Defeat Team Aqua at the Weather Institute, obtain Castform, and battle your Rival.
Now that you have defeated Norman and obtained the Balance Badge and HM03 (Surf), the Hoenn region opens up significantly. You have two main pathways before heading to Fortree City. Compare the options below to choose your strategy:
Go directly to Mauville City, Surf east across Route 118, meet Steven, and head north to Route 119.
Use Surf to backtrack and explore newly opened water paths, hidden areas, and major side quests before progressing.
If you don't want to walk or surf all the way back to Slateport and Rustboro, choose Path A first. Defeat your Rival on Route 119 to get HM02 (Fly), and then use it to instantly warp back to Mauville City, Rustboro, and Dewford. You can easily clean up the side quests and gather the TMs (like Ice Beam and Thunderbolt) before challenging the 6th Gym in Fortree City!
Location: Mauville City center.
What to do: Speak to Gym Leader Wattson. He will give you the Basement Key. Surf south of Route 110 to enter the underground complex, shut down the generator, and return to Wattson for TM24 (Thunderbolt).
Location: Route 108 (Surf south from Route 104/105).
What to do: Explore the flooded rooms of the sunken ship. You will find TM13 (Ice Beam), TM18 (Rain Dance), and key items like the Scanner for later trades.
Location: North of Rustboro City.
What to do: Surf north off the beach of Route 115. You will access a mountainous region with high-level trainers, a PP Up, and TM01 (Focus Punch).
Location: Petalburg City Gym.
What to do: Surf across the small pond to the left of the Gym to find a hidden Rare Candy and Max Ether.
| Pokémon | Type | Encounter Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Linoone | Normal | 30% |
| Electrike | Electric | 30% |
| Wingull | Water/Flying | 20% |
| Kecleon | Normal | 10% |
| Manectric | Electric | 10% |
Battle the Team Aqua members taking over the Weather Institute to rescue the research scientists. The building contains two floors of battles, plus a free rest/healing point.
On the far left side of the first floor, there is a bedroom with a bed. Interact with the bed to rest and completely heal your Pokémon team at any time for free. This saves you from having to run all the way back to a Pokémon Center!
| Trainer | Pokémon (Lv) | Type | Strong Against | Weak Against (2x/4x) | Less Effective (0.5x/0.25x/0x) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1F: Aqua Grunt (Male) | Zubat (Lv. 28) | Poison/Flying | Grass, Fighting, Bug, Fairy | Electric 2x, Ice 2x, Psychic 2x, Rock 2x | Grass 0.25x, Fighting 0.25x, Bug 0.25x, Poison 0.5x, Fairy 0.5x, Ground 0x |
| Poochyena (Lv. 28) | Dark | Ghost, Psychic | Fighting 2x, Bug 2x, Fairy 2x | Ghost 0.5x, Dark 0.5x, Psychic 0x | |
| 1F: Aqua Grunt (Female) | Poochyena (Lv. 27) | Dark | Ghost, Psychic | Fighting 2x, Bug 2x, Fairy 2x | Ghost 0.5x, Dark 0.5x, Psychic 0x |
| Carvanha (Lv. 27) | Water/Dark | Fire, Ground, Rock, Ghost, Psychic | Electric 2x, Grass 2x, Fighting 2x, Bug 2x, Fairy 2x | Fire 0.5x, Water 0.5x, Ice 0.5x, Ghost 0.5x, Dark 0.5x, Steel 0.5x, Psychic 0x | |
