Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are fairly accessible games, but they will occasionally throw you a curveball in the form of a tough battle, confusing mechanic, or complicated puzzle. Actually, one of the game’s trickiest puzzles comes when you’re asked to order a secret dish off of a special menu in order to battle the Normal Gym leader.
Not long after entering the Medali Gym Building, you’ll be asked to “order the secret menu item” as part of the gym’s special test. While you could just try ordering various combinations of foods until you stumble upon the secret menu item in question, you’re actually supposed to gather clues from nearby regulars and trainers that will help you find the right order.
As such, there are actually a couple of ways to approach this puzzle. Obviously, the most basic approach involves solving this puzzle “organically.” Since you’re here, I’m going to guess that approach isn’t for you.
If you’re looking for the least amount of help possible, here are the trainers you need to interact with (and battle) in order to solve this puzzle:
- Trainer in front of the Gym
- Trainer on the side of the Gym
- Trainer near the sandwich shop
Basically, you’ll want to battle the trainers and use the clues they give you to find the other relevant NPCs and locations that offer additional information about the secret menu order. If you’d rather not do all of that and just skip right to the clues…well, here they are:
- Clue 1 – “How the regulars season their dishes” (leads to a regular at the bar named Larry)
- Clue 2 – “The odd one out at the ice cream stand” (leads to the ice cream stand menu)
- Clue 3 – “A dark spot surrounded by stairs” (leads to the Amphitheater)
- Clue 4 – “Listen to the blue bird Pokémon” (leads to the resident with a Sqeakabilly on their head)
If you visit those locations and characters, you should be able to acquire all of the information you need to make the correct secret menu order. If that also sounds like more of a bother than you were expecting to have to deal with…well, who am I to argue with you? Here is the solution to the secret menu item puzzle in Medali:
- Grilled Rice Balls
- Fire Blast (Extra Crispy)
- Serving Size: Medium
- Lemon
Order that and return to the Medali Gym. You’ll now be able to face the Gym Leader (the appropriately named Larry). Larry’s Pokémon are surprisingly durable, so you’ll want to make sure that you bring some powerful Pokémon of your own in order to counter their hard hits and high defenses. If you’re looking for a little more info, here are the Pokémon that Larry will bring out during the fight:
- Komala
- Dudunsparce
- Staraptor
The usual counters will get you through this fight, though those lacking in obvious answers may need to instead rely on their toughest Pokémon (high defenses and high HP). With a few right moves and a little item support, you should be able to survive this fight with minimum trouble.
Generally speaking, though, solving the puzzle above is this gym’s real test. The battle against Larry should be fairly easy for any trainer who has made it this far with a fairly strong rotation of Pokémon on their roster.