How to pass Drayton’s Trial in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet The Indigo Disk

The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet The Indigo Disk DLC brings the player to Blueberry Academy as an exchange student where they can explore the Terarium, take on Blueberry Quests aka BBQs, and complete Elite Trials. One of the four trials is conducted by Drayton, the dragon enthusiast.

But, before you can even begin to battle Drayton and his Dragon Pokémon, you will first need to complete his trial. If you’ve already progressed far enough in The Indigo Disk to unlock the Elite Trials, head to the Polar Plaza all the way in the top left edge of the Terarium. Start the trial by speaking to the NPC next to the Duraludon in the plaza. Drayton lets you participate for free without paying with Blueberry Points (BP).

Now you’ve initiated the trial, here’s everything you need to know to successfully pass the test to unlock the battle with Drayton.

How to beat Drayton’s Elite Trial in Pokémon SV The Indigo Disk DLC

When Drayton explains his trial, he offers three key bits of information:

• You must battle three fellow students.
• You must use Pokémon that were caught in the Terarium.
• You must catch those Pokémon yourself (trades do not count here).

In other words, your whole party must be filled with Pokémon you caught in the Terarium. Any Pokémon you caught before The Indigo Disk or outside of the Terarium will not be eligible to participate.

This shouldn’t be an issue if you’ve been catching and training Pokémon in the Terarium. But if you haven’t, you need to get out there and catch and train up at least two strong Pokémon. The trainers in this trial will all have two level 68 Pokémon, so your Pokémon should be around that level or higher to win the battles comfortably.

The three trainers you must face are Craig, Winter, and Ray, who are all lined up at the battle area of the Polar Plaza. Craig has Rock-type fossil Pokémon, Bastiodon and Rampardos. Winter has Ice Pokémon, Alolan Sandslash and Dewgong. And Ray had Electric Pokémon, Magnezone and Zebstrika.

A great Pokémon to sweep through these three trainers is a Ground-type Pokémon like Excadrill, though this isn’t the only option. I caught one in the Canyon Biome, trained it up with Exp. Candy, and crushed this trial. Excadrill hits all of Craig and Ray’s Pokémon for super-effective damage with a Ground-type move like Earthquake or Drill Run. It also destroys Winter’s Alolan Sandslash, so just make sure to bring a partner that can deal with Dewgong like Scrafty.

After beating all three trainers, you can then fight Drayton. At this point, you’re no longer restricted to using Terarium Pokémon, so feel free to switch back to using your favorite ‘mons against Drayton. He has a full team of dragons (with the exception of Sceptile), so the easiest way to counter him is with Ice and Fairy Pokémon.

Beat him and he rewards you with the TM for Dragon Cheer.