14: The Desert on Route 4

14: The Desert on Route 4

While this is still technically part of Route 4, it gets its own section in the guide for several reasons – first, there is a lot to cover here, and second, it is worth giving this area some close attention because in addition to some useful items, there is a unique Pokemon to be had here, and you should get it!

So once you have restocked your kit and done a heal and save, head back up Route 4 to the end of the paved road and step into the desert proper – are you starting to feel like a character in Men Who Stare at Goats?  Yeah, me too...  But be sure to keep your Dowser loaded the whole time we are here, right?

Straight ahead on the right by the Backpacker is a treasure ball that has a Burn Heal in it – grab that then chat up Backpacker Keane who has a Level 19 Darumaka.  Follow the barricades north to battle Backpacker Jill just after you get a ding on your Dowser – Jill has a Level 18 Petilil, and just to her north on the ground is a treasure ball with a Super Potion in it.

Battle Backpacker Waylon, who has a Level 19 Blitzle, which should not give you any trouble at all! 

Following the Dowser you will find a Hyper Potion at the top of the Jersey Barriers here.  Now rather than continue north we head back to the southwest following the trail if light sand to find Backpacker Anna patrolling up and down, and we battle her!  Anna has a Level 19 Cottonee, and after you beat her, directly west of her by the fence is a treasure ball with another Ether in it – nice one!

If you need to go ahead and hit the Prefab House to heal and save now, then head back into the desert and follow the fence north to where Worker Scott is spinning around!  Scott has a Level 18 Roggenrola, and a Level 18 Timburr, and after you beat him head west on the paved road to your next battle with Worker Zack and his Level 19 Timburr.

Directly to the west is another Prefab House, only inside this one there is a pair of Workers – one of whom will gift you with TM28, Dig, when you chat him up!  Dig is useful in several ways, but the most obvious is that it functions like an Escape Rope when you use it in a cave! 

The other Worker tells you 'Sandstorms are terrible!  But Rock-type, Ground-type, and Steel-type Pokemon can weather a Sandstorm without damage.'  Sadly you cannot rest here, but with the very convenient drinks machine outside you can heal up with those :)

After you finish up in the House, and have a nice drink of water, head north to chat up the girl standing above the overpass to learn that 'Ruins buried in the desert... It's like a grand adventure in a story.'   Walk past her to the north along the road and, on the other side, enter the Desert Resort!

Checking the News in the Ticker

– The Desert Resort --

Your first indication that you are no longer on Route 4 should be the new Pokemon that pop up in the encounter sand – bonus!  So before we do anything else, why not take advantage of the two patches of encounter sand to add those to your collection now?

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Desert Resort Area Pokemon Report

Dex No.    Pokemon     Rarity     Season     Capture Note
#057/551   Sandile     (C)         All           Sand
#060/554   Darumaka    (C)         All           Sand
#062/556   Maractus    (R)         All           Sand
#063/557   Dwebble     (R)         All           Sand
#065/559   Scraggy     (U)         All           Sand
#067/561   Sigilyph    (R)         All           Sand
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Now, by my math you should already own a Sandile, a Darumaka, and a Scraggy, you should have seen but NOT own a Dwebble, and the Maractus and Sigilyph should be total mysteries to you...  So we will want to capture a Maractus, a Dwebble, and a Sigilyph.

I don't know about you but when I saw my first Maractus I was like, Whhuuuuaaaaahhhhh?!  Dwebble on the other hand we saw before, so no surprises there... The only one here that you will likely have trouble catching is the Sigilyph, and only because it is the least likely to appear.  If you have one pop up right away consider yourself very very lucky!  Otherwise just keep slogging away and eventually it will pop up, and when it does chances are you will have about the same reaction to it as you did to Maractus...  Man this is one odd-looking pair of Pokemon!

Some small advice about capturing the Sigilyph – this is a Psychic Flying type so if you happen to be using a Normal-type that is significantly stronger than it, there is a good chance you will one-shot it, which will suck because these things are so bloody rare!  That is what happened to me I am sad to say, so I spent another hour(!) trolling one up again, but this time I never touched it.   I just threw a Poke Ball at it and captured it without even damaging it a bit and I suggest you do the same out of care and concern that you will have to waste hours getting another to appear!

A pair of Trainers are standing by the side of the path here and will offer you some advice about the path ahead, and as you approach the gate to the Desert Resort – there is a sign if you are lost – you will see that there is also a path south here.  It is not really a path, just an open area below the gate, but it is a large swath of dark sand so if you did not use the previous patches you can troll here for the Pokemon for this Route as well.

