Professor Oak With a Sock Full of Batteries

Sapphire - Professor Oak Run Guide

Contents:

1.0 – The Basics

1.1 – What is a Professor Oak Run?

1.2 – Tips on this version

2.0 – The Guide

2.1 – No Badges

2.2 – Badge #1 from Roxanne

2.3 – Badge #2 from Watson

2.4 – Badge #3 from Flannery

2.5 – Badge #4 and 5 from Brawly and Norman

2.6 – Badge #6 from Tate and Liza

2.7 – Badge #7 from Wallace

2.8 – Badge #8 from Winona and the Elite Four

2.9 – Post Game

3.0 – The End/Thanks

1.0 – The Basics

1.1 – What is a Professor Oak Run?

Professor Oak has always had a dream to fill the pokedex, but he's too old to do it! It's up to you as a new trainer to complete that pokedex as much as you can independently by catching, evolving and breeding as many pokemon as is possible. Professor Oak also isn't getting any younger, so you need to complete that dex as a priority! Maybe you should put your gym challenge on hold for a while…

In 2018, Reddit user named Chamale posted updates of a unique challenge on Pokemon Crystal which at the time didn't have a name but was referred to as 'Oak Mode' or a 'Professor Oak Run'. I was really intrigued by this style of gameplay and set out to play this on FireRed, writing a guide as I went along. After the success of this run I tried it on different versions. At the time, I was also looking in to how far you could "Catch 'Em All" by yourself and also between versions of each generation without transferring from older games.

The basic concept of the challenge follows these simple rules:

· You have to catch and evolve (or breed) as many pokemon as is possible in the game until you can't proceed any farther until a gym badge is required e.g. needing Wattson's badge to be able to use Rock Smash to advance. For example, you will need to fully evolve your starter amongst others before defeating Roxanne. For parts where gyms can be done in any order, always get the badge that unlocks the most pokemon (covered in this guide).

· You cannot trade with other versions. This means that trade evolutions are off the table, you'll get no version exclusives from the other version and you're stuck with the decisions you make such as your starter or fossil pokemon. In-game trades are allowed as that NPC is in your version of the game.

· (Optional) – Call yourself 'Oak' or 'Prof. Oak' for fun.

1.2 – Tips on this version

· Playing this after the Professor Oak Run on FireRed I found this one not only longer, but harder. The main reason being that there is no Vs Seeker in this game, only the Trainer Eye functionality of the PokeNav which has awful mechanics and involves entering and re-entering a route multiple times and hoping that the trainer wants a rematch. You could also only get it after 5 badges. Overall I found the rematches unreliable so I was grinding against wild pokemon for almost the entire run. You want to make sure that any new trainer battles are prioritized for when you actually have pokemon with you that you want to level up. Exploring every route to get all the trainers (e.g. along the sea routes) is recommended.

· This will be a very grindy challenge. If you don't think you've got the patience, then now would be the time to back out. The first part of the game alone (before Roxanne) will take you about 30 hours! It gets less grindy as the game proceeds, but it will be a long road.

· Learning new moves shouldn't be taken for granted, particularly with pokemon that evolve at higher levels. During a normal game you might be quick to replace a weak move with a stronger one but getting rid of non-attacking moves is a better strategy here. Again, on the first part of the challenge before Roxanne, you are battling low level pokemon and will run out of PP very quickly while that exp bar goes up very slowly. You need to maximize the amount of pokemon you can defeat, so having multiple attacking moves, regardless of how weak they are, will be beneficial. You have no need for moves like Growl or Sand Attack.

· This challenge is a fun alternative to a regular play through and you may really appreciate having to train pokemon up yourself that you never trained before. On the other hand you may end up despising certain pokemon due to their inability to attack when you first get them or their generally poor stats/levelling up moves.

· It's not really a rule, but my preferred method is that you train them yourself except when they can't battle themselves (i.e. Magikarp before it learns Tackle). Putting pokemon in the daycare or slapping Exp Share on someone seems like cheating to me! Using Rare Candies to shave off those last few levels is allowed as you've picked them up yourself or used Pickup to get them.

· If you're playing this on a real cartridge rather than an emulator, the dry battery may be a serious obstacle. The battery that controls the clock is dead, so you can either open up your cartridge and replace it (not recommended, it's not as simple as you'd think) or ensure that you set the clock AT THE START OF THE GAME for a time that results in a low tide in Shoal Cave (3am-8:59am or 3pm-8.59pm). Failure to do so will end up in a nasty surprise when you realise you can't catch Snorunt!

