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Route 101[]

As you enter the route, you'll see Prof. Birch running around in circles, being chased by a Zigzagoon. The Zigzagoon corners him, and then you have to go and save him. He'll ask you to take a Pokémon from his bag. Press A against the bag, and you'll have to select your starter.

Treecko
TreeckoFamily
Treecko is the Grass-type Wood Gecko Pokémon that remains a pure Grass-type throughout its evolutions. It has high Speed with reasonably high Attack and Special Attack, but its Defense is pretty lackluster. Its HP is also pretty lousy, though its Special Defense makes up for it.

Early on, it learns Absorb at level 6, Quick Attack at level 11, and the Dark-type Pursuit before evolving at level 16. Once it evolves into Grovyle, it learns Fury Cutter at level 16, which is a decent move with 10 base power that doubles in power with every succesful hit. At level 29, it picks up the very respectable Leaf Blade, which is one of the best moves it will learn. After this , it learns a couple of worthless moves like False Swipe and Detect.

As far as TMs go, Treecko can pick up Bullet Seed, found on Route 104; Rock Tomb, which you get from the first gym; Giga Drain, from Route 123; and SolarBeam, from the Safari Zone. Earthquake and Dig are also choices to consider, to protect against its weaknesses. Return is also a recommended move. Overall, it is a good Pokémon for intermediate players.

Recommended Movesets
Set 1
Special Sweeper
Set 2
Staller
Set 3
Swords Dance
  • Leaf Blade
  • Brick Break
  • ThunderPunch
  • Earthquake
  • Leaf Blade
  • Leech Seed
  • Toxic
  • Substitute
  • Swords Dance
  • Leaf Blade
  • Giga Drain
  • ThunderPunch
Torchic
TorchicFamily
Torchic is the Fire-type Chick Pokémon which gains a Fighting type once it evolves into Combusken at level 16. It has formidable Attack and Special Attack, mediocre HP and Speed, and poor defenses.

Early on, it is stuck with Scratch, but at level 10, it gets the Fire-type Ember. At level 16, just before it evolves, it gets the Flying-type Peck, a weak 35 base power move. Right after evolving, it gets Double Kick, a Fighting-type multi-strike move with a base power of 30. After evolving, Combusken does not learn any useful moves right uptil level 36, where Blaziken gets Blaze Kick. Its final move is Sky Uppercut at level 59, a respectable 85 base power Fighting-type move.

As far as TMs go, Blaziken can learn Flamethrower, Aerial Ace, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Overheat and Brick Break for offensive. It has a diverse movepool and great TM availability.

On the downside, Blaziken's usefulness diminishes in the latter part of the game. It is weak to the last three gyms, and unless evolved, against the first gym. Overall, it is a good Pokémon suitable for beginners.

Recommended Movesets
Set 1
Mixed Sweeper
Set 2
Physical Powerhouse
Set 3
Substitute
  • Sky Uppercut
  • Overheat
  • Rock Slide
  • Earthquake
  • Flamethrower
  • Sky Uppercut
  • Aerial Ace
  • Rock Slide
  • Fire Blast
  • Substitute
  • Reversal
  • Swords Dance
Mudkip
MudkipFamily
Mudkip is the Water-type Mud Fish Pokémon which gains a Ground-type upon evolving. It has good Attack and HP, mediocre Defense and Special Defense, and low Speed.

Early on, it starts off with Tackle until level 10, wher it gets Water Gun. At level 16, as a Marshtomp, it gets Mud Shot, and at 39 it gets Muddy Water. In between, you'll habve to depend on TMs. Surf and Earthquake are staples for Swampert, probably with Ice Beam, Dig, or Rain Dance.

Recommended Movesets
Set 1
Standard
Set 2
Sleep Set
Set 3
Ground Ice
  • Rain Dance
  • Ice Beam
  • Surf/Hydro Pump
  • Earthquake
  • Dig
  • Hydro Pump
  • Rest
  • Sleep Talk
  • Earthquake
  • Ice Beam
  • Blizzard
  • Surf


As soon as you pick your starter, a battle with the Zigzagoon will commence.

Zigzagoon
Level 2
ZigzagoonSprE
Pickup
NormalIC Big
Item: None
Tackle
Growl
--
--


Battling Zigzagoon
ZigzagoonRS

There is very little strategy to this battle. You should just keep hitting the Zigzagoon with your offensive move (Pound, Scratch or Tackle). It should take around four to five hits to knock it out, though its constant Growling may prove to be annoying as it lowers your Attack.

