Mopping-Up Part Deux

Mopping-Up Part Deux

The Aerodactyl Puzzle

Now that we have wrapped things up in Mahogany Town it is time to mop-up some of the things that we missed due to not having Surf.  You are probably looking at the map and saying to yourself: "No, Blackthorn City is the next logical destination!"  I completely understand why you would feel that way, I did too, but the game is not going to allow you to access that city right now -- there is a proper place and time to do so, Grasshopper, and that time is not now.

Rather than hit things on the way, we are going to do one long run back to New Bark Town -- so head west on Route 42 to Ecruteak City, then south on Route 37 to Route 36, east on Route 35 to Violet City,  then east on Route 31 to Route 30 and head south, stop by Mr. Pokemon's house to trade him the Red Scale for the Experience Share real quick, then on  to Cherrygrove City, and finally follow Route to New Bark Town!  Nice trip, had a few wild encounters, grabbed a few Apricorns on the way,  so bonus!

Now before we start the mopping-up exercise we are going to do some preemptive exploration -- there is a reason that we are doing this by the way, which will become obvious in a bit.  So, head east from New Bark Town using Surf on to Route 27!  "Why are we going here?!" you ask?  "We don't have Waterfall or the steps we need to get through this Route!" you say...  True, but take a look at the Beasties List below...

-- Route 27 --

Route 27 Beasties List

-- Chinchou #176 (Any) Fishing
-- Doduo #204 (Morn/Day) Normal
-- Exeggcute #105 (Any) Headbutt
-- Hoothoot #015 (Any) Headbutt
-- Lanturn #177 (Any) Fishing
-- Magikarp #076 (Any) Fishing
-- Pineco #093 (Any) Headbutt
-- Ponyta #206 (Any) Normal
-- Quagsire #057 (Night) Normal
-- Raticate #018 (Any) Normal
-- Sandslash #049 (Any) Normal
-- Shellder #171 (Any) Fishing
-- Spinarak #032 (Any) Headbutt
-- Tentacool #164 (Any) Fishing
-- Tentacool #164 (Any) Surfing
-- Tentacruel #165 (Any) Surfing
-- Tentacruel #165 (Any) Fishing

  
Yeah, that's right, but there is more.  While you are catching the ones you do not have, head east and make landfall, where you are greeted by a bloke who welcomes you on your first steps into the Kanto Region!  That is right, we are officially in Kanto!  How about that?   The entrance to Tohjo Falls is above, but there is no point in going in as we do not have the things we need to pass that way...

Instead continue east on the water to a spit of land with a treasure ball that contains a Rare Candy -- excellent!  As soon as you have caught what you need to head back to New Bark Town as we are done here for now!  You can use the machine in the Professor's Lab to heal up if you need to, then continue west towards Cherrygrove,

At the west end of town is some water, and you can see a bloke standing on a sandbank from shore.  Head over and chat him up to get the Mystic Water from him!  This is a held-item for Water-Types that increases their power.

Now head back to shore and take Route 30 north, and at the first tall grass head all the way east to the pond, and surf into it to the short grass area to the southeast.  Land in the very center and hit A to grab a Nugget!

Surf back to Route 30 and head north.  then west on Route 31 to Violet City, and head towards the Sprout Tower to the north.  Surf the water on the east side of the bridge to grab a treasure ball with a Rare Candy, and the west side for a treasure ball with a PP Up!  Now head back to town.

-- Union Cave and the Missing Unown --

Now we take a run down Routes 32 and 33 to Azalea Town, and climb down the Slowpoke Well.  Remember when we were here before but could not access the deeper areas?  Well, now we have Surf and Strength, don't we?  So now we can access them!

When we hit the first patch of tall grass on Route 32, head west then north, cut the tree, and stop at the cliff face.  Use your treasure finder to located the Super Potion here, then talk to the bloke to the east to get TM05, Roar!  How about that?  A very useful TM!