· Please note that this is not a full guide to the game, I am only listing the pokemon you can catch at the earliest opportunities and any required items. Please consult other guides for a full walkthrough. This guide assumes you know how to get through the caves etc throughout the game.

2.0 – The Guide

2.1 – No Badges

This first part will cover everything you can do BEFORE you get that first badge from Roxanne. This is probably the most daunting part of the challenge…

Littleroot Town -

Starting off in your new home, you'll soon be given the chance to grab your first starter pokemon. There's no real advantage over any of them in this game, your primary location for grinding will be against Whismur in Rusturf Tunnel so there's no type advantages to worry about. Even if you pick Torchic, your Blaziken will know Fighting type moves for the gym battle against Roxanne. For this guide, I picked Mudkip. Head north to Route 103 to meet your rival and then come back to Birch's lab to officially start your adventure. You can now evolve:

· Mudkip-->Lv. 16-->Marshtomp-->Lv. 36-->Swampert

OR

· Treecko-->Lv. 16-->Grovyle-->Lv. 36-->Sceptile

OR

· Torchic-->Lv. 16-->Combusken-->Lv. 36-->Blaziken

You're not honestly expected to do this right now, you have all the time in the world…well, right up until you need to beat Roxanne. This will likely be one of the last pokemon you'll evolve in this first section.

Route 101 –

Back to the first route of the game where are three pokemon to catch and evolve here:

· Zigzagoon-->Lv. 20-->Linoone

· Poochyena-->Lv. 18-->Mightyena

· Wurmple-->Lv. 7-->Silcoon-->Lv. 10-->Beautifly

· Wurmple-->Lv. 7-->Cascoon-->Lv. 10-->Dustox

Evolving Wurmple into both evolutions could be frustrating for you as there's no way to know which it will evolve into. I got Silcoon on my first evolution, another Silcoon on the second and finally Cascoon on the third. Alternatively you can catch a Silcoon/Cascoon in Petalburg woods although it won't have any attacking moves so you may need to bait and switch for it to level up.

Route 103 –

Pass through Oldale Town back to where you battled your rival where you can catch:

· Wingull-->Lv. 25-->Pelipper

Route 102 –

Back to Oldale Town, head west this time to Route 102. Be patient for that rare 1% Surskit!

· Ralts-->Lv. 20-->Kirlia-->Lv. 30-->Gardevoir

· Surskit-->Lv. 22-->Masquerain

· Lotad-->Lv. 14-->Lombre

You can't get a Water Stone at this point in the game so that Lombre will stay unevolved for quite a while.

Petalburg City and Route 104 –

Go to the gym and help Wally catch his Ralts. Afterwards, head west out of town to Route 104 and catch a Taillow.

· Taillow-->Lv. 22-->Swellow

Petalburg Woods –

This can be a good location to train up a bit although Shroomish's Effect Spore can be irritating so be cautious of direct contact moves. A few new pokemon to catch:

· Shroomish-->Lv. 23-->Breloom

· Slakoth-->Lv. 18-->Vigoroth-->Lv. 36-->Slaking

Catch another Slakoth for a trade.

Rustboro City –

Within the city you can complete the trade for your spare Slakoth for a Makuhita, which you can't normally obtain until after the first badge.

· Makuhita-->Lv. 24-->Hariyama

Route 116 –

We're not ready for the gym yet, so head out of the north east exit to Route 116 and catch a few new additions:

· Skitty

· Whismur-->Lv. 20-->Loudred-->Lv. 40-->Exploud

· Nincada-->Lv. 20-->Ninjask AND Shedinja (with a spare slot in your team)

You have a lot of pokemon to evolve but make sure that you keep that spare slot in your team when you are ready to evolve Nincada otherwise Shedinja will simply disappear! You have now caught everything you can, it's just a matter of evolving them which is easier said than done…

Levelling up tips –

The best spot to train for simplicity is Rusturf Tunnel against Whismur. This will be the longest part of your challenge…Compared to the FireRed play through, the good news is that the pokemon you're battling are higher levels. The bad news is that you have a lot more pokemon to evolve and some evolve as high as level 40…You can either continuously battle with the same pokemon until it runs out of PP or maybe level each pokemon in your team once and switch to make it less tedious. As mentioned earlier, definitely prioritize attacking moves over non attack moves. For some extra experience, go defeat the trainers in the gym, just make sure you don't talk to Roxanne until you've maxed out the dex for this part. The pokemon you may have trouble with are:

· Makuhita – Received in a trade so it will start to disobey you more frequently as it levels up

· Kirlia – Just doesn't have the PP to level up efficiently and is very slow at levelling up. Trace will copy Soundproof which makes you immune to one of Whismur's two attacks

· Nincada – Also slow to level up and has weak moves

· Exploud – Why level 40????

