25: Taking Care of Business Part I

25: Taking Care of Business Part I

Take the three sets of elevated walkway to the entrance to Twist Mountain, and then as you approach the long stairs leading up who should appear but Cheren!  Yes, it was about time that we ran into him again...

Cheren opens with his Level 33 Unfezant, Level 35 Dewott, Level 33 Liepard, and Level 33 Simisear.

As the battle ends the League Champion Alder puts in an appearance -- it seems he was watching the battle from above!  Cheren is still conflicted about what his path is as a Trainer, and so rebuffs Alder and his compliment.  Alder then gifts you both with HM03, Surf!  Excellent!  We can now take a minor detour to wrap up some things we were not able to do before!

First, teach Surf to your Water-type now.

Next use Fly to go to the Pokemon Center in Nuvema Town and have your Mum heal your team.  Now, save first, and then leave the house and head up Route 1 to the stairs past the first grass patch.  If you did not trade for a Basculin, now you can capture one.

Follow the river to the end, and jump on to the bank -- to have a battle!

Pokemon Ranger Brenda has a Level 35 Swoobat, and a Level 35.  Like all Rangers she gives you a gift -- a Persim Berry this time.

To the west there is a treasure ball with a Max Ether in it -- so grab that and then head through the grass to the west for a battle.

Fisherman Sean has a pair of Level 34 Frillish.

Southeast across from the gate entrance is another battle!

Pokemon Ranger Claude has a Level 35 Cinccino, Level 35 Zebstrika, and gifts you with another  Persim Berry.

Your first indication that something is wrong should be the dark news ticker inside the gatehouse -- and when you speak to the guard at the counter and hear them say that there is nothing of interest beyond here?  Yeah, something sounds off.

-- Route 17 --

As you exit the gatehouse you see that having Surf really will come in handy!  The bad news though is that we are about to take an iron man vacation...  Um, yeah, see, what you have to do is run up and down the beach until you pull up a Surf Spot, then jump in the water to trigger it and, with any luck, get a Jellicent right away. 

Oh man, I am pulling for you to have goof luck as otherwise, well, this could take a while.  But, hey!  Look on the bright side!  That is one more Pokemon in your Dex and in your Collection!  Yah!

You may find it quicker to Surf across to the sandbar and run the troll from there...

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Route 17 Area Pokemon Report
Dex No.    Pokemon     Rarity     Season     Capture Note
#098/592   Frillish    (C)        All        Surf
#099/593   Jellicent   (R)        All        Surf Spots
#100/594   Alomomola   (C)        All        Surf Spots
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

These are all low-level and can usually be captured with a ball tossed out, you do not have to hurt them -- though I notice that while Level 10 and up seem to capture on the first throw those below Level 10 are often ball breakers....  I kept track of the ratio --- it was 21 spots to capture a Jellicent...

Once you have captured all three of these, Fly to a nearby city and use the Pokemon Center to access a Storage Network Computer -- and open a slot in your party now.  Restock your kit while you are here -- if you have been using drinks (you probably have) I would pick Driftveil City as it has a convenient drink machine by the Cold Storage area...

You may also want take this opportunity to sort out your Incoming Box and put the collected Pokemon in their proper boxes.  Once you have done all of that, head back to the spot we were at and continue on...   Isn't this a great game?

Once you are back head over to the Trainer standing on the sandbar for a battle!

Fisherman Lydon has a pair of Level 34 Basculin.

On the other sandbar is a treasure ball containing TM06, Toxic, so grab that now, and then hit the water to the west and head south for another battle!

Swimmer Joyce has a Level 35 Alomomola.

To the south and west is fast-moving water -- you knew that this would require some thinking right?  If you hit the water and simply ride it out you got all the way to just off of the beach -- if you take the fast water above the bottom one it will drop you off mid way down and above, allowing you to double back for a battle!

Swimmer Wright has a team of four Level 32 Basculin,

After the battle Surf to the nearby sandbar above and grab a DeepSeaTooth from the treasure ball there.    Ride the water out and then back along the bottom to the beach, where you should take a moment to use your kit to repair any damage done in the battle -- that is why we carry our kit, right?  After you fix your team, save your game!

Follow the stairs up to the top and you will note that your Dowser dings -- and see a Trainer here!

Hiker Jeremiah has a Level 34 Boldore, and a Level 34 Crustle -- a new one for our Dex!

-- Route 18 --

Once you cross the rapids you transition to the Route 18 Area and its Pokemon -- so you can expect to see the following in the grass and area:

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Route 18 Area Pokemon Report

Dex No.     Pokemon     Rarity     Season     Capture Note
#011/505    Watchog     (U)        All        Grass/Dark Grass
#037/531    Audino      (C)        All        Shaking Grass
#044/538    Throh       (UR)       All        Shaking Grass 
#045/539    Sawk        (R)        All        Grass/Dark Grass
#063/557    Dwebble     (U)        All        Grass
#064/558    Crustle     (U)        All        Dark Grass
#065/559    Scraggy     (C)        All        Grass/Dark Grass
#098/592    Frillish    (C)        All        Surf
#099/593    Jellicent   (UR)       All        Surf Spots
#100/594    Alomomol    (C)        All        Surf Spots
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As you can see, we already have almost all of the above -- but DO NOT try to capture any of the ones we do not have, which by my reckoning is just Crustle unless you were unable to get an Alomomol...   There is a reason we opened a slot in our party, and if you capture it now that slot will get filled and that will mess the next step up, so hold off on that right?

