Pokemon Scarlet/Violet: How to Defeat Director Clavell in the Academy Ace Tournament

In the main game of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the player must defeat the massive new Titan Pokemon, face off against each Gym Leader in the Paldea region, face off against the mysterious Team Star, compete in the Pokemon League to become a Champion, and be the best like no one ever was, and capture every Pokemon in the region because, well, you gotta catch ’em all!

Even after completing all these missions, players can still participate in post-game challenges, like facing off against former Team Star squads and Pokemon Gym Leaders in a rematch right after the final mission, and the credits start rolling. One of these must-try challenges is the Academy Ace Tournament.

This guide will teach you to defeat Director Clavell in the Academy Ace Tournament!

The Academy Ace Tournament

Nemona and the Pokemon League assembled the Academy Ace Tournament to honor the player for becoming a Champion in the Paldea region. The player must first help Top Champion Geeta by challenging each Pokemon Gym Leader in Paldea in a rematch for Top Champion Geeta to be eligible to compete in the Academy Ace Tournament. Access to the Academy Ace Tournament will become available once each Gym Leader in the region has been beaten in a rematch.

To participate in the Academy Ace Tournament, head to the Academy in Mesagoza, go to the Entrance Hall, then speak with the staff member in the blue shirt seated at the front desk next to a Gengar/Psyduck.

The player competes against four Pokemon Trainer teachers, staff members, or other students in the Academy Ace Tournament. The player must defeat all four trainers to earn the title of the academy’s ace and become the ultimate champion.

You will face a particular group of four Pokemon Trainers in the player’s first-ever attempt at the Academy Ace Tournament: Arven, Jacq, Dendra, and Top Champion Geeta. The player will face four random Trainers on subsequent attempts, who will be chosen from Arven, Jacq, Dendra, Salvatore, Tyme, Miriam, Raifort, Saguaro, Hassel, Penny, Director Clavell, or Nemona.

The player cannot change the Pokemon in the player’s party after each round/battle of the tournament. Following each battle/round, however, the HP of the player’s Pokemon will be restored, and the player’s Tera Orb will be recharged.

Rewards

For winning the Academy Ace Tournament for the first time, the Sporty Cap (Pokemon League) and 6-Star Tera Raids (if the player has completed at least ten 4-Star Tera Raid battles) are unlocked, as well as money and EXP points.

For the player’s subsequent wins of the whole Academy Ace Tournament,  the player will obtain any of the following rewards at random: a maximum of 10 Rare Candies, a up to three Nuggets, one Big Nugget, three random Tera Shards, three random Vitamins, a rare Apriball (a Beast Ball, a Dream Ball, a Fast Ball, a Friend Ball, a Level Ball, a Lure Ball, or a Moon Ball), a random-natured Mint, a Bottle Cap, a Gold Bottle Cap, or a scarce Ability Patch.

Director Clavell in the Ace Academy Tournament

Suppose the player returns to compete in the Academy Ace Tournament after winning for the first time. In that case, the new Paldea Champion might face Director Clavell, the academy director!

Director Clavell does not have a type specialty and will use six Pokemon, three of which are a Level 65 Oranguru, a Level 65 Abomasnow, and a Level 65 Polteageist.

Clavell’s Oranguru

With that in mind, it is worth noting that Oranguru is a Normal and Psychic-type Pokemon. Hence, it is weak (super effective) to Bug-type and Dark-type moves, resistant (not very effective) to Psychic-type moves, and immunity (no effect) to Ghost-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Oranguru will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Yawn is a Normal-type status move that will make the target Pokemon fall asleep at the end of the next turn.
  
• Dream Eater is a special Psychic-type move with 100 Power and 100 Accuracy. It will deal damage and make the Pokemon recover its HP by half of the damage dealt. This move, however, will fail if the target Pokemon is not asleep.
  
• Reflect, a Psychic-type status move that will decrease the damage taken by the Pokemon using the move’s side of the battle from Physical Attacks by 50% in Single battles and 33% in Double Battles and will last for five turns.
  
