11: The Road to Fallarbor

11: The Road to Fallarbor

The Fiery Path was born out of necessity -- without a pair of Go-Goggles travelers cannot pass through the perpetual sandstorm that blocks off the desert to the north and east, so this cave was dug into a tunnel to provide passage to Fallarbor Town by going directly under Mount Chimney!

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Fiery Path Area Pokemon Report

-- #088 Grimer (R)
-- #109 Koffing (C)
-- #066 Machop (U)
-- #322 Numel (C)
-- #218 Slugma (U)
-- #324 Torkoal (C)

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Steam bursts through the ground of the Fiery Path

In addition to being the only way to get past the desert without the rare and special goggles required to brave the sandstorm, the Fiery Path is also a place of hot wonder, with some very rare items for those who know how to find them -- and have HM04.

Check your Dex to determine which of the above Pokemon you still need, and then spend a little time trolling the first part of the Path to pull and capture them before we head through the Fiery Path in earnest, OK?

Once we have captured the ones we need, simply head north to the exit -- we cannot move the boulder blocking the branch tunnel to the left because we need the next Gym Badge to be able to use Strength outside of battle, but we are getting there, slowly.

Note that if your team is getting dangerously close to Level 30 you should hold off trolling for these Pokemon until after you get the next Gym Badge to prevent ending up in a situation in which you cannot direct your team.

When you exit the Path you end up on the far end of Route 112, on the other side of the desert..

-- Route 111 / 112 --

Nearby are some Berry Trees but first take care of the Trainers here!  Time it correctly and you can step between them to initiate a Doubles Battle!

After the battle and the Berries, head east to hook up with the continuation of Route 111, and turn north, battling the Trainer here and then you can obtain TM43 from the Trainer on the path to the north -- TM43 is, if you are curious, the move we have been waiting for that will allow us to make our own Secret Hideout! 

It is called Secret Power -- and it is a wicked cool move.  I don't know about you but I am planning on placing my Secret Base in that nub of a continuation of Route 116 that is a little green paradise!  Basically you can place a Secret Base anywhere where there is one of those cuts in the rock or a tree of a certain shape -- like that one there!

In addition to that, remember that merchant back in the market area of Slateport who said they only did business with Trainers who had the move Secret Power?  Yep!  That bloke sells all sorts of items you will want to have to decorate your new Secret Base!

Now, with that settled, you can go ahead and make a base here if you like - I am waiting - but if you want to do it I will patiently stand here while you do that.  Just let me know when you are ready to go, okay?

The Old Lady's Rest Stop

-- Old Lady's Rest Stop --

Now that you are done, you see that tree to the east?  Cut it down and go to the building here, which is a convenient rest stop.  I do not know about you, but I burned through a chunk of PP on the way here, and my team needs to rest, so I am going to avail myself of the facility here.

Nothing on TV at the moment, so rest, heal, save, that is the order of the day!

Now that we are well rested head north and chat up the Trainer here for a free berry, then harvest the berries from the Berry Trees here.

You see that ramp going up the cliff to the east?  If you have the bike that goes fast (as opposed to having the Acro Bike which is more of a trick bike) you can rip up that to the top and run along the ledge here!

Now head west and battle the Trainer and then continue on until the Route changes to Route 113.

-- Route 113 --

Due to falling soot from Mt. Chimney, Route 113 is the coldest Route in all of Hoenn, with regular temperatures that are lower than anywhere else in the region due to the soot blocking out the light and warmth of the sun. 

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Route 113 Area Pokemon Report

-- #227 Skarmory (R)
-- #218 Slugma (C)
-- #327 Spinda (C)

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This is an important area - and not just because it has some new Pokemon for us - but because it is the area that we go to in order to collect soot.  Did he say "collect soot?"  I believe he did! 

If you have the special Key Item, you can collect soot here, which can then be traded for special items.  Some of the items are very special indeed, so this is one of those areas we will be wanting to spend some extra time and effort upon - more on that in a bit.

For now though, as you can see there are Pokemon here that we need - but as our team is now dangerously close to Level 30 so we are going to skip the battles we do not need to fight by running, and just capture the Pokemon that we need to, right?  We can come back to this area in a bit...

As you walk along you will knock the soot off of the Tall Grass - ignore that for now.  Avoid lumps in the soot - those are hidden Trainers -- and try to avoid the Trainers you can see -- while we work our way through the area to get to Fallarbor Town!

I don't know about you but I had a really bad time capturing the Skarmory -- even with it in the red I went through a huge pile of Poke Balls of several types before I finally managed it!  I ended up having to use a Nest Ball because it would not stay inside any of the other types...

When you reach the small hut go inside to talk to the Glass Blower and he will give you the Key Item, Soot Sack.  Now you can collect soot!  Good on ya!

-- Fallarbor Town --

As soon as you reach town hit the Poke Center to heal and save, then the Mart to resupply your kit!

After you heal up in the Poke Center, you see that girl in the green dress by the PC?  Go over and chat her up to learn that she is Lanette, and she invented the PC storage system!  Wow!  We finally learn who "Someone" actually is!

She asks you to visit her at her home on Route 114 and then leaves -- so now is a good time to open the PC and sort out all of the Pokemon you have captured into their proper boxes, as the Incoming Box is getting a bit full!

While you are in the Mart chat up the other customers to learn about Stone Evolution, then shop to replace your Kit.  One of the Trainers here will teach one of your team the move Metronome if you like -- if not, remember that they are here for later!

