Pokémon Destiny - 

As you exit the gym after defeating the most recent Gym Leader, you'll run headlong into Dawn, the Professor's ever-active assistant. She'll complain about her missing Pokedex, which has fallen into enemy hands. Team Galactic has a small warehouse in the very town you're in (Veilstone City), so you'll want to head to the entrance of said warehouse, which is at the north end of the city (but not the large building in the northwest... we can't go there yet).

When you approach the building, you'll have to fight with a couple of Galactic Grunts. Thankfully, you'll have the help of Dawn's level twenty-five Clefairy in battle (and more Pokemon in her collection if that one happens to fall), but the Galactic Grunts will have four level twenty-five Pokemon of their own. Two Zubats, a Croagunk, and a Stunky will come at your team, but when they are felled, Dawn's Pokedex will be restored to her possession. With the Galactic Grunts cleared, you can thereafter breach the warehouse they were guarding with your friend Looker from the International Police, where on the right side of the only room you can access, HM02 can be found. This is the Hidden Machine known as Fly, and is incredibly useful (and important), since you can visit any previously visited area simply by activating it!

After doing this, you'll be ready to continue onward with your quest. Be sure to heal your party of Pokemon, and also be sure to stock up on items at the department store within the city, and then head southward out of town towards Route 214. Traversing Route 214 is the first of three parts in our journey towards Pastoria City, where the fifth of eight badges can be fought for and earned. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), there's myriad trainers to fight on Route 214, making the going rather difficult.

Begin your southward trek. You'll immediately begin running into various trainers when you do. Psychic Abigail is likely the first trainer you'll run into, and her trio of Chingling, Kirlia and Drifloon will likely provide an immediate challenge for you (though if you managed to get through the gym in Veilstone City, which clearly you did, it won't be that hard for you). Once you work your way through here, you'll run into more trainers, including PI Carlos, Collector Brady, Beauty Devon... the list gos on and on. A lot of these trainers you run into on Route 214 will have fairly rare, yet-unseen Pokemon, to add them to your Pokedex. For instance, Collector Douglas is armed with a trio of Pokemon you've yet to see -- Jolteon, Vaporeon and Flareon -- while the aforementioned Collector Brady will be packing rare Pokemon of his own, like Tropius and Yanma.

As you move southward, you won't only run into trainers (though there are plenty of those, indeed). You'll also run into items to grab. In addition to the ripe berry bushes you encounter (which will contain a Cheri Berry, Sitrus Berry, Chesto Berry and Pomeg Berry), you'll find items of more use. Explore the cave on the left side of the route to find a TM28. Below that, back outside, will be a Magmarizer. And farther to the south of the route, you'll find a Max Repel, Big Root, Red Shard and Ultra Ball. Keep in mind that grabbing some of these items will require traveling through tall, Pokemon-infested grass.

Speaking of Pokemon-infested grass, a word about the wild Pokemon on Route 214. There are five varieties of Pokemon available on the Route total, but the ones you'll certainly want to keep an eye out for is Houndour and Rhyhorn. You'll be able to catch both of these Pokemon for the first time on Route 214.

At the southern end of Route 214, you'll encounter Valor Lakefront, a grassy vacation spot for the residents of Sinnoh. You'll initially run into a grown-in segment of forest that will force you to traverse some tall grass. You'll run into some different Pokemon here than you did on Route 214, including a Girafarig, which you may want to consider catching. But it's what's beyond the grass that's important, for it's there that you'll find the vacation settlement, where many trainer battles can occur.

But first, for two more obvious encounters. The first will be on your left as you approach the resort area. You'll see a pair of men blocking your path through the woods heading westward, which will allow you to visit Valor Lake itself. For now, however, we're not going to be able to. Also, as you work your way through the northern end of the resort spot, you won't be able to progress eastward towards Sunyshore City. A man there will intercept you if you attempt to head east and explain what's going on to you. Rest assured, we'll visit that location a little later in our quest.

Much of the resort lies in the realm of Route 213, so for more information on the resort-at-large, and the route that spans westward from it, read the next section of the walkthrough. There is a single building that's within the confines of Valor Lakefront, however, and that building is the Seven Stars Restaurant. This restaurant serves a dual purpose, as it's both an eatery and a place where you can do battle with pairs of powerful trainers. You'll meet five pairs of trainers (or ten trainers total) here, so be sure to walk around, speak to everyone, and fight them all. None of the pairs are especially notable in terms of which Pokemon they bring to battle, but you'll probably have the most trouble with Cameraman Darryl and Reporter Vallerie, who bring to battle with them three level twenty-six Pokemon -- a Magnemite, a Kirlia, and a Mr. Mime.

