Weak Armor White Herb
  • Shell Smash
  • Strength Sap
  • Stored Power
  • Shadow Ball
0/104/0/252/152/0
Honchkrow Honchkrow 84 Moxie Life Orb
  • Sucker Punch
  • Superpower
  • Roost
  • Brave Bird
0/4/252/252/0/0
Absol Absol 85 Pressure Absolite
  • Swords Dance
  • Superpower
  • Play Rough
  • Knock Off
0/4/252/252/0/0
Umbreon Umbreon 86 Magic Guard Leftovers
  • Wish
  • Foul Play
  • Protect
  • Toxic
0/252/0/0/0/252

Battle #3: Radomus & Serra

??? ?????
Sprite Name Level Ability Held Item Moves EVs
Clefable Clefable 81 Magic Guard Leftovers
  • Blizzard
  • Dazzling Gleam
  • Fire Blast
  • Thunder Wave
0/252/0/0/252/0
Kingambit Kingambit 83 Defiant Life Orb
  • Kowtow Cleave
  • Iron Head
  • Brick Break
  • Sucker Punch
0/252/252/0/0/0
Metagross Metagross 82 Clear Body Leftovers
  • Zen Headbutt
  • Meteor Mash
  • Ice Punch
  • Rock Slide
0/252/252/0/0/4
Indeedee Indeedee 82 Psychic Surge Amplifield Rock
  • Fake Out
  • Psychic
  • Hyper Voice
  • Dazzling Gleam
0/4/0/252/252/0
Espeon Espeon 83 Trace Twisted Spoon
  • Dazzling Gleam
  • Psyshock
  • Calm Mind
  • Signal Beam
0/4/0/252/252/0
Gardevoir Gardevoir 85 Trace Gardevoirite
  • Calm Mind
  • Thunderbolt
  • Psychic
  • Hyper Voice
0/4/0/252/252/0
??? ?????
Sprite Name Level Ability Held Item Moves EVs
Ninetales Ninetales-Alola 81 Snow Warning Light Clay
  • Blizzard
  • Dazzling Gleam
  • Freeze-Dry
  • Aurora Veil
0/4/0/252/252/0
Sandslash Sandslash-Alola 82 Slush Rush Muscle Band
  • Iron Head
  • Icicle Crash
  • Knock Off
  • Rock Slide
0/4/252/252/0/0
Bronzong Bronzong 82 Levitate Leftovers
  • Gyro Ball
  • Zen Headbutt
  • Psywave
  • Rock Slide
0/252/252/0/0/0
Frosmoth Frosmoth 82 Ice Scales Synthetic Seed
  • Quiver Dance
  • Hurricane
  • Blizzard
  • Bug Buzz
0/4/0/252/252/0
Glaceon Glaceon 83 Ice Scales Light Clay
  • Aurora Veil
  • Blizzard
  • Signal Beam
  • Shadow Ball
0/100/0/252/156/0
Froslass Froslass 84 Ice Scales Froslassite
  • Blizzard
  • Destiny Bond
  • Thunderbolt
  • Shadow Ball
0/4/0/252/252/0

What's next?

Only this when you've beat the gauntlet!

For all my issues with Reborn's writing post-E16, I really like this segment. It's one of the best written parts of any game I've played. It's not Disco Elysium... but it doesn't need to be.

No words. Just enjoy it.

After going through all of that, exit the area to get an extremely long (and extremely poorly written) cutscene recapping everything that happened during your gauntlet battle. (tl;dr Radomus is Anna and Noel's dad. Bennett forged the Elite 4 resignation. Nothing else reeally matters, it's mostly just a ton of exposition in order to set up the ending. Great storytelling!)

If you say "Yes" at the end, you'll be teleported back to Calcenon City. If not, you can walk there yourself. It's finally time to liberate Agate City.