44. Challenger's Cave+Rematch with Cheren

Challenger's Cave

The Challenger's Cave can be found on Route 9, by crossing the southern fence (you can do that near the entrance to Opelucid City) and then heading through the thick grass until you find a cave there. It is, of course, only accessible after getting the National Dex.

Challenger's Cave 1F
Wild Pokemon		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Boldore		Lv. 48	20%
	Woobat	/	Lv. 47	20%
	Graveler	/	Lv. 47, 49	20%
	Sableye	/	Lv. 49	10%
	Lickitung		Lv. 49 ~ 50	20%
	Mawile		Lv. 49	10%
Shaking Grass / Swirling Dust			Level(s)	Rarity
	Excadrill	/	Lv. 47 ~ 50	100%

It is highly recommended that you have Flash if you want to get through the cave, since you will be unable to see anything more than a tile away from you without it.

There's a Backpacker just a few steps from the entrance that uses a Golbat L65. Take him down and then go down the stairs in the northeast corner of the room.

Challenger's Cave B1F

Challenger's Cave B1F
Wild Pokemon		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Boldore		Lv. 48	20%
	Woobat	/	Lv. 47	20%
	Graveler	/	Lv. 47, 49	20%
	Sableye	/	Lv. 49	10%
	Lickitung		Lv. 49 ~ 50	15%
	Mawile		Lv. 49	10%
	Riolu		Lv. 50, 49	5%
Shaking Grass / Swirling Dust			Level(s)	Rarity
	Excadrill	/	Lv. 47 ~ 50	100%

Right by the stairs is an Ace Trainer with an impressive roster of Dratini L63, Manectric L63,Sudowoodo L63, and a Scyther L63. Beat him, then head east and then start heading north until you find another Ace Trainer walking around. She has a Furret L64, a Gabite L64, and aGrumpig L64.

North of the second Ace Trainer and off to the east is a PP Up waiting for you in the back corner. There are also some steps you can climb in order to cross a bridge leading to a Nugget. Where you really want to go is to the west of the Ace Trainer, underneath that bridge and down the stairs to the second basement.

Challenger's Cave B2F

Challenger's Cave B2F
Wild Pokemon		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Boldore		Lv. 48	20%
	Woobat	/	Lv. 47	20%
	Graveler	/	Lv. 47, 49	20%
	Sableye	/	Lv. 49	10%
	Lickitung		Lv. 49	10%
	Mawile		Lv. 49	10%
	Riolu		Lv. 50, 49	10%
Shaking Grass / Swirling Dust			Level(s)	Rarity
	Excadrill	/	Lv. 47 ~ 50	100%
Surfing		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Basculin		Lv. 25 ~ 55	B: 100% W: 0%
	Basculin (Blue)		Lv. 25 ~ 55	B: 0% W: 100%
Surfing (in surfacing fish)			Level(s)	Rarity
	Basculin (Blue)		Lv. 25 ~ 70	B: 100% W: 0%
	Basculin		Lv. 25 ~ 70	B: 0% W: 100%
Super Rod		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Poliwag		Lv. 35 ~ 55	65%
	Basculin		Lv. 35 ~ 55	B: 30% W: 0%
	Basculin (Blue)		Lv. 35 ~ 55	B: 0% W: 30%
	Poliwhirl		Lv. 35 ~ 55	5%
Super Rod (at surfacing fish)			Level(s)	Rarity
	Poliwhirl		Lv. 35 ~ 70	65%
	Basculin (Blue)		Lv. 35 ~ 60	B: 30% W: 0%
	Basculin		Lv. 35 ~ 60	B: 0% W: 30%
	Poliwrath	/	Lv. 45 ~ 70	5%

You're gonna need Surf to get through the rest of the cave, although that should be no big deal to you by now. Head north and surf eastbound. It's a fairly direct route. When you reach the end of the water, you will have to choose to land on the northern or southern side; the southern side only leads you to a dead end with a hidden Full Restore (worthwhile, sorta), so land on the northern side if you're not interested in that.

Climb up both sets of steps and then cross the bridge two bridges. Keep following the path (it's quite straightforward) until you find a Veteran waiting for you. He uses a full roster of rather powerful Pokemon, so be on guard! He starts with Gyarados L62, which has Intimidate, so be wary of that. As for the rest of his team, he's got a Gigalith L62, a Snorlax L63, a DruddigonL62, a Excadrill L62, and a Crobat L62. Certainly a formidable foe!