– The Desert Resort --

Inside the gate you will find a respite from that darn sandstorm!  Talk to the guard at the counter and you will learn that the Resort is known for its Relic Castle – good to know – and the young lad here tells you what you already know, that in the desert you find wild encounters in the dark sand not the light!

Check out the news ticker for the most recent news – lots of warnings about desert sandstorms and a hint about the Battle Subway in Nimbasa (this should be the first we are officially hearing about that right?) as well as a note that the researchers are looking into the ruins.

Outside the gate you are back in the sandstorm but this time you are in an area where there are Trainers to battle.  A word of warning – it would be an idea to save now because these guys are a lot stronger than the random Trainers you have been facing up to now...  If you have been leveling your team as I suggested then you have nothing to worry on, but if you have not, then you do...  So you will want the option of restarting if everything goes to hell.  I am just saying...

Doctor Jerry is standing by the far wall to the north – he has a Level 23 Solosis – first one of those we have encountered – and after you beat him you can go to him to have your team healed, which is a good thing since the Rest House is a haul from here!  That Solosis is strange looking, cannot wait to catch one to see what it can really do!

The Trainer to the south of the Doc is a talker not a battler, so we have to head further west for our next battle.  This area is filled with indentations that have dark sand in them, so if you follow the south wall all the way west you will have some wild encounters.  Be an idea to keep your Dowsing Machine active the entire time you are in the Desert Resort, bit of free advice...

Psychic Gaven is in a small protected area...  If that name sounds familiar you will recall that we battled him in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire as well.  Gavin has a Level 23 Solosis, and a Level 23 Woobat, and he pays off a nice reward in cash for schooling him with a beating!

Following the wall north from here will take you to your battle with Pokemon Ranger Mylene, who has a Level 24 Ducklett (another first encounter for us and it is cute!) and pays off a whopping $1440!  She also gives you a Rawst Berry for beating her – I wish that they all did that.

Heading west in the narrow pass here takes you to Pokemon Ranger Jaden and his Level 23 Darumaka, Level 23 Blitzle, and hands you another Rawst Berry – love those Pokemon Rangers!

This area to the south in the far southwest corner includes a treasure ball worth going out of your way to recover – it has TM39, Rock Tomb, in it! 

The path to the north leads out of this secluded area.  Your next battle is above that spot, with Psychic Low, who has a Level 22 Yamask, and a Level 22 Munna.  This is another first contact for us, but what is cool is that we will shortly be capturing one of those in the Ruins!

– Wrapping up the Trainers --

Before we head on to the Ruins why don't we finish off the Trainers here?  Working your way east and north you can battle them easy and quick!

Backpacker Elaine has a Level 23 Maractus.

Psychic Cybil has a Level 24 Gothita (another first encounter and a cute one!).

Backpacker Liz has a Level 23 Watchog.

Backpacker Kelsey has a Level 23 Tranquil.

A bloke standing in a small depression will gift you with a held item called Soft Sand, which boosts the power of Ground-type Pokemon and is well worth braving the sandstorms to obtain! 

– Treasure Balls --

In addition to battles and gifts there are treasure balls scattered about the desert here that contain:

? Black Glasses
? Fire Stone
? Fresh Water
? Heart Scale
? Stardust
? Super Potion
? TM39 Rock Tomb

– Dowsing Machine in the Desert --

In addition to the gifts from Trainers and the treasure balls, keeping your Dowsing Machine turned on as you explore the Desert is really a great idea, as you will find:

? Ether
? Heart Scale
? Hyper Potion
? Rare Candy
? Stardust

– Wrapping up the Desert --

First thing is your team – if you are following the guide (and I expect you would be as how would you be reading this otherwise?)  at this point your entire team should be at or near Level 30.  You may have one or two members of the team that are above that if you have been using the same two for battles as their types are easier – completely understandable and, while you should be spreading out the XP it does happen.  Either way though, by the time you get to this point keep in mind that getting the entire team to Level 30 is the partial plan here!

With Doctor Jerry so convenient you should be leveling up without having to use any of your kit to heal.  If for whatever reason you did not have your Dowsing Machine loaded, go ahead and load it up and run through to grab the items in the list above – well, at minimum grab the Rare Candy, the Ether, and the Heart Scale right? 

When you have finished that, assuming you got all of the treasure balls and have completed the battles, all that is left is for you to do is the Relic Castle.  There are actually two entrances to this area – a low set of ruins to the eastern end of the central open space that is surrounded by a group of blue and white egg-shaped statues of Pokemon, and a bastion-like tower with an entrance to the western edge of the open space of the central area. 

Before we head into the Relic Castle visit with the Doc to heal and then save, and then head inside using the closer entrance – the one with the egg-shaped statues around it.