At this point we need to organize our activities and get some of the stuff that we skipped done!  It is never a good idea to leave too much undone to be done later as you tend to forget stuff...  So what you should do at this point is put some of your A-Team in their box, and then go through your captured Pokemon looking for Pokemon that are of Types that you do not have on your A-Team now.

You may not have an Electric or a Fighting Type -- if not, those would be good ones to develop now, wouldn't they?  Yes they would!  So pick two that you do not have, and add them to your active team so that we can head back to the soot zone and begin collecting soot, capture the other Pokemon that we did not get on our way here, and clear out the Trainer Battles for the area!

Doing it this way means you are not wasting the XP from the Trainer Battles since it is going to level additional team members!  When you are done -- or rather once we arrive in Lavaridge Town and are ready to battle the Gym Leader, you can re-assemble your main A-Team for that fight, but until then use the alternates for all of your fighting so that you can level them and not risk sending any of your A-Team over Level 30.

The Glass Workshop on Route 113

-- Cleaning up Loose Ends --

We can start by trolling the tall grass in the soot zone to capture the Pokemon from there that we need, while at the same time collecting Soot.  How much Soot do you need?  Well, Soot collection is measured in steps, and the following are the requirements for the items that the Glass Blower can make for you:

* Black Flute (1000 steps)  Reduces Wild Encounter Rate
* Blue Flute (250 steps) Heals Sleep
* Pretty Chair (6000 steps) Secret Base Furniture
* Pretty Desk (8000 steps) Secret Base Furniture
* Red Flute (500 steps) Heals Attraction
* White Flute (1000 steps) Increases Wild Encounter Rate
* Yellow Flute (500 steps) Heals Confusion

Of all of the items he can make obviously the flutes are the most valuable to us.

As you are working your way through the Tall Grass you will notice lumps in the ash -- some of these are hidden trainers but others are items -- the lump closest to town is TM32, Double Team, while the one next closest is a Trainer.

As you work your way along the Tall Grass sections you will see a Treasure Ball with a Max Ether in it, so grab that and then hop down the ledge and work your way to the next lump to the east, which is an Ether.  The lump east of that is a Trainer that sets you up for a Double Battle, instantly followed by a battle with a third hidden Trainer after you win.  The lump near that Trainer lump is actually a Nugget, which is worth $5K at the Poke Mart!

The nearby Treasure Ball has a Super Repel, and then you drop down the ledge and start harvesting Soot again!  This is actually a great place to batch-level, and if when we need to do that again after the next Gym we should remember that!

When you feel like you have enough Soot head back to the Glass Blower to check.  The priority for items is Yellow Flute, Red Flute, Black Flute, and then White, followed by whatever else you want.

As soon as you have collected all of the Soot you need and turned it in for the items, and cleared the Trainers here, head back to Fallarbor Town and hit the Poke Center to heal and save, and then head east to the Move Tutor's House and check that out.

The Move Tutor explains that he can teach your Pokemon moves -- any move that they have forgotten in fact -- but only if you pay him in Heart Scales!  We will have to keep that in mind for later...

-- Professor Cozmo --

An old man in town tells you something is up at Professor Cozmo's House -- so of course we have to go and check it out, right?  The house is directly south in town, so go in and chat with the woman inside, who tells you that Team Magma took him away to Meteor Falls!

Well you know what we have to do -- we have to rescue him and find out just what Magma is up to!  Before we do that though, head outside and look in the crater, where you will find a Nugget.  Take that to the Mart and sell it, and replace any kit you used before we set off on our next adventure to rescue the Professor.

-- Route 114 --

The northern-most Route in the region, Route 114 is home to rare Pokemon found nowhere else in Hoenn, and delivers vistas of ancient rock formations and mountains.

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Route 114 Area Pokemon Report

-- #339 Barboach (C) Fishing: Super Rod
-- #074 Geodude (C) Rock Smash
-- #118 Goldeen (U/R) Fishing: Old/Good Rod & Surf
-- #271 Lombre (C)
-- #270 Lotad (C)
-- #129 Magikarp (C) Fishing: Old Rod
-- #183 Marill (C) Surf
-- #274 Nuzleaf (R)
-- #336 Seviper (U)
-- #333 Swablu (C)

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Clearly there are some Pokemon here that we do not have -- and some of them we can even capture now without having to come back!  But alas, many we will have to return for.  Still, make good use of your presence here and grab what you can, right?

Once you have taken care of that, follow the Route west and talk to the Trainer with his Poochie to get TM05, Roar.  Above him is a Fisherman you can battle, but use a flying type because his Barboach knows Magnitude, and that could get messy! 

Once you have defeated the Fisherman, head south past the next pond then east for a Double Battle,  then grab the Energypowder from the Treasure Ball in the trees here.  Depending upon how badly things went you may need to retreat to the Poke Center to heal and save...

As you work your way south there will be more Trainers to battle, and when you reach the far side of the bridge, pop in to the house on the right, where you will find Lanette!

After the conversation you have with her all of the PC's on the Poke Net that used to say "Someone's PC" will now be identified as "Lanette's PC" which is rather cool if you think about it.  It was a mystery and you solved it!

She gives you a Lotad Doll that is xfered to the PC, and you can read some detailed notes about Boxes on her desk and an email from Bill, the bloke from Kanto who designed the PC and Box system used there.

The Trainer outside her house gives you a berry, then you can battle the two below them for some decent XP.  There is a stand of Berry Trees above the house to the east but you have to backtrack to reach it.