Pokémon Platinum - Battle Castle

Here are notes on the Battle Castle, which is part of the Battle Frontier.

Before Each Battle

The player can prepare for the next battle by healing Pokémon as needed and learning more about the opposing Trainer, among other things. The player starts with 10 Castle Points (CP). (If the player won the previous challenge, the player instead keeps all "rank-ups" and all CP earned so far and starts the challenge with 10 additional CP, up to the maximum of 9999.)

• SELF - Manage the player’s own Pokémon. This screen shows each Pokémon’s icon, gender, level, HP, and whether it’s holding an item.
  • HEAL - For healing the player’s Pokémon. In the Battle Castle, unlike other Battle Frontier facilities, the HP and PP of the player’s Pokémon are not restored, but each Pokémon will still stop being poisoned, burned, paralyzed, frozen, and asleep, and fainted Pokémon will still be revived (but with 1 HP and no changes to PP), and each Pokémon will still be healed completely when a challenge begins.
    • Restore HP. Restores all HP of the selected Pokémon. Costs 10 CP.
    • Restore PP. Restores all PP of the selected Pokémon. Costs 8 CP. Only available after "ranking up" once.
    • Restore All. Restores all HP and all PP of the selected Pokémon. Costs 12 CP. Only available after "ranking up" twice.
    • Rank Up. Makes the Restore PP option available if used once, and makes the Restore All option available if used twice. Costs 100 CP each time. Needs to be paid only once until the player loses the challenge.
  • RENTAL - Lets the selected Pokémon hold an item. Held items will carry over between battles. (Items held by the Pokémon before the challenge starts will be taken and then given back when the challenge ends.) More than one Pokémon is allowed to hold the same item. CP will still be spent if an item is switched with the same item.
    • Berries. The following Berries are available: 2 CP: Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst, Aspear, Persim; 5 CP: Lum, Sitrus. After "ranking up" twice, the following additional Berries are available: 5 CP: Liechi, Ganlon, Salac, Petaya, Apicot, Lansat, Starf, Occa, Passho, Wacan, Rindo, Yache, Chople, Kebia, Shuca, Coba, Payapa, Tanga, Charti, Kasib, Haban, Colbur, Babiri, Chilan.
    • Items. After "ranking up" once, the following items are available: 5 CP: Power Herb; 10 CP: King’s Rock, Metronome, Light Clay, Grip Claw, Big Root, Toxic Orb, Flame Orb; 15 CP: Quick Claw, Shell Bell, Light Ball, Thick Club. After "ranking up" twice, the following additional items are available: 5 CP: White Herb; 10 CP: Focus Sash; 15 CP: Focus Band; 20 CP: Leftovers, BrightPowder, Scope Lens, Wide Lens, Zoom Lens, Choice Band, Choic Specs, Choice Scarf, Muscle Band, Wise Glasses, Expert Band, Life Orb.
    • Rank Up. Makes the Items option available if used once, and makes more Berries and items available if used twice. Costs 100 CP to use once, then 150 CP to use again. Needs to be paid only once until the player loses the challenge.
  • SUMMARY - View Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Attack, Special Defense, held item, ability, and nature. Free.
  • MOVES - View moves, maximum PP, and current PP. Free.
• OPPONENT - For looking at the opposing Trainer’s Pokémon. Initially this screen shows only the level and gender of each Pokémon. (Gender-unknown Pokémon will have no gender symbol.)
  • CHECK - Reveals the icon and HP of the chosen Pokémon, but not whether it’s holding an item. (Also displays its name as a message.) Costs 1 CP (needs to be paid only once for a particular Pokémon).
  • LEVEL - Changes the selected Pokémon’s level. (Each Pokémon’s level is initially 50.)
    • Level +5. Raises the Pokémon’s level by 5, but not to more than 55. Costs 1 CP.
    • Level -5. Lowers the Pokémon’s level by 5, but not to less than 45. Costs 15 CP.
  • SUMMARY - Shows more detailed information on the selected Pokémon.
    • Summary. View Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Attack, Special Defense, held item, ability, and nature. Costs 2 CP (needs to be paid only once for a particular Pokémon).
    • Moves. View moves, maximum PP, and current PP. Costs 5 CP (needs to be paid only once for a particular Pokémon). Only available after "ranking up".
    • Rank Up. Makes the Moves option available. Costs 50 CP. Needs to be paid only once until the player loses the challenge.
• BATTLE - Starts the next battle. Free.
• PASS - Skips the next battle. Costs 50 CP. Available on the fourth and further consecutive challenges. However, the Castle Valet’s battle (battle 49) can’t be skipped.

Castle Points Won After Battle

When the player wins a Battle Castle battle, the player will earn Castle Points (CP) as follows.

• For each Pokémon the player has, add 6 CP if its HP is full; otherwise, add 5 CP if its current HP is greater than or equal to half of its maximum HP, rounded down; otherwise, add 4 CP if it hasn’t fainted.
• Add 1 CP for each unfainted Pokémon that the player has and that isn’t poisoned, burned, paralyzed, frozen, or asleep.
• Add 8 CP if the difference between the combined maximum PP and the combined current PP among all moves of all the player’s Pokémon is 5 or less; 6 CP if the difference is 6 to 10; or 4 CP if the difference is 11 to 15. (Moves possessed by more than one Pokémon are counted separately.)
• Add 7 CP for each opposing Pokémon whose level is greater than the usual level.

If the steps above result in 0 CP or less, the player will earn 1 CP instead.

The player can have up to 9999 CP.

General

Both Single Battle and Double Battle challenges require three Pokémon of different species.