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Chapter 8: Spikemuth Gym
Sonia and Hop
Exit Circhester Stadium to meet up with Sonia. Head southwest and enter the restaurant called Bob's Your Uncle. Inside you'll find Hop and Sonia and they will speculate on some more lore with you. Exit the resaurant and head to the Hero's Bath hot springs. Sonia will heal up your Pokemon for you, so get ready for another battle with Hop.
This time around, Hop will have a Lv. 40 Dubwool, a Lv. 39 Pincurchin, a Lv. 41 starter evolution, a Lv. 39 Snorlax, and a Lv. 40 Corviknight. It will be hailing throughout the duration of the battle, so unless you're using an Ice-type, you'll be taking some hail damage every turn. After winning, Sonia and Hop will both leave. Heal up and then exit town to the southeast.
Route 9
Route 9 is another snow-covered route. This means that it will be hailing during all battles. Head south until you cross the first bridge and battle Fisher Harriet to the left if you'd like. From here, head right into the tall grass and pick up the Max Potion. Head south and battle Dancer Zoe. Continue south into the Circhester Bay part of this route.
You'll run into a few Team Yell Grunts blocking the path ahead. You'll need to battle the female grunt. She'll have a Lv. 39 Galarian Linoone and a Lv. 40 Pangoro. Afterward, your Rotom Bike will be equipped with water mode that will function like the HM Surf from previous games. You can go straight from riding on land to riding in the water.
Head back north on land just a little and surf left to find a Zoom Lens in a small alcove. Head south and left to find a Max Revive in another little outlet. On a piece of land to the left you can battle Black Belt Carter and pick up a hidden Black Belt. On the beach to the south you can pick up 3 Dive Balls and speak to the woman to get TM45 - Dive.
Continue right on the water and battle Black Belt Reece on the larger island here with a campsite. You can find a hidden Rare Candy west of the campsite. On the eastern shore of this island, you can battle Fisher Marina if you'd like. If you surf a bit north of here in the narrow passage between ice chunks you can find a hidden Ice Stone, String of Pearls, and Big Pearl. Now surf back south.
On the small island with a sign, you can battle Swimmer Jacob. Head to the right from here to pick up a Protector from an item ball. South from the small island, you can head to the right piece of land with a berry tree and battle Swimmer Scarlett if you want. Surf back west to the center and battle Swimmer Logan on the beach here if you'd like.
Surf to the far left and you'll find TM22 - Rock Slide on the small island. Head back southeast to the mainland beach and battle Swimmer Layla if you'd like. You can also pick up hidden a Big Pearl and Max Elixir on this beach. Head south into a grassy area with no more hail.
Pick up the Scope Lens on the ledge here. Continue left to double battle Music Crew Owen and Andrea and shake the berry tree. Head back to the right and you can find some hidden 3 Dire Hits by some crates. You'll find that the gate to Spikemuth is closed shut for now. Head southeast where you see Marnie during the cutscene.
Wrap around the fence through the tall grass. Pick up the hidden 3 Guard Specs. by the pallets. Then head right and speak with Marnie. Make sure to heal up your Pokemon with items as needed, as you'll need to battle her. She'll have a Lv. 42 Liepard, a Lv. 43 Toxicroak, a Lv. 43 Scrafty, and a Lv. 44 Morpeko. Afterward, follow Marnie into town.
Spikemuth
As soon as you arrive in Spikemuth, heal up at the Pokemon Center. Head to the right to meet back up with Marnie. She'll give you Pier's League Card. This town is unique in that the town itself is the Gym Mission. So whether you knew it or not, you just started Spikemuth Gym Mission. The mission involves beating a series of Dark-type Team Yell Grunts, so bring along your best Fairy or Fighting-type.
Spikemuth Gym
Head to the right to battle a Team Yell Grunt. Continue to the right until you're stopped by an invisible wall in front of Mr. Mime. Another Team Yell Grunt will battle you as you head back left. Continue right and another Grunt will jump from the window to battle you. Pick up the Max Revive and continue right. Repeat the process of running into Mr. Mime's wall to the right and heading back left to battle another Grunt.
Continue to the right once again and enter the garage door to double battle with a Grunt and Gym Trainer Joshua. After the battle, you'll run into Marnie to the right and Team Yell will reveal their intentions all along. Afterward, continue to the right to challenge the Gym Leader.
Leader Piers
The leader of Spikemuth is Gym Leader Piers. He of course uses Dark-type Pokemon. That means Fairy or Fighting-type are your best bet. He has a Lv. 44 Scrafty, a Lv. 46 Obstagoon, a Lv. 45 Malamar, and a Lv. 45 Skuntank. Because this is not an official stadium, neither of you will be able to Dynamax your Pokemon during the battle.
After the battle, you'll be rewarded with the Dark Badge and the Dark Uniform. A cute cutscene that reaveals Piers and Marnie to be brother and sister ensues. Afterward, you'll also get TM85 - Snarl. Afterward, an explosion will be heard outside and Leon will be waiting. He'll tell you not to worry and run into Route 9 Tunnel.
Back to Circhester Gym Continue to Hammerlocke Gym
