Pokémon Sword and Shield: the Battle Tower

More than any Pokémon game before, Pokémon Sword and Shield has tons to do once you've beaten the game. One of those things is the Battle Tower. The Battle Tower is a place where you can compete in a series of battles against several NPC Trainers from across Galar. Each Rank matches you up against even more Trainers and offers you even greater rewards. The Battle Tower is also where you go to earn BP, the currency necessary to buy certain rare items, including Nature Mints.

How do battles in the Battle Tower Work?

There are two types of battles in the Battle Tower, Single Battles, and Double Battles, but both operate with fairly similar rules. You select a team of three or six and are matched up against a string of Trainers based on your Rank. As you progress in Rank, you will have to beat more and more Trainers. Fortunately, your team is healed in between each battle and you can take breaks in between battles without losing your progress. You can even switch up your team between battles if you take a break. Unfortunately, these battles can be really tough. Your team will all be level 50, regardless of what level they were prior to entering the Tower. You also cannot use any items while in battle, so once a Pokémon faints, it's down for the rest of the battle.

Rewards for Battle Tower

There are so many rewards above and beyond the BP you get for completing battles in the Battle Tower. While the Tier Rewards are only given out once, the total win and Rank Rewards go on forever, as long as you keep battling. Even better, your Rank rewards can be earned twice; once for Single Battle and once for Double Battles. There are even a few exclusive Battle Tower backgrounds you can earn for your League Card

• 10 total wins: PP Up
• 20 wins: random Mint
• 30 wins: Bottle Cap
• 40 wins: PP Max
• 50 wins: Gold Bottle Cap
• 100 wins: Lansat Berry
• 200 wins: Starf Berry
• 210, 310, 410... wins: random Mint
• 220, 320, 420... wins: PP Max
• 230, 330, 430... wins: Bottle Cap
• 240, 340, 440... wins: Ability Capsule
• 250 350, 450... wins: Lansat Berry
• 275, 375, 475... wins: Gold Bottle Cap
• 300, 400, 500... wins: Starf Berry

• Rank 2: Rare Candy and 3 BP
• Rank 3: Rare Candy and 3 BP
• Rank 4: Rare Candy (x2), Bottle Cap, random Mint, and 5 BP
• Rank 5: Rare Candy (x2), random Mint, and 5 BP
• Rank 6: Rare Candy (x2), random Mint, and 5 BP
• Rank 7: Rare Candy (x3), Bottle Cap, random Mint, and 10 BP
• Rank 8: Rare Candy (x3), random Mint, and 10 BP
• Rank 9: Rare Candy (x3), random Mint, and 10 BP
• Rank 10: Rare Candy (x5), Ability Capsule, random Mint, Bottle Cap (x2), and 20 BP
• Rank Max: Rare Candy (x10), Ability Capsule, random Mint, Gold Bottle Cap, Bottle Cap (x3), and 50 BP

• Poké Ball Tier: Leon's Rare League Card, Judge Function, and Song Selection for Battle Tower
• Master Ball Tier: Battle Tower Uniform
• Defeat Leon in Master Ball Tier: Tower Master Ribbon

• Bronze Battle Tower background: earned for winning 30 Single Battles.
• Silver Battle Tower background: earned for winning 50 Double Battles.
• Gold Battle Tower background: earned for winning 100 Single Battles.
• Platinum Battle Tower background: earned for winning 100 Double Battles.

Once you've reached the Poké Ball Tier in the Battle Tower, you will unlock the Judge Function. The Judge Function allows you to see all of your Pokémon's Individual Values or IVs. IVs are what determine a Pokémon's max stats so these are definitely important when building teams for competition. While IVs cannot be changed, Hyper Training does allow you to raise stats as if they were. What this means is that, with the use of Hyper Training, your Pokémon will perform as if it had the max IVs but it will not pass those IVs on when breeding.

Other features of the Battle Tower

There's lots more than just battles in the Battle Tower too. There are lots of ways to power up your Pokémon, teams that you can borrow, and even a certain Legendary Pokémon to add to your roster.

Off to the right, you will find a man in bright green who will happily lend you his own Rental Teams of Pokémon for use in the Battle Tower, as well as in Link Battles and the Battle Stadium. You can rent up to five teams at a time and all of his have the max stats possible. He has a variety of teams which he will tell you all about. These teams are designed specifically for facing off in the Battle Tower so if you're struggling with your own team, be sure to give one of his a try. Just make sure you're bringing in the right team for the job.

