Learn everything you need to know about the Caph Squad Star Base in Pokemon Scarlet/Violet!
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is an open-world game in which the player plays the role of a transferee in a large Paldea Region school. Only the player may choose what to do in the game: defeat the nefarious Team Star, defeat all of the Pokemon Gyms, become the champion and the best like no one ever was, chase down Titan Pokemon, or simply complete the Pokedex and catch them all!
In this guide, we’ll go through how to beat Team Star Bases from the ‘Starfall Street’ quest line, notably the Caph Squad, also known as the Fighting Crew, Star Base!
Location
The Team Star’s Fighting Crew Base can be found in the north of North Province (Area Two) (southeast of North Province Area One or northeast of Tagtree Thicket) in the northwestern part of the map of the Paldea Region.
The player can reach the Fighting Crew Star Base by starting from the Glaseado Gym in Glaseado Mountain, heading to the northeast to go to North Province (Area One), heading a little bit south towards the North Province (Area One) Pokemon Center, head a little more south then follow the path on the southeast. Head to the northeast through some bamboo shoots, and the player can reach the Caph Squad Base.
Gate Battle
Upon arriving at the Caph Squad’s Star Base, head towards the gate, and a cutscene will play where Clive is talking to someone in a wrestling costume and with heavy face makeup named Eri, telling Clive that he is pretty skilled as not a lot of trainers can shrug off his Pokemon’s attacks.
Clive will then reply that Eri’s Pokemon spent a lot of time honing their moves, but he will say that he is surprised that the actual boss of Caph Squad herself is defending the gate.
Eri will reply that she does not want to risk hurting anyone else. Select any of the choices from the prompt, and Clive will explain that he started talking to Eri since she looked like she was with Team Star, and Eri started coming at him with her Pokemon without warning, so they were just battling it out.
Then, Carmen, one of Team Star’s Grunts, will appear and ask Eri if everything is alright, to which Eri will reply that she is safe but that Carmen should get away because it is not safe. Confirm on the prompt to take on the guard alone, confirm on the prompt that the player is ready to battle, and a battle against the Team Star Grunt will commence!
Carmen then says that she will guard the base and that Eri should get back inside. After a bit of resistance from Eri, she will concede and let Carmen take over because she wants to protect everyone in Team Star.
Carmen of Team Star will only use two Pokemon: a Level 54 Croagunk and a Level 55 Primeape. With that in mind, it is worth mentioning that Croagunk is a Poison and Fighting-type Pokemon which means that it has a weakness to Flying-type, Ground-type, and especially Psychic-type moves (super effective) and resistance to Dark-type, Fighting-type, Grass-type, Poison-type, Rock-type, and especially Bug-type moves (not very effective); and that Primeape is a Fighting-type Pokemon which means that it has a weakness to Fairy-type, Flying-type, and Psychic-type moves (super effective), and resistance to the Bug-type, Dark-type, and Rock-type moves (not very effective).
After defeating Carmen of Team Star, she will say that it is fine even if she only bought Eri a bit of time. She will then leave and enter the Fighting Crew Star Base.
Then, a small cutscene will play out where Cassiopeia will call the player and compliment the player for taking care of the Grunt at the gate. Cassiopeia will then explain that inside this base is Team Star’s Fighting Crew called the Caph Squad, and their boss is named Eri, a skilled wrestler who coaches all of Team Stars in Pokemon Battling.
Cassiopeia will say that Eri is likely the most alert to hostilities, so Cassiopeia will warn the player that Eri may try to challenge the player before anyone else. Select any of the responses from the prompt, and then Cassiopeia will be surprised that Eri retreated. Then, Cassiopeia will suggest attacking the base head-on.
Star Barrage
In the following part, the player must then battle many Pokemon within a certain time restriction. To do so, the player must use the R button to summon several Pokemon, specifically the first three Pokemon in the player’s party, and have them battle the Grunts’ Pokemon simultaneously.
The player will lose if all of the player’s Pokemon run out of HP or the timer runs out. The player can retreat and give up by pressing the Y button before the countdown runs out.