· Slakoth – Truant is a real pain, but once you've got Vigoroth it's smooth sailing.

For late evolvers, it may be worthwhile catching a few Zigzagoon so you can Pickup Rare Candies to cut those last few levels off.

End of part 1:

Caught 37, Remaining 165

2.2 – Badge #1 from Roxanne

Once you've got that first shiny badge and helped Mr. Briney at Rusturf Tunnel, you can return to his shack on Route 104 and take his boat to Dewford Town. Speak to the fisherman here to get the Old Rod. Fish on the waters here to catch a Magikarp and Tentacool, then head back to Route 102 or Petalburg City to fish for Goldeen.

· Magikarp-->Lv. 20-->Gyarados

· Tentacool-->Lv. 30-->Tentacruel

· Goldeen-->Lv. 33-->Seaking

Granite Cave –

Zubat, Geodude and Abra can be found in the first room of the cave. Head down the ladder to find Sableye and Aron. Deliver the letter to Steven Stone by passing through the cave.

· Zubat-->Lv. 22-->Golbat-->Happiness-->Crobat

· Geodude-->Lv. 25-->Graveler

· Abra-->Lv. 16-->Kadabra

· Sableye

· Aron-->Lv. 32-->Lairon-->Lv. 42-->Aggron

Graveler and Kadabra are the first of your trade evolution pokemon who obviously can't be obtained in a solo play through. Once Zubat has evolved you may want to keep it in your party and not battle for a while to raise its happiness level and then try evolving it later on in this section. Brawly can actually be skipped until you need to defeat Norman so as long as you've delivered the letter to Steven, you can hop back in the boat and go to Slateport City.

Route 110 –

After leaving the city, go north to Route 110. The grass here contains a few new pokemon:

· Plusle

· Minun

· Electrike-->Lv. 26-->Manectric

· Oddish-->Lv. 21-->Gloom

· Gulpin-->Lv. 26-->Swalot

Catching a second Oddish and evolving it into Gloom is optional as you can catch Gloom in the wild near to where you will get the Sun Stone to evolve it into Bellossom.

Route 117 –

Head up to Mauville City and leave through the west exit to Route 117, home of the pokemon daycare. This is the last batch of pokemon before needing another badge.

· Volbeat

· Illumise

· Roselia

· Marill-->Lv. 18-->Azumarill

Illumise is extremely rare so it might be best to train here and catch it when you see it. We don't have the Sea Incense so Azurill can't be bred yet. Try to catch a female Marill if possible for breeding as there's no Ditto in this game.

Levelling Tips:

Training on Route 117 is probably the best place to train until you've got Surf. Roselia and Volbeat/Illumise give excellent exp! Volbeat will annoy you with its Double Team/Confuse Ray/Moonlight combo but once you're able to OHKO it, it becomes less of a problem. Be careful with contact moves on Roselia as this may poison you.

End of part 2:

Caught 67, Remaining 135

2.3 – Badge #2 from Wattson

Defeat Wattson and get that badge and the ability to use Rock Smash. Before heading north, go back to Mr. Briney south of Slateport City and return to Dewford. In the lower floors of Granite Cave you'll find some rocks you can smash. Within these you might find Roxanne's signature pokemon, Nosepass!

· Nosepass

Route 112 -

Go back to Mauville and go north to Route 111 and then west to Route 112 and catch a couple of pokemon outside Fiery Path:

· Numel-->Lv. 33-->Camerupt

· Machop-->Lv. 28-->Machoke

Fiery Path -

Inside the cave, there are a bunch of fire and poison types waiting to be caught:

· Grimer-->Lv. 38-->Muk

· Koffing-->Lv. 35-->Weezing

· Slugma-->Lv. 38-->Magcargo

· Torkoal

Route 113 -

Exit through Fiery Path and go north and then west to the ash-covered Route 113.

