Cherrygrove City

Cherrygrove City

A meeting with two legends

After you exit the lab you will bump into Lyra, who is happy to see your choice of Pokemon and offers you some advice.  Before she leaves she tells you to go show your new Pokemon to your Mom -- a good idea so why not do that now?

Back at home your Mom tells you that your Pokegear has come back from the repair shop.  How convenient for you!  You are about to set out on your very first mission and here is the gear you will be needing!  As you watch a new card is added to your menu for the Pokegear, and of course there is now one for Pokemon as well.

Your mother points out that the Gear also allows you to make phone calls, and you are prompted to tell if you remember how that works.  If you have not played the earlier games, well then you should go ahead and read this mini-tutorial now.  After you read that, go ahead and select the card for the Pokegear.

You will notice that at the moment you only have two options available to you -- you can make a phone call, and change the background color of your Pokegear display.  Go ahead and customize the color to suit you, and then look at the phone mode.  At the moment the only number that you have is for your Mom, so we will need to do something about that!

If you select the Pokemon card you will see a screen that shows you all of the Pokemon in your party, and what their current health is.  Select your only Pokemon and you will have the option of reading a summary of its stats and background information that consists of the Trainer Memo and Info, Skills and Battle Moves, and finally the Ribbon Screen that details the ribbons that your Pokemon has earned.  Don't worry about the ribbons for now, we will cover that later, but do review the other screens, as they have important information on them.

Before we do anything else, head upstairs to your room and log into your computer to check your email.  There is a letter from Lyra!  Go ahead and read that now,  After that take a look at your Wii -- those are big in Johto at the moment!

As you start to leave town the Professor will run out of his lab and stop you, because he forgot to give you his phone number.  Sweet, we now have someone other than our Mom to call when we get scared or need advice!  A most excellent thing indeed!

-- Route 29 --

Note: This is our first Route -- at the start of each Route I will include a "Beasties List" that you can consult for the different Pokemon encountered along the Route, followed by their Johto Pokedex Number (to make looking them up on our online Pokedex easier for you), the time of day that you can encounter them, and the method of encountering in case you want to capture one. 

Although you may not yet have the ability to Surf, Headbutt, or Fish, I will list the Pokemon that can be caught that way so that later all you will need to do is check the Route entrance portion of each section to see what is there and how to catch it!  For Pokemon that are part of the Radio Program Scheme please see the appropriate appendix.

Route 29 Beasties List

-- Exeggcute #105 (Any) Headbutt
-- Hoothoot #015 (Night) Normal / Headbutt
-- Pidgey  #010 (Day) Normal
-- Pineco #093 (Any) Headbutt
-- Rattata #017 (Any) Normal
-- Sentret #019 (Day) Normal
-- Spinarak #032 (Any) Headbutt

Now exit the town on to Route 29 (this is the left side exit just past the lab), and you will see a sign that says you are headed in the right direction.  Bear in mind that at the moment we do not have any Poke Balls, so we will not be catching anything, but that does not mean that you cannot pick up a little experience (XP) on this trip!

When you head into the tall grass you can encounter wild Pokemon who you will fight for XP.  If you had Poke Balls you could weaken and then capture them -- more on that in a bit -- but for now let us just concentrate upon reaching Cherrygrove City alive, shall we?

After you head left you can head up and back to the right in the tall grass, where you will have a few fights and then find a Poke Ball-looking object on the ground.  Be on the lookout for these, they are basically treasure chests that contain useful items!  This one contains a potion, and that may come in handy later!

Work your way to the Gatehouse, where you can talk to the guard to learn about ledges.  Outside was a fat kid who reminds you to save often, and inside is a man who  reveals that different types of Pokemon will be encountered past here.  You exit the gatehouse onto Route 46.

Route 46 Beasties List

-- Aipom #123 (Any) Headbutt
-- Geodude #034 (Any) Normal
-- Heracross #114 (Any) Headbutt
-- Rattata #017 (Any) Normal
-- Spearow #013 (Day) Normal

This end of Route 46 is basically a dead-end since you cannot get past the ledges, but it is important because there is a wide swath of tall grass here where you can easily get a Rattata and a Geodude once we have Poke Balls!  Go ahead and return to the other side of the gatehouse and then continue left along the upper road until you enter Cherrygrove City. 

Cherrygrove City Beasties List

-- Corsola #173 (Day) Fishing
-- Exeggcute #105 (Any) Headbutt
-- Hoothoot #015 (Any) Headbutt
-- Krabby #166 (Any) Fishing
-- Magikarp #076 (Any) Fishing
-- Pineco #093 (Any) Headbutt
-- Spinarak #032 (Any) Headbutt
-- Staryu #169 (Night) Fishing
-- Tentacool #164 (Any) Surf
-- Tentacruel #165 (Any) Surf

As you enter the town an old man will approach you and decide to show you around -- follow him to learn about running shoes, and the buildings in the town.  He shows you Route 30 and mentions that Mr. Pokemon's house is a bit further along that Route.  Then he shows you the sea, and then his house before he gives you a pair of running shoes.  This is a most excellent item to receive as it allows us to move faster when walking by holding down the B-button -- but be aware that running through tall grass makes encountering a wild Pokemon more likely!

After he gives you the shoes he goes into his house.  Follow him in and talk to him to learn about the party size limits and what happens to extra Pokemon that you catch.  With that done, why don't we head over to the Poke Mart first? 

Talk to the counter person to see their inventory -- we do not need to buy anything just now, we are just looking!  There are no Poke Balls available just now, a fact that one of the customers points out to you.  Now after we have talked to the two people in the shop and then exit and head next door to the Pokecenter, shall we?