If you're confused, don't be. Route 213 and Valor Lakefront run into each other in a sort of confusing way. Route 213's confines actually spread into the resort area that would otherwise appear to be a continuous locale (Valor Lakefront), so we'll first explore the rest of that area before moving on. There are items to find and people to speak to, so let's get going.

First and foremost, explore the western edge of the resort. While you won't be able to continue westward to the primary area of Route 213, you can find a building to explore (though this person won't yet have anything of interest to provide you with). Be sure to explore the area south of this building as well, near the pool, where you can acquire a PP Up. Head back to the east hereafter, and move southward from the Seven Stars Restaurant. As you move southward, you can find two more buildings to explore. Be mindful to head into these, since one of them will have a clown (literally a clown, I'm not insulting the guy) who will hand over TM92. After grabbing that head, back outside and move southward through the resort's main office, being sure to talk to the man behind the counter to heal your Pokemon en route.

Heading through the southern door of the main office will bring you to a small beach area. Here, two weak trainers, Tuber Jared and Tuber Chelsea, can be battled. The experience and money earned from these battles is quite paltry, but don't pass up the opportunity to fight them nonetheless. Before leaving the beach area, be sure to scour the location to the west of the main office to find a Yellow Shard. Then, head westward along the thin, sandy pathway, as this will ultimately open up to a wider area on the other side.

Walk around this more wide-open beach locale. You'll see a solitary home sitting on the sand -- walk on in and speak with the man within to find out how your Pokemon feel about you, simply by examining the footsteps they leave behind. Then, do battle with a pair of hostile trainers on this western segment of the beach -- Fisherman Kenneth and Beauty Cyndy. After fighting those thugs off, be sure to explore the nook on the eastern edge of the beach. Destroy the rock blocking it and grab the TM40 on the other side. Then, move northward to reach the small, grassy area of Route 213 that will lead directly to Pastoria City.

Pastoria City is an extremely small settlement with few people and few buildings. Its main draw is the Great Marsh due north of it, but since that's not a mandatory location to visit, we'll cover that in the Side Quests section of the guide (so check that out when you get a chance). Otherwise, you'll want to run around this town and explore the few structures you'll be able to enter. A person in one home will hand over a Turtwig Mask, while a woman in another house will give you a Babiri Berry, but other than that, there's little else to see or do. It's the gym that beckons you, and it's located on the western edge of town (be sure to grab the free-growing Persim Berries and Nanab Berries you encounter in town, as well).

When you approach the entrance to the gym and attempt to go in, your friend will show up and want to do battle with you. Don't expect him to bring much to the table that will stymie you at this point in the game. He'll come at you with two level thirty-two Pokemon in the form of a Buizel and Ponyta. He'll also have a level thirty-four Staravia and a level thirty-six Grotle. Take out these Pokemon as best you can, and be sure to retreat back to the Pokemon Center in town to heal your six active Pokemon before entering the gym itself, where you'll be able to do battle. In fact, there's a person at the Pokemon Center, a woman named Idol Grace, who will want to fight you with her two weak Clefairies as well, so battle her before proceeding if you so desire.

Pastoria City Gym's Leader is a man named named Wake, and his Pokemon are especially weak against electrical-based moves since his creatures are predominantly water-inspired. However, he's the least of your worries here, since getting to him is an annoying process of button pushing and lower-trainer fighting that will make your head spin if you don't keep your wits about you. The six lower trainers in his gym will guard buttons that will raise and lower the water level in the gym. It's a no-brainer to figure this out on your own; simply take out a trainer, hit the nearby button, and proceed down the path it opens up, usually towards another trainer-button combination. Before long, you'll have access to Wake himself, but be sure to save your game (and maybe even leave and heal at the Pokemon Center) before challenging Wake himself, or you may have to repeat the entire process all over again.

Wake was no competition for one Pokemon in our arsenal in particular -- our Luxray. Luxray's electrical-based attacks killed Wake's Gyarados and Floatzel before they could even respond with an attack of their own, though we had to turn to Normal and Dark attacks to take out Quagsire. Nonetheless, with a similar Pokemon in your own party, you should be fine -- Wake is surprisingly easy considering he's the fifth Gym Leader you face. Be sure to use items as needed and be ready for his use of a Hyper Potion on one of his Pokemon (for us it was on his Floatzel). When his Pokemon are felled, not only do you get the Fen Badge for all of your hard work, but you get TM55 as well. Good work, soldier!