· Spinda

· Skarmory

· Sandshrew-->Lv. 22-->Sandslash

Route 114 -

Go past Fallarbor Town to Route 114 to catch:

· Swablu-->Lv. 35-->Altaria

· Seviper

Meteor Falls –

Only one pokemon to catch here at the moment:

· Lunatone

You can also pick up a Moon Stone here which we can use to evolve Skitty.

· Skitty-->Moon Stone-->Delcatty

Jagged Pass –

After encountering Team Aqua, head back to the base of the volcano and take the cable car. Clear out Team Aqua on top of the volcano and then head down through Jagged Pass to find one available pokemon.

· Spoink-->Lv. 32-->Grumpig

Lavaridge Town –

Talk to the old lady by the hot springs to receive an egg which contains Wynaut!

· Wynaut-->Lv. 15-->Wobbuffet

Nothing left to do but evolve some pokemon.

Levelling Tips –

Go back to defeating Roselia and Volbeat! The majority of pokemon in this section evolve in their late thirties, thankfully they're primarily good against Volbeat and Roselia.

End of part 3:

Caught 92, Remaining 110

2.4 – Badge #3 from Flannery

Defeat Flannery. The next gym in linear order would be Norman, however he won't battle you without 4 badges which means we'll have to defeat Brawly, but there are some things we can do first!

Route 111 Desert –

Now you can use Strength, go back to Fiery Path and collect the Fire Stone for later. With the Go-Goggles now in hand, you can finally enter the desert which yields 9 more pokemon in total:

· Cacnea-->Lv. 32-->Cacturne

· Baltoy-->Lv. 36-->Claydol

· Trapinch-->Lv. 35-->Vibrava-->Lv. 45-->Flygon

You can also collect either the Root or Claw Fossil from the desert and take it back to Rustboro City's Devon Corporation to resurrect it.

· Anorith-->Lv. 40-->Armaldo

OR

· Lileep-->Lv. 40-->Cradily

NOW you can go and defeat Brawly and then Norman for badges 4 and 5.

Levelling Tips –

Unfortunately there's still no reliable training spots other than defeating more Roselia and Volbeat…Don't worry, the next section helps avoid this :)

Congrats, your pokedex is exactly 50% complete!

End of part 4:

Caught 101, Remaining 101

2.5 – Badge #4 and 5 from Brawly and Norman

As with most games, having access to Surf opens up most of the remainder of the region which means there's lots to do before the next badge. Trainer's Eye also activates for some higher levelled rematches, but getting them to want to battle you is annoying…

Revisiting old areas –

Go to Route 115 (north of Rustboro) and Surf up to a hidden section of the route. In the grass you can catch Jigglypuff. Try to catch a female for breeding. You'll need a Moon Stone to evolve it but we have none left. Use the TM for Thief (I used mine on Muk) and try to steal one from a wild Lunatone in Meteor Falls.

· Jigglypuff-->Moon Stone-->Wigglytuff

Breed a female Jigglypuff with a male one or any other pokemon in the same egg group to hatch an Igglybuff:

· Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff-->Breed-->Igglybuff

Go to Mauville City and Wattson will greet you outside the Pokemon Centre and give you the key to New Mauville which can be found in a cave along the water of Route 110. Inside you'll find:

· Magnemite-->Lv. 30-->Magneton

· Voltorb-->Lv. 30-->Electrode

You can find their evolved forms here too but they're very rare. Pick up the Thunder Stone here for later.

Fishing Tour –

Surf east from Mauville City and on the opposite bank there is a fisherman who will give you the Good Rod. Fishing in the following old areas will catch you:

· (Route 103) Wailmer-->Lv. 40-->Wailord

· (Route 102) Corphish-->Lv. 30-->Crawdaunt

· (Route 111) Barboach-->Lv. 30-->Whiscash

· (Route 118) Carvanha-->Lv. 30-->Sharpedo

Route 118 –

Surf back over to where you got the Good Rod and you can catch a Kecleon in the grass, though you will have some forced encounters later on (before the next badge).

· Kecleon

Route 119 –

North from Route 118 you can catch a Tropius in the tall grass. There is also a Leaf Stone on this route which we can use to evolve Gloom.