After the battle, Birch will take you back to his lab, and will allow you to keep the Pokemon you used earlier. Give it a nickname if you wish (ten characters maximum). He'll force you to go visit Brendan/May on Route 103, so he/she can teach you what it means to be a Pokemon Trainer.

In order to get to Route 103, you need to take Route 101 to Oldale Town. With ledges blocking the way, you must go through the tall grass to keep moving north. Pokémon can be battled, but not captured, seeing as you don't have any Poké Balls yet. It is possible to train if you wish to raise your level to at least 7 or 8 to make it easier to face Brendan/May.

Zigzagoon
ZigzagoonFamily

Zigzagoon and its evolved form, Linoone, are both pure Normal-types, with decent stats and high speed. It has the useful ability Pickup, which gives you a 10% chance to gain free items after a battle, even if you don't use Zigzagoon in the battle. The higher the level, the more useful items it will snag.

As for moves, Zigzagoon starts off with Tackle and Growl. At level 9, it will pick up (bad pun, sorry) Headbutt. After evolving into a Linoone, Zigzagoon gets some Attack, but it's other stats remain pathetically weak. At level 29, it will gain the valuable Fury Swipes, followed in quick succesion by Covet and Slash. You should use Rest and Belly Drum together, and equip it with a Chesto Berry for this set.

Linoone has a plethora of TMs to choose from: Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Iron Tail, Thunderbolt, Rain Dance and Thunder, Dig, Shadow Ball and Surf, just to name a few. Overall, it is a very versatile Pokémon, but it's stats leave a lot to be desired.

Recommended Movesets
Set 1
Special Sweeper
Set 2
Sleep Set
Set 3
Belly Drum
  • Rain Dance
  • Thunder
  • Surf
  • Shadow Ball
  • Hyper Beam
  • Facade
  • Rest
  • Belly Drum

Equip this set with a Chesto Berry
for maximum results.

  • Belly Drum
  • Ice Beam
  • ExtremeSpeed
  • Surf
Poochyena
PoochyenaFamily
Poochyena and and its evolved form, Mightyena, are pure Dark-types, a som ewhat rare variety of Pokémon. Thsi annoying little Pokémon is found all over Hoenn, and can be quite a pest. So, how does this Dark doggy fare in battle?

First of all, this doggy's stats are pretty poor, except its mediocre Attack. Even when it evolves, it retains the crappy stats. Even its movepool is quite crappy: Bite at level 13, then Crunch at level 41, with no useful moves in between. Overall, its a horrible Pokémon from every aspect.

Wurmple
WurmpleFamily


Ah, Wurmple, the strange Bug-type of Hoenn. This Pokémon is unique in the fact that it evolves into different forms depending on its Personality Value, which is generated randomly when you catch it. So, it can either evolve to Silcoon or Cascoon, depending on the PV.

Both of these stages are useless, and they will only gain the terrible Harden, which ups its defense. Since both of them evolve into different Pokémon, I am going to look at them separately.

Silcoon → Beautifly
One of the weakest Bug-types around, Beautifly is simply a terrible Pokemon to use competitively. Its many terrible qualities, including a horrible typing, poor stats, and a shallow movepool all make it to be a rare sight to behold in battle. Beautifly's only decent stat is its Special Attack, which even then, isn't that great because it's hindered by its poor Speed stat. In addition to this, its only real boon over other Pokemon is its access to Stun Spore, which, due to its frailty, isn't really that much of an advantage. Overall, don't expect Beautifly to be a Pokemon that you can simply throw onto a team and hope that it works; you truly need to base most of your team around it, and even then it's probably not worth it since there is almost always a better Pokemon that can take its place.
Cascoon→ Dustox
Unfortunately for Dustox, it's hard to deny that its simply a terrible Pokemon to use competitively. The combination of poor stats, a shallow movepool and mediocre typing means even its best efforts to succeed are usually futile. While it does have a reasonable Special Defense stat and Whirlwind to prevent it from being completely useless, it's not nearly enough to make this unfortunate Bug-type a popular choice. If, for some reason, you find yourself tempted to use Dustox, be warned that it will rarely be able to accomplish anything, and there is almost always a better option.

Head over to Oldale Town.

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