Need help with fighting Gym Leader Roark? This page has you covered!
Roark is the first Gym Leader you’ll face, when you reach the end of the Oreburgh City Gym. If you breezed through earlier fights, you might mistakenly think that this fight will be just as easy. However, if your Pokémon are a similar Level to Roark’s, it can be surprisingly challenging.
Gym Leader Roark¶
(1 of 2) Roark is the first Gym Leader.
Roark is the first Gym Leader. (left), The Mold Breaker ability ignores the opponent’s abilities when attacking. (right)
If your Pokémon are Level 13 or so, we recommend using the X Defense found in Oreburgh Mine (to the right as soon as you enter) to begin with. This will give your active Pokémon a useful Defense buff for later.
Roark’s first two Pokémon, 
Geodude and 
Onix, are ones you can find in Oreburgh Mine. They’re both pretty straightforward; due to their typing, they take quadruple damage from Water and Grass moves.
Those of you who chose 
Turtwig or 
Piplup will mop the floor with them. Otherwise, you can train a 
Budew from Route 204 and/or 
Machop from Route 207. Also, if you get 
Chimchar to Level 14, it’ll evolve into 
Monferno, gaining the Fighting-type.
Geodude and Onix can use Stealth Rock, which will damage your Pokémon slightly when they switch in. Onix also has the Sturdy ability, so it’ll survive at least one round of combat. If Stealth Rock is up and/or you used the X Defense, avoid switching out.
(1 of 2) If in doubt, use the X Defense; you can buy more later.
If in doubt, use the X Defense; you can buy more later. (left), Flinching is bad news, but the Defense buff should save you. (right)
Cranidos is the newbie-killer. It doesn’t look too tough, but it’s deceptively fast and carries a mean Headbutt. If Cranidos goes first, there’s a chance Headbutt will cause your Pokémon to flinch.
Furthermore, Cranidos can use Bulldoze, which is a damaging Ground move (bad news for Chimchar/Monferno) that lowers your Speed. Hopefully you used the X Defense at the beginning, to reduce the risk of wiping to Cranidos.
After the Fight¶
Upon defeating Roark, you’ll be awarded the Coal Badge and 5 lots of TM76 Stealth Rock. With the Coal Badge under your belt, you can now use the Hidden Move Rock Smash outside of combat. We recommend revisiting Oreburgh Gate and heading north while inside to reach the basement.
Once you’ve seen enough, return to Jubilife City by cutting through Oreburgh Gate and Route 203.
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