Pokémon Emerald walkthrough/Section 2

Lucida Sans

Oldale Town
Oldale is a small town with not much to it, though you will encounter your first Pokémon Center and Poké Mart here. Once in Oldale Town, you can learn about Poké Marts from the man in an apron walking outside. After telling you about them, he gives you a Potion as a "promotional item". Heal at the Pokémon Center, and get ready to go on to Route 102...wait, there's this man studying foorprints over there, and he's blocking the way! In that case, go on to Route 103!

Route 103
Travel northward up Route 103. There is some tall grass with a few wild Pokémon. At the end of the route will be May/Brendan. Talking to him or her will initiate your first battle.

May will tell you to go home. Follow her through Route 103, Oldale Town, and Route 101. Get to the Pokemon Lab, and Professor Birch will bestow the Pokedex upon you. He will explain its usage, and then you can set off. May will also give you five Poke Balls so you can catch Pokemon of your own. Oldale Town's Poke Mart will now carry Poke Balls.

You're free to go, but wait! One last thing. Whether you talk to her or she talks to you, your mom will give you the Running Shoes. Press and hold B Button to dash.

Route 103 Revisited
Now, you can go back to Route 103 to catch some wild Pokémon!

. When you're done, head over to Route 102, which is no longer blocked.

Route 102
This is the first route in the game where you will encounter trainer battles and berries. If you walk in front of a trainer (or if you talk to one), an exclamation mark will appear above his head and he will challenge you to a battle that you cannot refuse. The positive side of this is that you gain more experience by defeating trainers than random encounters and you are rewarded money. The downside is that, should you lose, you will be returned to the most recent Poké Center you were at and you will lose some money. If desired, you can avoid some of them by walking behind or beside them - they only challenge you if they are directly looking at you.

The trainers on this region are low level, and may carry one or two Pokémon around level 5. They will mostly be Pokémon you fought previously, with the exception of two, the Taillow and the Shroomish.

During your travels you may encounter oddly shaped trees that contain berries. There are many different types of berries in the game that do different things. For example, on Route 102 you will find Oran berries and Pecha berries. The Oran berry will heal a Pokémon 10 HP and the Pecha berry will cure poison. The best part is that if you allow your Pokémon to hold the berry, it will be used automatically and you won't waste a turn using an item of your own. Remember, once you pick the berries you will have to plant a berry to make it grown into another full tree to get more.

As you traverse Route 102, fighting trainers along the way will allow you to pick up some money and experience. Also, keep an eye out for a potion in the grass just before Petalburg City.

Head on to Petalburg City.