Pokemon ORAS Battle Maison Tips

Pokemon ORAS Battle Maison Tips by slowbro202

Intro

I often see posts from people saying they’re afraid of the Battle Maison or have tried it and gotten destroyed. I have gotten all five trophies in XY and again in ORAS, as well as the 100 and 200 streak berries, and would like to provide some tips to help others succeed in the Battle Maison.

General

1. Goals – It’s important to identify what you’re trying to do. While I was interested in the trophies as well as the berries, you might not be. If you’re mainly a Wifi battler who just wants some easy BP for items, I’d do triples and not even mess with anything else. If you are interested in a high streak with a unique team, that will require some more thought on your team.
2. Training – The Battle Maison is difficult. You will not be able to just walk in with your in-game team and be successful. You will need to, at the absolute minimum, EV train your pokemon. With Super Training and horde battles, EV training is the easiest it has ever been. Not sure how to EV train? Try this. I would also highly recommend breeding your pokemon for the right nature and good IVs. The Maison’s pokemon will be trained.
3. It’s not Wifi – While some things do, not everything from the wifi scene translates to the Battle Maison. The main thing I mean by this is Protect. Protect is a scouting/stall-ish move there, but in the Maison it’s a staple. Generally half or more of my team knows Protect and they make a lot of use out of it. Additionally, I wouldn’t recommend Choice items in the Battle Maison. Besides the Chatelaine, you never know what will be thrown at you and shouldn’t get locked in to one move.
4. Time – The Battle Maison is not quick. It takes quite some time to get through. Because of this, I highly recommend turning battle animations off. While seemingly insignificant, it does save quite a bit of time. Also, I avoid using shiny pokemon and weather teams as the extra animations add up. Obviously, don’t avoid using something that would make you successful in order to save a little time.
5. Legendaries – So many people seem to freak out when the Maison throws legendaries at them. Yes, the Battle Maison uses legendaries, but you can use those same legendaries! Do not freak out about legendaries. Besides the Chatelaines, Veterans with navy blue coats will show up after 40 wins and will also have legendaries. But you should not worry too much about them. Anyone that has achieved a reasonable streak in the Maison will tell you that these legendaries are nothing to worry about (except Cresselia).
6. Hax – The Battle Maison cheats. It’s designed to. Up to the super Chatelaine (50 wins) you shouldn’t see much cheating unless you get very unlucky. But after about 70 wins, it’s game on. Your accuracy might take a hit, theirs gets a boost, and Walrein OHKOs everybody. Plan accordingly. The AI also will try to learn your team and exploit your weaknesses. Oh and Quick Claws. Quick Claws everywhere.

Challenge Types

• Super Singles – Many of the failed challenges I hear about involve singles. It’s the first in the lineup, maybe they think it’ll be as easy as the rest of the game has been. If you’re one of the people not interested in all five trophies, don’t do singles. If you’re just interested in easy BP, the Wally rematch, berries, etc., then do Triples. It’s much easier.
• Super Doubles – Doubles is much easier because you can have support. Greninja’s Mat Block or something with Fake Out pair well with a set-up sweeper like Dragonite while it Dragon Dances first turn.
• Super Triples – Definitely the easiest battle type. If you just want your berries, do triples. With triples, it’s much easier to use your two side pokemon to support your middle pokemon to obliterate everything. A very good setup is Talonflame and Greninja for your sides, and anything that hits hard that has multi-target moves like Earthquake, Rock Slide, Dazzling Gleam, Water Spout, etc. in the middle.
• Super Rotation – A little trickier. It gives you some of the support options that doubles and triples do, while retaining that 1v1 feel. Rotation battles are probably the best place for Wish, so don’t overlook it. Also, leaving one pokemon in the active battle slot too long can be dangerous. Don’t get greedy.
• Super Multi – The hardest challenge. If you tried Super Multi in XY, you’ll remember the AI was not very bright, and a decent partner team was hard to find. Luckily, the ORAS AI is much better, and the default Steven partner is wonderful. Due to this AI improvement, it’s much easier to take the support side of your doubles team and just help Steven. You don’t need to be as self-reliant as you did in XY.

Pokemon

While any well trained pokemon has the potential to succeed in the Battle Maison, here are a few that do particularly well.

Standalone

• Mega Kangaskhan – A powerhouse no matter where she goes. Remember that Parental Bond only works on Earthquake in singles.
• Multiscale Dragonite – Dragonite’s very attractive movepool and its ability to take a hit with multiscale make it a very useful Pokemon. Usually holding a Lum Berry.
• Garchomp – Often used as a solid backup due to its speed and power. Outside of a triples team focused on it, Mega Garchomp is not usually used. Usually with a Life Orb.
• Gengar – Another great filler, but again, the Mega is not normally used. Often with a Focus Sash.
• Aegislash – While very capable on its own, it is commonly paired with Mega Kangaskhan.
• Mega Gyarados – The Maison likes to throw a lot of different things at you and Mega Gyara’s Mold Breaker makes sure they all feel his force.
• Mega Charizard Y – A very powerful sun-setter that sees a lot of use in Super Multi battles.