First talk to the nurse behind the counter who will offer to heal your Pokemon -- have her do so!  After you collect your now fully-healed Pokemon, talk to the people here to learn that the Underground is presently closed for renovations, and that there is a PC here for you to use.  Go ahead and use the PC, it is on the corner of the counter. 

-- The PC Storage System --

From this PC you can access the one you have at home, so you can check your mail, and you can access "Someone's PC" that turns out to be the storage system for your extra Pokemon!  You do not know who this PC was created by, but as you adventure you will learn the answer to that question.

There are 18 boxes in the PC, and each box can hold 30 Pokemon, for a total storage matrix of 480 Pokemon plus the 6 you can have in your party.  Each of the boxes can be customized with a label and background color, and once you start catching Pokemon you will want to do that, adding special boxes by type, but for now, open the PC and select Move Pokemon.  Now move the hand pointer to the label for Box 1, then hit the A-button. 

Move the pointer to "Name" and hit A again, then delete the label that reads Box 1 and replace it with A-Team and select OK.  Now select "Wallpaper" and change the background to Pokecenter.  Do the same for Box 2 but name it B-Team, and then change the label for Box 18 to "Incoming" and Box 17 to "Outgoing" now.  You can change their backgrounds to Simple if you like.

These four box changes are a standardized system that a lot of the trainers who compete use -- your A and B Teams are pretty obvious, being where you store the Pokemon who rotate into your two teams.  As a general rule your A-Team represents the team that you do player vs. player battles with, and your B-Team is used for tourney play.  For now, you want to add in what you consider your favorite Pokemon as you catch them, so that you can have them in position for training in your free time.

The Incoming and Outgoing boxes are for trades, which we will cover in a bit.  Whenever you are leaving the PC Storage System, ALWAYS leave from the Incoming Box, as that way any Pokemon you catch in the wild when your team is full will end up in this box, so you will know where the Pokemon you have recently caught are.

Eventually you will make boxes for the different types, and sort them out that way, but for now, go ahead and change to the Incoming Box and exit the PC by hitting the B-button four times.

-- The Communications Center --

Head upstairs via the left stairs to visit the Communication Center -- a place that will become very important later when you are trading Pokemon and meeting new trainers in real life at events and tourneys.  This is where trades will happen face-to-face, and where you will mingle with friends and other trainers!  For now though, talk to the woman at the counter all the way to the left to learn about your Trainer Card. 

If you take a look at your Trainer Card now, you can see that some of the stats are now filled.  You can check your play time, score, and wallet contents. and sign the back of your card as well if you have not already done so!    The top screen shows you the pictures of the Gym Masters you will eventually fight to win their Gym Badge, but for now we are done with the card!

The next woman to the right is the hostess for the Union Room -- this is where you will meet with other trainers in person and exchange cards, numbers, and trade Pokemon, but for now it is not available. The last spot to the right is the Communication Club Colosseum, which is where you will go to battle other trainers in real life.  It is also unavailable at the moment.

Note - if you own other Pokemon games from this generation (DS-based games) you can use a second DS to trade Pokemon from them into this game once you have activated these rooms.  We will cover this in some detail later.

Now exit the Pokecenter and take a look around.  In the house below the Pokecenter you will meet two people who will talk about nature and evolution, and in the house to the far left past the Guide Gent's house you will meet a pair of people who will talk about the Gyms.

Now head towards the exit above and the Guide Gent will come running to you with an item that he forgot to give you!  He has a map for you -- one that shows all of the cities in the land!  The map is an add-on to your Pokegear, so go ahead and open that now and check it out! 

Using the map you can not only see what is ahead on your route, but you can tell which locations that you have visited, and which you have not!  There is additional information that can be added to each location entry, and a sub-map shows up when you move the pointer to a city showing you the location of important buildings like the Poke Mart and Pokecenter for that town.

If you have not already done so, now would be a good time to save the game.  Okay, all saved?  Excellent!

-- Route 30 / Mr. Pokemon's House --

Route 30 Beasties List

-- Caterpie #024 (Day) Normal
-- Exeggcute #105 (Any) Headbutt
-- Hoothoot #015 (Any) Headbutt
-- Magikarp #076 (Any) Fishing
-- Metapod #025 (Day) Normal
-- Pidgey #010 (Any) Normal
-- Pineco #093 (Any) Headbutt
-- Poliwag #072 (Any) Surf
-- Poliwhirl #073 (Any) Surf
-- Spinarak #032 (Any) Headbutt

Continue up Route 30 and through the tall grass to the right of the stairs and grab the potion here then head up the stairs then up a bit to the house ahead.  This is not Mr. Pokemon's house but it is an important house nonetheless!  The man inside will give you the Key Item "Apricorn Box," which you can use to store the nuts you collect from trees in that can later be fashioned into special items here.

As you exit the house you will notice a tree to the left of the door with a round object on top of it -- you guessed it!  This is one of the trees you can collect from, and when you click on it you obtain a Green Apricorn!  If you check the Key Items Pocket in your bag you will notice the Apricorn Box is now available there.  Select that and you can see what it contains -- in this case your one Green Apricorn.

Follow the path to the right of the Collector's house and grab the Antidote on the ground here.  Note that this set of tall grass is one that contains Spinarak, so when we have some Poke Balls we should definitely come back and catch one!

Follow the path up to Mr. Pokemon's house where he will greet you and then give you the Mystery Egg!  He will rest your Pokemon for you, and then you will be introduced to Professor Oak!  Like all Pokemon Professors he has his own area of research, and like all Professors he wants your help!  He asks you to accept a Pokedex, and then help him to obtain the data for it -- a good deal for both of you I promise!

He exchanges phone numbers with you and then departs, and you will note the new card on the menu for the Pokedex?  You are now missing only one card!