Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Guide To The Professor Sada Final Boss Fight

While "Pokémon Scarlet and Violet" isn't the first game in the franchise to have the region's Professor as the final main story boss — that honor going to "Sun and Moon" — no other installment has made it quite as cinematic and bombastic as the final showdown against Professor Sada and Turo. Lights, sounds, and the story all come together in an unforgettable battle that is arguably even harder than the post-game rematches due to the plot restrictions.

While these restrictions are the same across both versions, Professor Sada of "Scarlet" poses a bit more challenge due to the more powerful selection of Paradox Pokémon in the prehistoric-themed edition of the game. While she doesn't present a terrible difficulty spike, players will be going up against multiple Pokémon that have been either banned from the competitive scene outright or distinguished as the most powerful Pokémon of their typing available in the games — as such, it's important to prepare a good team that can handle her lineup before heading into the finale.

The first phase of the fight against Professor Sada is more or less just a regular 6-v-6 Pokémon match with no extra gimmicks or conditions. Students will be going up against her lineup of historic Paradox Pokémon, in the order of:

• Slither Wing | lvl. 66 | Bug/Fighting 
• Scream Tail | lvl. 66 | Fairy/Psychic 
• Brute Bonnet | lvl. 66 | Grass/Dark 
• Flutter Mane | lvl. 66 | Ghost/Fairy 
• Sandy Shocks | lvl. 66 | Electric/Ground 
• Roaring Moon | lvl. 67 | Dragon/Dark 

Considering that players have had to complete all three storylines and trekked all across Paldea to get to this point, they most likely have a team at or beyond level 67 already and are more than ready to take her on. If anyone who has been raising a balanced team with all type weaknesses covered, simply going after matchups in their favor should be enough to do the trick. Hard-hitting Ice and Fairy types are a must, as well as at least one Ghost or Steel type. In a pinch, gamers can probably pick up their own Flutter Mane and Slither Wing from Area Zero to train up to par alongside a good Ice-type from Glaseado. Keep in mind, also, that with the exception of Brute Bonnet and Sandy Shocks, all of her Pokémon have weaker base Defense stats than Sp. Def — focusing on pelting them with Special moves over physical ones will give students another edge in battle. 

The second phase of the fight starts with players being locked out of their entire team. They'll have to go into the Pokémon menu and select Koraidon to start a one-on-one match of their Koraidon against the Professor's, the unfortunate bit is that the player's companion is still outmatched. With moves like Bulk Up, Taunt, and Giga Impact, the Professor's Koraidon can very quickly lock students out of using defensive moves like Endure while hitting hard enough to potentially land a One-Hit-K.O.

With only Flamethrower, Collision Course, and Tera Blast, gamers don't actually have any options for doing any substantial damage — and subsequently, no chance of winning this fight as is. The ultimate goal is actually to simply survive until students are finally given the option to Terastallize a few turns in. The Koraidon's Tera Type is Dragon, meaning that Tera Blast will become a supereffective move that'll finish off the enemy Koraidon in two hits — maybe even one if players land a critical.

The key is to play defensively with the kit the Koraidon comes with. Use defense-boosting items when possible, take advantage of the one-turn penalty that Giga Impact imposes on the Professor's Koraidon, and keep close track of how many Bulk Ups it manages to use before deciding between counterattack or heal. With the help of a few items, a bit of patience, and the Koraidon's built-in Friendship bonuses, students will blast through the final fight of the game in no time.