20: Settling things with Team Aqua

20: Settling things with Team Aqua

Our next destination is the Sea Floor on Route 127, which is where Team Aqua is currently up to no good.  When you are ready, and you have taught one of your team members the new HM, Fly to Mossdeep City, hit the Poke Center to heal and save, then the Mart to top-off your kit and sell off anything you do not want or need so that your pack does not get so full you cannot pick up new items.

Now head down to the water, consult the map to get your bearings, and Surf to Route 127!

-- Route 127 --

This Route is best known for the fact that its underwater passages contain no seaweed, which reduces the presence of Wild Pokemon.  Nobody knows what caused the seaweed here to die, or the odd concentrations of Wild Pokemon found in different areas of the Route.

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Route 127 Area Pokemon Report

-- #129 Magikarp (C) Fishing: Old Rod
-- #279 Pelipper (R) Surf
-- #319 Sharpedo (C) Fishing: Super Rod
-- #072 Tentacool (C) Surf & Fishing: Good Rod
-- #320 Wailmer (C) Fishing: Good Rod
-- #278 Wingull (C) Surf

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Surf to the large darker area on the surface and then Dive to the bottom.  From here, follow the path south until you come to a cave entrance, giving access to the well-concealed present hideout of Team Aqua and, no surprise, the present location of the Legendary Pokemon that they hope to awaken and use to attain their goal of turning the world into one large sea.

You must work your way through the hideout, battling Grunts, as you search for the Aqua Leader, at which point you must succeed in convincing him that his plans are not just insane, but could destroy the world!

Leaving the Poke Center you run to the beach and the water's edge, jump in and use Surf to head a surprisingly short distance south, where you encounter a dark patch on the surface of the ocean!  Using the new HM, Dive, you slowly descend into the mysterious depths, finding yourself at the start of a narrow canyon-like path filled with shadows.

As you work your way south you will notice the barren almost lifeless surroundings have an almost foreboding feeling to them, and it is not relieved when the path turns to the east and then south again for a short jog before turning west.  As you are about to continue along to the west, you notice a large square that is lit up -- an underwater cave?  Moving closer to investigate you see that it is precisely that, an entrance to an underwater cave and what is more, laying on the bottom in the soft sand is the missing submarine!

Surfacing in what turns out to be a very large underwater cavern with extensive -- and mostly dry -- tunnels and open areas, you head to the sandy beach and begin to search, finding evidence that humans are here rather quickly.  Before you know it you are once again engaged in battle with a Team Aqua Grunt!

Constantly on the lookout for opportunities to pick up extra experience for your team, you view these evil doers as a convenient source for both XP and a little money!  They view you as something that must be destroyed - but hey, at least you both understand each other, right?

Getting to the heart of the Aqua Base

-- An Underwater Lake --

Using your HM moves you work your way past impediments and clear out the different sections of the cavern, and as you move from area to area you soon find yourself facing a huge underwater lake with rapid currents visible on the surface!

It is tricky because you must avoid being forced into the center opening, which will eject you back to the cavern where the submarine is sitting beneath the water, with your goal being instead to reach the opening on the far side of the lake.

-- The Great Boulder Puzzle --

After you defeat the Aqua Admin and her Grunt Boyfriend you are confronted by a puzzle of boulders that are blocking your way.  This is really simply a logic problem, but rather than spend the next half-hour working this out for yourself and having to reset it by leaving the chamber and returning, you can simply do the following:

(1) Facing the first three boulders, move the left and right ones one space north.

(2) Now push the third boulder (what was the middle one) to the left one space, and step into the gap in the line of boulders you have created.

(3) Push the center boulder (the one you are faxing to the north) one space north and ONLY one space!  Now carefully step into the space it was previously occupying.

(4) Push the boulders on your left and right to the left and right one space.

(5) Now step one space right and push the boulder to the north one space north; step two spaces left and push the boulder to the north one space north.

(6) Step one space north and push the boulder to your right one space east (to the right) thus clearing the path to the exit!  Good on ya!  You made that look dead simple mate!

Inside the new cavern walk to the east and pick up TM 26, Earthquake, from the Treasure Ball.  That is a very powerful and useful TM!

All that is left for you to do now is head to the south until you find the Legendary Pokemon Kyogre asleep in the center of the lake here.  Before you can think of what to do, the Team Aqua Leader -- Archie -- comes running up, and confronts you.  A battle now ensues in which you handily pound his team of Pokemon into the mud at your feet.

Before you can stop him, in a panic Archie triggers the orb, awakening Kyogre, but rather than provide him with the ability to control the Legendary beast, all the orb does is lay in his hand, impotent, as the beast escapes!  Archie is very disappointed!

By now you should have figured out that you are going to have to deal with this pair of Legendary Pokemon -- the two groups have unleashed what could easily end up being a world-altering combination of opposing forces, and it is our job to deal with that.

When you get outside Steven shows up -- he is not happy but you cannot blame him!  Heck, we are not happy either!  Still he has his say, and you have to make a decision now: follow hom to Sootopolis now, or Fly to one of hte towns with facilities, heal, restock your kit and THEN follow him to Sootopolis.  It is your call, but I followed him straight away.