The nearby shack is a Rest House -- head inside and talk to the girl on the right to have our team healed -- and then save the game!  There is a Pokemon Ranger here that we met earlier in the Relic Castle who found an egg -- he wants to give the egg to you now and he can because you took my advice and opened a spot in your team before entering the area!

Hatching our first egg

With the egg in your party you have two choices -- either just leave it there and let it hatch on its own, or go outside and run around until it hatches!  When it hatches is based upon the number of steps that you take -- and you can reduce the number needed by putting a Pokemon in your party with either the Flame Body or Magma Armor abilities.

It may be more helpful for you to find someplace really long and Trainer-free to do the running to hatch your egg -- I find that the Skyarrow Bridge and my bicycle works like magic, especially when combined with a Pokemon with one of the two egg-enhancing abilities,

You probably do not want to hear this -- but once the egg hatches, it would be an idea to Fly to a Pokemon Center and store it, and grab your regular team member now.  Go ahead -- I will wait for you -- just do that and head back here real quick!

-- Back to the Rest House --

Backpacker Kumiko has a Level 35 Emolga.

There are several directions that we can go from here -- first though head south over the bridge and use Strength to push the boulder into the hole to gain access to the area south and grab the Max Elixir from the treasure ball in the southeast corner -- nice one!

Head back to the main area and then west down the stairs, then take the stairs to the south towards the east and push another boulder into a hole, heading under the bridge.  In this closed area you will find a treasure ball and a battle!

Backpacker Sam has a Level 35 Whimsicott.  After the battle grab the Dragon Scale from the treasure ball, then turn on your Dowser and grab the Calcium from the nearby rock.

If you need to heal, hit the Rest House, otherwise head back west then north up the stairs and double back along the narrow raised area to get HM05, Waterfall, from the treasure ball there.  It is unusual to end up with so important an HM this way, but hey, cool!  Teach that to your Water Pokemon now.

Follow the path north and east and then north up the stairs there to your next Trainer battle.

Veteran Ray has a Level 35 Basculin,  Level 35 Simisage, and a Level 36 Darmanitan.

Cross the bridge to the east and head down the stairs here.  When you reach the beach hit the water and consult your Dowser.  You will see that there are two rapids to the east, and all three channels of the top rapids will just bring you right back here, so take the lower rapids and it will move you to the other side of the area.  At this point Surf back -- avoiding the rapids -- to your next battle!

Swimmer Berke has a Level 34 Frillish, and a Level 34 Simipour.

If you carefully work your way south and then west along the narrow path between the rapids you can reach your next battle.

Swimmer Caroline has a Level 34 Ducklett -- and it uses Roost to drag the battle out, so blitzing is a good idea here.  Her next Pokemon is a Level 34 Frillish.

Now continue to the west avoiding the rapids to reach the other part of Route 18!   Use your Dowser to find a Pearl, then a Big Pearl, then have a battle with that spinning Trainer!

Battle Girl Hillary has a Level 35 Scraggy, and a Level 35 Gurdurr.

Head up the stairs to the north and into the Dark Grass there.  Now, as you will recall we have a missing Pokemon for this area -- Crustle.  Now is a good time to get one of those! 

After you capture your Crustle, head to the left and grab TM19, Telekinesis, from the treasure ball there, and then head back to the beach and Surf all the way south to get the Heart Scale from a treasure ball there. 

Now it is time to backtrack all the way to the other side of the water where the ride dumped us off before so we can head up onto the beach!  On the way you will notice the Dowser go off -- follow it to the the large rock and grab the Heart Scale there, then continue on to get another Dowser hit, and another Heart Scale from the large reef! 

As we return to the beach in the east we officially and properly change areas to the P2 Labs -- finally!

-- P2 Labs --

Mostly this run up Routes 17 and 18 were about arriving here! 

First thing we do is head east up the stairs and then south into the grass below!

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P2 Lab Area Pokemon Report

Dex No.     Pokemon     Rarity     Season     Capture Note
#011/505    Watchog     (C)        All        Grass
#013/507    Herdier     (C)        All        Grass
#065/559    Scraggy     (R)        All        Grass
#098/592    Frillish    (C)        All        Surf
#099/593    Jellicent   (UR)       All        Surf Spots
#100/594    Alomomola   (C)        All        Surf Spots
#105/599    Klink       (R)        All        Grass
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We already have all of these Pokemon -- so our jump south into the grass is about the battle and the treasure ball here!

Scientist Nathan has a Level 35 Garbodor (another new Dex entry).

The treasure ball below is worth the trip, as it contains TM24, Thunderbolt!  That is all we needed to do here, so head over to the entrance to the Lab and go inside and grab the Dubious Disc from the treasure ball there.   I hope you are not too disappointed with the Lab -- but hey there is still a clue here for you to find!

Head over to the computer and read the partial memo taped to he side...  Interesting...