• Foul Play is a physical Dark-type attack with 95 Power and 100 Accuracy. It has a damage calculation based on the opposing Pokemon’s Attack stat. This move will consider status conditions and stat boosts or drops in the damage calculation. However, it will not consider stat boosts from the opposing Pokemon’s Ability.

Aside from that, Director Clavell’s Oranguru has the Ability called Inner Focus. The Pokemon using the Ability is deeply focused on protecting itself from flinching.

Clavell’s Abomasnow

A Grass and Ice-type Pokemon like Abomasnow has a weakness (super effective) to Bug-type, Fighting-type, Flying-type, Poison-type, Rock-type, Steel-type, and especially Fire-type moves and resistant (not very effective) to Electric-type, Grass-type, Ground-type, and Water-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Abomasnow will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Aurora Veil is an Ice-type status move that will also decrease the damage taken by the Pokemon using the move’s side from physical attacks by 50% in Single Battles and 33% in Double Battles for five turns. However, This move can only be used if Snow is active, and its effects will continue even if the Pokemon who used the move is changed out or Snow will become inactive before the effect of this move ends.
  
• Blizzard is a special Ice-type attack with 110 Power and 70 Accuracy. In addition to inflicting damage, it has a 10% chance of freezing on the target Pokemon and has increased Accuracy if a Snowstorm is active.
  
• Wood Hammer is a physical Grass-type move with 120 Power and 100 Accuracy. It will deal damage and recoil damage to the Pokemon using the move equal to 1/3 of the damage dealt.
  
• Ice Shard is a physical Ice-type move with 40 Power and 100 Accuracy. It inflicts damage and has an increased Speed priority of 1, allowing it to move faster before most moves.

Also, Director Clavell’s Abomasnow has the Ability called Snow Warning. It will make Snowstorm active in the battle that will last for five turns if Abomasnow is sent out.

Clavell’s Polteageist

Polteageist is a Ghost-type Pokemon that is weak (super effective) to Dark-type and Ghost-type moves, resistant (not very effective) to Bug-type and Poison-type moves, and an immunity (no effect) to Fighting-type and Normal-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Polteageist will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Shell Smash is a Normal-type status move that raises the attacking Pokemon’s Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by two stages. It also reduces its Defense and Special Defense stat by one stage.
  
• Shadow Ball is a special Ghost-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy. Aside from causing damage, it also has a 20% chance of decreasing the enemy’s Special Defense stat by one stage.
  
• Sucker Punch is a physical Dark-type move with 70 Power and 100 Accuracy that will only damage the target Pokemon if it is about to use a move that deals damage.
  
• Will-o-Wisp is a Fire-type status move with 85 Accuracy that will burn on the target Pokemon.

Aside from its moves, Director Clavell’s Polteageist has the Ability called Weak Armor, which will raise the Pokemon with the Ability’s Speed stat by two stages and decrease its Defense stat by one stage whenever it is hit with a Physical Attack.

As for Director Clavell’s other three Pokemon, it depends on which starter Pokemon the player chose at the beginning of the game:

Clavell’s Gyrados (Round 1)

If the player chooses Quaxly as a starter Pokemon, Director Clavell’s other three Pokemon will be a Level 65 Gyarados, a Level 65 Houndoom, and a Level 66 Meowscarada with a Grass Tera-Type.

A Water and Flying-type Pokemon like Gyarados is weak (super effective) to Rock-type and especially Electric-type moves, resistant (not very effective) to the Bug-type, Fighting-type, Fire-type, Steel-type, and Water-type moves, and immunity (no effect) to Ground-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Gyarados will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Aqua Tail is a physical Water-type attack with 90 Power and 90 Accuracy.
  

• Crunch is a physical Dark-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that inflicts damage and also has a 20% chance of reducing the Defense stat of the target Pokemon by one stage.
  
• Stone Edge is a physical Rock-type move with 100 Power and 80 Accuracy and is an attack that has increased the Critical Hit ratio by one stage.
  
• Earthquake is a physical Ground-type move with 100 Power and 100 Accuracy that will damage all of the Pokemon in the battle and even double damage if a Pokemon is in the middle of the move Dig.

Additionally, Director Clavell’s Gyarados has the Ability called Intimidate, which will decrease the Attack stat of the opposing Pokemon by one stage whenever the Pokemon with the Ability is sent to the battle.

