Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire/Petalburg Woods

Petalburg Woods

Ruby & SapphireEmerald

Petalburg Woods is home to many bug type Pokemon, so bring some flying type pokémon, like Taillow or Wingull. Here is also a good place to level your Torchic, so that it becomes a Combusken before the first gym. Bring some potions, as the forest is full of pokémon. If you have not chosen Treecko as your starter, it is recommended to catch a Shroomish, as Rustboro City's gym is weak to Grass type attacks. Slakoth also appears in the grass patches, and can become an extremely valuable member of your team if you choose to evolve it into a Slaking at level 36.

A Team Grunt Attacks!

Eventually, you will see a man who is looking for a Shroomish. After he talks to you, a Team Grunt appears and attacks him. You will have to rescue the man by defeating the guy attacking him.

Ruby
Trainer	Pokemon
Team Magma Grunt Team Magma Grunt Reward: 180	Poochyena Lv. 9

Sapphire
Trainer	Pokemon
Team Aqua Grunt Team Aqua Grunt Reward: 180	Poochyena Lv. 9

Emerald
Trainer	Pokemon
Team Aqua Grunt Team Aqua Grunt Reward: 180	Poochyena Lv. 9

Once defeated, the Team grunt will run away, and the man will thank you gratefully and reward you with a Great Ball.

Head to Route 104 (north).

Return to the Forest

Come back after having obtained the HM Cut to access the rest of the forest. A girl will give you a Miracle Seed, an item that when held by a Pokémon, increases the power of grass type moves - considering the sheer quantity of water routes and Pokémon in these games, this will come in handy. You can also find a Great Ball and an X Attack, as well as two Tiny Mushrooms hidden in the area.

Items

Item	Source
Paralyze Heal	Near the south-westernmost patch of grass.
Ether	To the left of the Northern exit.
Potion	Hidden in grass, in-between the Southern exits.
Pokéball	Hidden in the center-left path of grass.
Great Ball	Given to the player by the Devon employee, after defeating the evil team grunt.
Tiny Mushroom	Hidden in the North-central area, in a break in the trees (requires Cut).
Tiny Mushroom	Hidden in the South-eastern area, accessed by jumping the East-central leg (requires Cut).
Miracle Seed	Given to the player by a girl in the North-eastern section (requires Cut).
X Attack	South-eastern area, accessed by jumping from the East-central ledge (requires Cut).

Trainers

Ruby and Sapphire
Trainer	Pokemon
Bug Catcher Lyle Reward: 48	Wurmple Lv. 3 Wurmple Lv. 3 Wurmple Lv. 3 Wurmple Lv. 3 Wurmple Lv. 3 Wurmple Lv. 3
Bug Catcher James Reward: 128	Nincada Lv. 8

Emerald
Trainer	Pokemon
Bug Catcher Lyle Reward: 48	Wurmple Lv. 3 Wurmple Lv. 3 Wurmple Lv. 3 Wurmple Lv. 3
Bug Catcher James Reward: 96	Nincada Lv. 6 Nincada Lv. 6

Pokémon found

Ruby and Sapphire
Pokémon		Level	Rate
	Zigzagoon	5-6	30%
	Wurmple	5-6	25%
	Shroomish	5-6	15%
	Silcoon	5	10%
	Cascoon	5	10%
	Taillow	5-6	5%
	Slakoth	5-6	5%

Emerald
Pokémon		Level	Rate
	Poochyena	5-6	30%
	Wurmple	5-6	25%
	Shroomish	5-6	15%
	Silcoon	5	10%
	Cascoon	5	10%
	Taillow	5-6	5%
	Slakoth	5-6	5%

New Pokémon

#285 Shroomish

This is the second Grass Pokémon that you'll find in the game, reminiscent of Oddish and Bellsprout from Firered and Leafgreen and the Red and Blue Versions, but this guy takes its roots more from Oddish. It starts off with Absorb and learns Tackle at level 4. However, when it Evolves at level 23 into a Breloom it becomes a Grass/Fighter Pokemon. Breloom learns good fighting moves later on. So it is a better middle to late game pokemon than an early game Pokemon. You may however, want to keep it on your team, if you don't have a Treecko as your starter. This is also the only area in the game where you can catch one.

#287 Slakoth

This is another Normal Pokemon that you'll find only here in Petalburg Woods, it also only moves every other turn and doesn't learn any good Normal moves. It however can learn HM01 Cut, HM04 Strength, and HM06 Rock Smash so you may want to use it as an HM pokemon, or alternatively evolve it into a Slaking and use it as an offensive wall. But for any Normal pokemon right now, go with Zigzagoon instead.