13. Route 4

Route 4

Just as promised, as you pass through the gate north of Castelia City onto Route 4, Bianca shows up and wants to battle you!

Boss Fight
	PKMN Trainer Bianca			$2000
		Herdier		Lv. 18
		Munna		Lv. 18
	(if you picked Snivy)
		Pansear		Lv. 18
		Dewott		Lv. 20
	(if you picked Tepig)
		Panpour		Lv. 18
		Servine		Lv. 20
	(if you picked Oshawott)
		Pansage		Lv. 18
		Pignite	/	Lv. 20

Her Pokemon aren't too terribly strong, so don't worry. She'll start with the Herdier, which lowers your lead Pokemon's Attack thanks to Intimidate. She now has the Munna that she got back as well as one of the elemental monkey Pokemon (the one of the type you're weak to), plus she has two Super Potions that she may use in her fight, so be wary when getting her down to the red zone health-wise.

You should be able to take her out no problem, though. If your Pokemon are weak after the fight, go back and heal right now, because you're gonna have another fight ahead on Route 4!

Just run straight up the road and you'll fight against your other rival, Cheren. He is definitely a bit tougher than Bianca was.

Boss Fight
	PKMN Trainer Cheren			$2200
		Pidove	/	Lv. 20
		Liepard		Lv. 20
	(if you picked Snivy)
		Pansage		Lv. 20
		Pignite	/	Lv. 22
	(if you picked Tepig)
		Pansear		Lv. 20
		Dewott		Lv. 22
	(if you picked Oshawott)
		Panpour		Lv. 20
		Servine		Lv. 22

His starter Pokemon is pretty tough, plus it's holding a Sitrus Berry to restore its health when it gets under 50%. The raging sandstorm will damage any Pokemon sent out that isn't Rock-, Ground-, or Steel-type, so keep that in mind when considering how much damage attacks will do.

After beating him, the two of you will receive a Xtransceiver transmission from Prof. Juniper. She's saying something about Bianca and the gate at Nimbasa City to the north of Route 4. After the transmission, Cheren heads off to find her or something.

Now you can really explore this place!

Right near the entrance, there's a Hiker staring over at a X Accuracy in the middle of some deep sand. Since there's clearly no grass in a desert like that, you'll encounter wild Pokemon here in the deep sand. Remember that it is always sandstorming out while you're in the desert, so your Pokemon's health will be whittled away during battles!

Route 4
Wild Pokemon		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Sandile	/	Lv. 15 ~ 18	40%
	Darumaka		Lv. 15 ~ 18	40%
	Scraggy	/	Lv. 16 ~ 17	20%

We'll check the rest of the western area out later. For now, just head north, following the road. If your Pokemon need some healing, you can go on the west side of the fence and enter the house to the north. Talk to the guy inside and he'll heal your Pokemon up, which is great in a place like this!

Right after the road breaks, you can find a Burn Heal sitting there. Just in case you need it. There's also a Backpacker with a Darumaka L19, which is one of those weird Pokemon you can find in the desert. Off to the west of him is another Backpacker, except she has a CottoneeL19 in her party. Further north, another Backpacker has the matching Petilil L18. Right next to her is a Super Potion and another Backpacker just past her with a Blitzle L19 on his team.

Keep heading north and you'll pass under a freeway. You know, with cars and trucks and stuff passing by. Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Just beyond it, there's another Backpacker, this time with a Pidove L19. That's that, the last Trainer before you reach the gate.

But what about the rest of the desert? Oh, never fear! If you're up for exploring, there are a few places you can go. For starters, if you go just south of the freeway and then head west, you'll find a Worker with a Roggenrola L18 and a Timburr L18 for you to fight. There's another Worker past him with a Timburr L19. Now keep going west and go inside of the house. Talk to one of the Workers in there and he'll give you TM28 (Dig), a fairly powerful Physical-based Ground-type attack that burrows the user underground during the first turn, avoiding damage and effects, and strikes on the second turn. This is a pretty useful move for your Pokemon to learn, especially because they may not have access to Ground-type moves of any sort at this point! Plus 80 base power is nothing to sneeze at.

Further north is this other area, the Desert Resort, but you can check that out later.

When you're finished in the northern part, head back towards the entrance and this time let's go west, into the depths of the desert where more Trainers and goodies are lurking!

Climb down the stairs and you'll find a little lake where two Fisherman are fishing. The first has two Basculin L18 and the second has four Basculin L16. Thankfully these all give a lot of EXP, so it's definitely worth your while fighting them.

Back up the stairs, head north and you'll see a Parasol Lady and an item. Go grab the Great Ball, then fight the Parasol Lady and her team of two Tympole L18. Now inside of the fenced area, to the right, there's a Hyper Potion waiting for you. There's also another Worker waiting up above with two Roggenrola L17 and a Timburr L17. Head into the sand pit and then north to fight against one more Worker, this one with a Timburr L19.

Keep walking just a little bit further and you'll reach the prize you've been looking for: TM41 (Torment). Yeah, I know, it's not really spectacular, but it can have its handy moments. In a nutshell, after its been used, it prevents the opponent from using the same attack twice in a row. This can sometimes come in handy, particularly if you combo it with Protect later on, but as a general rule it's one you only need for specialty cases.

Well, that about covers it in the desert, so why not go check out that Desert Resort? It's optional, so don't worry about it, but I'm gonna cover it anyway. Remember, this can be found by heading back to the entrance, then heading north along the road until around the freeway, where you head west instead. Otherwise you can just keep going north if you want to move along with the game.

