Schoolboy Marvin in the third trainer in Pokemon Sword & Shield that you’ll face on your way down Route 3. He is the first single trainer on Route 3 that will bring two of his own Pokemon, but does he pose any more of a challenge than the others?

Don’t forget to check out our full archive of Pokemon Sword & Shield trainer battles here!

Schoolboy Marvin

Location: Route 3

Pokemon: Gossifleur lv.12, Budew lv.12

Schoolboy Marvin, unusually for trainers so far, will be walking around Route 3, which does make him a little more awkward to avoid. We’re not about to back down though are we? So let’s get into it.

He brings two Pokemon to the fight, the first of which is Gossifleur. This Pokemon is a Grass Type, making it weak to Flying, Poison, Bug, Fire and ice Type. It’s resistant to Water, Ground, Grass and Electric whilst also having no immunity.

Secondly he’ll being out Budew, which is a Grass & Poison Type. This makes it weak to Fire, Flying, Ice and Psychic. It’s resistant to Fighting, Electric, Grass, Fairy and Water. It also has no immunity to any type.

Guide

If you’re anything like us, coming straight from the battle against the previous trainer, you might still have your Flying Pokemon in the active slot. If so then you’ve stumbled upon the answer to both of these opponents – Flying Type attacks will easily defeat both of these. Similarly, if you’ve come with a Fire Type starter Pokemon you’ll have no trouble at all.

Other starters might struggle here, especially against Gossifleur because it has quite high defence and special defence at this level. Given that they’re both level 12 this is still unlikely to be a problem, so stick with regular attacks if you’re struggling. This will be even less of an issue with Budew, given that it has a low defence stat.

Recommended Pokemon

Again similar to the prior trainer, Flying Type will be your best bet here. Rookidee, Hoothoot and Pidove will do a good job for you again. If you don’t have those you’ll still manage just fine but still, get out there into the wilds and capture some more ‘Mon!

Yes, they really are too strong Marvin. Thank you for noticing! We’re off to continue or quest down Route 3. There’s an interesting cave over there in the distance and we’re eager to see what we can capture inside it…