Clavell’s Houndoom (Round 1)

Houndoom is a Dark and Fire-type Pokemon, so it has a weakness (super effective) to Fighting-type, Ground-type, Rock-type, and Water-type moves, resistant (not very effective) to Dark-type, Fire-type, Ghost-type, Grass-type, Ice-type, and Steel-type moves, and immunity (no effect) to Psychic-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Houndoom will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Dark Pulse is a special Dark-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that deals damage and has a 20% chance of making the opposing Pokemon flinch.
  
• Fire Blast is a special Fire-type move with 110 Power and 85 Accuracy that, in addition to dealing damage, also has a 10% chance of burning the target Pokemon.
  
• Sludge Bomb is a special Poison-type attack with 90 Power and 100 Accuracy that deals damage and has a 30% chance of poisoning the target Pokemon.
  
• Thunder Fang is a physical Electric-type move with 65 Power and 95 Accuracy. In addition to inflicting damage, it has a 10% chance of paralyzing the opposing Pokemon or making the target Pokemon flinch.

Aside from its moves, Director Clavell’s Houndoom has the Ability called Flash Fire, which will raise the damage output of the Pokemon with the Ability’s Fire-type moves by 50% if it is hit with a Fire-type move. Also, the Pokemon with the Ability will become immune to Fire-type attacks.

Clavell’s Meowscarada

Meowscarada is a Grass and Dark-type Pokemon, but as Director Clavell will Terastallize it, it will change into a pure Grass-type because of its Tera-type. Hence, it now has a weakness (super effective) to the Bug-type, Fire-type, Flying-type, Ice-type, and Poison-type moves and resistance (not very effective) to Electric-type, Grass-type, Ground-type, and Water-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Meowscarada will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Shadow Claw is a physical Ghost-type attack with 70 Power and 100 Accuracy also has a 1-stage increased Critical Hit ratio.
  
• Flower Trick is a physical Grass-type move with 70 Power that will never miss and always land a critical hit.
  
• Thunder Punch is a physical Electric-type move with 75 Power and 100 Accuracy that deals damage and has a 10% chance of paralyzing the target Pokemon.
  
• Play Rough is a physical Fairy-type move with 90 Power and 90 Accuracy that, aside from causing damage, also has a 10% chance of reducing the Attack stat of the target Pokemon by one stage.

Also, Director Clavell’s Meowscarada has the Ability called Overgrow, which will raise the damage output of the Pokemon with the Ability’s Grass type moves by 50% when its HP is less than a third of its max HP.

Clavell’s Amoongus (Round 1)

If the player chooses Fuecoco as a starter Pokemon, Director Clavell’s other three Pokemon will be a Level 65 Amoonguss, a Level 65 Houndoom, and a Level 66 Quaquaval with a Water Tera-Type.

A Grass and Poison-type Pokemon like Amoongus is weak (super effective) to Fire-type, Flying-type, Ice-type, and Psychic-type moves and resistant (not very effective) to Electric-type, Fairy-type, Fighting-type, Water-type, and especially Grass-type moves.

Read: Pokemon Scarlet/Violet: How to Defeat Miriam in the Academy Ace Tournament

Director Clavell’s Amoonguss will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Spore is a Grass-type status move with 100 Accuracy that will put the target Pokemon to sleep.
  
• Toxic is a Poison-type status move with 90 Accuracy that will Poison the enemy Pokemon and inflict it on the opposing Pokemon even if they are in the middle of moves like Fly or Dig but cannot break through moves like Protect or Detect. Also, this move has 100 Accuracy if the Pokemon using the move is a Poison-type Pokemon.
  
• Giga Drain is a special Grass-type move with 75 Power and 100 Accuracy that will inflict damage and take half of the damage dealt by recovering the HP of the Pokemon using the move. 
  
• Hex is a special Ghost-type attack with 65 Power and 100 Accuracy that can deal damage of 130 if the target Pokemon already has a status condition.

Aside from that, Director Clavell’s Amoonguss has the Ability called Effect Spore, which gives it a 10% chance to inflict Paralyze, Poison, or Sleep on the opposing Pokemon whenever the Pokemon with the Ability attacks using a physical move.