With Wake's Pokemon slain, you're free to leave the gym in Pastoria. But when you do, your friend will run into you again. Then, Wake will come outside to see what all of the commotion was about. It appears that the suspicious lad sitting near the entrance to the Great Marsh before you took on Wake has detonated a bomb and run off towards the east. Naturally, it's going to be up to you to chase this guy.

Your chase will begin from the Great Marsh's entrance, and you'll run into the tuckered-out Galactic Grunt multiple times. Speak with him each time you run into him, and he'll run further and further away. The general route he takes will be away from the scene of the crime, so expect to follow him to and through the brief Route 213. On the route, you'll run along the beach and then swing northward through the resort town's main office. Northward from there, you'll ultimately scare off the Galactic Grunt as he scurries off to Lake Valor. Regrettably, you won't be able to follow him in. At least, not yet. You will be able to battle him and his level thirty-one Croagunk, however. Doing so will send the Grunt fleeing, but a blond-haired woman will show up after the battle is over. She'll hand over the Secret Potion, which will send the Psyducks we met earlier packing, so you can explore yet-unexplored terrain.

With the all-important Secret Potion in hand, backtrack to Pastoria City. Make sure that your active Pokemon are all healed-up, visiting the Pokemon Center if necessary. Then, work your way out of the southwestern end of Pastoria City, which will allow you to connect with Route 212, a lengthy route we've yet to explore. You won't run into any wild Pokemon of consequence here (though be aware that the rainy atmosphere means that water attacks will do more damage when utilized, both by your Pokemon and trainer/wild Pokemon). You will, however, run into a plethora of trainers on Route 212 -- seventeen in all. You'll also find a load of treasures -- sixteen in all. So, let's get to work!

The westward route from Pastoria City is relatively murky and difficult to navigate around. The marshy land you run into will mire you in muck, so avoid deep water when and where you can. Also, be on the lookout for items. A Pecha Berry and three Pinap Berries will be the first items you encounter, but also keep an eye out for some Zinc, a Hyper Potion, a Revive, and TM06 as you go westward. Keep in mind that the HM Cut, your Bicycle, or a combination of the two will be required to grab some of these items. The wood planks gapping certain areas can only be traversed with your Bicycle.

When you reach the series of bridges to the west of the initial area of Route 212, fight the Fisherman-type trainers you meet. As was the case with the four trainers you met before reaching the bridge, none of these guys will have any Pokemon of consequence. In fact, this is the case for a majority of your trip through the rest of Route 212. The only exception, perhaps, is Collector Dean, whose Umbreon and Espeon represent two Pokemon you certainly haven't encountered yet. Be sure to use your Bicycle to grab TM62 before proceeding!

The elbow of Route 212, where the route ceases moving east-to-west and begins moving north-to-south, has thick grass. This is where you'll most likely have wild Pokemon encounters, but again, this is nothing to concern yourself with. Be sure to navigate through the grass to grab a Full Heal and Blue Shard if you want them (and you should), and then move northward out of the grass, and thus out of the reach wild Pokemon. Expect to run into more trainers as you move northward from here, however. You'll notice that the Policemen you encounter, for instance, all have Hoohoots and Machops at their disposal. Like we said -- nothing to worry about!

You'll no doubt observe a structure on the eastern end of the northern part of Route 212, bordering Hearthome City's southern limit. This is the Pokemon Mansion, a completely optional location that is outlined in its entirety in the Side Quests section of this guide. Be sure to peep that part of the guide if you're interested in visiting this location. There's no reason not to, after all. We're just going to keep it brief and not talk about it here, since it's an unnecessary diversion at this point in the game if all you're looking to do is proceed with the story.

Instead, scour the rest of the route for stray items, like an Elixir and TM11. Once you've reached Hearthome City, head on inside and heal up your party of Pokemon. Then, teleport to Solaceon Town using the ultra-useful HM Fly. This will allow us to effectively proceed with our mission with little trouble.

