Places of interest:
The five Battle Facilities available in Sinnoh can be found here.
Stats judge: The stats judge is the man standing near the PC in the Battle Tower lobby.
Exchange Service Corner
Pokémon Scratch-Off Corner
Places of interest:
The five Battle Facilities available in Johto can be found here.
Stats judge: The stats judge is the man standing near the PC in the Battle Tower lobby.
Exchange Service Corner
Pokémon Scratch-Off Corner
The Battle Frontier is a location, accessible in Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, that houses five Battle Facilities where the goal is to defeat Trainers without losing. Each Battle Facility has a leader, known as the Frontier Brain, who can be battled after a given number of Trainers have been defeated, without the player losing to any one. Each Frontier Brain has two encounters in their facility. Winning the first Frontier Brain fight will give the player a Silver Print for that facility on their Vs. Recorder, and winning the second fight will upgrade the print to a Gold Print. Additionally, achieving 100 wins in the Battle Tower specifically will give the player a star for their Trainer Card, and winning certain modes in the Battle Tower will give the player's Pokémon Ribbons. The list of facilities is as follows:
Although each facility has different rules, there are some restrictions that apply to all of them.
The player will not receive money, and their Pokémon will not receive experience. Instead, the player will receive BP, which is used as a currency for purchasable items in the Battle Frontier and, in HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Frontier Access.
Set Mode is enforced.
The moves Return and Frustration, when used by the opponent or rented Pokémon in the Battle Factory, will always have their maximum power.
Losing a battle will reset the player's streak to 0. Turning off the game mid-battle, or mid-round without saving, will count as a loss and reset the streak.
Pokémon encountered in battles will not be added to the Pokédex.
Defeating a Frontier Brain will give the player 20BP.
All challenges can be entered as a Single Battle, Double Battle, or Multi Battle. In the Battle Tower, Multis can be entered with either an AI-controlled partner Trainer or another real player (either local or via Wi-Fi). In the other facilities, only the option to join another real player is available. However, the Frontier Brain will only appear in Singles.
Enemy Pokémon will always take their Nature, Item, moves, and EVs from predetermined 'sets'.
Enemy Pokémon that can have two Abilities will always have a random Ability. Enemy Pokémon that can be male or female will have their gender randomly determined.
Any Pokémon holding a Soul Dew cannot enter.
Heat, Wash, Frost, Fan, and Mow Rotom will revert back to Rotom's default form when entered. All enemy Rotom will also be in their default form. However, a glitch in Platinum only will allow the player to use a Rotom form in Doubles in the Battle Tower if it is entered as the player's fourth Pokémon.
Some Pokémon cannot be entered altogether, and will never be encountered on an opponent's team:
Mewtwo
Mew
Spiky-Eared Pichu
Lugia
Ho-Oh
Celebi
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza
Jirachi
Deoxys
Dialga
Palkia
Giratina
Phione
Manaphy
Darkrai
Shaymin
Arceus
Eggs
Specific data about the mechanics of each facility are given on those facilities' pages. Here are some more general resources:
Obtained from the women at the entrance when first entering the area
Exchange Service Corner
Items here are purchased using BP won through the Battle Facilities.
Left counter
Platinum Items (Left counter)
Item
Price
Protein
1 BP
Calcium
1 BP
Iron
1 BP
Zinc
1 BP
Carbos
1 BP
HP Up
1 BP
Power Bracer
16 BP
Power Belt
16 BP
Power Lens
16 BP
Power Band
16 BP
Power Anklet
16 BP
Power Weight
16 BP
Toxic Orb
16 BP
Flame Orb
16 BP
White Herb
32 BP
Power Herb
32 BP
BrightPowder
48 BP
Choice Band
48 BP
Focus Band
48 BP
Scope Lens
48 BP
Muscle Band
48 BP
Focus Sash
48 BP
Choice Scarf
48 BP
Razor Claw
48 BP
Razor Fang
48 BP
Rare Candy
48 BP
Right counter
Platinum Items (Right counter)
Item
Price
TM06 Toxic
32 BP
TM73 Thunder Wave
32 BP
TM61 Will-O-Wisp
32 BP
TM45 Attract
32 BP
TM40 Aerial Ace
40 BP
TM31 Brick Break
40 BP
TM08 Bulk Up
48 BP
TM04 Calm Mind
48 BP
TM81 X-Scissor
64 BP
TM30 Shadow Ball
64 BP
TM53 Energy Ball
64 BP
TM36 Sludge Bomb
80 BP
TM59 Dragon Pulse
80 BP
TM71 Stone Edge
80 BP
TM26 Earthquake
80 BP
Pokémon Scratch-Off Corner
Three scratch-off cards can be purchased for 1BP. Each card has nine blocks, and the player can scratch three. Matching three of the same Pokémon, or two of the same and a Ditto, will give the player the prize shown on the top screen. A Nugget is always available as one of the prizes, and the other prizes will all be Berries, selected from the list below. If the player wins a Berry, they will win three of that Berry.
