16: The Road to Fortree City

16: The Road to Fortree City

Now that we are finished visiting with Mum, pack up your bag and pop in to the Lab to say hello, and let him take a look at your Dex.  He may or may not give you some advice but it is all good either way, so now that you have done the polite thing, head north to Oldale Town and continue on to Route 103, where you turn east and Surf over the river to the other side.  Actually do not be so hasty in the passage -- if you Surf around a bit you can capture a Tentacool, and there are some Trainers here to fight as well! 

On the other side continue east towards Mauville, but stop off at the Trick House on the way!  By now the owner will have reset it with a new challenge, so head inside and solve it!  When you are done, if you have not already cleared it, head up on to the Cycling Road and fight all of the Trainers there. 

After you clear the Cycling Road (assuming you do) double back to the entrance so you can resume our travel on the Low Road -- and mid way along the first stretch go through the break in the fence on to the water and Surf out to the island to grab the Rare Candy in the Treasure Ball there.  Now Surf back to the Low Road and continue along.  I do not have to tell you to battle any Trainers you missed or avoided from earlier do I?

When you are finished cleaning up the Trainers on the Cycling Road and obtained the Rare Candy wake me up, OK?  Ima take a nap.

Done?  Already?  You sure are fast mate!  Right, so off we go to Mauville, and when we get there, hit the Poke Center to heal and save and then head east onto the short stub of Route 118, only this time as we have Surf, well, you get the idea!

If you did the batch-leveling in the Desert Ruins you may want to bear in mind that we can only control up to Level 50, and our target at the moment is Levels 45 - 46 so try to keep the team within that zone, OK?  If you are already close to that, pick up some alternate Team Members form the PC and start using them to battle, as you need to level them anyway and this is a good way to do it!

-- Back in Mauville --

Well, it has been a long and strange journey, but we are once again in Mauville, only this time we have 5 Badges and a lot more experience!  We also have Surf, which means when we hit the water's edge on Route 118 it is no longer going to stop us!

If you did not have the chance to spend any time in the Casino, you may want to do that now, as there are some darn useful TM's available there as prizes, and of course there are those decoration items you can use in your Secret Hideout!

Either way, Casino or not, hit the Poke Center to heal and save and then head East Young Man!

As you exit the Center you will notice a familiar figure standing in the center of the crossroads -- Wattson!  Go over to say hello and he gives you a mission to go to New Mauville and turn off the Generator.  Hey, no problem mate!  We can do that!  He even gives you the key!

Shutting down the New Mauville Generator

-- New Mauville --

A power plant that is located underneath Mauville, New Mauville can only be reached using Surf off of Route 110, its entrance located under the Cycling Road.  This area did not appear in the anime series or in the previous generation of games, and is the only place in the game where Electric-Type can be found in any number!

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New Mauville Area Pokemon Report

-- #101 Electrode (R)
-- #081 Magnemite (C)
-- #082 Magneton (R)
-- #100 Voltorb (C)

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Simply head back down to Route 110 and over to the break in the fence by the entrance to the Cycling Road on this side, and Surf into the water here.  You see that tree on the small island?  You can turn that into a Secret Base if you like!  I will wait!

Surf east under the road and you will see the entrance to New Mauville -- it looks like a cave.  Go inside and use the key Wattson gave you to gain entry.  This is a Wild Pokemon area just so you know, and walking or running can cause you to end up trolling them up, but on the cool side if you look at the Report there are a few we still need!

Throughout the area there are Treasure Balls -- and what appear to be Treasure Balls but are actually Pokemon!  Be sure to pick up both -- as you can use the items and the XP :)

Once you reach the switch to turn off the Generator be sure to gran the Thunder Stone in the Treasure Ball nearby -- that little Stone is what makes this side-quest worth doing!  Now that you have accomplished your mission, use an Escape Rope to get out!

Returning to Wattson to report your success causes him great happiness -- and he rewards you for your help with TM25, Thunderbolt!  So you had some fun, scored some XP, obtained another evolutionary stone, and got a TM in the bargain -- I call that a good day!

Hit the Poke Center to heal and save, the Mart to replace any items, and then the road to continue our adventure!

Special Warning: You cannot help but collect a bag full of items as you play the game, and that is the point to this warning, a bag FULL of items, you see?  Your pack will only hold so many items, so every now and then you need to sell the items you know you do not want or need, and visit the Poke Center or your house to deposit the items you want but will not immediately use in your home PC storage system!  That way you keep some open space in your pack, and are not forced to abandon items you find due to your pack being full!

-- Back on the Road --

At this point you have taken care of the side-quest for Wattson, cleaned up your bag, had a heal and save, so pop out into the street and head east onto the stub of Route 118 and Surf over to the other side!

When you land on the beach walk over and chat up the Fisherman, who will give you a Good Rod!  Excellent!  This now opens the door to a dozen or more Pokemon we could not capture before!  Nearby the Fisherman is a cameraman and reporter -- go chat them up to have yourself a televised battle with them.  Another chance to be on TV -- you are almost famous...

After the interview begin to work your way east, fighting the Trainers you encounter along the way, until you reach the grass, where you get a surprise visit from Steven!  He gives you some confusing advice and then walks off... Hit and run Buddha?

If you cut the tree above you can get some Berries we do not have yet, and then head east to the Berry Master's House!