Support

• Talonflame – While certainly a strong pokemon on its own, Talonflame sees a lot of use in the Maison as a priority Tailwind setter with its Gale Wings ability.
• Greninja – Again, very strong on its own, but gets the most use out of its unique move Mat Block in Doubles, Triples, and Multi battles. Usually holding a Life Orb or Focus Sash, occasionally Lum Berry.

Gimmicks

• Level 1 Aron – I find this to be a very fun pokemon in the Maison. I have used it in XY Super Rotations and again in ORAS Super Doubles. At level 1, Aron’s stats are abysmal. Because he has such a low HP, the AI really wants to knock him out and will usually focus all of their attacks on him. But because he has the ability Sturdy, he cannot be one shot (except with Mold Breaker). His real power lies in the move Endeavor, which makes the target’s HP equal to the user’s HP. It is important to note that Endeavor does count as a Normal-type attack, which makes it ineffective on Ghosts. In rotations, he goes great with a Shell Bell which will fully heal him with a landed Endeavor, and outside of rotations, Berry Juice is the best option. For his move set, Endeavor and Protect are the only things that are mandatory. In doubles and triples, using Protect with Aron will usually guarantee free turns with your other pokemon on the field as the AI tries fruitlessly to KO him. Pairs well with Greninja or a Trick Room setter, and he is threatened by Hail.
• Truant Durant – This is arguably the best, most reliable singles strategy. I have used it in both XY and ORAS to get my singles trophy. The general gameplan is lead with Durant and use Entrainment to give your opponent the very useless Truant ability so they do nothing every other turn. Then switch to your set-up sweeper and boost yourself to max Attack/Sp. Attack/Speed, maybe set up a sub, then wipe your opponent’s team off the map. If your opponent happens to Protect or Fake Out, you should immediately switch to your back up pokemon. Your Durant should be Jolly (-SpA +Speed), 252 EVs in speed, and holding a Choice Scarf. It is imperative that Durant outspeed your opponent as he is pretty frail. Your sweeper should then be something that can set up and have decent coverage, then alternate boosting moves and Protect while the opponent is Truant/not Truant. I like using Mega Pinsir because he gets Swords Dance, which boosts attack two stages making set up faster, and Quick Attack, which becomes STAB in Mega and lets me not worry about speed. However, Mega Gyarados with Dragon Dance, Waterfall, Protect, Substitute, and his ability Mold Breaker is likely the best option. Your third, backup pokemon should be something that doesn’t share weaknesses with Durant or your sweeper, such as Garchomp.

Threats

The Battle Maison will throw a pretty wide variety of pokemon at you. Some are more dangerous than others. Keep in mind these are not the only threats and the team you use may have more specific threats.

• Cresselia – Quite a few good streaks have ended at the hands of Cress. Cresselia is a very bulky pokemon that often carries Toxic, Double Team, Moonlight, and the incredibly frustrating Trick Room. While I put it at the top of my kill list, it is usually the last to die.
• Blissey – Again very bulky and likes to Toxic and Double Team. Not nearly as scary as Cress though.
• Bronzong/Dusknoir/Slowbro/Slowking – More Trick Room setters. They don’t always have them, but they can really derail you when they do.
• Jolteon/Electrode/Scarfed Manectric/Aerodactyl – These are a threat for one reason: They outspeed Greninja. Greninja is a very commonly used pokemon in the Maison due to his non-priority protection move Mat Block. These pokemon are capable of getting a hit in before Greninja can put it up.
• Carracosta – While not quite as serious, Carracosta does like to carry a Weakness Policy, which goes well with his Sturdy ability, 108 base attack, Rock Slide and Aqua Jet. Just avoid hitting him with things that are super effective, unless you can hit him twice before he hits you.
• Walrein – The notorious Sheer Cold/Fissure user. The Maison will occasionally throw Walrein at you. While bulky, Walrein on its own isn’t a big deal, but the fact that it often knows Sheer Cold and Fissure (guaranteed OHKO moves) and seems to miraculously hit them every time makes him quite a problem. Sometimes you’ll see Articunos with Sheer Cold as well.

In addition to this, you should also be aware that in ORAS every pokemon in the Battle Maison has a 50% chance to have its hidden ability, even if that ability is unreleased.

Other Resources

Smogon has a great Discussion and Records thread that I would highly recommend. Smogon also has their own, more in-depth Battle Maison guide, including a full trainer list and full pokemon list for what you’ll encounter.

I have a YouTube channel if you’d like to see some of the teams I’ve used. I have playlists for the XY Battle Maison and the ORAS Battle Maison.

Thank you for reading. If you feel anything needs revision, let me know.