13 – The Ruins of Alph (First Visit)

First and foremost, to really explore this area, you will want a Pokemon that has Rock Smash. Take a moment and try to teach a Pokemon in your Party Rock Smash. You can see a number of rocks to your right. The lighter mounds of rock can be broken by having a Pokemon with Rock Smash destroy it. Just walk up to one of them and hit “A” and it will give you the option to do so. Smashing the rocks has a chance that you will encounter a Geodude when you do so or you can receive an item. Do so to the rocks nearby to get the hang of it (and to potentially get some good items). From there, head down just a little to the nearby building. You can cross through it and smash the rocks on the far side to gain access to the item ball there which has a Hyper Potion in it

 Take a minute and head down and to the right and head into the building with the sign in front of it. This is the Ruins Research Center.

Inside the Research Center, you see three people. The person in the top left is very enthusiastic to have a potential archeologist, but he comes down after he learns that you are just a visitor. The person in the top right talks about the Ruins being over 1,500 years old and no one knows who built them or why. The last person tells you that there are odd patterns drawn on the walls of the ruins and those patterns are likely the key to solving the mysterious ruins. It is time to explore these ruins properly. Head out of the Research Center.

To just progress forward in the game, head to the right from here and out onto Route 32. If you want to get a start on the Ruins of Alph, read on below:

From there, head up the path next to the research center and go into the building nearby.  This is just a hollow shell, so head to the right, up into the next open building then to the left and up into the building near the North Entrance to the Ruins of Alph. There is a woman near a Stone tablet coming out the ground. She will explain how to work the controls for it. Walk up to tablet in the center of the room and hit “A” to start working on the first puzzle. There is a hint as to what it is, “This Pokemon hides on the seafloor and watches the shore with eyes on its back”. What is it? Well, it is time to solve the puzzle. Let's start with the piece on the right hand side, that has something like a fang on it. Tap it twice, this should turn the fang upwards. Now, grab it, by simply placing the stylus on it and drag it into the open space in the bottom right. The next piece, in the bottom right needs to be tapped three times and then you want to put it in the open space on the left side of the picture. The piece near the bottom left needs to be tapped once and then placed in the top center open spot. The piece in the top left needs to be tapped three times and then placed in the remaining space. Done right, the picture will glow and you will fall into the area below the ruins you were just in. A scientist will come up to you and ask if you just in from the ruins above. He reasons out that you must have solved the stone-panel puzzle and congratulates you on your skills in archeology. He then gives you an Unown Report, which will record all the Unown you capture, which will certainly prove handy if you want to track down and catch all 28 forms of it.

You will feel a strange presence now, and you will being to encounter Unowns. They are all level 5. All of them only have one move, Hidden Power, and it will change with each of them. They are all Psychic Type, so this can be used against them, but it will be impossible to know what type of attack they will have. Having solved the first of four puzzles, take some time to catch Unown shapes A – J. This can take some time, so coming back when you have a good number of Poke balls may be advisable. For now, catch what you can and you walk through the twisting corridor. This eventually leads to a ladder that will take you back to the surface of the Ruins of Alph.

Until you get the ability to use Surf outside of battle, a fair bit of this area is out of reach. For now, just head through the exit building in the South East, below the Research Building.  Head on through it, all the people inside will talk about the Ruins and encourage you to try the puzzles you find inside it.


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