Keep going east, then south, up some stairs, across a bridge, and finally down some more stairs. You should see an item waiting on a ledge for you, but you'll need to get it later on. Continue east, climb some steps and cross a bridge leading south, and keep following the path until you find yourself standing in a pit with a ton of steps to your left and a path leading underneath a bridge to the east. That path takes you to a Timer Ball, which is hardly exciting.

Now, climb up those steps, cross a massive bridge, and then make your way down to the southwest corner of the area. Climb some steps north, then walk east, and finally north again. You can head to the east, but for now just keep going north. You'll see a rock in the middle of steps on every side, as well as an item just above that in an even smaller pit. The rock is hiding a Rare Candy, whereas the item to its north is a Protein. Walk to the east of those two items, climb some steps, and pick up the valuable TM71 (Stone Edge) — a super-powerful Rock-type attack with a high chance of a critical hit, but low accuracy. Still very worthwhile, despite its low accuracy and low PP. There's a ledge you can jump down just past that, but all it does is take you back to the beginning. You don't want that, now, do you?

Go back to the part just before the one with the steps and the Rare Candy and Protein, except this time you're going to want to go east and fight the Veteran waiting for you near the water. She has just four Pokemon on her team, but they're rather diverse. She uses a Wormadam L64 (Trash Cloak, so it is Bug/Steel-type), a Leavanny L65, a Cloyster L64, and a Ninetales L64.

Time for a little more surfing! Whip out that Dowsing Machine (if you haven't already), because there's a Heart Scale hiding in a nearby wall accessible while surfing. It's just to the east of the Veteran. Aside from that, swim east and hug the coast until you can land. Walk underneath the bridge and grab the Black Belt, which is a held item that increases your Pokemon's Fighting-type attacks' power by 20%. Don't jump down that nearby ledge! Instead, get back on the water and surf north, then west, stopping on that little clearing with a lone item on it. It's theOval Stone, and it can be used to evolve Happiny into Chansey if it is used when Happiny is happy.

That's all there is for you down there. Wasn't that exciting? No, not really? Yeah, I agree, but at least you've got a new TM for your troubles.

Now that you've taken down the Challenger's Cave, the main things left for you to do at this point is take on some of the toughest Trainers still waiting for you: your old buddy Cheren, the improved Elite Four, the Pokemon League Champion, and then one of the programmers and directors of the Pokemon series, Gamefreak Morimoto.

Your best bet is to start with Cheren, and you'll find him first waiting for you on Route 5!

Rematch with Cheren

Before you can fight against Cheren again, you're going to have to track him down on Route 5. He'll be waiting for you there after you've gotten your National Dex.

After talking to him, he'll then leave and will appear in the top floor of Victory Road, waiting for you to battle him. Head to the Pokemon League and then head south into Victory Road. Enter the cave and he should be there for you to battle.

Boss Fight
	PKMN Trainer Cheren			$6700
		Liepard		Lv. 65
		Unfezant	/	Lv. 65
		Gigalith		Lv. 65
		Haxorus		Lv. 65
	(if you picked Snivy)
		Simisage		Lv. 65
		Emboar	/	Lv. 67
	(if you picked Tepig)
		Simisear		Lv. 65
		Samurott		Lv. 67
	(if you picked Oshawott)
		Simipour		Lv. 65
		Serperior		Lv. 67

His Pokemon are all fairly high levels, but they're still ten levels lower than the strongest Trainers you'll have to face, so if you're having difficulty handling Cheren, well... you're definitely going to want to train up a bit.

The two new additions to his team — Haxorus and Gigalith — both have massive, massive Attack power, meaning their attacks are going to hit you hard! The use of Reflect or X Defends is helpful when facing off against them to prevent the chance of a one-hit KO. Gigalith has the Sturdy ability, too, meaning it will almost certainly survive the first attack you throw at it. For that matter, his starter Pokemon has a Focus Sash equipped, too, meaning it will also survive the first strike so long as it was at full HP when it was hit.

Now that you've taken Cheren down, the next challenger you should face is the designer himself, Game Freak's Morimoto!