Main Mission 06: Reaching Rank X

You now know a lot more about how Lumiose City works, so the next mission on the list is light on guidance and big on Pokemon battles. Your job is to improve your rank to reach Rank X, which means you'll need to toughen up a bit.

Get a Challenger's Ticket, then find Yvon for your promotion match.

You start in the patch of grass where you talked to Taunie and Emma and learned about Mega Evolution. If you check the map now, you'll find there are numerous new side missions available around the city, marked by the familiar blue ‘!’ marks in circles.

The side missions are a great way to spend some time as you wait for nightfall. There's one such mission directly to your south, so I recommend heading there and completing Side Mission 004: A Break Time Battle.

After you win the battle, you can head up to the roof and explore to find additional Pokemon to catch. This is a decent use of your time. You might even catch a new Pokemon for your team, including Vivillon. With that said, I found they were pretty good at breaking free of regular Poke Balls, even after they were weakened.

Before long, you should have wandered enough that the sun sets. Then the Battle Zone activates near the Magenta Plaza Pokemon Center, to the west of Wild Zone 5.

Enter the Battle Zone through the gate on its east side. As you step inside, the game lets you know about Bonus Cards. When you pick these up, they increase how many points you receive for winning battles. They have various conditions, such as using an electric attack, or surprising an enemy before a duel. You can have up to three of the cards active at once. After that, you'll have to swap them out if you find a new one that looks more useful.

There are a lot of bushes in this particular Battle Zone, so it's not extremely difficult to sneak up behind trainers and have your Pokemon attack. This will allow you to land a powerful attack that makes it easier to win battles (and which may also reward extra points).

You'll need to defeat several trainers to earn the 3,000 points required. Make sure to pick up cards and complete their objectives so you more quickly accrue points. If you want to head around to the other side of the Battle Zone, you can find a nearby gate and leave, then travel around to a different gate and continue. You just want to act quickly. When you have the necessary points, you'll automatically receive the Challenger's Ticket.

Once you have your ticket, head toward the Bleu Plaza. It's a circular park with a lot of bushes along its edges, not far from the Battle Zone.

Boss Battle: Yvon the Office Worker

Yvon has a few powerful Pokemon creatures. If you've been rushing through the game up to this point without leveling up a variety of your most active Pokemon, you could be in for some trouble. Make sure to bring plenty of powerful potions if that is the case, and be ready to burn through them.

Yvon brings out three Pokemon: Spritzee, Swirlix, and Vivillon. These Pokemon use irritating abilities such as Fairy Wind and Light Screen, so your usual tactics and brute force may not work. I like using Fletchling to peck at them, but you'll want to have a pretty high-level bird to survive three foes. It's best to have your Pokemon around level 15 or 16, so feel free to train a little more before attempting the battle.

After winning the fight, you receive 960 Poke Dollars. You also achieve Rank X. A couple of cutscenes follow, and then your next mission activates.