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A route with actual Pokémon and trainers!

Pokémon Encounters¶

Name	Type	Location	Encounter Rate
Nincada	Bug/Ground	Grass/Horde	20%, 35% (Horde)
Skitty	Normal	Grass/Horde	5%
Taillow	Normal/Flying	Grass	15%
Whismur	Normal	Grass	30%
Zigzagoon	Normal	Grass/Horde	30%, 60% (Horde)

Local Trainers Pokémon¶

Name	Money	Party
Youngster Joey	144	Zigzagoon Lv. 7, Machop Lv. 9
Bug Catcher Jose	112	Wurmple Lv. 7, Nincada Lv. 7, Silcoon Lv. 7
Lass Janice	160	Marill Lv. 10
Hiker Clark	320	Geodude Lv. 8, Geodude Lv. 10

Pokémon Evaluations¶

Nothing particularly special here, really. Whimsur eventually evolves into Exploud, which can be a decent Pokémon in its own right, being able to use Boomburst (140 Power) with the Stab boost coming with it.

Exploud doesn’t have quite the stats to back it up without a Silk Scarf at least, but it can nonetheless be nasty, especially for getting rid of annoying Ghost Pokémon if you get a Scrappy one (which evolves from a Rattled Whimsur).

Of largest note is Nincada. Nincada is an interesting Pokémon. In itself, it’s not very good. Its evolutions, however, can be exceptional.

Ninjask is one of the fastest Pokémon in the game, especially when coupled with Speed Boost; people commonly use it to Baton Pass stat changes to another Pokémon, typically doubling the target’s Attack through the Passed Swords Dances and raising their Speed to 250% through three Speed Boosts.

Shedinja is tricker to find: you must get Nincada to Level 20 with one blank slot in the party and a Poké Ball - the regular kind - in your Bag. Shedinja will mysteriously appear afterwards. Shedinja only has 1 HP, but has Wonder Guard, an ability that only allows super-effective moves to hit it.

In certain situations, Wonder Guard makes Shedinja literally invincible against AI trainers. The only instances in which Shedinja will die are when hit by a Fire, Rock, Dark, Flying, or Ghost move, environmental damage such as Sand, a status condition or when its ability is somehow nullified.

While it seems like a lot, many of these instances tend to only happen in the competitive environ and the only ones you have to truly be concerned with in the main game are weather and types, making Shedinja a very plausible pinch hitter.

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By now your starter Pokemon should be very close to evolving to its second stage.

When you arrive on the Route, begin by going east towards the Youngster in the grass. Beat him thoroughly and grab the Potion to the north, then head back to the start of the Route and southeast. Battle the Bug Catcher in the grass, then grab the nearby Repel .

From here, go east to the next patch of grass and defeat the Lass, then the Hiker further along. Go east from there and onto the mountainside to find the X Sp. Atk . You’ll also see a few holes in the walls reminiscent of Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire; these can be used for Super Secret Bases later on in the game.

Rusturf Tunnel¶

The Rusturf Tunnel is open and right nearby, though not much is there; Pokémon-wise, there’s only Whismur.

If you go up both sets of stairs north of the entrance, you’ll find a Poké Ball . Now, do you see the boulder to the southwest, the big one? Get in front of its southwest corner, face north, and press A to find a Dire Hit . That’s about it so leave.