· Tropius

· Gloom-->Leaf Stone-->Vileplume

Route 119 is also the famous fishing spot of Feebas…Out of every water tile on this route, only 6 will have Feebas in them. This gets changed whenever the trendy phrase is changed in Dewford Town. Strategically you'll want to go in a zig zag pattern along the route so you fish in every spot. I started from the base of the waterfall. You can catch it with any rod so I prefer the Old Rod as it's easier to reel in. If Feebas is there it'll appear 50% of the time so if you fish 2 or 3 times per tile, you'll have a good chance of encountering it. Luckily I caught it within about 30 tiles. Without Waterfall there's spots you can't reach, so if you're unlucky enough to sweep all the water tiles available right now and don't find Feebas, you'll have to change the phrase and try again. Then you have the trouble of getting it to evolve. We're going to assume that you can't evolve it at this point as the best pokeblocks to get it to evolve are made in Lilycove City which we will be visiting before the next badge. You'll want a specific nature for Feebas, specifically a Rash, Quiet, Modest or Mild one. Once you find the spot you could theoretically keep catching them until you get one with the right nature or just catch a female and breed one later.

· Feebas

Further up the route you'll encounter Team Aqua at the Weather Institute. After defeating them, the head scientist will give you a Castform if you have space in your party.

· Castform

Route 120 –

Once you reach Fortree City you can pass right through as there's another skippable gym leader. In fact you don't even need to defeat Winona until you need your 8th badge! The only drawback to this is the lack of Fly which, given Hoenn's structure, can be a pain. I would recommend keeping a pokemon with Teleport in your party and strategically stopping off at pokemon centers that you want to fast travel back to. On the other side of Fortree City on Route 120, you can find the Disaster pokemon, Absol. You will also be forced to battle a Kecleon, so if you didn't catch it earlier, now's your chance.

· Absol

Route 121 –

You're at the junction between the Safari Zone, Lilycove City and Mt Pyre. Stay on route 121 to catch a Shuppet and then head to Mt Pyre or just head straight to Mt Pyre and catch it there. This is a good route to catch another Gloom (or Oddish and evolve it) as you will need to evolve it into Bellossom shortly.

· Shuppet-->Lv. 37-->Banette

Mt. Pyre –

Head up the tower (indoors) and you'll find Duskull on the upper floors.

· Duskull-->Lv. 37-->Dusclops

Fall through the holes in the floor and you can pick up the Sea Incense on the way down. This means you can now head back to the daycare and breed for an Azurill but you need to go back to a previous are shortly so we'll hold off for now. Go to the outside area of Mt Pyre (left of the entrance) to find patches of grass which house a few new pokemon:

· Vulpix-->Fire Stone-->Ninetales

· Meditite-->Lv. 37-->Medicham

· Chimecho

Chimecho is very rare so you may be up here for a while…Use the Fire Stone you picked up in Fiery Path to evolve Vulpix. Proceed to the very top of the tower and confront Team Aqua to progress the story.

Safari Zone –

Time for a big catching spree in the Safari Zone! You'll need to swap bikes to access all the areas. Specifically the North East area which needs the Acro Bike and the North West which needs the Mach Bike. If you STILL don't have another Gloom to evolve into Bellossom, you can catch one here too. In the South East are where you enter, catch the following pokemon:

· Doduo-->Lv. 31-->Dodrio

· Girafarig

· Natu-->Lv. 25-->Xatu

· Pikachu-->Thunder Stone-->Raichu

Use the Thunder Stone from New Mauville to evolve Pikachu. Ideally you'll want a female Pikachu so you can breed it. No other new pokemon are in the grass in the South West area, though you can Surf here for a Psyduck.

· Psyduck-->Lv. 33-->Golduck

In the North West area:

· Rhyhorn-->Lv. 42-->Rhydon

· Pinsir

And finally in the North East area:

· Heracross

· Phanpy-->Lv. 25-->Donphan

A couple of places to revisit –

You will want to use the Teleport strategy to get back to either Fortree or Lilycove for this to prevent a lot of back tracking. Go to Slateport City and investigate the crowd outside the submarine dock. Talk to Captain Stern and Team Aqua will steal the sub. This is necessary to both advance the plot and to let you leave Lilycove City.