As mentioned, this is the base of Team Star’s Fighting Crew, so all of the Grunts in the base will use a Fighting-type Pokemon (some Pokemon will have dual types, but one of those will be Fighting-type).
With that in mind, it is worth mentioning that Fighting-type Pokemon have a weakness to Fairy-type, Flying-type, and Psychic-type moves (super effective), so ready up Pokemon with these types of moves to defeat the grunts easily.
The player is advised to use Level 56 and above Pokemon to defeat the Team Star Grunts’ Pokemon easily inside the Fighting Crew’s base.
Once the player is ready to take on the Star Barrage against the Team Star’s Caph Squad in the Star Base, head towards the gate, interact with the bell that has a glowing button, and confirm on the prompt to challenge Team Star’s Fighting Crew.
Clive will then enter the base with the player, and a Grunt will talk on the speakers and say that they will call out the boss to deal with the player if the player can defeat 30 of the Fighting Crew’s Pokemon within 10 minutes.
After that, the Star Barrage will start! The Team Star Fighting Crew Grunts in the base will use a lot of Flamigo, Hawlucha, Toxicroak, Gallade, Hariyama, Medicham, Falinks, Crabominable, Passimian, Mankey, and Primeape.
This Star Barrage is pretty easy to complete if the player has three powerful Pokemon or has a super effective type against Fighting-type Pokemon and is at sufficient levels or is strong enough.
When the player’s Pokemon are low on health, they may either interact with any of the vending machines there or chat with Clive near the base’s entrance to have him heal them.
Fighting Crew Boss Eri
After beating 30 of the Caph Squad’s Pokemon before the timer runs out, Eri, the Fighting Crew’s Boss, will appear on top of a Starmobile. Then, the fight against Eri will begin!
Eri will use five Pokemon. The first one is a Level 55 Toxicroak, which is a Poison and Fighting-type Pokemon, which means that it has a weakness to Flying-type, Ground-type, and especially Psychic-type moves (super effective) and resistance to Dark-type, Fighting-type, Grass-type, Poison-type, Rock-type, and especially Bug-type moves (not very effective).
Eri’s Toxicroak will use the following moves: Poison Jab, which is a physical Poison-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also has a 30% chance of poisoning the opposing Pokemon, Brick Break, which is a physical Fighting-type move with 75 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also breaks the protective barriers that are active in the battle, and Sucker Punch, which is a physical Dark-type move with 70 Power and 100 Accuracy that can only damage the opposing Pokemon if the opponent is about to use a move that deals damage.
The second Pokemon that Eri will use is a Level 55 Lucario, which is a Fighting and Steel-type Pokemon that has a weakness to Fighting-type, Fire-type, and Ground-type moves (super effective), a resistance to Dark-type, Dragon-type, Grass-type, Ice-type, Normal-type, Steel-type, and especially Bug-type and Rock-type moves (not very effective), and immunity to Poison-type moves (no effect).
Eri’s Lucario will use the following moves: Close Combat, a physical Fighting-type move with 120 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also lowers the Defense and Sp. Defense stat of the Pokemon using the move by one stage, Rock Tomb, which is a physical Rock-type move with 60 Power and 95 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also lowers the opposing Pokemon’s Speed stat by one stage, and Seed Bomb, which is a physical Grass-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy.
The third Pokemon that Eri will use is a Level 55 Passimian, a Fighting-type Pokemon with a weakness to Fairy type, Flying-type, and Psychic-type moves (super effective) and resistance to the Bug-type, Dark type, and Rock-type moves (not very effective).
Eri’s Passimian will use the following moves: Dragon Pulse, a special Dragon-type move with 85 Power and 100 Accuracy. Aura Sphere, which is a unique Fighting type move with 80 Power and is an attack that never misses, and Dark Pulse, which is a special Dark-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also has a 20% chance of causing the opposing Pokemon to flinch.
The fourth Pokemon that Eri will use is a Level 55 Annihilape, which is a Fighting and Ghost-type Pokemon that has a weakness to Fairy-type, Flying-type, Ghost-type, and Psychic-type moves (super effective), a resistance to Poison-type, Rock-type, and especially Bug-type moves (not very effective), and immunity to Fighting type and Normal-type moves (no effect).