Desert Resort

Desert Resort (Outer)
Wild Pokemon		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Sandile	/	Lv. 19 ~ 22	40%
	Darumaka		Lv. 19 ~ 20	30%
	Maractus		Lv. 20	10%
	Scraggy	/	Lv. 20	10%
	Dwebble	/	Lv. 20, 22	10%

Not really all that much to see or do here in the entrance, although the Pokemon around are a lot stronger than they are over on Route 4. Head to the west and then pass through the gate to enter the real Desert Resort.

Desert Resort
Wild Pokemon		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Sandile	/	Lv. 19 ~ 22	40%
	Darumaka		Lv. 19 ~ 20	30%
	Maractus		Lv. 20	10%
	Sigilyph	/	Lv. 20	10%
	Dwebble	/	Lv. 20, 22	10%

You'll find a Doctor and a Black Belt in the gate, although only the Doctor will fight you. He uses a Solosis L23, which is probably a Pokemon you haven't encountered yet before. After beating him, he'll gladly heal your Pokemon, and will heal them any time you talk to him in the future. That saves you a lot of steps walking back to that one house!

Now this appears to be a pretty big place, so let's cover it one step at a time. Start by heading north and fighting the Backpacker with a Tranquill L23, which is the evolution of Pidove. To his north is a Stardust, which can be sold for money. Keep heading north and you'll find another Backpacker who uses a Watchog L23. In the pit to the west of her, you can pick yourself up a pair of BlackGlasses, which boosts the power of your Dark-type attacks. This may be nice for anything that uses Bite or Crunch, too.

Head just to the north of that pit and talk to the guy in the black suit with shades and he'll give you Soft Sand, which is similar to the BlackGlasses, except it is for Ground-type attacks instead. It does help boost Dig's power, though, so remember that.

There's a bunch of ruins up to the north, so we'll explore these after we've done a perimeter check around the area. There's a Psychic off to the west of everyone you were dealing with and to the south of the ruins. She has a Gothita L24, which is, you guessed it, a Psychic-type. Just north of her is some Fresh Water, which may help quench your thirst... or something. South of her, though, you'll find another Backpacker with an Dwebble L23.

Hugging the south wall of the Desert Resort and heading west, you can find a Psychic with a Solosis L23 and a Woobat L23. Just to the west of him is a Fire Stone, which may be useful to you if you didn't get one earlier, plus there's also a hidden Rare Candy that you can find near him with the Dowsing Machine.

To the northwest of where that Fire Stone was, there's a Pokemon Ranger who uses another Pokemon that is probably a new sight for you to see: a Ducklett L24. It's a Water/Flying-type, so be on guard, especially if you don't know what to expect from it. Thankfully it's not too tough or anything. After beating her, she'll give you a Rawst Berry, which heals burn when held as a hold item (but is consumed afterwards).

You can slip through that little passage to the west and fight another Pokemon Ranger. He has a Darumaka L23 and a Blitzle L23. Like his friend, he'll give you a Rawst Berry after beating him.

In the very southwest corner of this little crevice, you can find TM39 (Rock Tomb), a Physical-based Rock-type attack that doesn't hit very hard, but it always lowers the opponent's Speed. It can sometimes be useful for your Rock-type Pokemon, but generally not. Oh well, at least it's there for you if ever you decide you want to do damage but also need to slow something fast down. Now, there's also another Psychic in the area, just to the north (sorta north-northeast, really) of the two Rangers. He has a Yamask L22, which is your first exposure to Ghost-type Pokemon. Remember that Dark-type moves are your friend, as are Normal-type Pokemon (although he may switch if you pull any funny business). He also has aMunna L22.

By the ruins, there's a Backpacker that has a Maractus L23. There's also a Super Potion nearby.

Lastly, in the northwest corner of the desert, by this one tower, there's a Heart Scale for you to pick up, which can be given to someone later on to relearn forgotten moves.

Anyway, now that you've explored some of this massive desert, you've probably taken notice of the tower off to the west and the ruins in the northeastern side of the desert. Well, this leads you to the Relic Castle. Either of one them, really, although we'll start by checking out the one by all of the strange statues.

Relic Castle

Relic Castle B1F, B2F
Wild Pokemon		Types	Level(s)	Rarity
	Sandile	/	Lv. 19 ~ 22	50%
	Yamask		Lv. 19 ~ 22	50%

There's a bit of stuff to do in here, although for starters, there are some Psychics waiting in the first room. The first one has a Sigilyph L24, which is a powerful Psychic/Flying-type Pokemon that has a lot of defense as well. The one on the other side of the sinkhole, WoobatL23 and a Munna L23.

If you enter the sinkhole, you'll fall down to a basement level with a Revive sitting right there for you.

Guess there's really not all that much you can do here for the time being, but at least you can catch Yamask here if you're looking for some sort of cool Ghost-type Pokemon.

In order to cross the sinkholes, you need to walk around their border. When I say walk, I meanwalk; running will cause you to sink into the sinkhole!

Cross the second sinkhole, then talk to the Backpacker by the sinkhole. She'll say she found a fossil, so you'll have your choice of either the the Cover Fossil or the Plume Fossil. You can bring that Fossil back to the Museum in Nacrene City to have them turn it into a Pokemon for you.

You'll get the Water/Rock-type Turtle Pokemon Tirtouga if you pick the Cover Fossil, and you'll get the Rock/Flying-type Bird Pokemon Archen if you pick the Plume Fossil. It'll be at level 25 when you revive it. Keep in mind that whichever Pokemon you don't wind up with will need to be obtained through a trade if you want it!

You're not going to be able to proceed any further into the Relic Castle at the moment, but at least you've got your fossil.

So yeah, make your way back to the entrance of the Desert Resort, heal your Pokemon up with the Doctor, then make your way back to Route 4 and get to the Nimbasa Gate, which connects to Nimbasa City.