Kruger: The Colosseum Master You Have to Beat Ten Times

An opponent you don't beat once, but ten times. Kruger runs the Courtyard Colosseum, one of the halls on the Pokétopia circuit in Pokémon Battle Revolution. White suit, black scarf, rose corsage: the character makes a point of offering a polished welcome. His real role plays out elsewhere, though, in an endurance format where he comes back to block your path every ten battles.

Contents

• Master of the Courtyard Colosseum
• A white suit, and a rose that changes hands
• The Survival Battle: a hundred Trainers, and him every ten
• Azelf as a lead, and a predator's policy
• Kruger at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Master of the Courtyard Colosseum

You don't cross Pokétopia like an ordinary region: it's a series of battle halls, each one entrusted to a head who gives it its own color. Kruger is one of them, and his official title fits in two words: Colosseum Master.

That title places him in the family of battle facility managers, opponents who hand out no badge and guard no town — the same logic as the bosses of Unova's Battle Subway, where Emmet runs one of the lines. Their authority comes from the place they run, not from the League.

Another hall is run by Dusty, at the Sunset Colosseum: the circuit lines up nighttime settings and the heads that go with them. The game that hosts them offers nothing but battles, a design choice that our overview of spin-off games puts in context.

A white suit, and a rose that changes hands

The game describes him as powerfully built, in a white three-piece suit and a black scarf. In a circuit full of spectacular outfits, Kruger plays the exact opposite card: the impeccably dressed notable who welcomes more than he provokes.

One element of that silhouette ends up leaving the character and going to the player: the rose pinned to his lapel can be claimed at the Neon Colosseum. So it isn't just a character design detail, but an item you can go and get for yourself.

The point is worth noting, because the accessory isn't obtained in Kruger's hall, but in another one. His outfit serves as a showcase for a reward located elsewhere on the circuit, which makes the player connect two Colosseums to understand where the flower comes from.

The Survival Battle: a hundred Trainers, and him every ten

Winning at the Stargazer Colosseum opens up a separate format, the Survival Battle. The idea fits in one line: a hundred Trainers to take on back to back without catching your breath.

Kruger reappears there every ten battles, and he's also the one who brings up the rear as the hundredth and final opponent. The format makes him less a boss than a mile marker: you don't measure your progress by the number of nameless Trainers defeated, but by how many times you've already run into him.

The difficulty hinges on precisely these encounters. Each time you face him, the opposing teams gain one more Pokémon, up to a cap of four: each time you get past Kruger, you accept that everything that follows will be heavier to carry.

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Azelf as a lead, and a predator's policy

Only one battle habit is established with certainty: in set 7 of the Masters Battle, Kruger always sends out Azelf first. This habit only applies to one of his three teams, though: the eighteen species attributed to him don't form a single list, as the source gives him three teams of six, one per battle context — the Courtyard Colosseum team, then those of sets 3 and 7 of the Masters Battle, with Azelf appearing only in the last one.

The little dialogue he gets paints the picture of a courteous host. He welcomes the visitor the way a lord welcomes guests to his castle, congratulates the opponent who gave him a good game and invites them to come back anytime. Beneath the polished society manners, though, runs a hunting vocabulary: Kruger talks about his prey, the prey he doesn't intend to let go, and the prey he kicks himself for letting slip away.

He states his method himself, without beating around the bush: go after the other side's weak points, a line of conduct he sets up as a personal rule. The localizations actually turned him into very different men: Patrizio in German, Sebastián in Spanish and Ercole in Italian, whereas French and English share the same Kruger.

Kruger at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Kruger in Pokémon Battle Revolution?
  He's the Master of the Courtyard Colosseum, one of the halls on the Pokétopia circuit. He's neither a Gym Leader nor a member of the League: his authority comes from the place he runs.
• How do you unlock the Survival Battle?
  By winning at the Stargazer Colosseum. The format then opens up and asks you to take on a hundred Trainers in a row.
• How many times do you face Kruger in the Survival Battle?
  He comes back every ten battles, and he's also the hundredth and final opponent of the run. At each of these encounters, the opposing teams gain an extra Pokémon, up to a maximum of four.
• Which Pokémon does Kruger send out first?
  Azelf, every time. It's the only lead habit the source spells out explicitly, and it only concerns set 7 of the Masters Battle. The eighteen species otherwise attributed to him don't break any limit: they're three teams of six, one per battle context, and Azelf only appears in the last one.
• Where can you get the rose Kruger wears?
  At the Neon Colosseum, not in his own hall. The accessory he sports on his lapel thus becomes a reward the player can obtain.

In short

Kruger comes down to three traits that echo one another: the light-colored suit of a master of the house, a rose the player ends up wearing in turn, and an endurance format in which he serves as the yardstick. The character doesn't reveal much about himself — no backstory, no stable team, a handful of lines — but his place in the Survival Battle gives him a role few opponents fill. You don't remember who he is; you remember how many times you had to beat him.