22: Skypillar and Rayquaza

22: Skypillar and Rayquaza

After we heal and save -- and assuming that we have finished restocking our kit -- what we want to do is leave Sootopolis via the undersea cavern, and then head east until we can go south to Route 129.  As you exit the cavern and ascend back to the surface and follow the route you will encounter the trainers that I dodged -- if you did not dodge them as well then no worries, but if you did, now is a good time to battle them if you like.  You can always use the extra XP.

After you exit the underwater cave you pop up on Route 126.  Head east and a little north and you enter Route 127, at which point you want to head south as soon as you can, following the deep water trench that is marked in dark blue on the surface south and east.  You pass through a very narrow section of Route 128 and find yourself on Route 129 with the path now back open to the west -- which is a good thing as that is where we need to go!

Heading west on Route 129 you will encounter a few swimming Trainers you likely have yet to battle -- so go ahead and battle them as avoiding them is rather hit-or-miss anyway.  When you pass through the narrowing cut you will battle Triathlete Allison, after which you pass through the narrowest point west then south, and cross from Route 129 onto Route 130.

Route 130

You should already have the Pokemon that can be caught on this rouute, but there are a few Trainers here for you to battle -- Swimmer Rodney has a Level 34 Gyrados that can be fun to battle, then for quite a distance you will not see anyone but will likely pick up a few wild encounters.

Eventually you encounter two Trainers swimming north and south on the path -- you can battle them one at a time if you like or both at the same time, your call.  They are Swimmer Katie (Level 22 Goldeen & Level 33 Spheal) and Swimmer Santiago (Level 33 Tentacruel & Level 33 Wailmer).

Having easily beaten them, continue to the west and you will encounter another almost identical pair of swimming Trainers -- how about that?

Since I am a fan of doubles battles I took then on at the same time -- note that as the battle starts Trainer Talia tells you that if you beat her, she will give you some information...

Swimmer Kevin has a Level 34 Spheal and Triathlete Talia has a Level 34 Staryu -- neither of which should be much of a threat to you.   After the battle you should do something that you probably never do after a battle -- talk to the Trainers you just pounded into the surf.

When you speak to Talia she tells you that "There is an odd place nearby.  There's a huge tower there.   Why don't you go take a look?"  Why indeed?  Kevin does not have anything useful to tell you, so at this point take Talia at her word and head north to see what this odd place is all about!

Actually what you need to do is head west and a little north through some rocks, then a bit east to the sandy beach, but you get the idea. 

The only thing here is a spit of sandy beach and a cave entrance -- so all that is left is to head in, right?

Awakening Rayquaza

The Sky Pillar

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Sky Pillar Pokemon Report

-- #354 Banette (R)
-- #344 Claydoll (U)
-- #042 Golbat (C)
-- #302 Sableye (U)

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And once you head in -- bang!  You have found it!  Good on ya mate!  You are in the Sky Pillar!  Man you made this seem so easy!

As soon as you exit the other side of the cave Wallace appears -- he apologizes for abandoning you, and tells you that he has opened the door to the tower for you...  You follow him to the door as the earth starts to shake, then it begins to rain.  Wallace tells you that it is all on you mate, and then takes off for town.  Now would be a great time to save your game!

A Word of Warning -- You may be tempted to Fly back to town to resupply and heal if you had a rough time on the way here.  DON'T.  You cannot Fly back, so unless you want to repeat that journey -- minus the Trainer battles of course -- you will just have to tough it out with what you have on you.

The path up to the top of the tower is pretty simple, but along the way you have the opportunity to grab a Pokemon that I know you do not have -- Claydoll!  It is worth taking the time to grab them now, plus you get a new entry into your Pokedex so why not?  If you have not leveled up a Golbat or caught one of them and a Sableye at the Cave of Origin you can capture both here as well if you like.

Once you reach the third level it will look like a dead end -- but notice the broken floor section?  Walk on that and you will fall down a level to the area you could not reach before, and low, a door!  Use the middle door to reach the blocked-off section on the level above, and go through the left door to fourth level of the Tower.

As you pass through the next door you are out on the top levels of the Tower -- use the stairs to reach Rayquaza, who is sleeping on the roof here.  As you approach he wakes up and... Nope.  No battle.  He just flies away!

Here is the deal mate, you did what needed to be done -- you woke up Rayquaza.  Now that he is awake, he senses that there is a disturbance in the Force, and he heads off to investigate.  Now, the logical thing for you to do would be to Fly back to town now, but hold on.  If you check the map you will notice that there is a town nearby...

It would be a shame to have come all this way without obtaining a Fly Point on the map, yeah?  So rather than Fly back to town, instead hoof it down to the beach and continue west from here, and you will reach Pacifidlog Town!

Good on ya!  Killed two birds with one small rock you did.  Now that you have flagged Pacifidlog Town on the map you can fly back here any time you want to explore, and since we are kind of on a mission here, it would be an idea to Fly back to Sootopolis now, right?

Back to Sootopolis

As we land at the Poke Center the skies split and Rayquaza descends, engaging the two battling beasts with its special attack and hey!  Awesome!  The day is saved! 

The sun comes out, the rain is gone, all three Legendary Pokemon have disappeared, and the residents of Sootopolis are no longer blocking your access to the rest of town! 

Surf over to the Gym and chat up Max and Archie to get their last words before they disappear, and then talk to Wallace, who thanks you and gives you HM07 -- Waterfall!  He explains that you need to beat the Gym Leader here and obtain the Rain Badge -- and invites you to do that when you are ready.

Before we do that though, let us chat up Steven for his last comment on the debacle, and then take a few minutes to explore the town, shall we?