Chapter 19: Azalea Town, Slowpoke Well and Ilex Forest
Silver’s warning on Route 33 was right: Team Rocket is in Azalea Town and heads for Slowpoke Well. After the well, Ilex Forest is next: Bugsy is away on a bug hunt, so the Azalea Gym stays empty until you have helped him.
Main quest in this chapter: stop Team Rocket in Slowpoke Well, take part in Bugsy’s Honey hunt in Ilex Forest, win the Hive Badge at the Azalea Gym (no Pokémon strong against Bug), and lead the lost Kimono Girl Koume out of the forest, which opens the road to Route 34 and Goldenrod City.
Order tips: finish Bugsy’s hunt before you talk to Koume, Sakura or the fire ranger (they share the hunt’s progress), and take the Rocky Helmet only after the hunt. Koume’s rescue ends the Union Cave Cyndaquil and the Violet City Marill for good.
Hidden items along the way
Optional stops in this chapter’s locations. Some spots may need a return visit; check the location notes for access limitations.
Open a location for item names, directions and available screenshots.
Walkthrough
Section titled “Walkthrough”Azalea Town: the Slowpoke trouble. Azalea has a Slowpoke quiz (a few steps south of the Pokémon Center), a data-obsessed Super Nerd with a Porygon-Z next to the Gym, and the Charcoal Kiln in the south, where the apprentice’s Farfetch’d cannot learn Cut. Go to Kurt’s house in the north-west: his Slowpoke suddenly runs off and Kurt asks you and Crystal to find out why. Outside, a Rocket grunt blocks Slowpoke Well; Gold beats his Steelix and the grunt invites you to the well.
Technical source (script files and flags)
guide/08 q-0235, q-0236, q-0238, q-0239 (script files 863 Azalea, 871 Kurt’s house). Scenes: file 871 coord script 2 on var 0x40ac = 4 (Slowpoke runs off, @925-@1245, SetVar 0x40ac = 5); file 863 coord script 5 on var 0x40ac = 5 (grunt, Steelix, Gold’s battle, @1316-@1856, SetVar 0x40ac = 6).
Slowpoke Well. Kurt, Gold and Crystal go in with you. On the first level Jessie, James and Meowth offer to let you pass (take it or fight them; they attack from behind if you trust them), and the Executives Proton and Archie are after the Tidal Bell, which a Slowking guards. Silver snatches the bell in the middle of the fight; Gold takes it back from him. Kurt thanks you at his house with Apricorn Balls and his phone number and asks you to keep the secret of the bell. This ends for good the Apricorn Ball service of the Pewter City maker (he says he will make no more balls).
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 60 (Slowpoke Well B1F: coord script 1 on var 0x40ac = 6 and script 2 on 7, scenes @218-@3967, SetVar 0x40ac = 7 @3925 and 8 @3085; @3165 SetFlag 415 which ends the Pewter maker’s service, guide/02 q-0024: ‘Service ends when flag 415 is set’); Kurt’s thanks and Apricorn Balls @3237-@3563.
Ilex Forest: Bugsy’s bug hunt. Enter Ilex Forest from the south gate. About a dozen steps up the path Bugsy and his team wait with a plan: spread Honey on four rocks to lure four Bug Pokémon (Kricketune, Ariados, Burmy, Skorupi). Where you stand decides the result: if you are on a bug’s path, it runs away. Do the Ariados rock before the Skorupi rock, and finish the hunt before you talk to Koume, Sakura or the fire ranger. Handling at most three bugs yourself earns the top reward (3 Energy Powder, PP Max and a Heart Scale). Bugsy then goes back to the Azalea Gym.
Do not take the Rocky Helmet from the man with the sore head before the hunt ends; the other forest extras (Leaf Storm tutor, rangers, Bug Catcher Andy) are listed in the quest.
Technical source (script files and flags)
guide/09 q-0242, q-0248 (script file 92 Ilex Forest: hunt progress shared with Sakura, Koume and the ranger; the forest’s story ends at @10509 SetVar 0x40ac = 9). Slowpoke Well must be over: guide/09 q-0242 ‘after Slowpoke Well’.
Azalea Gym: Bugsy. With the hunt finished, Bugsy is back in his Gym. He asks you to bring no Pokémon that is strong against Bug (a fixed list of 203 species: every Fire, Flying and Rock type and a few more, Eggs skipped). Win the Hive Badge, TM81 X-Scissor and his number. You can also do this after Koume’s rescue.
Technical source (script files and flags)
guide/08 q-0237 (‘Bugsy is away in Ilex Forest until you finish the Ilex Forest bug-catching story’; fixed list of 203 species; Hive Badge, TM81).
Koume, the lost Kimono Girl. Koume stands in the middle of the forest and cannot find her way; whatever you answer, she wanders off. Talk to her sister Sakura in the north gatehouse (she blocks the Route 34 door until Koume is safe), then go back and choose “Your sister sent me for you”: Koume follows you to the exit and thanks you with a Sun Stone. Straight afterwards Gold and Crystal talk to you. This closes for good: the wild Cyndaquil in Union Cave (and Goh there) and the runaway Marill in Violet City. The forest rangers appear. The fire ranger’s stray Houndour (10 Safari Balls) can be started once the hunt is over.
