The Ruins of Alph

The Ruins of Alph

Solving the Puzzle

Now that we have returned to our hometown and had a chat with Professor Elm, we should drop in to say hello to Mom and thank her for that nice package that she sent us!  After we say hello and perhaps deposit any extra money we have that we do not think we will need any time soon, it is time to head back towards Violet City on the next leg of our journey, which is to the Ruins of Alph, south or a bit west and then south of Violet City depending upon which route that you want to take. 

For now though, follow Route 29 to Cherrygrove, and then Routes 30 and 31 to Violet City.  Once we arrive take a moment to hit the Poke Mart to buy some balls and whatever other items you think we will need, and then hit the Pokecenter to heal and save.

-- Route 32 --

Route 32 Beasties List

-- Bellsprout #064 (Any) Normal
-- Exeggcute #105 (Any) Headbutt
-- Hoothoot #015 (Any) Headbutt
-- Hoppip #067 (Day) Normal
-- Magikarp #076 (Any) Fishing
-- Mareep #053 (Any) Normal
-- Pineco #093 (Any) Headbutt
-- Qwilfish #163 (Any) Fishing
-- Qwilfish #163 (Any) Swarm
-- Rattata #017 (Any) Normal
-- Tentacool #164 (Any) Fishing
-- Tentacool #164 (Any) Surf
-- Tentacruel #165 (Any) Surf
-- Wooper #056 (Night) Normal
-- Zubat #037 (Night/Morn) Normal

Now that we have done that, head south on Route 32 and grab the apricorn from the tree here, then head west into the Ruins area.

-- Ruins of Alph --

Ruins of Alph Beasties List

-- Geodude #034 (Any) Rock Smash
-- Magikarp #076 (Any) Fishing
-- Poliwag #072 (Any) Fishing
-- Quagsire #057 (Any) Surf
-- Unown #061 (Any) Normal
-- Wooper #056 (Any) Surf

Once you arrive at the Ruins Site you can stop by the Ruins Research Center and chat with the folks there to gather some hints about what is ahead, and then enter through the only Ruins entrance that is obviously accessible.  Inside you will spot a ladder in the center of the chamber -- and below is a large twisting and wide set of chambers in which you can find random NPC's to chat with.  Tired of that now?  Good!  Head back up and then north and enter the passage ahead, turn right and exit, then up and left through the next passage and you will find yourself at the actual entrance!

In the main chamber is a guide who will give you the official welcome, and then you should move over to the wall with the puzzle and touch it to begin. Now place the small pieces and rotate them until you complete the puzzle, at which point it will briefly glow and you will drop down into the lower level of the Ruins!

After you land you will meet an archeologist who is so impressed by your solving the puzzle above that he gives you the UNOWN Report.  Excellent!  The report will become our key to venturing further into the Ruins and, eventually, obtaining all 28 Unown -- we will have to come back later to fully explore the Ruins however, because we will need to have additional TM's  to get through the various paths, but for now why don't you check out the Unown Report in the Key Items Pocket of your bag.

This is actually a tracking sheet that will let you know which Unown you have captured so far -- and of course you are going to want to catch at least one of each, right?  After all, you gotta catch 'em all!  The report also provides you with identifying information and the research that is known about each Unown, and will record the data that you figure out from the inscriptions as you unlock the new areas!

Now if you run along the path towards the exit you should quickly have a random encounters with  some of the Unown that we can catch -- and hey, why not catch them?!  We cannot catch them all but we can catch the following in this area: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J.

If you decide to catch the Unown that we can catch here, this would also be a good place to pick up some XP and level your party to 15 or even 16, since you are going to want them all at at least Level 17 when you face the next Gym Leader!

Once you have all of the Unown (assuming that you decided to capture them) return to the chamber where we solved the puzzle and move to its rear, where you will find in the center of the wall a panel that has a word carved in it.  Close examination reveals the word "Escape" spelled out in Unown letters.  Remember the Escape Rope that we picked up in the Sprout Tower?  Why don't we use that now?

Open your bag and use the Rope -- doing this will not consume the Rope but it will cause the secret door here to open!  Inside you will find four treasure balls that contain an Oran Berry, a Heal Powder, an Energy Powder, and a Pecha Berry!  Though some of the berries do have special uses it would be an idea to hold on to those for now until you can fully understand their uses and what you will be doing with them later, right?

You will note that there is a hole in the floor in the rear of the chamber -- this leads to a new chamber that has Unown text carved into the floor that reads "OUR CLAN ENGRAVED WORDS IN THIS PLACE."  There are no Unown to encounter here, but there is another hole in the southeast corner of the room that you can drop down to reach the chamber that we were catching Unown in earlier.  With that done we have basically completed the area that we have access to now, and we have caught all of the types of Unown that we can catch here, so head back to town to the Pokecenter and heal up, and then save!