Now is the chance to head back to the daycare for Azurill and Pichu. Slap the Sea Incense on a female Marill/Azumarill and breed it with a compatible partner. If you haven't got a female, Marill can be found on the same route as the daycare. Repeat the process with Pikachu/Raichu (no item required). Now may also be a good chance to breed that Feebas for the right nature to evolve. Unfortunately you cannot determine the nature through breeding with an Everstone until Emerald so it's completely at random in this version so keep hatching until you get one of the four natures required (Rash, Quiet, Modest or Mild). Once you're done, head to Lilycove City.

· Marill/Azumarill-->Breed holding Sea Incense-->Azurill

· Pikachu/Raichu-->Breed-->Pichu

Lilycove City –

On the east side of the city you can Surf into the Team Aqua hideout and turf them out. Make sure you pick up the Master Ball while you're here. Defeating Team Aqua will unlock the sea routes for exploration. While you're in Lilycove, visit the contest hall and use the berry blender to make blue/indigo pokeblocks for Feebas using blue berries. Save your game before doing this, if you feed Feebas too many pokeblocks to fill it up and it hasn't reached the required Beauty level, you'll have to do it again. Once Feebas has a high enough beauty level, let it level up and it will evolve into Milotic.

· Feebas-->Level up with Max Beauty-->Milotic

Mossdeep City –

Surf east from Lilycove all the way to Mossdeep City. A couple of things to grab, get HM08 from Steven's house, the Super Rod from the fisherman and a Sun Stone from the space center.

· Gloom-->Sun Stone-->Bellossom

Shoal Cave –

Spheal can be found throughout the cave while Snorunt specifically is found on the lowest floor (ice room).

· Spheal-->Lv. 32-->Sealeo-->Lv. 44-->Walrein

· Snorunt-->Lv. 42-->Glalie

Fishing Tour –

Return to Lilycove City and fish from the beach to catch a Staryu. We'll have the Water Stone soon.

· Staryu

Head down to the far south eastern part of the sea routes to the base of the waterfall at Evergrande City. With the Super Rod you can catch a couple of single stage pokemon:

· Corsola

· Luvdisc

Finally, pass through Pacifidlog Town to Route 132 and fish with the Super Rod for Horsea.

· Horsea-->Lv. 32-->Seadra

This is the end of this long part! Everything else you can do requires either Dive or Waterfall (the latter of which can't be done until you can use Dive.

Levelling Tips –

You can finally leave the Roselia/Volbeat area! There are a lot of water pokemon to catch in this section. I don't know about you but I pretty much always teach every water pokemon Surf for a powerful move. For general wild pokemon grinding, I found Mt Pyre indoors as a good place to train. Only one pokemon at the entrance floor (Shuppet) so as long as you have moves to hit it, it's not too much of a threat. In fact, using Curse is sometimes more of a blessing than a…well…curse! Curse will reduce its HP by 50% regardless of whether it even has that much left so more often than not it was defeating itself before the Curse was making me lose health.

Other than that, Trainers Eye is available to you now. The best bet would be to just run around to all the trainers that already want a rematch with you. I found that trying to rematch the same trainer, knowing that you have the type advantage, was too much of a hassle that involved endlessly running in and out of the same route hoping it would trigger the rematch. The only disadvantage to this is that you may not be prepared for the pokemon they send out. Again, battling all the trainers on the sea routes is good for exp but this is obviously hard when you're primarily training up water/ice types.

End of part 5:

Caught 160, Remaining 42

2.6 – Badge #6 from Tate and Liza

Defeating Tate and Liza now lets you Dive underwater. Dive down there to search for some underwater pokemon! The best place would be outside Sootopolis City where you fill find in the seaweed:

· Chinchou-->Lv. 27-->Lanturn

· Relicanth

· Clamperl

You can also get the shards needed to trade the treasure hunter who lives just west of Mossdeep City for some evolution stones. Shards can be found underwater in hidden spots (look for lone rocks or 'circles' in the sand) or by resurfacing in places you can't normally access over sea level. Another option is using Thief to steal the shards off of various sea pokemon. Relicanth has Green Shards, Chinchou has Yellow, Clamperl has Blue and Corsola has Red. These can be traded for Leaf, Thunder, Water and Fire stones respectively. You only need two Water Stones for Staryu and Lombre.

