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

In the main game of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the player has a lot of missions to do, including taking down the enormous new Titan Pokemon, facing every Gym Leader in the Paldea region, dealing with the enigmatic Team Star, competing in the Pokemon League to try to become a Champion and be the best like no one ever was, and catching every Pokemon in the area because, well, you gotta catch ’em all!

Players can still participate in post-game missions even after finishing all these, such as taking on former Team Star squads and Pokemon Gym Leaders in a rematch right after the last mission, and the credits start to roll. One of these special events or missions that the player can participate in is the Academy Ace Tournament!

This guide will teach us how to defeat Salvatore in the Academy Ace Tournament!

The Academy Ace Tournament

Nemona and the Pokemon League organized the Academy Ace Tournament to honor the player’s achievement of becoming a Champion in the Paldea region. To unlock the Academy Ace Tournament and allow Top Champion Geeta to compete, the player must first assist Top Champion Geeta by engaging in a rematch against each Pokemon Gym Leader in Paldea. Access to the Academy Ace Tournament will become available once every Gym Leader in the area has been defeated in a rematch.

The player competes in the Academy Ace Tournament against four instructors, staff members, or other students who are Pokemon Trainers. The player must triumph over all four trainers to become the ultimate champion and the title of academy ace.

Head to the Academy in Mesagoza, enter the Entrance Hall, and speak with the staff member in the blue shirt at the front desk next to a Gengar if you want to participate in the Academy Ace Tournament.

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

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

Rewards

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

With each subsequent victory of the whole tournament, the player will receive the following rewards at random: up to 10 Rare Candies, a maximum of 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 very rare Ability Patch.

Salvatore

If the player returns to compete in the Academy Ace Tournament after becoming the academy’s ace the first time, the new Paldea Champion may face Salvatore, the academy’s language teacher!

Salvatore does not have a type specialty but will use these six Pokemon: a Level 65 Honchkrow, a Level 65 Persian, a Level 65 Palossand, a Level 65 Glaceon, a Level 65 Gothitelle, and a Level 66 Raichu with an Electric Tera Type.

Salvatore’s Honchkrow

With that in mind, it is worth noting that Honchkrow is a Dark and Flying-type Pokemon that is weak (super effective) to Fairy-type, Electric-type, Ice-type, and Rock-type moves, resistant (not very effective) to Dark-type, Ghost-type, and Grass-type moves, and immunity (no effect) to Ground-type and Psychic-type moves.

Salvatore’s Honchkrow will use the following moves in the Ace Academy Tournament:

• Sucker Punch is a physical Dark-type attack with 70 Power and 100 Accuracy that will only inflict damage to the target Pokemon if it is about to use a move that deals damage and will fail otherwise.
  
• Hurricane is a special Flying-type move with 110 Power and 70 Accuracy. Aside from dealing damage, it also has a 30% chance of confusing the opposing Pokemon and will still damage opposing Pokemon in the middle of the moves Fly, Bounce, or Sky Drop.
  
• Psychic is a special Psychic-type move with 90 Power and 100 Accuracy that, in addition to dealing damage, also has a 10% chance of decreasing the Special Defense stat of the opposing Pokemon by one stage.
  
• Heat Wave is a special Fire-type move with 95 Power and 90 Accuracy that deals damage and has a 10% chance of burning the opposing Pokemon.

Also, Salvatore’s Honchkrow has the Ability called Super Luck, which will raise the critical hit ratio of Pokemon with the Ability’s moves by one stage.

Salvatore’s Persian

Persian is a Normal-type Pokemon which means it is weak (super effective) to Fighting-type moves and immunity (no effect) to Ghost-type moves.

Salvatore’s Persian will use the following moves Ace Academy Tournament:

• Fake Out is a physical Normal-type attack with 40 Power and 100 Accuracy that will always make the target Pokemon flinch but will only take effect when the move is used on the first turn, where the Pokemon can attack after being sent out. This move also has an increased Speed priority of 3, allowing it to go first before most moves.
  
• Snarl is a special Dark-type move with 55 Power and 95 Accuracy that not only deals damage but also decreases the Special Attack stat of the target Pokemon by one stage.
  
• Aerial Ace is a physical Flying-type move with 60 Power; it is an attack that never misses except if the target Pokemon uses Protect, Detect, Bounce, Dig, Dive, Fly, Phantom Force, Shadow Force, and Sky Drop.
  
• Play Rough is a physical Fairy-type attack with 90 Power and 90 Accuracy that inflicts damage and has a 10% chance of decreasing the Attack stat of the opposing Pokemon.

Aside from that, Salvatore’s Persian has the Ability called Technician, which will raise the damage output of the Pokemon with the Ability’s moves with a Base Power less than 60 by 50%.

Salvatore’s Palossand

Palossand is a Ground and Ghost-type Pokemon which means it has a weakness to Dark-type, Ghost-type, Grass-type, Ice-type, and Water-type moves (super effective), a resistance to the Bug-type, Rock-type, and especially Poison-type moves (not very effective), and an immunity to Electric-type, Fighting-type, and Normal-type moves (no effect).

Salvatore’s Palossand will use the following moves Ace Academy Tournament:

• Earth Power is a special Ground-type move with 90 Power and 100 Accuracy and also has a 10% chance of lowering the Sp. Defense stat of the opposing Pokemon by one stage.
  
• Shadow Ball is a special Ghost-type move with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy; it also has a 20% chance to lower the opposing Pokemon’s Special Defense stat by one stage.
  
