Sangi Ranch(Walkthrough)

Right near the entrance is a patch of grass for you to check out. There's a variety of new Pokemon available there:

Pokemon Review:Lillipup
Lillipup is a solid Normal-type Pokemon that is capable of learning good attacks and has pretty decent stats to use them. Tackle will do a lot of damage due to STAB, plus it gets Bite at level 8 and Take Down at level 15, which, while it does inflict recoil damage, is still very nice at dishing out damage early on. Return will eventually be one of its strongest attacks, but after evolving into its top form, you can have it learn various elemental fang attacks by bringing it to the Reminder Girl (Move Relearner) in the Pokemon World Tournament at the cost of a Heart Scale. It comes with my recommendation.

Pokemon Review:Azurill
Azurill, also a Normal-type, evolves into the Water-type Marill when it is happy enough. It is more defensive by nature and lacks powerful attacks, but Marill's Huge Power can help give its Physical-based attacks some extra beef, and since it picks up the powerful Aqua Tail at level 20 and Double-Edge at level 23, it may be worth it. It learns very few other Physical-based attacks, though, meaning Huge Power won't be quite as useful as you'd think. It can also have the Thick Fat ability, so watch out for that ability, since it probably won't come into play all that often anyway.I don't really recommend using it due to its lower attacking stats and lack of decent moves. It's a very defensive Pokemon, and while that's great for a lot of people, it can set you up for some problems, too. Thankfully, if you can just evolve it from happiness to Marill, it then evolves to its final stage, Azumarill, at a modest level 18.

Pokemon Review:Mareep
Mareep is a great choice of Pokemon to add to your team. The Electric-type sheep evolves into Flaaffy at level 15 and then Ampharos at level 30. Those are decent levels to evolve at. It picks up ThunderShock at level 8, but stays rather stagnant for awhile. It does get Electro Ball at level 25 (as a Flaaffy), but you'll have to paralyze the foe or use Cotton Spore (I recommend just use Thunder Wave to paralyze it, since it'll be way more effective) in order for it to do much damage, since the whole line is not very speedy. It does get Confuse Ray at level 29, which is very crippling if used in conjunction with Thunder Wave.

Pokemon Review:Psyduck
Psyduck makes for a decent Water-type Pokemon if you started with Tepig or Snivy. It's not the greatest out there, though, but it is fairly rounded and even learns Psychic-type attacks. If you're not in a hurry for a Water-type, hold off for better options, although it is a better option than Azurill if you don't mind waiting longer for a final evolution.

Pokemon Review:Riolu
Lastly there's Riolu on the route. It is a little Fighting-type Pokemon with a lot of spunk. It doesn't start off with great attacks, but it gains them over time, picking up Force Palm at level 15 (probably too late for the first Gym Leader). Once it evolves into Lucario, its stats are incredible, its Steel-typing gives it resistances to many different things, and it is a great asset to your team. I highly recommend it, particularly if you didn't start with Tepig. (If you want to evolve it quickly, run around for 30+ mins to raise its happiness; it's slow to do it this way, but since Riolu evolves by happiness, it's a good trick if you want a Lucario early on.)

Go over to the break in the fence just above the patch of grass and you'll finally find Hugh. He'll challenge you to a battle immediately, though, so watch out!

Avoid using your starter Pokemon's elemental attack against his Pokemon, because he'll just resist the attack; instead, stick to Tackle, or use some of your other Pokemon. Using Tail Whip or Leer at the beginning of the battle can be helpful, too, as can healing with a Potion if you get below 50% of your HP.

After beating him, you'll give him the extra Town Map. Then two Pokemon Breeders and a Herdier will show up. They're apparently the owners of the ranch. The girl gives you another Potion (just can't get enough of these, huh?), and then they ask if you can track down their other Herdier. Hugh runs off in search for it right away.

At this point, you can talk with the girl Pokemon Breeder and she'll heal up your Pokemon, saving you a trip to the Pokemon Center.

Go inside of the fenced-in area until you see Hugh. At this point, you can either head north or over west and through another fence. North is where you want to go if you want to find the Herdier, but heading west will present you with some more Trainers and some items, so I'll start by covering that area for you.

Over to the west and then south, there's a Lass ready to challenge you to a battle. She has two Pokemon on her team: a Purrloin L6 and a Sewaddle L6. To the northeast of her is a little two-block high patch of grass moving in towards a fence. Go there and at the end of it you can find a Poke Ball.

So, going back to the Lass, there's some Mareep dancing around to the east of her and then there's a ledge you can jump down to get back to the entrance of the Ranch. That's probably not where you're going to want to go unless you want to head back and pick up more items in Sangi Town. That's about all the excitement there is over here, though, so head back over to where you saw Hugh.

Now, once you're back at Hugh, head north. Hugh will catch up to you and then run forward, wanting to find the Herdier himself. Walk a little further and he'll give you a Parlyz Heal. There's also a Janitor nearby that has a Lillipup L6 and a Mareep L6 on his team. The Mareep has the Static ability, so it may paralyze you; additionally, it has Thunder Wave, so chances are good you'll get paralyzed.

Heal up with your Parlyz Heal or head back to the lady that will heal you if you get paralyzed, then head east and fight the Youngster you see. He has a Patrat L6 and a Psyduck L6. Just south of him is an X Attack, which may come in handy in your upcoming Gym fight. Northeast of that Youngster is a path that takes you further into the forest.

Run a little further forward and Hugh will catch up with you. You'll also see an item nearby off to the east. It's another Potion. But what should really catch your attention is the Herdier by some trees, though it is being hounded by a member of Team Plasma! The Team Plasma Grunt asks if you know of Team Plasma and then explains how it's been two years since they were vanquished, but apparently they're staging some kind of resurgence. He tosses your first TM your way, TM21 (Frustration), which is a Normal-type attack that does more damage depending on how unhappy your Pokemon is with you. It'll do a fair amount of damage for newer Pokemon, but it should really only be taught early on, unless you treat your Pokemon very poorly. The Plasma Grunt runs off, leaving you with the Herdier. The owner shows up along with Hugh, and then they both head off.

Now that you've saved the day, head on back to Sangi Town. On your way, you'll be stopped by Alder, who wants you to show some kids how to battle, as well as teach you the importance of weaknesses and resistances. Follow him inside of the school thing and you'll have a chance to take on two kids. They'll use a Pansage, Panpour, or Pansear, depending on your starter; each is at level 9, and they will start with the one that your starter Pokemon is strong against (for instance, Panpour if you started with Snivy), and then the second kid use the one your starter Pokemon is weak against (for instance, Pansear if you started with Snivy). Alder will heal your Pokemon after each of the battles, so don't feel like you need to use anything to heal your Pokemon for the tougher of the two fights.

When you leave, you'll be greeted by a man who gives you a Medal Box, which is used to store medals that you earn. You can earn medals by doing various tasks or accomplishing certain things in the game — think of them like achievements. You can talk to him in any Pokemon Center you see him at to collect more medals based on your accomplishments.

Anyway, then Alder pops out and tells you that you should return to Aspertia City and take on the Gym so you can earn your Gym Badge. Sounds like a good idea! But don't miss out on getting the X Speed hiding to the side of the house first!

To see the begining of this walkthrough, see Opening (Walkthrough).To see the previous part,see Route 20(Walkthrough).To see the next part, see Aspertia Gym(Walkthrough).