Before you enter the cave stand by the entrance and use your treasure detector and grab the Great Ball here, then go inside, then head west and north and go down to the lower level, heading west along the bottom and using your treasure detector to grab the X-Speed there.  Now Surf north, catching a Quagsire if you have not already got one or evolved one.  Head north and fight Hiker Leonard, then continue north a few steps and use your treasure detector to grab a Revive.

Head northwest and fight Hiker Phillip, head up the steps and Surf north, then exit into the Ruins of Alph.  Fight Psychic Nathan, then enter the Ruins above complete the Ho-Oh puzzle inside (same basic strategy as last time but a bit more challenging) to drop down to the lower level.  If you are having trouble completing the puzzle simply mind the edges, as they only fit together properly, and that is generally where any mismatch will place.

Don't bother trying to do the word puzzle at the back of the room -- it requires us to have Ho-Oh in the first position in our party, and as we do not have it yet, we will have to come back to this later when we do.  After you drop down, capture W, X, Y, and Z -- that is all that is unlocked with the Ho-Oh Puzzle!

Now exit the Ruins and retrace our steps back to where we fought the Hiker and headed up the northwest exit from the cave, but this time take the southwest path, using Strength to move the boulder that blocks that path.  Follow it out to the exit and we are in a different part of the Ruins!

Make your way through the boulder maze being VERY careful not to fall down the ledges, and enter the Ruins.  Go to the back wall and read the sign there -- it says "WATER" in Unown script.  Go into your bag and use a Water Stone to open this door -- and inside you will find four treasure balls containing a Leppa Berry, a Mystic Water, a Star Piece, and a Star Dust.

Return to the Puzzle Room and solve the puzzle -- this one is dead easy to do as there really is only one way that the pieces will join.  Once you drop down, you want to capture K, L, M, N, O, P, and Q here!

As you exit to the surface in the Ruins look to the south and you will see a pond you have to Surf across.  Now enter the last Ruins building here, head to the rear of the chamber and read the sign -- "LIGHT" - in Unown script.  Simply trigger Flash, the chamber opens, and there are four treasure balls like before, one with a Moon Stone, one with a Sitrus Berry, one with a Heal Powder, and one with an Energy Root!  With that done, return to the main room and access the Aerodactyl Puzzle.

As you can see in the video, these puzzles are not that great a challenge, and once you have it completed, you are on the second to last stage of catching all of the Unown!  Drop down and capture R, S, T, U, and V, which should be about 15 minutes worth of work, and then return to the surface.  Just at the top of the ladder is a Photographer -- you should have a photo taken to commemorate getting the first 26 Unown!

Now before we head back to town, first head to site office and talk to all three men there to update the Unown Report -- talk to the bloke at the top center of the office repeatedly until he fully updates the Report -- and that brings the quest to as done as we can make it without Ho-Oh!  We have to solve the final word puzzle before the Researcher will open the door in the back of the main Ruin (the one with the Photographer where we exit). 

Before you leave be sure that you Surf to the west and grab the Hyper Potion from the treasure ball there!  Now it is time to head to the Mart in town and restock balls and any of the supplies that you have used up, then hit the Center, heal and save! 

-- Back to the Union Cave again --

Now head back to the Union Cave again, but this time go to the lower part of the main level and surf across to the treasure ball with the Potion in it.  Surf south to the small island with the rock and grab the Big Pearl there, then Surf down, cross the spit of land, and surf down again to the stairs that lead down to the lower level here.

Poke Maniac Andrew, Surf east and fight Poke Maniac Calvin, then go down and Surf south, east, then north to the treasure ball with the Elixir.  Now Surf back and south then west to battle Ace Trainer Gwen.  Pull out your treasure detector and use that to find the Calcium.  Head south from here and, using your treasure detector, grab the Ultra Ball before fighting Ace Trainer Emma!

Head back north then Surf east and immediately south, fighting Ace Trainer Nick, then grab the Hyper Potion from the treasure ball above., then backtrack to the main level, and take the Azalea Town exit!

