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Every Pokemon game so far has had the Safari Zone, a special wildlife preserve where wild pokemon abound, ripe for the capturing. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are no different. For a small fee, you will have the opportunity to go after rare and exotic wild pokes.
D/P's Safari Zone, known as the Great Marsh, is located in the northern part of Pastoria, and can be visited at any time after you first arrive in the city. The Safari Zone is its own little world, where wild pokemon roam freely amongst the swamps and grass. Getting around the Safari Zone is rather tricky - thankfully, there's a train you can hop on that will take you near various sub-areas of the Zone. You'll still need to be a bit careful when walking around, though. It's easy to get stuck in the mud if you're moving slowly (and even if you're not), so keep moving.
When you encounter a pokemon, you'll have the option to throw a Safari Ball to try and catch them, give them some food, or throw a rock at them. You get 30 Safari Balls when you enter the Marsh, and once you run out, you'll have to exit and pay again to get in. Since you can't weaken any of the pokemon here, they're going to be considerably tougher to catch than most of the other wild pokes. The pokemon also have a tendency to run away, making things even tougher. Giving the pokemon food makes them more likely to stick around, while chucking a rock makes them angry and more likely to run away. When you've taken 500 steps, or you've run out of Safari Balls, you'll be taken out of the Marsh and need to pay again to go back inside. You'll get to keep all the pokemon you captured during your time there.
Of course, some monsters are rarer than others, but there's one thing you can do that will greatly increase the odds of finding a particular pokemon. Before you pay to enter the Safari Zone, you can run upstairs to the observatory (where you meet Gym Leader Crasher Wake for the first time). For a small fee, you can use the binoculars to look at various areas of the Safari Zone. What the binoculars are really good for, though, are getting various pokemon to appear in certain areas. You'll see the image of a pokemon pop up in the center of the screen, along with an image of the part of the Safari Zone they're in. The binoculars will shift through 4 or 5 of these images before your paid time is up. The pokes you see and the areas they're in are randomized, so if you don't see your desired pokemon, you can just pay again for another look. After you enter the Safari Zone, head towards the area you saw the pokemon of choice in, as they'll be lurking around there. While this won't guarantee that you run into a particular poke, it will greatly up your chances. In some cases, certain pokemon won't appear at all unless you've scouted ahead of time with the binoculars.
Another thing worth noting is that you can actually fish in the ponds here by using your Rod from the items menu. There's a chance of catching some good water pokes, including the much-loved Gyarados, so you may opt to give that a shot as well.
While the Safari Zone can really try one's patience at times, being persistent will yield great rewards. Good luck, and happy hunting!
Above: Safari capturing. Soon he will be yours
Another thing worth noting is that you can actually fish in the ponds here by using your Rod from the items menu. There's a chance of catching some good water pokes, including the much-loved Gyarados, so you may opt to give that a shot as well.
While the Safari Zone can really try one's patience at times, being persistent will yield great rewards. Good luck, and happy hunting!
