So now let’s take a stroll down Route 209.

ROUTE 209 POKEMON

Starly – Level 16 – Common
Staravia – Levels 16-17 – Uncommon
Bibarel – Levels 16-18 – Common
Mime Jr. – Level 16 – Common
Chansey – Level 16 – Very Rare
Ghastly – Level 16 – Uncommon (Nocturnal)
Zubat – Level 16-17 – Uncommon (Nocturnal)

Some pretty good pokes to be found here. Mime Jr. is the cuter, younger version of the far freakier Mr. Mime, while Staravia is the evolved form of Starly. The notorious Chansey’s also lurking around here, though she’s a pretty tough find. You’re probably better off raising that Happiny you just got than going through the headache of trying to snag a wild Chansey.

Shortly after starting along the path, you’ll see a fisherman enjoying his pastime near the end of a dock. Talk to him and he’ll give you the Good Rod, which will allow you to catch better Pokemon from fishing. Feel free to try it out here if you’d like – you may just luck into catching a Goldeen or Gyarados. (Or perhaps fate will spite you and send an endless supply of high-level Magikarp out to take you down).

As is par for the course with Pokemon, there’s many a trainer along the road waiting to ambush you with a battle challenge. If you’re playing during the morning, you may also encounter some additional opponents in the form of joggers.

When the path swings north, you’ll see a big building off a little to the east. This is the Lost Tower, a horribly morbid structure where the souls of dead pokemon lament forever and ever. You don’t necessarily have to go there now, but it’s probably a good idea to get it out of the way.

LOST TOWER POKEMON

Ghastly – Levels 18-21 – Common
Zubat – Levels 18-21 – Common
Golbat – Levels 21-22 – Rare

For a place meant to honor the memories of pokemon who’ve passed away, there sure are a lot of jerks just loitering around. Oh well. The Tower’s only about 5 floors high, so even with its high enemy encounter rate, it’s not too huge a hassle. At the top, there will be two old ladies. One will bestow upon you HM04, Strength, which will be useful… about four gyms later. Argh. The other will give you the Cleanse Tag, which can help reduce random enemy encounters if you give it to the lead pokemon in your party.

Above: The Lost Tower graveyard. When they've got blue tombstones, you know it's serious

Once you’ve got your HM, head back out of the Tower and up to Solaceon City. This is a pretty small country town, but it’s got some noteworthy establishments – particularly, the Ruins and the Pokemon Day Care. We talk about the Ruins in the sidequests section, and the Pokemon Day Care is discussed in our Pokemaster strategy. If you opt to drop off some pokes at the Day Care, talk to a man who appears inside the Day Care building to get the Raising Checker for your Poketch. A person near the town entrance also has the Pokemon History Poketch application for you. While it’s not as useful as other Poketch tools, it’s still a neat way to keep tabs on your most recent catches. Rest up and stock up here in Solaceon, because it’s a long-ass trek over to Veilstone City.

ROUTE 210 POKEMON

Kricketune – Levels 18-19 – Uncommon
Chansey – Levels 18-20 – Very Rare
Mime Jr. – Levels 18-19 – Common
Geodude – Levels 18-19 – Common
Ponyta – Levels 18-20 - Common

ROUTE 215 POKEMON

Kricketune – Level 20 - Rare
Abra – Level 20 - Rare
Kadabra – Level 20 - Uncommon
Ponyta – Levels 20-21 - Common
Geodude – Levels 20-21- Common

Nothing new here as far as Pokemon go, unfortunately. Kadabra might be one to grab if you don’t have one already, since they’re among the best pure-psychic type Pokemon out there. Wild pokemon here do yield a lot of EXP, though, so you might want to consider doing some level-grinding before taking the path over to Veilstone.

Route 210 has some grass that is taller and thicker than usual, meaning you can’t ride your bike in it. It’s quite annoying, especially since you’ll want to use some of the bike ramps scattered around to reach various items. You’ll be stopped dead about midway through the route, though, by a blockade of… Psyducks? Lord knows why we can’t just sic a Pachirisu and Luxio army on all of them, but oh well, we’re just going to have to take a detour through Route 215. Before we do, however, we can stop by the Café. There are a few trainers inside who will challenge you if you speak to them, but the real reason for visiting is to obtain fresh, delicious Moo Moo Milk. A bottle of Moo Moo Milk costs 800 pokedollars and restores 100 HP, making it a fairly inexpensive way to restore a large amount of HP to your ailing critters. Plus, it doesn’t leave them angry at you like herbal medicine does, so that’s a bonus. If you have the scratch, make sure to stock up.

Now we’re off eastward, through Route 215, home of the perpetual torrential downpour. It’s raining here, and it never ever stops, which is helpful to Water-type pokes. (Though Ponyta makes this place its habitat – you figure that one out). It’s a long and somewhat twisty structure of stairs, ledges, and grass patches that takes a while to slog through. If one of your Pokemon can use Cut, you can take a few shortcuts. Otherwise, you’re stuck going the long way around. Trainers here have a lot of fighting-type pokemon, foreshadowing your next Gym encounter. One trainer pokemon to look out for here, though, is Croagunk. They are only weak to Ground attacks, and can resist a lot of stuff you throw at them.

Finally, we’re at Veilstone City!