-- Back to Azalea Town --

As you exit Union Cave onto Route 33 be sure to grab the two Apricorn here, then head west towards town!  Head down into the Slowpoke Well -- Cameron the Photographer shows up here, so take a photo or not -- then enter the well proper and head to where you fought the Executive earlier.  Push the boulder out of the way and follow the path to the water, where you use Surf. 

Use your treasure detector to grab the Full Heal here, then go down the ladder and use Surf.  From here there are two paths that you can follow -- the path to the west takes you to a Researcher who gives you a King's Rock -- this is a hold item that you need.  It does several things: when held it has a chance of causing your opponent to flinch with each of your attacks, and when it is held by a Poliwhirl or a Slowpoke when traded, they will evolve into their next form!  Clearly a valuable gift!

Following the east path takes you to a treasure ball with TM18, Rain Dance.  To save you some time in evolution, head out on the water above and grab a Slowbro before you leave the area -- once you have it, or are ready to go, backtrack to the exit -- be sure to use your treasure detector to grab the Super Potion in the area below where you fought the Executive if you have not gotten it already.  There is a Great Ball near the puddle at the Well exit too, so grab that and head into town to heal and save.  Be sure that you pick up any balls with Kurt if you ordered some, and then exit west to the Ilex Forest.

-- On the Way Back to Ecruteak --

Head north in the Forest, cut the tree, then Surf in the lake above, exiting in the dead-end path to the west, where you can use your detector to obtain a Big Mushroom!  Now Surf back south, then follow the path with your detector active to find the Repel, the Super Potion, the Tiny Mushroom, the Full Heal, and the Ether -- a nice haul for a walk in the woods!

-- Route 34 --

Follow Route 34 and, when you reach the Day-Care Center, Surf onto the lake here heading south, climbing out on the wide stretch of short grass that is fenced off of the Route -- there is a treasure ball here with a Nugget in it -- you can always use the money for selling that, right? 

WARNING:  Earlier in Ecruteak we unleashed three Legendary Pokemon, and one of them -- Entei -- is often found surfing here.  You need to be aware that Knocking them out can cause them to no longer be obtainable!  You want to go very careful here -- I would even consider using a Master Ball if you traded one in from another game!  Your best tactic is to weaken but not KO it, be sure not to use moves that continue to cause damage over time, and then just keep trying to catch it every time you encounter it. 

Its condition and health stay the same with each encounter, so you can weaken it and then  it will still be weakened the next time you encounter it.  Using moves that prevent it from running is a good idea -- Mean Look comes to mind -- but most of all, be patient and careful!  The easiest way to manage this may be to trade-in Master Balls by doing resets in Emerald, as that game has a relatively quick path to the Master Ball, but YMMV.

Surf south and you will encounter another fenced-off area with three trainers: Irene and Jenn who double-team you, and have Water-Types in their 20's, which should not be much of a challenge for you at this point!  You then face their sister, Kate, who has two Water-Types in their mid-20's.  After you defeat Kate she gives you a Power Herb, which is nice,

Run through Goldenrod, healing and saving at the Center; if you are using an "Incoming Box" scheme now would probably be a good time to move those Pokemon off to their proper boxes to make room in that one, right?  Once you have taken care of those chores, exit out onto Route 35!

-- Route 35/36 --

As you head along the Route you will see a pond on the left (west) side of the path.  Surf across the top of that pond and grab the Green Apricorn there, then use your treasure detector to find the Nugget.  Be aware that this is one of the easy places to catch a Golduck via Surf -- so you may want to do that to save yourself the time of evolving one, right?

As you walk Route 36 after cutting the tree on 35 and grabbing the Blue Apricorn from the tree by the gate above, be sure to have your detector active, and grab the Awakening in the tall grass.  Remember the tree Apricorn Trees to the right as you get near the city gate if you did not get them earlier -- or it is a new day since you left.