Welcome to the first route in the game, and one of the shortest: Route 101.
Route 101
Ruby & SapphireEmerald
Onward to Oldale
On your journey to Route 103 and the rival battle that follows, you first have to go through the route where you saved the Professor. There are multiple ledges that can't be climbed, so you'll have to zig-zag your way through the tall grass in the area.
While on the route you can find Zigzagoon, Poochyena, and Wurmple, but all of them can be found on later Routes at higher levels, so catching them here isn't recommended. If you want to, stay here for a bit and battle Wild Pokémon for some exp and levels, but otherwise continue heading North into Oldale Town.
Pokémon Encountered
Pokémon
Level
Rate
Pokémon
Level
Rate
New Pokémon
#263 Zigzagoon
This Pokémon is pretty common throughout the land of Hoenn, so finding one shouldn't be a problem (except Emerald trainers, who have hordes of Poochyena to deal with). Once you get Poké Balls you should try to snag this raccoon-like critter, since its Pickup ability is one of the most useful abilities in the game. Pickup gives you a 10% chance to gain free items after a battle, even if you don't use Zigzagoon in the battle. Emerald players get the added bonus of a more developed Pickup system, allowing them to gain better items the higher its level. Zigzagoon evolves into Linoone at level 20, which also has Pickup.
#261 Poochyena
#265 Wurmple
Poochyena aren't as common in Ruby and Sapphire as they are in Emerald. Their specialty is being a Dark type, a relatively rare variety of Pokémon, which gives them immunity against Psychic Moves. It learns Howl at Level 5, which ups your attack when you use it, allowing you to defeat opponents faster. Unfortunately, Dark type moves do not get powered up by Howl. It evolves into Mightyena at Level 18. Mightyena, however, is weaker than most of the fully evolved Pokémon, so using it later in the game isn't recommended.
This little guy is the main variety of bug in the Hoenn region. At first they're nothing too special, but when they reach Level 7, something special happens. This bug can evolve into either a Silcoon or a Cascoon. You'll probably want to catch its other form rather than just another Wurmple, since what they evolve into is based on a value that you can't normally see.
