Pokémon Emerald walkthrough/Section 4

In this section...
Route 104 (North) Rustboro City Gym Battle 1: Stone Badge

Route 104 -- North

Pick up the berries near the entrance point of the woods, and head over to the Pretty Petal Flower Shop. Just, outside, there's this this weird kid who likes to shoot seeds from his mouth at innocent passer-bys. Now, he wants you to terrorize the people the same way, so he gives you TM09. TM stands for 'technical machine'. These are programmed moves that you can teach a Pokemon that's compatible with it. This one contains Bullet Seed, a Grass attack that will shoot seeds at your opponent for 2-5 turns. It may not do much, but it will keep them on edge for a bit.

Now enter the shop. At the top, there's a girl who'll give you the Wailmer Pail, so that you can water your berries and make them grow. Sweet. On the right, there's a girl who, when talked to, will give you a random berry each day. Now you can exit, since the Shop has not yet opened. Outside, there's a woman who'll give you a White Herb.

Move up north, up the bridge,where you'll encounter your first Double Battle. After crossing it, you can talk to the lady near the soil patch to gain a Chesto Berry, which awakens a Pokémon when it is asleep.

On the way, you'll encounter the following trainers:

Trainer	Pokémon
Rich Boy Winston 1400	Zigzagoon♂ Lv.7 No item
Lass Haley 96	Lotad♀ Lv.6 No item
	Shroomish♀ Lv.6 No item
Twins Gina and Mia 144	Lotad♀ Lv.6 No item
	Seedot♀ Lv.6 No item
Fisherman Ivan 360	Magikarp♂ Lv.5 No item
	Magikarp♂ Lv.6 No item
	Magikarp♂ Lv.7 No item

Head north till you reach Rustboro City.

Rustboro City

1. Heal at the Pokémon Center, and then stock up at the Pokémon Center; buy plenty of Super Potions, as the next city you visit will not have a Poké Mart.
2. Go into the first building to your left, where a boy on the second floor will give you a Premier Ball.
3. Go into the house west of the Pokémon Center, where a guy will give HM01 (Cut). A HM, or a hidden machine, is a move that can be used outside of battle for removing obstacles. Don't put them on good Pokémon like your starter; use a spare Pokémon you don't intend to use for the sole purpose of making it learn HMs. Currently, though, you cannot use Cut outside of battle. You need the gym badge from this town first.
4. Slightly northeast of the Pokémon Center is the Trainers' School, where you can read about Status ailments on the blackboard. If you talk to the teacher, you will receive the Quick Claw which occasionally allows a Pokémon to attack first during a turn in battle. Also, you can find Scott (the black sunglasses dude) inside the building around the lower-left corner, who tells you that he is searching for talented Trainers.

Now you're ready to head into the gym.

Suggested prerequisites

1. Train all your Pokémon around level 15. The highest level Pokémon in the Gym is level 15, so you need to be around that level or above it to comfortably finish this gym off. Especially if you started with Torchic, it is a good idea to evolve it into Combusken. However, that doesn't mean neglecting your other Pokémon.
2. Have 2 or 3 different Pokémon in your party. A Shroomish or Marill functions well in this gym, so consider catching one of them before you set off.
3. Stock up on Super Potions. You need to have a means of healing your Pokémon to gain an edge in battle. Be aware, though, Roxanne herself has two Potions she might use.
4. Save before and after entering the gym. The first, so that yu can reset if you lose; the second, so that you don't have to fight her again if the power suddenly goes off.

Gym Battle 1: Stone Badge

You can avoid the Trainers if you wish, but they're easy to defeat if you trained enough, and a few extra Exp. Points never hurt anyone. There teams mostly consist of Geodude.

Head over to the Gym Leader: Roxanne!

	Gym Leader Roxanne Rustboro Gym Reward: 1500
Geodude Level 12 Rock Head Item: None Tackle Defense Curl Rock Throw Rock Tomb	Geodude Level 12 Rock Head Item: None Tackle Defense Curl Rock Throw Rock Tomb	Nosepass Level 15 Sturdy Item: Tackle Block Harden Rock Tomb

Beating Roxanne
Roxanne's two indentical Geodude shouldn't pose a problem, unless you haven't heeded my advice mentioned before. Their ability, Rock Head, prevents recoil damage, but since they cannot use it anyway with their moveset, its worthless. They have Defense Curl to boost their already high Defense, Rock Tomb to lower your Speed, and Tackle and Rock Throw to attack you with. Be wary of them if you started with Treecko, as it will be torn to pieces by Rock Throw and Rock Tomb due to its weak Defense. Combusken's Double Kick will come in handy when fighting them.
If you haven't levelled up to this gal's level, Nosepass can be a pain. With irritatingly high base 135 Defense (yeah, you got me right) Nosepass easily resists Fighting-type moves, so Grass- and Water-types are best against her. It possesses Harden to back up its exceedingly high Defense, but that can be easily countered by Shroomish, Treecko or Mudkip. It also has Block to prevent you from switching out, and Tackle and Rock Tomb to attack. Even more annoying is its ability Sturdy, which prevents it from getting knocked out in one hit. If that was not enough, it is also equipped with an Oran Berry to restore its health once it hits low HP. Add all that together, and it will become clear its going to survive for at least three turns. Take out your starter to counter it. If it is knocked out in three hits, good; otherwise, keep hitting with your starter until it faints. Bring out your Shroomish and/or Marill next. That should be enough to knock it out. It is wise to equip your Pokémon with Oran Berries too.

After you win, you will be awarded the Stone Badge which will help promote growth in the Attack stat of your Pokémon and also allow you to use the Cut outside of battle. She will also give you TM39 (Rock Tomb), the annoying move her Pokémon kept using.

After receiving your Stone Badge and walking out of the Gym, you will see another Aqua Grunt, this time coming out of the Devon Corporation building. He will run off to Route 116, so use the nearby east exit to head there. The north exit leads to Route 115, but there is no use going there right now.