Eri’s Annihilape will use the following moves: Rage Fist, which is a physical Ghost-type move with 50 Power and 100 Accuracy that will have greater power the more that the Pokemon using the move has been hit by attacks; Close Combat, which is a physical Fighting-type move with 120 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also lowers the Defense and Sp. Defense stat of the Pokemon using the move by one stage: Ice Punch, which is a physical Ice-type move with 75 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also has a 10% to freeze the opposing Pokemon, and Fire Punch, which is a physical Fire-type move with 75 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also has a 10% chance of afflicting burn on the opposing Pokemon.
The fifth Pokemon that Eri will use is the Caph Starmobile, a Level 56 Fighting-type Revavroom. The Caph Starmobile has the Ability called Stamina, which raises its Defense stat by one stage if an attack hits the Pokemon with the Ability. As the Caph Starmobile is also a Fighting-type, it also has a weakness to Fairy-type, Flying-type, and Psychic-type (super effective) and resistance to the Bug-type, Dark-type, and Rock-type (not very effective).
Eri’s Caph Starmobile will use the following moves: Spin Out, which is a physical Steel-type move with 100 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also lowers the Speed stat of the Pokemon using the move by two stages; Shift Gear, which is a Steel-type status move that increases the Attack stat by one step and the Speed stat by two sets of the Pokemon using the action, High Horsepower, which is a physical Ground-type move with 95 Power and 95 Accuracy, and Wicked Torque, which is a move exclusive to the Caph Starmobile.
After defeating Eri, a flashback cutscene about Eri and the other Team Star crew bosses will play out. Then, Eri will give the player a Star Badge for defeating Team Star’s Fighting Crew and TM167, a move called Close Combat. Close Combat, again, is a physical Fighting-type move that, aside from dealing damage, also lowers the Defense and Sp. Defense stat of the Pokemon using the move by one stage. Close Combat has 120 Power, 100 Accuracy, and 5 PP.
After that, Eri will ask the player a favor to look away for a moment as it is a bit much for her to take, and then she will run away crying. Then, Clive will appear with Carmen, the Team Star Grunt that the player fought at the gate, and Clive will explain that he asked her to come for a talk.
Clive will then ask Carmen why she is on much friendlier terms with Eri than the other Team Star Grunts, to which Carmen will reply that she thinks Eri is an amazing trainer, athlete, and pretty.
It didn’t take long for Eri to become popular at the academy, but she hated Eri because everyone liked Eri more than her, so she and her classmates started picking on Eri. However, it also did not take long before her classmates started picking on her too, but Eri still chose to help her even though she was horrible to Eri, and Eri told her that she knows what it feels like to have no one on your side the invited her to Team Star.
Then, Clive will tell her that he also heard that Team Star engages in bullying, to which Carmen will ask him back if he thinks that is true after hearing her story. Carmen will continue that Eri and the rest of Team Star made her who she is today and tell Clive not to take away their greatest treasure.
Then, Clive will arrive and give the player some TM Crafting Materials from Cassiopeia. After that, Cassiopeia will once again call the player and reward the player with 20,000 LP, and the player can now make more TMs using the TM Machine. The TM Machine Recipes that are unlocked are TM162 or Big Buzz, TM151 or Phantom Force, TM148 or Sludge Bomb, TM147 or Wild Charge, TM135 or Ice Beam, TM133 or Earth Power, TM127 or Play Rough, TM126 or Thunderbolt, TM125 or Flamethrower, TM124 or Ice Spinner, TM123 or Surf, TM119 or Energy Ball, TM110 or Liquidation, TM109 or Trick, TM103 or Substitute, TM100 or Dragon Dance, TM089 or Body Press, TM088 or Swords Dance, TM087 or Taunt, and TM063 or Psychic Fangs.
After defeating Team Star’s Caph Squad and their boss, Eri, at the Star Base, the player is one step closer to completing the ‘Starfall Street quest line and Operation Starfall!
