Route 18 (Japanese: １８番道路Route 18) is a route in eastern Kalos, connecting Anistar City and Couriway Town. The route is also known as Vallée Étroite Way (Japanese: エトロワ・バレ通りÉtroite Vallée Way). It cannot be accessed until the player defeats Team Flare by beating Lysandre for the final time at its HQ in Geosenge Town.
Kalos Route 18
１８番道路 Route 18
Map description
This path is best known for its trolley, once used for the coal mine, and the curious Inverse Battle house.
This route is home to a horde of Durant, which sometimes damage the area with their tunneling to such a degree that it must be temporarily closed. Such a case happens when the player first arrives in Anistar City, and a pair of Workers is blocking the gate's southern exit until the damage done by the Iron Ant Pokémon has been fixed. Once the player has stopped Team Flare in Geosenge Town, the damage will have been repaired, and the Workers will let the player enter the route.
Route 18 is a lush, green route with a river flowing through it. The river can be crossed either by a bridge or Roller Skate rail near a Wacan Berry tree, which can be found growing in an area behind a cuttable tree. At the east section of the route lies the Terminus Cave, an abandoned coal mine which was closed down due to the rumors of a monster living in there. Remains of former mining cart rail tracks can still be found lying outside of the cave entrances.
Once per day, Psychic Inver may be battled in an Inverse Battle, where type matchups are reversed so that normally super effective moves are not very effective, and vice versa (with immunities becoming weaknesses). Inver has many preset Pokémon, but only chooses a random three during the battle. In addition, his Pokémon's Abilities may vary, even potentially having their Hidden Abilities. At first, Inver's Pokémon are at level 55, but after the player has entered the Hall of Fame, their levels grow to 65.
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.
In Malamar Traps, X and his friends stayed the night at Route 18 before heading to Pokémon Village to confront Team Flare. There he was introduced to Wikstrom and Drasna by Diantha. The next morning, they would head to Pokémon Village while the Elite Four provided a distraction. They were, however, put to sleep by Xerosic's Malamar's Hypnosis, with the exception of X.
The rest of the group eventually woke up and headed to Pokémon Village while X and Blue fought Xerosic. In Charizard Transforms, when Xerosic was facing imminent defeat to X and Blue, the other Team Flare scientists stopped Y, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor from advancing, and challenged them to battles. Y faced Aliana, Trevor faced Bryony, Tierno faced Mable, and Shauna faced Celosia. At around the same area, Xerneas clashed with Yveltal once more.
After his Flabébé evolved, Trevor gained the confidence to take on Aliana as well, thus allowing Y to get to X and Blue, both of whom had already reached the Pokémon Village. Bryony, Mable, and Celosia were eventually defeated, with Aliana being forced to surrender when faced with Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna. The trio then witnessed Xerneas and Yveltal reverting to their dormant forms and sinking beneath the ground in order to leave Zygarde with no reason to remain active and thus allowing it to escape from Team Flare's control.