Clavell’s Houndoom (Round 2)

Houndoom, again, is a Dark and Fire-type Pokemon. Hence, it has a weakness (super effective) to Fighting-type, Ground-type, Rock-type, and Water-type moves, resistant (not very effective) to Dark-type, Fire-type, Ghost-type, Grass-type, Ice-type, and Steel-type moves, and an immunity (no effect) to Psychic-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Houndoom will still use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Dark Pulse is a special Dark-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that deals damage and has a 20% chance of making the opposing Pokemon flinch.
  
• Fire Blast is a special Fire-type move with 110 Power and 85 Accuracy that deals damage while having a 10% chance of burning the target Pokemon.
  
• Sludge Bomb is a special Poison-type attack with 90 Power and 100 Accuracy that deals damage and has a 30% chance to poison the target Pokemon.
  
• Thunder Fang is a physical Electric-type move with 65 Power and 95 Accuracy that has a 10% chance of paralyzing the opposing Pokemon or making the target Pokemon flinch in addition to inflicting damage.

In addition to its moves, Director Clavell’s Houndoom has the Ability Flash Fire, which increases the damage output of the Pokemon with the Ability’s Fire-type moves by 50% if a Fire-type move hits it. In addition, Pokemon with the Ability will become immune to Fire-type attacks.

Clavell’s Quaquaval

Quaquaval is a Water and Fighting-type Pokemon, but as Director Clavell will Terastallize it, it will become a pure Water-type because of its Tera Type. Hence, it is now weak (super effective) to Electric-type and Grass-type moves and resistant (not very effective) to Fire-type, Ice-type, Steel-type, and Water-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Quaquaval will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Brick Break is a physical Fighting-type move with 75 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from dealing damage, also breaks the active protective barriers in the battle.
  
• Aqua Step is a physical Water-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that inflicts damage and raises the Speed stat of the Pokemon using the move by one stage.
  
• Aerial Ace is a physical Flying-type attack with 60 Power that will never miss unless the opposing Pokemon uses Protect, Detect, Bounce, Dig, Dive, Fly, Phantom Force, Shadow Force, and Sky Drop.
  
• Ice Spinner is a physical Ice-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that, in addition to causing damage, will also destroy any terrain active in the battle and will not fail even if there is no terrain active.

Additionally, Director Clavell’s Quaquaval has the Ability called Torrent, which will increase the damage output of the Pokemon with the Ability’s Water-type moves if its HP is less than a third of its max.

Clavell’s Amoonguss (Round 2)

If the player chose Sprigatito as a starter Pokemon, Director Clavell’s other three Pokemon will be a Level 65 Amoonguss, a Level 65 Gyarados, and a Level 66 Skeledirge with a Fire Tera-Type.

Again, Amoonguss is a Grass and Poison-type Pokemon. It is weak (super effective) to Fire-type, Flying-type, Ice-type, and Psychic-type moves and resistant (not very effective)to Electric-type, Fairy-type, Fighting-type, Water-type, and especially Grass-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Amoonguss will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Spore is a 100 Accuracy Grass-type status move that will put the target Pokemon to sleep.
  
• Toxic is a Poison-type status move with 90 Accuracy that will Poison the enemy Pokemon and inflict it even if they are in the middle of moves like Fly or Dig but cannot break through moves like Protect or Detect. This move also has 100 Accuracy if the Pokemon is a Poison-type Pokemon.
  
• Giga Drain is a special Grass-type move with 75 Power and 100 Accuracy that will inflict damage while taking half of the damage dealt to recover the Pokemon’s HP.
  
• Hex is a special Ghost-type attack with 65 Power and 100 Accuracy that can deal 130 damage if the target Pokemon already has a status condition.

Aside from that, Director Clavell’s Amoonguss has the Ability Effect Spore, which gives it a 10% chance to inflict Paralyze, Poison, or Sleep on the opposing Pokemon whenever the Pokemon with the Ability attacks it is using a physical move.