Once you've used Fly and arrived at Solaceon Town, take a brief moment to find the Pokemon Center in town. Heal your Pokemon there, and then swing northward out of town and onto Route 210, continuing in this direction until you run into the four Psyducks that are blocking your path towards the yet-unexplored reaches of the road. Examine them, and you'll be given the option to use the Secret Potion that Cynthia earlier handed over to you. This mysterious potion will cure the Psyducks' headaches, and they'll scurry off. Cynthia will then show up. She'll hand you an Old Charm and ask you to deliver it to her grandmother in Celestic Town, which happens to be our next destination. But first, we must navigate this new section of Route 210.

The initial "new" part of Route 210 will lead you through some thick grass. This grass is full of Pokemon, but nothing that's new and exciting as of yet. Be sure to veer left through the grass to find a Max Repel, and in the very center of the grassy area, on a small sandy patch of land, a Hyper Potion can also be acquired. Once on the other end of the grass, go northward into the next area of Route 210, but be sure to examine the area to your right (surrounded by a less invasive form of grass) to grab a Nest Ball, which is tucked cleverly into a nearby corner. Also, be sure to scour that initial grassy area beyond where the Psyducks were earlier posted, since you'll be able to find three well-hidden trainers when you do.

The next part of Route 210 you encounter becomes somewhat of a nuisance, because it gets really foggy. You can use Defog here to clear the fog and make things easier for you. It's not the visibility being cut down that's the real pain, here, but rather that the fog will make you miss your attacks in battle from time to time, both with wild Pokemon and Pokemon sent out after yours by another trainer. Thankfully, the effect works both ways, hence negating it entirely. But still, use Defog and clear the air before battling any wild Pokemon or trainers, or fights will become longer and clumsier.

For now, you can't head north in this area; you'll simply have to head westward through some grass, where you'll encounter your first trainer battles of the area. You can dodge the grassy area completely if you smash through the sapling using Cut, but you may not have a Cut-capable Pokemon with you, in which case you'll simply have to go through the grass. Prior to the sapling, you should be able to find a couple of trainers that want to do battle (such as Ace Trainer Alyssa and her trio of Pokemon), and you should also be able to find a Red Shard in your vicinity. After those battles, use Cut to head westward from the sapling's location. Veer up some stairs towards a couple of people running in circles. These are trainers. After fighting a double team (a Gyarados and Raichu), you can climb some stairs heading upward and join a series of bridges that will essentially bring you the rest of the way westward towards Celestic Town, our next destination.

Traveling westward is fraught with danger. There are plenty of trainers to challenge you en route, with Ace Trainer Ernest and Veteran Brian packing the biggest punch. However, these trainers shouldn't provide you with a challenge that's overwhelming, even if they have fairly high-leveled Pokemon that are starting to close the gap with the Pokemon in your own active party. Keep in mind that you'll need to use your Bicycle to cross the thin wooden strip heading westward from the first bridge you encounter. You can then take another strip southward to an isolated platform. Use Rock Smash here and grab your prize, TM30.

Otherwise, you'll want to rejoin the main bridges heading westward. You'll ultimately need to cross three in total while battling various trainers you encounter. Be sure to veer off of the path when necessary to grab more items, including a Smoke Ball and four berries growing near the entrance to Celestic Town -- a Sitrus Berry, a Chesto Berry, a Wiki Berry and an Aguav Berry. There's plenty more to do here, but you don't have the tools necessary to do those things yet -- primarily the ability to walk on water and climb rocks. So, when we have those abilities, we'll return here. But in the meantime, you'll want to head westward into Celestic Town to continue.

Once in Celestic Town, the wild Pokemon encounters will all but come to an end for the time being, so rest easy. To ultimately proceed with our mission, we'll need to acquire the ability to use Surf, or more simply, walk on water. In the northwest corner of town, you can shop at the Poke Mart, and in the southeast corner of town, you can visit the Pokemon Center to heal your Pokemon and switch up your party if needed (be sure to battle Clown Lee here, and acquire the Great Ball from the man on the left side of the main floor as well). Otherwise, let the exploration begin immediately. Other than visiting the house in the southwest corner of the town to find a house where a piece of your Poketch, the Analog Watch can be found, you'll want to direct your attention towards the center of the town, where the ancient ruins are located.

At the entrance to the ruins, you'll have to do battle with a Galactic Grunt. The Galactic Grunt will come at you with a level thirty Golbat and a level thirty-two Houndour... in other words, nothing too extreme. Take his Pokemon out with ease, and then give the Old Charm to the elderly grandmother when she comes to visit you at the ruins thereafter. When you regain control, be sure to grab the Dragon Fang to your right, by using the staircase to reach it.

