White Treehollow/Black Tower

[stage7_4]

Wow, anybody remember this? The overlooked feature of Black 2/White 2, White Treehollow/Black Tower was a battle gauntlet similar to Trainer Hill of Emerald or Trainer Tower from Firered/Leafgreen (not to be confused with the Battle Tower of the frontiers).

Of the format, this was definitely the most developed of them, with floor bosses, it's own secret boss Benga, and even a small prize in the form of a shiny pokemon. It's also one of the few features with no pokemon restrictions, so you could use every legendary available.

Despite these bonuses, White Treehollow/Black Tower still befell the same fate in the public conscious as it's predecessors. Not really through it's own fault, but debuting alongside the Pokemon World Tournament and Pokestar Studios left it without much limelight to grab, and the short lifespan of Gen 5 meant that the dawn of Pokemon X/Y killed what spotlight remained.

But that's what this thread is for! Mainly to discuss experiences with this unique mini-game, team strategies in a format focused on endurance and power, and to shed some light on what was never really given any.

 

[lucariomaster2]

From what I remember, status is really annoying. Since you have to seek out a doctor to heal, one Thunder Wave can easily throw a wrench into the works. So I think that if you're looking to speedrun the Tower/Treehollow, a Chansey or Blissey would be really good because of its access to Aromatherapy and its ability to heal the rest of your team with Softboiled.

 

[stage7_4]

From what I remember, status is really annoying. Since you have to seek out a doctor to heal, one Thunder Wave can easily throw a wrench into the works. So I think that if you're looking to speedrun the Tower/Treehollow, a Chansey or Blissey would be really good because of its access to Aromatherapy and its ability to heal the rest of your team with Softboiled.

Another option I used was Nidoking with Sheer Force, since the ground/poison typing nulls Thunder wave and all poison. Still have to deal with other paralysis sources like Stun Spore though.

 

[Kurona]

This was pretty fun and to be honest upon reading this Trainer Hill is another thing from Emerald I'm really sad ORAS didn't have.
I mean it's nothing revolutionary, but it was still a fun little gauntlet that wasn't the rage-inducing mess the Maison/Tower is. Fucking evasion everywhere; nice and skill.

 

[SwampySwampert]

I was surprised that it let me use my Black Kyurem in there.

 

[Dreamox]

First time I levelled up a mon to level 100 without Rare Candies, Terrakion, was in White Treehollow. Hope it makes some sort of return in the future.

 

[WideTomato]

I really did enjoy the black tower challenge, and i am kind of sad to see that it was not re-introduced in the later games. I really like the idea of this kind of challenge, as they are able to add more of a story into it, than they are with the battle facilities. I really liked how you faced Alter's son as the final boss rather than some random frontier brain or something. Another reason i like it over the different battle facilities, is that there's more to it than just figuring out how the AIs are programmed. You could actually use higher level pokemon, which made it easier with every time, meaning those who stick to their storyline team still had a fair chance, unlike the battle facilities where IVs/EVs are very important. I also love how you can skip some trainers, while having to battle some in order to gather information. Once you knew ''the final room is up above'' you could skip the rest of that floor entirely! The only thing it needed in order to be perfect would be a harder challenge mode with all pokemon level 100 or something! I would take this over the frontier any day.

 

[stage7_4]

In feel like it was the Battle Pyramid done a lot smoother. The exploration and resource management (health and items) but without the annoying limited vision mechanic. Or Battle Pyramid + Trainer Hill fused.

Plus it's the only facility that allowed legends, and I'd like to be able to use them in a challenge setting. It's like having this awesome car with nowhere to drive it.

 

[Roseguardin]

I hadn't had a shiny since platinum so the only reason I started this was to get gible. I was that desperate. Incidentally, I also worked my ass off to get to the nature preserve to get the Haxorus there, but that's another story...

Black Tower is also where I leveled up my first Pokemon to lv. 100 without rare candy nonsense. As lucariomaster said, status is a dick, but I had Excadrill from my in-game team who was incredibly overleveled.

 

[meowmachine]

I played this with a team of level 100s and I still had trouble with Benga. Granted, I did play Metal Gear to get around the trainers and battled at most 4 per level.

 

[Daemul]

I was shocked when I discovered that my Pokemon could gain levels in Black Tower, usually postgame facilities in Pokemon games impose the level 50/level 100 system. It was nice though, it helped me level up my Pokemon enough to take on the rematch against the Elite 4 without having to grind.

 

[Pikachu315111]

One thing I liked about the White Treehollow and Black Tower were the stories connected to it and around it. Like not only does the facility have a story you learn more about as you go through it, things in White Forest and Black City also start to progress. The shops gain more items and the trainers who are just standing around all have little stories of their own which you hear the next part of upon clearing the next few levels. Not only that, but as you get further and further you get more well known by the people living there and if I recall correctly start inspiring them. Also I like how in the Black Tower you're going up it while in White Treehollow you're going down, in a way it sort of reminds me of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories where Sora's goal is to get to the top of Castle Oblivion from the first floor (increasing the floor number) while Ruki's goal is to get up from bottom of the basement to the entrance/exit (decreasing the basement floor number).

 

[NoCheese]

Black Tower / White Treehollow were one of the best and most fun ways of grinding money and exp in the series (though for getting the really high levels quickly, nothing beat being able to just buy them at Join Avenue in BW2), so it would be wonderful to see something similar return at some point.

But naturally, I'd only support this were it in addition to the Battle Tower/Subway/Maison/Frontier, not instead of it. The strategic depth and challenge of the Treehollow is nowhere near that of the competitive battle facilities, which is fine, given that they serve different purposes, but substituting one for the other would be a huge mistake.