| 2F: Aqua Grunt (Male) | Poochyena (Lv. 27) | Dark | Ghost, Psychic | Fighting 2x, Bug 2x, Fairy 2x | Ghost 0.5x, Dark 0.5x, Psychic 0x |
| Zubat (Lv. 27) | Poison/Flying | Grass, Fighting, Bug, Fairy | Electric 2x, Ice 2x, Psychic 2x, Rock 2x | Grass 0.25x, Fighting 0.25x, Bug 0.25x, Poison 0.5x, Fairy 0.5x, Ground 0x | |
| Carvanha (Lv. 27) | Water/Dark | Fire, Ground, Rock, Ghost, Psychic | Electric 2x, Grass 2x, Fighting 2x, Bug 2x, Fairy 2x | Fire 0.5x, Water 0.5x, Ice 0.5x, Ghost 0.5x, Dark 0.5x, Steel 0.5x, Psychic 0x | |
| 2F: Aqua Admin Shelly | Carvanha (Lv. 28) | Water/Dark | Fire, Ground, Rock, Ghost, Psychic | Electric 2x, Grass 2x, Fighting 2x, Bug 2x, Fairy 2x | Fire 0.5x, Water 0.5x, Ice 0.5x, Ghost 0.5x, Dark 0.5x, Steel 0.5x, Psychic 0x |
| Mightyena (Lv. 28) | Dark | Ghost, Psychic | Fighting 2x, Bug 2x, Fairy 2x | Ghost 0.5x, Dark 0.5x, Psychic 0x |
Avoid hitting Carvanha with contact moves (like Tackle or Bite) if your Pokémon has low HP. The Rough Skin ability inflicts 1/16th of your Pokémon's maximum HP back to you whenever you make direct physical contact. Use special attacks or non-contact moves to bypass this.
| Pokémon | Type | Encounter Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Linoone | Normal | 30% |
| Oddish | Grass/Poison | 30% |
| Tropius | Grass/Flying | 15% |
| Gloom | Grass/Poison | 15% |
| Absol | Dark | 10% |
Right after crossing the bridge east of the Weather Institute, your Rival will challenge you once again.
| Rival Starter Choice | Pokémon (Lv) | Type | Strong Against | Weak Against (2x/4x) | Less Effective (0.5x/0.25x/0x) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| If you chose Treecko | Lombre (Lv. 29) | Water/Grass | Ground, Rock, Water | Flying 2x, Bug 2x, Poison 2x | Water 0.25x, Ground 0.5x, Steel 0.5x |
| Pelipper (Lv. 29) | Water/Flying | Fire, Ground (Immune), Fighting, Bug, Water | Electric 4x, Rock 2x | Ground 0x, Fighting 0.5x, Bug 0.5x, Steel 0.5x, Fire 0.5x, Water 0.5x | |
| Combusken (Lv. 31) | Fire/Fighting | Normal, Grass, Ice, Rock, Dark, Steel | Water 2x, Ground 2x, Flying 2x, Psychic 2x | Bug 0.25x, Fire 0.5x, Grass 0.5x, Ice 0.5x, Dark 0.5x, Steel 0.5x | |
| If you chose Torchic | Slugma (Lv. 29) | Fire | Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel | Water 2x, Ground 2x, Rock 2x | Fire 0.5x, Grass 0.5x, Ice 0.5x, Bug 0.5x, Steel 0.5x |
| Lombre (Lv. 29) | Water/Grass | Ground, Rock, Water | Flying 2x, Bug 2x, Poison 2x | Water 0.25x, Ground 0.5x, Steel 0.5x | |
| Marshtomp (Lv. 31) | Water/Ground | Fire, Electric (Immune), Rock, Poison, Steel | Grass 4x | Electric 0x, Poison 0.5x, Rock 0.5x, Steel 0.5x, Fire 0.5x | |
| If you chose Mudkip | Pelipper (Lv. 29) | Water/Flying | Fire, Ground (Immune), Fighting, Bug, Water | Electric 4x, Rock 2x | Ground 0x, Fighting 0.5x, Bug 0.5x, Steel 0.5x, Fire 0.5x, Water 0.5x |
| Slugma (Lv. 29) | Fire | Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel | Water 2x, Ground 2x, Rock 2x | Fire 0.5x, Grass 0.5x, Ice 0.5x, Bug 0.5x, Steel 0.5x | |
| Grovyle (Lv. 31) | Grass | Water, Ground, Rock | Fire 2x, Ice 2x, Poison 2x, Flying 2x, Bug 2x | Water 0.5x, Grass 0.5x, Electric 0.5x, Ground 0.5x |