A visit to the Berry Master's House

-- The Berry Master's House --

A few things you should know -- this is the only place in the game with what amounts to a grove of Berry Trees -- so if you plan on growing particular berries in quantity this is the place to do it!

You should know that you can get a common berry from the Berry Master once every day just by chatting with him.  The other thing you should know is that you can score rare berries here as well!

To obtain the rarer berries simply visit the Berry Master's House and speak with his wife inside -- she will ask you for a phrase, and what you say will directly lead to you receiving a specific berry.

The rare berries are only obtained this way, and most Trainers hold on to then until they have reached a place in life or the game when they want to take a break, and then simply spend their play time raising berries, often right outside of this house in that grove of trees!

You can only get a berry from her once a day -- so you should keep track of when you spoke to her last and what berries you have obtained, right?  For your convenience, here is the list of rare berries and their corresponding phrases:

Berry Number -- Berry Name -- Phrase
------------------------------------------------
31. Spelon: GREAT BATTLE
32. Pamtre: CHALLENGE CONTEST
33. Watmel: OVERWHELMING LATIAS (Latias is in your Dex)
34. Durin: COOL LATIOS (Latios is in your Dex)
35. Belue: SUPER HUSTLE

That is pretty much all that you need to know, other than how to grow berries. 

The simple instructions are to plant a berry, then water it, then return every so many hours and if the ground looks fry, water it some more.  When the berries appear on the tree harvest them.  If you did a good job there will be more than just one or two berries per tree.

A complete berry manual is beyond the scope of this guide -- but there are some excellent Berry Guides on the Web, so Google is your friend here!

-- Route 119 --

Backtrack to the crossroads to the west and head north, and as you proceed you will notice a new type of Tall Grass that you have not encountered before.  Trainers are concealed pretty well in here, so you may have to hunt around to get them all, but battle the Trainers here before you cross to the road on the other side, right?

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Route 119 Area Pokemon Report

-- #352 Kecleon (R)
-- #264 Linoone (C)
-- #043 Oddish (C)
-- #357 Tropius (U)
-- #263 Zigzagoon (C)

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The only one you should need is Tropius -- though I suppose it is possible that you have not captured a Kecleon yet, but the others you should already have!  A little effort is needed to capture both, but once you have, continue along the Route, battling the Trainers you encounter to add several rare entries to your Dex!

Some areas of interest on this Route -- a house full of bird-type Pokemon -- there because the boy-half of the relationship misunderstood the whole Pokemon and Fly thing, assuming that to do it you needed a bunch of Pokemon that could Fly so that you could hang on to them! 

Inside the house is the girlfriend, and you really should talk to her mate, because she tells you about something that may not actually be just legend and myth.

As you head north on the Route you will have the opportunity to pick up some more berries, and XP, and hey -- berries and XP, that is a good combination!  You will also battle your first Pokemon Ranger -- you don't know what a Pokemon Ranger is?!  You need to expand your Pokemon Game Collection mate!

If you have the racing bike (as opposed to the Acro one which is what I have) you can jet up the slopes here, otherwise you need to use the stairs.  You will shortly be introduced to a new type of Trainer - the Ninja -- who is really good or really bad (depends on your PoV) at hiding in plain sight.

When you finally make your way out of the wilderness a large modern structure of glass and steel will appear -- the Weather Institute!  But what is this?!  Team Aqua!  Oh, this cannot be a good thing!

Shutting down Team Aqua Again!

-- The Weather Institute --

The very first thing that you should do is sneak in to the left hall and use the bed there to rest up, and then save.  That way you start on an even-footing and, if things go horribly wrong you can reload :)  You will also note that there is a PC here that is connected to the PokeNet!

Talk to the child here and learn that everyone is upstairs... Well, not everyone...

Start out this side-quest by beating up every Aqua Grunt you can find!  Why?  Because when you solve this mystery they all leave, and you lose your chance at some easy XP.  I went ahead and put some of my alternate team members on my active team just to get this XP so I don't want it lost and you do not either!

When you finally reach Aqua Admin Shelly she is downright insulting!  Are you going to stand for that?!  I did not think so!

After the battle a messenger runs in to warn Shelly that Team Magma just moved through the area heading for nearby Mt. Pyre!  The Aqua crew immediately set out for Mt. Pyre, their plans here ruined by us!  Way to go us!

The scientists give you a new Pokemon as their way of saying thank you -- so bonus!  A new Dex Entry and a pretty cool Pokemon in the bargain!

We are pretty much done with this side-quest now, so head back downstairs and use the bed to rest up, then save and leave the Institute.  The bridge that was previously blocked by Team Aqua is not blocked any more, so we should cross over... Because hey!  Look!  It is May!  And she wants to battle!

-- Another Rival Battle --

Like you May has been leveling her team, but unlike you she has not been quite as serious about it, which means that even with your alternates on your team you still should have a major edge against her! 

She opens with her Level 29 Lombre, worth 876XP, followed by her Level 29 Slugma worth 484XP, and finally her Starter, a Level 31 Marshtomp that is worth 949XP.   May gives us $1860 in prize money, but in addition to that she gives us a pressie!  HM02, Fly! 

Now that is one of the more useful HM's but we cannot use it until we get our next Gym Badge.  Hmm, I really want to use Fly to visit me Mum...  Well there is nothing for it then!  Head for the next Gym now! 

Lucky for us the city is a dozen steps away up the path :)