Wrapping up Exploring

This is the last major push in the game before we go full-bore on collecting the Legendary Pokemon in Unova - and actually we will be picking up a Legendary in just a moment, but along the way we are going to visit the last areas of the region, adding their cities to the map of destinations that we can fly to while at the same time clearing the routes, and their respective Habitat Lists.

This is actually a fairly complicated - and fun - task ahead of us, so enjoy it. Remember, we are having fun!

After you pass through the gate follow the route all the way east and north to the entrance to the bridge, which is now open. Head out onto the bridge to capture yourself a Legendary Pokemon! Be an idea to save first though, just in case things go all pear-shaped.

When you exit the lift onto the bridge you will automatically complete the Habitat List for here because the only Pokemon on it is Swanna which you should already have.

There is a bloke on the bridge who will sell you an Magikarp for $500 - which you can do I suppose if you want to...

Capturing Cresselia

Just before you reach the center of the bridge and BEFORE the Lunar Wing you obtained oh so long ago starts to glow be sure to save your game – then continue to the center and go ahead and activate your Lunar Wing in order to summon the Legendary Cresselia! Excellent!

Obviously we want to capture this, not kill it, so you will want to weaken it into the red and then start chucking balls and, with any luck, it will not take too too many of them to capture!

Having had a brutal time of it in Pokemon Black 2, I was fully prepared for the most brutal of capture sessions, and I was not disappointed.

The Capture Rate for this Legendary is one of the roughest of them all it seems, and getting it in White 2 was very similar to the experience I had in Black 2 - which meant chucking a lot of balls.

With that in mind, I have to admit that this is one of the encounters where you might want to seriously consider using your Master Ball if you have not already done so, since you have two of them... Though you should try to capture it the regular way - and give it your best try - since those two Master Balls may come in handy later. Just saying.

After you complete capturing Cresslia, continue along off the bridge and onto Route 15, which is where we will be pausing momentarily for obvious reasons, but before we get to that, notice the Pokemon Transfer Station here – which is where you will go to transfer your Pokemon from the Gen IV games into White 2.

If you continue east you will have more trainer battles before heading through the gate to unlock White Forest, but we do not actually want to do that immediately... If your team took a beating, head back to town and heal them up, resupply the balls you used up, and then return here and enter Route 15 again.

Route 15

One of just a small Number of Routes we have yet to master, Route 15 offers us some very important Pokemon to collect, since we are in the home stretch of collecting the Unova Dex Pokemon at this point, with the only hold-outs being the starters, which we will address later.

In the camper just on the Route is a girl who will trade you her Rotom for a Ditto - so assuming you have a Ditto going spare (do NOT use one of the special left-and-right end of the spectrum Ditto you worked so hard to obtain mind you) go ahead and make this trade. If you do not have a Ditto going spare remember that you can get them easily in The Giant Chasm Forest.

For now though, we should clear out all of the trainers on the Route just to get that bit out of the way, right?

Pokefan Elliot has a Level 60 Growlithe, Level 60 Houndour, and a Level 60 Stoutland, and pays $3840.

Taking the stairs down to the south and east you will find a grass patch and more trainers.

Backpacker Talon has a Level 60 Seedot, Level 60 Croagunk, and a Level 60 Cacnea, and pays $1440.

Backpacker Corin has a Level 60 Poochyena, Level 60 Torkoal, and Level 60 Cubone, and pays $1440.

If you double back above and go up the narrow stairs into the narrow passage, at the end is a Treasure Ball with a Max Potion in it you will want to grab... Then head back down and east to push the boulder into the hole, which grants access to the patch of Dark Grass above. To the east below is another boulder to be pushed into a hole which grants access to a Treasure Ball with TM26 Earthquake in it!

Head up the stairs to the north for another trainer battle...

Pokefan Lydia has a Level 60 Meowth, Level 60 Glameow, and Level 60 Liepard, and pays $3840.

Head up the stairs west and you will encounter a trainer by the Transfer Station.

Scientist Marie has a Level 60 Gulpin, Level 60 Garbodor, and Level 60 Magnezone, and pays you $2880.

That nicely wraps up the trainers for this Route, so it is time to focus on collecting the two Pokemon you still need for here!

The Pokemon you will need to capture and collect here include Pupitar in the Tall/Dark Grass, and Tyranitar in the Shaking Grass. If you are in a hurry you can skip getting a Tyranitar by simply capturing the much easier to find Pupitar, then applying a Rare Candy to that to trigger the evolutionary process.

That will complete the Habitat for Route 15 but does not complete our collecting as we need to make special use of Tyranitar... So before we do anything else, why not get that out of the way?

A Minor Chore

Fly to Route 3 and make your way to the Daycare Center and place your new Tyranitar and a Ditto with the Daycare, to get an Egg, and then run to hatch the Egg to obtain your very own Larvitar, which completes the set!

The White Forest

Now that we have completed the last catch for Route 15 it is time to continue east through the gate and arrive in the White Forest area...