• Sludge Bomb is a special Poison-type move with 90 Power and 100 Accuracy; it also has a 30% chance of dealing poison to the opposing Pokemon.
  
• Giga Drain is a special Grass-type move with 75 Power and 100 Accuracy that not only deals damage but will also make the Pokemon recover HP by half of the damage dealt.

Also, Salvatore’s Palossand has the Ability called Water Compaction, which will raise the Pokemon with the Ability’s Defense stat by two stages whenever a Water-type move hits it.

Salvatore’s Glaceon

Glaceon is an Ice-type Pokemon which means it is weak (super effective) in Fighting-type, Fire-type, Rock-type, and Steel-type moves and resistant (not very effective) to Ice-type moves.

Salvatore’s Glaceon will use the following moves Ace Academy Tournament:

• Freeze-Dry is a special Ice-type attack with 70 Power and 100 Accuracy that will always deal super effective damage to Water-type Pokemon.
  
• Mud Shot is a special Ground-type move with 55 Power and 95 Accuracy that, in addition to dealing damage, also decreases the Speed stat of the opposing Pokemon by one stage.
  
• Baby-Doll Eyes is a Fairy-type status move that decreases the opposing Pokemon’s Attack stat by one stage.
  
• Ice Shard is a physical Ice-type move with 40 Power and 100 Accuracy with an increased Speed priority of one, which allows it to move first before most moves.

Aside from its moves, Salvatore’s Glaceon has the Ability called Evasion, which will raise the Pokemon with the Ability’s Evasion by one stage if a Snowstorm is active in the battle.

Salvatore’s Gothitelle

Gothitelle is a Psychic-type Pokemon which means that it is weak (super effective) to the Bug-type, Dark-type, and Ghost-type moves and resistant (not very effective) to Fighting-type and Psychic-type moves.

Salvatore’s Gothitelle will use the following moves Ace Academy Tournament:

• Psychic is a special Psychic-type move with 90 Power and 100 Accuracy. Aside from causing damage, it also has a 10% chance of lessening the opposing Pokemon’s Special Defense stat by one stage.
  
• Grass Knot is a special Grass-type move with 100 Accuracy that has a power based on the opposing Pokemon’s weight, so the heavier the opposing Pokemon is, the higher the power will be. This move’s base power can go as low as 20 if the opposing Pokemon is under 10 kg and as high as 120 if the opposing Pokemon is more than 200 kg.
  
• Reflect is a Psychic-type status move that will decrease the damage taken from Physical Attacks by 50% in Single Battles and 33% in Double Battles for five turns on the Pokemon using the move’s side of the battle.
  
• Shadow Ball is a special Ghost-type attack with 80 Power and 100 Accuracy that inflicts damage and has a 20% chance of decreasing the target Pokemon’s Special Defense stat by one stage.

Additionally, Salvatore’s Gothitelle has the Ability called Competitive, which will raise the Pokemon with the Ability’s Special Attack stat by two stages if any of its stats get lowered.

Salvatore’s Raichu

Raichu is an Electric-type Pokemon, and even though Salvatore will Terastallize his Raichu, it will still be a pure Electric-type because of its Tera-Type, which means that it is weak (super effective) to Ground-type moves and resistant (not very effective) to Electric-type, Flying-type, and Steel-type moves.

Salvatore’s Raichu will use the following moves Ace Academy Tournament:

• Thunder is a special Electric-type attack with 110 Power and 70 Accuracy that deals huge damage and has a 30% chance of paralyzing the enemy Pokemon. This move will also damage Pokemon in the middle of the move Fly, Bounce, or Sky Drop. Additionally, this move has an increased Accuracy if Rain is active and decreased Accuracy if Harsh Sunlight is active.
  
• Grass Knot is a special Grass-type move with 100 Accuracy and power calculated based on the target Pokemon’s weight. The heavier the opposing Pokemon, the higher the damage will be. This move’s base power can go as low as 20 if the target Pokemon is less than 10 kg and can go as high as 120 if the target Pokemon is over 200 kg.
  
• Focus Blast is a special Fighting-type move with 120 Power and 70 Accuracy. In addition to inflicting damage, it also has a 10% chance of decreasing the Special Defense stat of the opposing Pokemon by one stage.
  
• Quick Attack is a physical Normal-type move with 40 Power and 100 Accuracy with an increased Speed priority of 1, making it go first before most moves.

Aside from that, Salvatore’s Raichu has the Ability called Static, which gives the Pokemon a 30% chance to inflict Paralysis on the opposing Pokemon if they come into direct contact with the Pokemon with the ability.

Tips

As Salvatore’s Pokemon are Level 65 and 66, it is recommended that the player’s Pokemon are Level 67 and higher with Rock-type, Fighting-type, Dark-type, and Ground-type moves.

Read: How to Defeat Top Champion Geeta in the Academy Ace Tournament

With those in mind, use Fighting-type moves against Salvatore’s Persian and Glaceon as they will deal super effective damage to them; use Dark-type moves against Salvatore’s Palossand and Gothitelle as they are weak against these types; use Rock-type moves against Salvatore’s Honchkrow and, again, Glaceon, as these will deal super effective damage to them, and use Ground-type, moves against Salvatore’s Terastallized Raichu to deal super effective damage to his ace.

Also, if possible, try not to attack Salvatore’s Terastallized Raichu using physical attacks, as there is a 30% chance that the player’s Pokemon may become paralyzed because of its Static Ability.

Follow the recommendation mentioned above, familiarize Salvatore’s Pokemon, moves, and abilities, and the player will be able to beat Salvatore, the language teacher of the academy, with no challenge at all!