· Staryu-->Water Stone-->Starmie

· Lombre-->Water Stone-->Ludicolo

The Regis –

With a Relicanth and a Wailord in your party and a pokemon with Dig you can start the quest for the three Regis. Surf west from Pacifidlog Town and if you can take the correct path through the currents you will end up at a spot of deep water you can Dive in to access the Sealed Chamber. Read the braille message and surface there to reach the cave. Examine the text at the back of the room and then use Dig to open the door. In the next chamber, ensure that Wailord is last in your party and Relicanth is first. If you're playing Ruby/Emerald, switch them the other way around. Examine the text at the back of the room and you should get a message saying that the doors have opened. Stock up on Ultra Balls and Timer Balls.

Go to the desert on Route 111 to find a cave. Examine the text and take two steps right, then two steps down and then use Strength to open the door. Here you'll find the first of the trio. Lower its HP into the red as much as possible, inflict a status (preferably Sleep) and throw Ultra Balls. If you've spend many turns throwing Ultra Balls and putting Regirock back to sleep, try using a Timer Ball every few turns. This is the preferred strategy for catching all legendaries.

· Regirock

To the northwest of Dewford Town on Route 105 is another cave that you can Surf to. Inside, examine the text on the back wall and stay still for two minutes. The door will open. Catch the second golem:

· Regice

We can access the cave for the final Regi but it requires Fly, and even though we're not actually flying anywhere, we can't unlock the door without that badge from Winona. But that's not yet!

Route 128 –

Underwater on this route you'll find the submarine that was stolen from Slateport City. Surface here and knock the socks off of Team Aqua. You'll encounter Kyogre and kick off the rain storms around Hoenn.

Sootopolis City –

Dive underwater in Route 126 to find the entrance to Sootopolis City. Go to the west side of the city and head north, following the path round to reach the Cave of Origin. Be prepared to catch Kyogre! It's a straight forward path (using Flash is optional). Make sure you pick up the HM for Waterfall in here. Eventually you'll find the game's box legendary…Use the same strategy as the Regis, but you have the option of using Net Balls too. I would highly recommend NOT using the Master Ball here.

· Kyogre

Capturing Kyogre will restore peace to the tropical land of Hoenn and will open the Sootopolis Gym which is where you will head next!

Levelling Tips –

There's only one pokemon you are evolving in this section (Chinchou) so there's not much to say here.

End of part 6:

Caught 169, Remaining 33

2.7 – Badge #7 from Wallace

With your penultimate badge you can now use Waterfall to get to the pokemon league in Evergrande City. This is a very short section with only three pokemon available.

Meteor Falls –

Teach Waterfall to a pokemon and you can get to the small room at the back of the cave which has a rare pokemon, Bagon!

· Bagon-->Lv. 30-->Shelgon-->Lv. 50-->Salamence

With that taken care of, go and defeat Winona in Fortree City for your final badge!

Levelling Tips –

This is one heck of a grind fest to evolve this little dragon. It should evolve soon enough into Shelgon but it's getting it to Salamence that's the problem. The problem gets worse when you realise that it doesn't really learn any powerful moves. I ended up using the TM for Dragon Claw even though it would eventually learn it just to make things easier. Trainers Eye is again your best friend, busting ghosts in Mt Pyre is also good training for its attack stat and Victory Road houses the highest leveled pokemon you can train against, though Hariyama's Whirlwind gets old really fast. Consider having a bunch of Zigzagoon with Pickup to help farm some Rare Candies. On the plus side, once you have that funky Salamence it will help you rip through the Elite Four.

End of part 7:

Caught 172, Remaining 30

2.8 – Badge #8 from Winona and the Elite Four

Now you can freely Fly around Hoenn at your will. There's unfortunately only one pokemon left to catch before the Elite four. Head over to the south part of Route 120 to find the final Regi cave. Examine the text on the back wall, walk into the center of the room and use Fly to unlock the room where Registeel lies…

· Registeel

With that done, it's time to progress through Victory Road and prepare for the Elite Four…

End of part 8:

Caught 173, Remaining 29

2.9 – Post Game

Like the original gen 1 games, Ruby and Sapphire have a pretty poor post game to them. There's no extra pokemon to catch that weren't in the regional dex and no new areas aside from the Battle Tower and Sky Pillar (you've already caught everything in here). All that's left to do is for you to complete your Hoenn Dex as much as possible and there's only a few pokemon left. Fly to Mossdeep City and go to Steven's house. There's a pokeball on the table containing the second pseudo-legendary line of the region.