We should pause for a moment to appreciate this area. Even though the intention for this quick list of minor tasks is mainly to add White Forest as a destination and mark it visited on the map, considering that this area is both at the heart of this version of the game.

It symbolizes the philosophic difference between White 2 and Black 2 in that White 2 is more about the synergy and karmic purity of collecting Pokemon as opposed to Black 2, which is more about refining battle tactics and becoming a ruthless battle-based Pokemon Master, the beauty of this new and exciting area is worthy of a pause to appreciate it.

If you have played Black 2 or Black then you will probably be gobsmacked by the wonderful green forest that exists just outside of the gate - there is no real reason not to explore the area a bit...

Route 14

Hit the Pokemon Center to heal and resupply as needed, then follow the path north to the gate, and you will pass onto Route 14, which is a Route we have never visited before. Thanks to our diligence in collecting Pokemon however, you will note that when you check the Habitat List for this Route it is completely filled and there are no Pokemon that we need to collect here!

We could just Fly on to the remaining exploration area, but there are trainers and items to be had ahead, so why not fully clear this Route first?

As you head east you will find a Trainer Tips Sign to read, and a trainer.

Ace Trainer Kipp has a Level 39 Skarmory, Level 39 Zebstrika, and Level 39 Tangela, which he deploys in a Rotation Battle. When you beat him he pays you $2340.

Head down the first stair then north and east to get a Max Potion from the Treasure Ball there, then head west in the grass patch for a battle.

Fisherman Sid has a Level 38 Staryu, and a Level 38 Buizel, and pays $1216.

Back on the path as you follow the route east and then down the stairs and north you encounter another Trainer Tips Sign.

Ace Trainer Junko has a Level 39 Basculin, Level 39 Lilligant, and Level 39 Gligar, which they arrange in a triple battle, and pay you $2340 for the lesson.

Battle Girl Glinda has a Level 40 Gurdurr and pays you $1280.

Head back to the first patch we battled in and then north, Surf and use Waterfall to go up the falls here, and you will find to the west and south another battle...

Black Belt Jay has a Level 52 Heracross, a Level 52 Gigalith, and a Level 52 Conkeldurr, and pays you $1664.

Just past Jay is a Treasure Ball with a Nugget you should grab, then surf into the river to the west and south down the falls, head onto the west shore and you will find a grassy path that leads to a zone arch. Passing through the arch you find yourself finding three trainers having a conversation.

The Abundant Shrine

They are talking about a special trio of Legendary Pokemon who are not just Legendary but Rare among Legendary... Landorus, Tornadus, and Thundurus. After the conversation ends, two of the trainers depart and the third informs you that this is the Shrine of Landorus, called the Abundant Shrine.

A quick check of the Habitat List will show you that you have captured all of the Pokemon that are available here in all of the Lists, so hey, excellent! It would be a good idea to turn on your Dowser here.

Head up the stairs past the building and then left (west) to find some twins.

Twins Rae & Ula have a Level 38 Swablu each, and beating them wins you $608.

Continue west and you will find a short set of stairs heading north and another battle.

Lass Lurleen has a Level 39 Deerling and Level 39 Zangoose, and pays you $624.

Above and to the right is a Treasure Ball with a Max Revive, and above following your Dowser is a Big Mushroom.

Youngster Jaye has a Level 37 Karrablast, Level 37 Joltik, Level 37 Scolipede, and Level 37 Shelmet, and pays you $592.

To the east of this battle is a Treasure Ball that contains TM92 Trick Room, so be sure to grab that.

To the north up the stairs is the actual Shrine, and east of it is a pond - Surf on to that and go a bit east and north and on shore is a Treasure Ball with a Heal Ball.

Surf east and hop on shore and chat up the trainer here to get a conversation and unlock the Funfest Mission “Mulch Collector” as your reward, then head around the outer edge of the plot here to find a PP Max using your Dowser. Back around and down is a Treasure Ball with a Rare Candy.

You can see another Treasure Ball but you cannot reach it from here, so you need to backtrack all the way back and around.

Youngster Wes has a Level 39 Skorupi, and a Level 39 Seviper, and pays $624.

The Treasure Ball above that we could not get to before is a Shiny Stone, so be sure to grab that.

Inside the building we pretty much ignored before is a man who is clearly one of the caretakers of the Shrine. You can watch TV here if you like :)

We have done all that there is to do here for now, so exit the zone and Surf east to the land, hop out, and use your Dowser to grab the Protein here, then hop the ledge and resume your travels along the Route.

At the bridge Surf west and up the waterfall that is right directly there, using Waterfall, and at the top you can have another battle!

Backpacker Reece has a Level 38 Skorupi and a Level 38 Pinsir, and pays you $912.

Head up the next Waterfall and use your Dowser to find the Nugget hidden up here, then head back down the Waterfall to the east and Surf north to a small beach to grab a Heart Scale from the Treasure Ball there. Surf back to the main path and follow it to the north.

Gentleman Sheldon has a Level 39 Delcatty and pays you $7800.