Basic Team:

• Rillaboom
• Cinderace
• Inteleon
• Gengar
• Haxorus
• Togekiss

Skill Team:

• Gyarados
• Kommo-o
• Falinks
• Tyranitar
• Duraludon
• Grimmsnarl

Tough Team:

• Snorlax
• Dragapult
• Mimikyu
• Heat Rotom
• Hippowdon
• Aegislash

Rain Team:

• Pelliper
• Ludicolo
• Barraskewda
• Raichu
• Ferrothorn
• Seismitoad

Slow Team

• Lucario
• Oranguru
• Hatterene
• Torkoal
• Dhelmise
• Copperajah

In addition to these Rental Teams, with a Nintendo Switch Online membership, you can rent teams from other players, as well as choose your own teams to rent out. These Rental Teams aren't the exact Pokémon from your party or the other players - if you train them or change their moves with TMs or TRs, it won't change the Rental Team and you can keep using any Pokémon you rent out.

If you continue past the Rental Team man, the next person you'll meet will be happy to exchange your Bottle Caps and Gold Bottle Caps for Hyper Training Sessions. These sessions work similarly to previous games to increase your Pokémon's individual strengths. These are your Pokémon's base stats, that determine just how powerful it is. A standard Bottle Cap can boost one of your Pokémon's individual Valuess to the max, while a Gold Bottle Cap can boost them all to the max.

You can earn Bottle Caps in a number of ways:

• Battle Tower Victories
• Wyndon BP Shop
• Ranked Battles
• Max Raid Battles
• The Diggin Duo
• The Ability Pickup

Moving on past the Hyper Training man, you'll find a woman running a TM Shop. Here, for a sizable chunk of change, you can buy some incredibly powerful TMs to teach your Pokémon amazing new moves! Some of the TMs you can purchase here include:

• Giga Drain for 100,000 Poké dollars
• Mystical Fire for 100,000 Poké dollars
• Imprison for 100,000 Poké dollars
• Trick Room for 50,000 Poké dollars

Circling around to the right side of the room, there is a woman who has a very special Pokémon for you. If you played Pokémon Sun and Moon or Ultra Sun and Moon, you'll remember Type: Null, the Normal type Legendary Pokémon created by Faba of the Aether Foundation. Type: Null is an exceptional Pokémon that, once evolved, can used Memories to change its type. It's evolution, Silvally is one of the most versitile Pokémon out there, learning moves that also change type based on the Memory it is holding. However, you can only get Type: Null to evolve into Silvally by raising its Friendship level. The best method of doing this in Pokémon Sword and Shield is by cooking Curry so make sure to take your Type: Null camping!

Continuing around the room clockwise, the next woman you meet will reward you with the Ranked Battles Uniform once you completed your first Ranked Battle. Once you've reached the Ultra Ball Tier, she'll have a Battle Tower Uniform for you. Once you've collected any Uniforms you've earned, this woman will open up the BP Mint Shop.

A Pokémon's nature, beyond telling you a bit about their personality, impacts which of their base stats increase faster and slower. A Pokémon with a Serious Nature, for example, gets an even increase to each of its stats when it levels up, while a Pokémon with a Sassy Nature gets a bigger boost to its Special Defense at the cost of its Speed. Up until now, a Pokémon's Nature was fixed but with the introduction of Nature Mints, you can now change your Pokémon's Nature to whatever you would like.

Here in the Battle Tower, you can exchange your BP for the following Nature Mints:

• Lonely Mint - increases Attack and decreases Defense
• Adamant Mint - increases Attack and decreases Special Attack
• Naughty Mint - increases Attack and decreases Special Defense
• Brave Mint - increases Attack and decreases Speed
• Bold Mint - increases Defense and decreases Attack
• Impish Mint - increases Defense and decreases Special Attack
• Lax Mint - increases Defense and decreases Special Defense
• Relaxed Mint - increases Defense and decreases Speed
• Modest Mint - increases Special Attack and decreases Attack
• Mild Mint - increases Special Attack and decreases Defense
• Rash Mint - increases Special Attack and decreases Special Defense
• Quiet Mint - increases Special Attack and decreases Speed
• Calm Mint - increases Special Defense and decreases Attack
• Gentle Mint - increases Special Defense and decreases Defense
• Careful Mint - increases Special Defense and decreases Special Attack
• Sassy Mint - increases Special Defense and decreases Speed
• Timid Mint - increases Speed and decreases Attack
• Hasty Mint - increases Speed and decreases Defense
• Jolly Mint - increases Speed and decreases Special Attack
• Naive Mint - increases Speed and decreases Special Defense
• Serious Mint - all stats increase at the same rate

Last, but not least, as you work your way around the room is the BP Item Shop. Here you can exchange the BP you earn in the Battle Tower for some really incredible items, including Bottle Caps necessary for Hyper Training. Some of the items you can purchase here include:

• Ability Capsule for 50 BP
• Bottle Cap for 25 BP
• Eject Button for 20 BP
• Power Herb for 15 BP
• Luminous Moss for 10 BP

Questions about the Battle Tower?

Do you have any questions about the Battle Tower? Tips for other trainers? Drop us a comment below and be sure to check out our many other Pokémon Sword and Shield Guides!