Clavell’s Gyrados (Round 2)

Again, Gyarados is a Water and Flying-type Pokemon that is weak (super effective) to Rock-type and especially Electric-type moves, resistant (not very effective) to the Bug-type, Fighting-type, Fire-type, Steel-type, and Water-type moves, and immunity to Ground-type moves (no effect).

Director Clavell’s Gyarados will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Aqua Tail is a physical Water-type move with 90 Power and 90 Accuracy.
  
• Crunch is a physical Dark-type attack with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that deals damage and has a 20% chance of lowering the target Pokemon’s Defense stat by one stage.
  
• Stone Edge is a physical Rock-type move with 100 Power and 80 Accuracy and is an attack with a 1-stage increased Critical Hit ratio.
  
• Earthquake is a physical Ground-type move with 100 Power and 100 Accuracy that deals damage to all Pokemon in the battle and even doubles the damage if a Pokemon is in the middle of the move Dig.

Plus, Director Clavell’s Gyarados has the Intimidate Ability, which reduces the Attack stat of the opposing Pokemon by one stage whenever the Pokemon with the Ability enters the battle.

Clavell’s Skeledirge

Skeledirge is a Fire and Ghost-type Pokemon, but as Director Clavell will Terastallize it, Director Clavell’s Skeledirge will change into a pure Fire-type because of its Tera-Type, so it will now be weak (super effective) to Ground-type, Rock-type, and Water-type moves and resistant (not very effective)to the Bug-type, Fairy-type, Fire-type, Grass-type, Ice-type, and Steel-type moves.

Director Clavell’s Skeledirge will use the following moves in the Academy Ace Tournament:

• Shadow Ball is a special Ghost-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy; it also has a 20% chance of decreasing the Special Defense stat of the target Pokemon by one stage aside from dealing damage.
  
• Torch Song is a special Fire-type attack with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that not only deals damage but also raises the Special Attack stat of the Pokemon using the move by one stage.
  
• Earth Power is a special Ground-type move with 90 Power and 100 Accuracy that, aside from causing damage, also has a 10% chance of reducing the Special Defense stat of the target Pokemon by one stage.
  
• Snarl is a special Dark-type move with 55 Power and 95 Accuracy; it will also lower the Special Attack stat of the target Pokemon by one stage in addition to dealing damage.

Aside from its moves, Director Clavell’s Skeledirge has the Ability called Blaze, which will increase the damage output of the Pokemon with the Ability’s Fire-type moves by 50% if its HP reaches less than a third of its max HP.

Director Clavell Ace Academy Tournament Tips

As Director Clavell’s Pokemon are Level 65 to Level 66, it is advised that the player’s Pokemon be Level 67 and higher to beat Director Clavell and his Pokemon easily. 

Against Director Clavell’s Oranguru, Abomasnow, and Polteageist, it is recommended that the player use Bug-type and Dark-type moves. This is because Oranguru and Abomasnow are weak to Bug-type moves, while Polteageist and, again, Oranguru are weak to Dark-type moves. Fire-type moves can also be great against Director Clavell’s Abomasnow as it has a four times weakness to Fire-type attacks.

If the player chose Quaxly as a starter Pokemon, it is recommended that the player has Fire-type and Rock-type moves. This is because Rock-type moves will deal super-effective damage to both Director Clavell’s Houndoom and Gyarados. In contrast, Fire-type moves will effectively damage Director Clavell’s Terastallized Meowscarada. Electric-type moves can also be great against Gyarados as it is four times weak against it. 

If the player chose Fuecoco as a starter Pokemon, it is recommended that the player use Flying-type, Ground-type, and Grass-type moves. This is because Flying-type moves will deal super-effective damage to Director Clavell’s Amoonguss, Ground-type moves will deal super-effective damage to Director Clavell’s Houndoom, and Grass-type moves will deal super-effective damage to Director Clavell’s Terastallized Quaquaval.

If the player chooses Sprigatito as a starter Pokemon, it is recommended that the player use Flying-type, Electric-type, and Water-type moves. Rock-type moves can also be great as they can effectively damage Director Clavell’s Gyarados and Terastallized Skeledirge.

With the right Pokemon, moves, and abilities, defeating Director Clavell, the academy’s director, will be a breeze, and the player will easily win the Academy Ace Tournament!