· Beldum-->Lv. 20-->Metang-->Lv. 45-->Metagross

A couple of legendary dragons –

Two legendary pokemon are left – Latias and Rayquaza. We'll start with Latias. Check out the TV at your house to get a news report of a red pokemon flying around Hoenn. You MUST do this or Latias will not appear. Latias can be tracked via your pokedex IF you have seen it, so the most annoying part is trying to find it the first time. Stock up on 20+ Max Repels and get a pokemon that's in its high 30s, preferably around Lv. 38 ish, enough to out-level the wild Tentacool but not enough to prevent Latias from appearing. I chose Muk as it evolved at Lv. 38. Save your game in Lilycove, use a Max Repel and then keep your high Lv. 30s pokemon in the first slot of your party and Surf from Lilycove to Mossdeep, down to Pacifidlog and back again. If your repel runs out, spray another one. Eventually you will encounter Latias as you Surf around. Unfortunately it moves so it's a case of being in the right place at the right time. If you run out of repels, simply reset the game and try again until you get lucky.

If you kept your Master Ball, throw it at Latias to avoid having to chase after it again. If you don't have the Master Ball, let it flee for now so you can track it. Get a pokemon that's fast but won't OHKO Latias (it's Dragon/Psychic type). Do this without repels. Go back to the sea routes which I listed above and check your dex to see if it's nearby. Each time you change location, Latias will move to an adjacent route from its current location. Zone between routes (e.g. two steps into route 126, check dex, two steps into route 127, check dex, repeat) until it is in your location and Surf around until you encounter it. Save your game before each encounter. Damage Latias but don't worry about catching it yet. It will flee on its first turn but will keep its HP the same after each encounter. Continuously weaken it until you're ready to catch it. For your final encounter, get a pokemon with Shadow Tag (e.g. Wobbuffet) or a fast pokemon with Mean Look. Sadly there's no pokemon that learn Mean Look AND a sleeping move in this game unless you breed Mean Look onto a Ralts and level it up until Gardevoir learns Hypnosis. Stop it from fleeing and spam Ultra Balls, going on to Timer Balls if the battle lasts a long time.

· Latias

Finally we have the 200th pokemon in the Hoenn Dex, Rayquaza. It's at Lv. 70 so if you don't feel up to the challenge yet, you may want to re-challenge the Elite Four a few times. Stock up on Ultra Balls and Timer Balls, grab your Mach Bike (essential) and your strongest team. Don't worry too much about pokemon with sleep moves, Rayquaza can use Rest, so as long as you can damage it a lot without knocking it out in two turns, you'll be fine. Surf east from Pacifidlog a short while to find a new area on the north part of the route which goes to Sky Pillar. Cycle up the tower until you reach its peak. Save before Rayquaza in case you mess up and hit it hard. Throw Ultra Balls wherever possible and take advantage of it sleeping with Rest. Once you're successful, you've caught the strongest pokemon in the game and the last pokemon of the challenge! Congrats!

Levelling Tips –

Evolving Beldum all the way to Metagross is a tough road. Having only Take Down at the start is not good for its HP. Once it evolves into Metang things get a bit easier. Being a Steel type it's quite resistant so you can go up against most pokemon without too much concern. Abuse Trainers Eye over and over until you reach that sweet point where it's finally ready to evolve into Metagross.

End of the challenge:

Hoenn Dex Caught 178, Remaining 24

The pokemon you're missing are the other two starters and their evolution lines, the other fossil line, the version exclusives (Seedot line, Mawile, Zangoose, Solrock, Latios, Groudon), the trade evolutions (Alakazam, Machamp, Golem, Kingdra, Huntail, Gorebyss) and the two mythical pokemon which are unobtainable in this game.

3.0 – The End/Thanks

A huge thank you to Reddit user Chamale for inspiring me to play this challenge. I usually play a pokemon game by catching every pokemon on a route but never evolve them all (unless they're on my team) until post-game. This was an interesting way to play and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're planning your own play through, make sure you do your homework on what pokemon are available when, otherwise you may end up realizing you could have caught a pokemon earlier on in the game and screwed up the challenge.

Until next time!

Professor Oak With a Sock Full of Batteries

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProfessorOak/comments/9iqmy6/sapphire_professor_oak_challenge_guide/

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