Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire/Route 103

Route 103
'You can't go far on this route, because you're blocked by water. You'll have to come back later on with a Pokémon that knows Surf. For now, though, you'll battle for the first time against another Trainer and you can catch a new Pokémon, once you have some Poké Balls in your possession.'



First of a long series of Trainer battles
Upon visiting for the first time, you cannot go far as you're blocked by the water. Later in the game, you'll be able to make your Pokémon learn a move, Surf, which will let you navigate on the water. What interests us for the moment is our Rival (Brendan if you chose the girl, May if you chose the boy), who is waiting for us.

And it's now time to have our first Trainer battle. It's an easy one, and if you've previously trained your Pokémon, it's very hard to lose.

Your rival automatically picks the Pokémon with the type advantage against yours; players who selected Mudkip will face Treecko, Treecko faces Torchic, and Torchic faces Mudkip, all at level 5. However, if you've leveled up your starter even just once, you will have a significant advantage. Your rival's AI isn't particularly bright, and you should just be able to hammer your way to victory. If you're having trouble, remember to use your Potions.

Whenever you defeat a Trainer, you'll get some money, in this case 200P. If you lose a battle, you'll give some money away, and you are directly transported to the last Pokémon Center you visited.

Once you've beaten them, they'll spout praise about you and suggest heading home. Follow them back to Littleroot--Route 102 is still blocked--and find them in Birch's lab. The professor is pleased at your victory and gives you a neat little device called a Pokédex, which records data on every Pokémon you've seen or caught. He wants you to fill up every page--in other words, catch 'em all!

Your rival is very excited by this development and gives you ten Poké Balls. Now your journey really begins!

One or two bits of advice before really leaving
You can now go back to Oldale Town. But before this, your rival will teach you how to use your PokeNav, and will show you how to approach Hidden Pokémon in the grass. This is done by pressing very lightly on the Circle Pad in order to sneak up on them. The Pokémon your rival shows to you is always a Poochyena, which knows one of three rather powerful moves, depending on your starter choice--if you have a Treecko, it will know Thunder Fang, with Torchic it will have Ice Fang, and with Mudkip it will know Fire Fang.

Once this done, you can go to Oldale Town. The scientist has finished his research so now you can go onto Route 102.