Qualot Berry
Tamato Berry
Wacan Berry
Chople Berry
Coba Berry
Pomeg Berry
Hondew Berry
Occa Berry
Rindo Berry
Kebia Berry
Payapa Berry
Kelpsy Berry
Grepa Berry
Passho Berry
Yache Berry
Shuca Berry
Tanga Berry
Charti Berry
Colbur Berry
Kasib Berry
Babiri Berry
Haban Berry
Chilan Berry
Items
HeartGold and SoulSilver Items
Item
Games
Location
Notes
Frontier Record
HG
SS
Obtained from the women at the entrance when first entering the area
Exchange Service Corner
Items here are purchased using BP won through the Battle Facilities.
Left counter
HeartGold and SoulSilver Items (Left counter)
Item
Games
Price
Notes
Protein
HG
SS
1 BP
Training Items #1
Calcium
HG
SS
1 BP
Training Items #1
Iron
HG
SS
1 BP
Training Items #1
Zinc
HG
SS
1 BP
Training Items #1
Carbos
HG
SS
1 BP
Training Items #1
HP Up
HG
SS
1 BP
Training Items #1
Rare Candy
HG
SS
48 BP
Training Items #1
Power Bracer
HG
SS
16 BP
Training Items #2
Power Belt
HG
SS
16 BP
Training Items #2
Power Lens
HG
SS
16 BP
Training Items #2
Power Band
HG
SS
16 BP
Training Items #2
Power Anklet
HG
SS
16 BP
Training Items #2
Power Weight
HG
SS
16 BP
Training Items #2
Toxic Orb
HG
SS
16 BP
Fighting Items #1
Flame Orb
HG
SS
16 BP
Fighting Items #1
White Herb
HG
SS
32 BP
Fighting Items #1
Power Herb
HG
SS
32 BP
Fighting Items #1
BrightPowder
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #1
Focus Band
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #1
Focus Sash
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #1
Choice Band
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #2
Choice Scarf
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #2
Scope Lens
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #2
Muscle Band
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #2
Razor Claw
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #2
Razor Fang
HG
SS
48 BP
Fighting Items #2
Right counter
HeartGold and SoulSilver Items (Right counter)
Item
Games
Price
Notes
TM40 Aerial Ace
HG
SS
40 BP
Physical Attacks
TM31 Brick Break
HG
SS
40 BP
Physical Attacks
TM89 U-turn
HG
SS
40 BP
Physical Attacks
TM81 X-Scissor
HG
SS
64 BP
Physical Attacks
TM71 Stone Edge
HG
SS
80 BP
Physical Attacks
TM26 Earthquake
HG
SS
80 BP
Physical Attacks
TM30 Shadow Ball
HG
SS
64 BP
Special Attacks
TM53 Energy Ball
HG
SS
64 BP
Special Attacks
TM36 Sludge Bomb
HG
SS
80 BP
Special Attacks
TM59 Dragon Pulse
HG
SS
80 BP
Special Attacks
TM06 Toxic
HG
SS
32 BP
Changing Attacks
TM73 Thunder Wave
HG
SS
32 BP
Changing Attacks
TM61 Will-O-Wisp
HG
SS
32 BP
Changing Attacks
TM45 Attract
HG
SS
32 BP
Changing Attacks
TM08 Bulk Up
HG
SS
48 BP
Changing Attacks
TM04 Calm Mind
HG
SS
48 BP
Changing Attacks
Pokémon Scratch-Off Corner
Three scratch-off cards can be purchased for 1BP. Each card has nine blocks, and the player can scratch three. Matching three of the same Pokémon, or two of the same and a Ditto, will give the player the prize shown on the top screen. A Nugget is always available as one of the prizes, and the other prizes will all be Berries, selected from the list below. If the player wins a Berry, they will win three of that Berry.
Qualot Berry
Tamato Berry
Wacan Berry
Chople Berry
Coba Berry
Pomeg Berry
Hondew Berry
Occa Berry
Rindo Berry
Kebia Berry
Payapa Berry
Kelpsy Berry
Grepa Berry
Passho Berry
Yache Berry
Shuca Berry
Tanga Berry
Charti Berry
Colbur Berry
Kasib Berry
Babiri Berry
Haban Berry
Chilan Berry
Credits & sources
The original Battle Frontier records topic on Smogon, for the collected resources of many players (notably Team Rocket Elite, Jumpman16 and Peterko), including Pokémon movesets, Trainer information, and mechanics specific to certain facilities (like Factory swapping and Hall IVs).
Bulbapedia, for various facts such as the items available for purchase in the Frontier, the mechanics of the Battle Castle, and the Battle Points received as rewards. I also took the icons used for the Battle Arcade from their page.
This documentation on the Battle Arcade by Kurausukun and Magpie, which explains how the roulette panels are generated
Various users on the Battle Facilities Discord, including SadisticMystic, Magpie, dank, average fella, Mow, and chloe, for providing some updated resources about Trainer rosters and answering various questions I had
ShinxHijinx, for helping me uncover the IVs of the Frontier Brains' Silver Print battles