Up until the 5th gym leader, all of the gym challenges in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are pretty easy. However, things get much trickier than expected in Medali.
Larry proves to be a pain of a gym leader due to his exceptionally annoying challenge.
If you need help figuring out how to solve Medali’s gym challenge, stick around. We are going to walk you through this.
Check out our full guide below on how to complete the Medali Gym Challenge in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
Medali Gym Challenge’s Recipe
You must order a medium-sized portion of extra crispy rice balls with lemon at the same restaurant where you change your Pokémon’s Tera Type.
The previous challenges were but a slight inconvenience. Whether you’re rolling an olive into a basket or collecting Sunflora around the town, they’re usually straightforward enough to be easy to solve.
However, once you get to Medali, things will drastically change. This challenge has you roaming around town to find clues to a secret dish served at a restaurant.
If you can order the right dish after beating the trainers, you earn a shot at the gym leader, but it isn’t as simple as it may sound.
Medali is the home of the 5th gym leader Larry who specializes in Normal-type Pokemon, a bit like Norman from Ruby and Sapphire.
Once you enter the gym, you’ll be asked to go around and battle other gym challengers in order to gain access to their clues.
As mentioned before, your overall goal is to eventually piece together a special order from the treasure eatery restaurant located next to the Medali East Pokemon Center.
Once you manage to do that successfully, you will finally get to battle Gym Leader Larry. A businessman will give you a hint by mentioning that lemon. However, you still need clues from the Pokémon trainers throughout Medali.
You don’t need to collect these clues in any particular order, but it helps if you do. The first trainer is right in front of the treasure eatery. She’ll have a level 34 Gumshoos and Greedent, so nothing too challenging.
After defeating her, you’ll get a clue to look for an odd food item at the ice cream stand. Right next to her is the stand, so when you buy something, you’ll see that they’re randomly selling grilled rice balls. Remember that.
The second trainer is over by the Pokemon center to the west and has a level 34 Ursaring. She’ll tell you to look for a dark spot surrounded by stairs, which is conveniently right next to her.
You can find the clue at the bottom of the stairs by clicking A on the gate. It will simply tell you “Fire Blast,” the next clue to remember.
The third and final trainer will be in the bottom corner of the town, and he’ll have a level 34 Dunsparce for you to take out. This is an odd Pokémon with a single weakness, Fighting-type moves. If you have any Fighting-type Pokémon, this battle will be significantly easier.
His clue is to pay close attention to what the blue bird is saying. Sure enough, if you go to this man standing on the corner with a Squawkabilly, his Pokemon will say the words Meedyum twice. Remember that. This means medium size when it comes to ordering.
So now you’ve got all the clues from other gym trainers, and you can pass the test. The challenge will begin if you go to the Treasure Eatery and talk to the front-of-house staff member.
All you need to do is answer with the clues you’ve found, so the first answer is grilled rice balls, medium serving, extra crispy, fire blast style, and then the last answer is lemon.
As soon as you input this, you’ll know it’s correct, as the gym will transform into a battleground for the fight.
All of Larry’s Pokemon are fairly easy to deal with. He has a level 35 Komala, which loves to use Sucker Punch, a level 35 Dudunsparce, and a level 36 Staraptor.
For a Gym Leader, Larry is not really a challenge. His team is pretty weak in general and quite easy to beat. To make matters worse, the Staraptor’s Tera Type is Normal, which won’t really shake up the way the battles will go.
You can obliterate this entire gym with a half-decent Fighting-type Pokémon. You won’t break a sweat if you have one of the best Fighting-type Pokémon in the game.
I’m sure you will remember Larry and his Normal Type Pokémon when asked about it in the Champion Assessment, but not as one of the hardest Gym Leaders you fought.
That said, I really like Larry as a character. He is a working man who looks tired but still uses the time he has to run a Gym. He deserves some respect.
Either way, you must defeat him to advance in the main story, so I suggest getting a Hariyama. It’s not that hard to find one, and they are very decent Fighting-type Pokémon.
What to Do Next
Once you’ve beat the Medali Gym challenge, take a look at your team and see whether there are any particular Pokemon that you want to strengthen. I’d recommend looking at the best TMs in the game and spending some time teaching any weaker Pokemon new moves, to help prepare them for the next challenges.
Spend some time looking at the best ways to level up quickly in the game, too. As you progress throughout Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, you’ll need to keep training your team up and making sure that they’re prepared for the next challenge ahead.
