First City

After traveling north, you'll arrive at Oldale Town. A small, but peaceful place, I suppose. Heal your Pokemon at the Pokemon Center (marked with PC), and go on to Route 103.

Route 103

If you've trained your Pokemon already, then go on here (at least level 7). If not, go here, battle level 6+ Pokemon, heal your Pokemon at the Center, and head on.

Rival

Route 103 is a dead end. At the very top of this route, you'll meet your rival. Talk to your rival, and she'll battle you. She has a level 5 Pokemon that has an advantage in type over you. If you trained your Pokemon well, then there's no problem. Beat her, and she'll walk away. Go back to Oldale Town, and heal your Pokemon. Your rival is now at the south end of the city. Talk to her, and she'll go back to Little Root Town.

Locations (Route 103)

Magikarp Pelipper Poochyena Sharpedo Tentacool Wailmer Wingull Zigzagoon

Good To Be Back

You'll also need to go back to your new hometown. Go to the south of the town, and go into the large labratory of the Professor. Your rival is there, and so is the Professor. Talk to the Professor, and he'll give you a PokeDex and your rival will give you five Pokeballs. After talking to your rival once again, go outside. There, after your mom gives you Running Shoes. Holding down "B" when pressing an arrow button enables you to run. After that, you are free to go!

Route 102

You are now officially starting your journey in the world of Hoenn! Go back to Oldale Town, stock up on some supplies, and go west from there. You'll be on Route 102. You'll have your first trainer battle here. While you're at it, you'll get a look at the new Berry trees, shown on the left. At the south of the route, you'll also find an Itemball with a Potion inside. Crush all of them, gain some levels, catch some Pokemon, and sooner than you think, you're at Petalburg City.

Locations (Route 102)

Corphish Goldeen Lotad Magikarp Marill Poochyena Ralts Seedot Surskit Wurmple Zigzagoon

First Gym?

Petalburg City, unlike the previous city, has a gym. You won't be able to battle here, though, since this is supposed to be the fifth gym, and you need to get the first four badges before coming here. After you heal your Pokemon and go to the Mart, you'd want to go on to the next city. But you can't, because a guy stops you from going on to Route 104.

Because of this, go into the gym, and talk to the gym leader. He's also your father. A person called Wally comes in, and tells your dad he wants to catch a Pokemon. Your dad gives him a Pokemon and a Zigzagoon, and tells you to make sure that he catches one. Now just sit back and enjoy the catching. He'll take you back to the gym, and you have to talk to the gym leader again. After that, leave the gym. Done with that? Go west to the next route.

Locations (Petalburg City)

Corphish Goldeen Magikarp Marill

Route 104

It's time to go on, and the first place you'll be is Route 104. After battling trainers, go north and you'll be going inside the Petalburg Woods.

Locations (Route 104)

Magikarp Pelipper Taillow Wingull Wurmple Zigzagoon

Petalburg Woods

Petalburg Woods seems dark and creepy. Search around for items, and battle trainers. Maybe even catch some Pokemon. Go north, and you'll meet up with a member of Team Magma/Aqua (from now on, known as Team M/A, depending on the version you have (Magma for Ruby, Aqua for Sapphire.) Their Pokemon are quite strong, but you'll be able to get through them.

If you want to get a hidden then once you enter the forest, go east, and you'll see an empty spot in the grass. Go near it, but not in it, and press "A" to obtain the Potion. Finally, go back North. There, you'll find two trees. Come back here after one of your Pokemon learns the Cut HM, cut the trees, and you'll be able to see the rest of the forest. Then, get out of the forest by going north a bit more.

Locations (Petalburg Woods)

Cascoon Shroomish Silcoon Salkoth Taillow Wurmple Zigzagoon

You're back on Route 104 with more trainers to fight. You'll see a flower shop. Go in there and talk to one of the girls. She'll give you the Wailmer Pail. After planting a Berry, water it with this to make it grow. At the back of the flower house is an item, so you can get that. Another item is blocked by a tree. Come back later with Cut to obtain the item. On the bridge, you'll be having your first two on two battle with the Twins, well, if you choose to talk to them. There is an old lady staning near the water. Talk to her, and she'll give you a Chesto Berry. Head north a little more, and you'll be arriving at Rustboro City.

Rustboro City

After going through a long and tiring route, you finally arrive at Rustboro City. Here, you'll be able to have your first gym battle. But first, we'll explore the city.

Once you get into the city, go west and you'll see a huge building. Go inside and up to the second floor, and you'll see a little kid and an old man. Talk to the little kid, and he'll give you a Premier Ball. Near the middle of the city, there is a Pokemon School. Go in there, talk to the teacher, and he'll give you a Quick Claw. Now for the most important item. There's a house next to the Pokemon Center. Inside, talk to the man, and he'll give you HM 01 - Cut, something that's very essential. Teach it to a Pokemon, but remember, it cannot be overwritten! Then, heal your Pokemon, and get ready to rumble, because you're going to the gym!

The Rocky Gym

North of the city is the gym. If you chose Torchic as your starter, you might have a hard time in this gym, since this is a rock-type gym. Treecko or Mudkip will do great, but don't expect an easy win. You first need to get through two Jr. Trainers with Geodude before getting to the leader. Heal Pokemon and save gave if neccesarry.

It's time to battle the gym leader, Roxanne. She has a lv.14 Geodude and a lv.15 Nosepass. The second Pokemon's a lot harder to knock out, so be careful! Beat her and you get TM 39 - Rock Tomb, and the Stone Badge. It heightens Attack, and now you'll be able to use Cut outside of battle.

Get out of the gym, and a person will talk to you. It's about Team M/A. They've stolen his goods. Heal your Pokemon again, and exit the town by going northeast into Route 116.

Route 116

The person will talk to you again. Never mind him, and go on east. You'll go through a ton of trainers and items, not to mention wild Pokemon too. At the end of Route 116 is a cave with an old man and a house with a guy blocking it. Before that, there is a small section of the route with trainers and items inside. Use Cut to get inside.

Locations (Route 116)

Nincada Skitty Taillow Whismur Zigzagoon

When you try to get into the cave, the old man will talk to you, after that, go inside. The inside of the cave is totally foggy! Go up for an item, then go east, and you'll find a Team M/A member. Talk to him, and he'll battle you. After winning, you receive the goods, also known as the Devon Goods. The old man comes in to take his Wingull away. You won't be able to continue through the cave, as there are boulders blocking your way. Go outside now, and you'll find the guy blocking the house isn't blocking it anymore. You can go in there now, but there won't be anything to do.

Go back to Rustboro City now. Before you reach there, the same person who talked to you before will talk to you again. He'll give you a Great Ball, lead you into a building, and lead you to the President of Devon Corp. The President talks to you, and gives you the PokeNav, short for Pokemon Navigator. This appears in your menu, and takes the place of the PokeGear and improves it. He also gives you a Letter to hand to a guy named Steven in Dewford Town. After receiving that, you can leave the building.

Going On

Leave the city by going back south through the forest. You can also explore the small Route 115 in the North, but there's really nothing to do there. Once you get into the forest, you can cut the two trees to explore the rest of the forest. There is a girl inside the unexplored part. Talk to her and she'll give you an item. There are two Itemballs in the unexplored part and a hidden item in an empty spot in the grass.

Eventually, you'll reach a small house with a boat floating on the water. Go inside, and you'll find the old man (known as Mr. Briney) and the Wingull you rescued. Talk to him, and he'll take you on his boat to get to Dewford Town.