The second Gym Stadium you’ll have to take on in the Galar region is Hulbury’s own Hulbury Stadium, which focuses on Water-type Pokémon — fitting, as it is right by the sea.
Its Gym Leader, Nessa, uses strong Water-type Pokémon. Water-types have just two weaknesses: Electric and Grass. If you started with Grookey, you’ll be in excellent shape for this Gym; on the other hand, if you started with Scorbunny, you’re going to want some help from a Grass- or Electric-type Pokémon. Grass- or Electric-type moves are also helpful to have even on Pokémon other than those types.
Thankfully, there were several of these available to you along the way here, such as Milo’s TM10 Magical Leaf for moves and things like the floating Eldegoss on Route 5 or the traded Whimsicott in Hulbury.
Before taking on the Stadium, talk to your friend, the Ball Guy, and he’ll give you a Lure Ball, which has an increased catch rate while fishing for Pokémon.
Getting Through the Gym Mission
2016
The puzzle for the Gym’s mission involves using different colored buttons to change where the water flowing from the ceiling is pouring down onto. There are a total of three different colored buttons—red, yellow, and blue—and pressing them toggles it between one of two states.
Rather than worrying too much about that, just focus on following the guide and you should be fine.
Start off by walking to the east and fighting against the first Gym Trainer, Julia. She just has a Tympole, which shouldn’t be much of a problem, especially because it is just a pure Water-type, unlike its evolutions. Press the red button next to her, and then cross the grate over to the yellow button and press it as well. Then, go back to the red button and press it once again. You’ll now be able to cross across both the red grate and the yellow grate.
Follow the path up the stairs, although don’t press the red button immediately up the stairs. Not yet, at least. Instead, follow the path to the north across the two grates and fight against Heather. She uses a Krabby and a Corphish. Again, Corphish is just a pure Water-type, not yet Water/Dark. Both Krabby and Corphish are more Physical than they are Special, both with their Attack and Defense, so keep that in mind when dealing with them—Special attackers are the way to go.
After beating her, press the yellow button near her. That will allow you to cross the southern path back to the red button you were warned not to press earlier. Go back down there and press the red button.
This will allow you to cross the path to the west up the stairs near Heather. Go all the way to the west until you see a blue grate and the path bend southward. There should be one more Trainer down there that you’ll likely need to fight, Lynn. She uses a Remoraid and Chewtle and shouldn’t be too bad.
To the left of her is a red button. Don’t press this yet! Instead, go to the south of her and press the yellow button. Since you didn’t press the red button earlier, you can go back across by walking over the red grate. Go back to where Lynn was and now press the red button. This will stop the water blocking your path to the final button you need to press—the blue button back to the right.
Press that and then go to the east of Lynn—there are actually stairs leading down to the center area, where you can head directly north, but it is certainly possible to become confused if you’re looking at the water columns to the north, thinking that’s where you need to go. Don’t get confused! Just go to the center and head north to clear the mission and arrive at the entryway to the pitch.
Gym Leader Battle
Make sure your Pokémon are healed before continuing so you’ll stand the best chance against the Gym Leader. Her Pokémon are much tougher than the ones you’ve faced in the Gym mission, but if you have good coverage against her, you should be fine—a Grass-type Pokémon or Grass-type moves are especially helpful here due to one of her Pokémon.
Two of Nessa’s Pokémon, her Goldeen and her Arrokuda, both have the Water-type move Whirlpool, which will do a fair amount of damage but also deal damage between each turn while also prevent you from switching out. Keep that in mind when fighting them!
Goldeen can also speed itself up with Agility and potentially confuse you with Water Pulse. Arrokuda can also strike first (unless you use a move with priority) with Aqua Jet. Other than that, the two are relatively uneventful Water-type Pokémon and don’t have anything to counter Grass- or Electric-type Pokémon.
Nessa’s Drednaw is a definite threat, though, due to how hard it can hit. It has high Attack from the get-go, has powerful moves like Razor Shell and Headbutt, and will Dynamax on the first turn. Dynamax Drednaw’s Max Geyser hits very hard and also sets up rain, which will power up its subsequent uses of Water-type moves, while Max Strike also hits hard and lowers your Speed. Despite being a tortoise, Drednaw isn’t actually as slow as it looks.
If you have a strong Grass-type Pokémon and plan to just use that for the whole fight, you would actually be wise to Dynamax it against Arrokuda and use Max Overgrowth to take it down. That way you’ll have the Grassy Terrain effect set up to boost the power of your Grass-type moves by 50%, which should make your time against her Dynamax Drednaw much easier, plus it doesn’t get overwritten in the rain that Max Geyser introduces. This strategy also works with Electric-type moves, but might not be enough to take it down due to it not being as weak to Electric as it is Grass.
After you’ve beaten her, she’ll reward you with the Water Badge, which allows you to catch Pokémon up to level 30 in the wild. You’ll be taken outside of the pitch and back to the lobby, where you’ll be given TM36 Whirlpool, a Water-type move that does damage over time to the target and also prevents it from switching out. Honestly, it’s not that great to use in-game, so don’t worry too much about it—your Water-type Pokémon probably have stronger moves anyway.
You’ll also be given the Water Uniform to change into at any clothing store, which is similar to the outfit that Nessa used in her battle.
Hulbury
After you leave the Stadium, Chariman Rose’s assistant, Oleana, will give you Rose’s League Card and tell you to meet him at the Captain’s Table—the seafood restaurant in town. She’ll tell you not to keep your Pokémon waiting, but you have time to heal them up if you’d like, don’t worry. Besides, the restaurant is directly across the street from the Pokémon Center, in case you need a reminder of where it is.
Go inside of the Captain’s Table and make your way to the back of the room, where Chairman Rose is waiting for you, along with Sonia and Oleana. Rose will mention it makes sense to have some fine seafood dining in a town known for its seafood, which definitely begs the question what seared Magikarp tastes like. Putting that aside, Rose will talk a bit about Sonia’s grandmother, Professor Magnolia, and how the Professor helped with the creation of Dynamax Bands.
Rose will recommend to Sonia to check out the vault in Hammerlocke to see if she can find out more information there about some of the things worrying Professor Magnolia. Without even getting his meal, Oleana tells the Chairman it’s time to go, and then the two of them head off. Sonia will stick around for a little bit longer and will give you TM79 Retaliate—a Physical-based, Normal-type move that does double damage if any of your Pokémon were knocked out by a foe’s attack last turn. It’s got a fair 70 power as well, so some of your Normal-type Pokémon may benefit from having it just for that power.
After that, Sonia will head off. Waiting for you outside is Hop, and he’ll tell you that you’ll need to go back to Motostoke to fight the next Gym Leader, the Fire Gym Leader, Kabu. However, it’s not quite that simple, as he’s currently in Galar Mine No. 2 doing some special training, so you’ll need to stop by there first.
Galar Mine No. 2 can be found to the east of Hulbury and that should be your next destination.