Below on the beach is a Treasure Ball with a Big Pearl.

Socialite Marian has a Level 39 Lopunny and pays you $7800.

You have now reached the beach near Undella Town - and if you continue along the shore and up you will arrive there, but that is not actually what we want to do at this point - so instead you should use Fly to go to Opelucid City. Visit the Pokemon Center here to heal and resupply as needed, then head back out and take the West Gate out onto Route 9.

Outside you will notice that the Gym Leader Drayden is waiting and, when you approach him, he shares a memory with you about Iris - and we learn some details about where she came from and what brought her to Unova, as well as what she was supposed to be before she became Regional Champion.

After that history lesson head west to the gate and pass through - you can stop at Shopping Mall Nine if you feel the need or there is anything that you want to buy now. Once you are done though, continue along the path west to the entrance to the Tubeline Bridge.

Inside there are a few trainers you can talk to - one of whom, the girl gives you a hint that is worth noting here: “Some Trainers take a Pokemon called Rotom into the storeroom of Shopping Mall Nine. I wonder what they're doing?”

Keep that in mind and when you have time later, why don't you do that too?

Tubeline Bridge

As you exit onto the bridge you will notice that it is a very busy - and noisy - place thanks to the trains that run along the lower level. You can talk to a trainer standing on the side who will remark on this, and as you move across the bridge be sure to talk to the young woman trainer in the center, who will gift you with TM43 Flame Charge.

Finish the crossing, and exit into the other bridge house - talk to the scientist by the bridge model and you will be gifted with an EnergyPowder. You can chat up the other two trainers here, but they just chat, so hit the door to the west to exit to reach Route 8!

Route 8

First check your Habitat List for Route 8 and you will note that for the land list you are missing one Pokemon, a Croagunk, which you will find by running through the puddles, and on the Fishing List you are missing a Whiscash and a Barboach.

You will find the Barboach by fishing in water and in Water Holes, while the Whiscash will only be in the Water Holes. Fishing, if you did not grok it, is done in the darker spots in the large puddles here.

After you collect these three Pokemon you will have fully completed the Habitat Lists for Route 8, which leaves the trainer battles and hidden items to be cleared...

A Fisherman here invites you to visit his house at the Village Bridge and then walks away - file that for something to do in a moment... The trainer with the parasol above will gift you with a Heat Rock - she is a rock collector you see. You can get a different rock from her each day, which you should bear in mind.

Along the bottom of the puddle is a Treasure Ball that has a Big Pearl you have to Surf to reach.

Parasol Lady Ingrid has a trio of Level 60 Castform that she deploys in a Rotation Battle, and pays you $1920.

Nearby is a Trainer Tips Board, and above is a Max Repel you can use your Dowser to locate.

Lass Mai has a Level 60 Shelmet, Level 60 Gastradon, and Level 60 Slugma, and pays you $960.

Fisherman Ryder has a Level 60 Barboach, a Level 60 Whiscash, and a Level 60 Stunfisk, and pays you $1920.

Parasol Lady Tyra has a Level 60 Castform, Level 60 Jolteon, and Level 60 Ludicolo, which they deploy as a triple battle, and pays you $1920.

The Moor of Icirrus

The zone arch to the north here leads to the Moor of Icirrus, an interesting area that has a few things to offer you. Using your Dowser you will find a TunyMushroom nearby, and then as you head up there is a trainer who fills you in a bit on the history of the place.

To the east, following your Dowser, you will find a Dawn Stone, and there are Treasure Balls with a Rare Candy, Full Heal,

Pokemon Ranger Parker has a Level 62 Escavalier, Level 62 Skuntank, and Level 62 Carnivine, and pays you $3720.

Fisherman Eustace has a Level 60 Corphish, Level 60 Poliwag, and Level 60 Stunfisk, and pays you $1920.

To the north there are more Treasure Balls, so you can grab a Heart Scale and a Green Shard.

Fisherman Arnold has a Level 60 Poliwhirl, Level 60 Whiscash, and a Level 60 Politoed, and pays you $1920.

Follow your Dowser to the west to get a Big Mushroom, then backtrack to the original trainer who gave you the history lesson, and push the boulder to the west into the hole to have a battle.

Pokemon Ranger Elaine has a Level 62 Accelgor, a Level 62 Kacleon, and Level 62 Swalot, and pays you $3720.

Surf south from this battle and you will find a Treasure Ball in a nest of stumps that contains TM84 Poison Jab. You should be sure to get that, as that is the last task for this zone. Backtrack to the entrance and depart back onto Route 8 now.

Back on Route 8

After you return back to the Route, head west, Surfing to the west and there is a Treasure Ball with a Nest Ball inside.

Youngster Astor has a Level 60 Palpitoad, Level 60 Vaporeon, and a Level 60 Croagunk, and pays you $960.

Directly to the north is a Treasure Ball containing TM36 Sludge Bomb, and using your Dowser head south to find a Rare Candy. Continue along the path here and you enter Icirrus City.