All won't be finished, however. The Galactic Grunt and his simplistic Pokemon were one thing, but how will you hold up when you have to deal with Galactic Boss Cyrus and his three powerful Pokemon? He'll engage you in battle as soon as the grunt is dispatched, so be ready to deal with him. He'll come packing three Pokemon -- a level thirty-four Sneasel, a level thirty-four Golbat and a level thirty-six Murkrow -- obviously, the latter is the most dangerous. Deal with his Pokemon, and hostilities will end for the time being.

With the Old Charm now given away and Cyrus sent packing, head inside the ruins and examine the ancient paintings on the north end of the small excavation site. The elderly grandmother who just took the Old Charm from you will come inside after you as you examine the artwork and hand over HM03, the Surf command! This will allow you to go on water, fighting new Pokemon in various areas, and more importantly, giving you access to all-new, unexplored areas.

After getting HM03, use Fly to teleport to Jubilife City. Heal your party and rearrange it if need be, and then swing westward out of town. This will lead directly to Route 218, a location we briefly explored very early in the game. But now that you're equipped with HM03 and can use Surf, you can walk on the water separating the route into two distinct segments. Thus, you can reach Canalave City on the other side in one piece.

The area west of the docks on Route 218 holds a total of four trainers if you explore the area in its entirety (you should have fought others during your earlier brief exploration of the area). There are also a couple of items to grab. If you surf westward off of the dry land connecting the two docks in the area, you can find an isolated patch of land with two trainers and some Hyper Potion. After doing this, revisit the dry land and surf off of the northern pier, first heading east to grab the Rare Candy tucked in the dead end corner, and then westward towards more dry land. Continuing westward will quickly bring you into the confines of Canalave City, but first head south to take out the remaining couple of trainers and to also visit the berries growing along the water. We found a Rawst Berry, a Persim Berry, a Figy Berry, and two Pinap Berries, but bear in mind that, as always, your findings might differ entirely.

Once inside Canalave City, we can almost immediately get right down to business. The Poke Mart is on the east side of town in between two residential buildings, and the Pokemon Center is located in the northeast corner of town. Grab any items you may need for the upcoming gym battle and heal your Pokemon, reforming your party into something that can deal with Gym Leader Byron's three Pokemon which all share a Steel characteristic (hence, high defense!) Get a party together that will deal with Steel-types well.

Otherwise, before visiting the gym itself, you'll no doubt run into Dawn's father, who will automatically upgrade your Pokedex. After he does that, enter the town itself and go into the first house you encounter. In here, TM48 will simply be handed over by the woman in the house. The home above the Poke Mart has a man who can make any Pokemon in your current party forget as many moves as you want, but this is highly useless since new moves can eclipse old ones. Still, an interesting novelty to explore if you so desire (especially since HMs can't otherwise be unlearned).

To the west of the Pokemon Center, you will encounter a bridge crossing a waterway. Here, you will run into your friend and have to do battle with him. Deal with his Pokemon (his roster will, as always, vary depending on which Pokemon you guys chose at the beginning) and then backtrack a short distance to heal your party once more before heading to the gym on the west side of town (as there's really nothing else of interest here). The much-spoken-about Iron Island can be visited now, or whenever, so hit up our Side Quests section for more on that if need be.

Navigating the gym might seem like a challenge, but you'll soon realize it's more linear than it first appears. The series of elevators will lead up and down to various platforms and trainers. Basically, if you run into trainers, you're going in the right direction. Explore everything to feel your way around, locating all the dead ends and figuring out where to go from there. Be sure to fight all of the trainers you fight, as always, to get money and experience. We recommend backtracking out of the gym before fighting Byron himself in order to heal, but that's totally up to you as the gamer. Either way, you'll most certainly want to save before dealing with Byron.

Gym Leader Byron has a trio of powerful Pokemon that are resistant to most attacks because of their inclination towards Steel. This is where Water-based attacks come in handy, as do Fighting, Ground and Dark attacks. Keep in mind that Byron won't only use a Hyper Potion in this battle, but also a Full Restore, meaning at least two of his Pokemon will be on the verge of death before being healed. This will make the battle harder, but not incredibly. Our Empoleon did nice damage here, as did our Machoke. Try similar Pokemon to bring Byron down. When he falls, the Mine Badge is yours. He'll also fork over the TM91 for schooling him. That's six badges! We're three-fourths of the way through the main quest!