Technical source (script files and flags)
guide/09 q-0243 (this scene ‘ends several earlier side quests for good: the Union Cave Cyndaquil and the Violet City Marill’), q-0244, guide/08 q-0230 (‘closes for good when you finish the Ilex Forest bug-catching story’), q-0210 (‘the quest closes when Crystal’s story scene in Ilex Forest plays’). Script file 92 @10509 SetVar 0x40ac = 9.
Quests in this chapter
Section titled “Quests in this chapter”Open the ones you want; tick Done to hide them. Filters at the top apply to this whole page.
Azalea Town: the Slowpoke quiz (→ King’s Rock)
Section titled “Azalea Town: the Slowpoke quiz (→ King’s Rock)”Where: Azalea Town, a few steps south of the Pokémon Center door.
Who gets it / when: any time.
How it works: say Yes, then answer five questions. You only learn at the end whether you got them all right.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How did Slowpoke call Lugia to end the drought? | Yawning |
| How long after being hit does Slowpoke feel pain? | 5 seconds |
| What flavour seeps from a Slowpoke’s tail in water? | Sweet |
| How many teeth can you see in its mouth? | 2 |
| How many times can Slowpoke evolve? | Once |
Reward: King’s Rock (once).
Notes: a wrong answer just means “Think it over and come back”. Retry as often as you like.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 863 (Azalea Town), script 26, L2378–L3364; flag 2121. Position ≈411,465.
Azalea Town: the data-obsessed Super Nerd (→ TM77 Psych Up)
Section titled “Azalea Town: the data-obsessed Super Nerd (→ TM77 Psych Up)”Shingo's Shedinja is Lv. 65 with Wonder Guard.
Where: Azalea Town, a few steps west of the Gym door, next to his Porygon-Z.
Who gets it / when: any time.
How it works: he boasts that no one beats his calculations, not even the League Champion.
- “Sure, you’re the best” → he gloats. Nothing happens.
- “I’m (your name)” → he doesn’t recognise you and challenges you → Yes → battle Super Nerd Shingo (Porygon-Z Lv. 62, Parasect 63, Octillery 64, Shedinja 65 with Wonder Guard: bring Fire, Flying, Rock, Ghost or Dark moves).
Reward: TM77 Psych Up (once).
Notes: declining or losing (you black out) can be retried.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 863, script 25, L2063–L2365; flag 2120. Position ≈401,472.
Azalea Town: the Charcoal Kiln’s Farfetch’d (Cut → Leek → battle → Solar Blade tutor)
Section titled “Azalea Town: the Charcoal Kiln’s Farfetch’d (Cut → Leek → battle → Solar Blade tutor)”Needs HM01 Cut (Cerulean). The game does not check that you have it. The master's team is Lv. 62-65.
Where: the Charcoal Kiln, the house in the south of Azalea, straight south of the Poké Mart (a girl with a Spinarak stands just west of its door). Inside, the apprentice stands to the right of the entrance and his master a few steps above it, both with a Farfetch’d. (Kurt’s house is the other door, in the north-west of town.)
Who gets it / when: any time.
How it works:
- The apprentice’s Farfetch’d can’t learn Cut. “Give him the TM for Cut?” → Yes → you hand over HM01 Cut and he gives you a Leek.
- Talk to the master: he recognises you and asks to spar → Yes → battle Black Belt Collier (Farfetch’d Lv. 62, Ursaring 63, Exploud 64, Lickilicky 65). Losing blacks you out; you can retry.
- After the win, the master teaches Solar Blade as often as you like (listed in the tutor table).
Reward: Leek; the Solar Blade tutor.
Notes: the game doesn’t check that you actually have HM01: without it you still get the Leek, with it you lose it (see Known issues). The master’s pitch talks about Air Cutter, but the move he teaches is Solar Blade. This quest shares its hidden progress markers with the Route 32 Pokémon Center patients. The Route 33 scene, which plays as you step out of Union Cave, resets them before you can reach Azalea, so in normal play this has no visible effect.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 871 (map 164, Kurt’s house / Charcoal Kiln), scripts 14 and 15, L1428–L2783 (flags 1984, 1982). The Route 33 scene (file 236 coord script 3 on var 0x40ac = 3, two strips around the Union Cave exit; 0x40ac = 3 is set by the Sprout Tower ceremony, file 18 L3835, before the railway crew leaves) clears 1982–1984 at L6541–L6584. Kiln door ≈419,468 (≈399,454 is Kurt’s room); inside, apprentice ≈40,7, master ≈37,5.
Azalea Town: small extras
Section titled “Azalea Town: small extras”- The girl and the Spinarak (just west of the Charcoal Kiln door): talking to her plays a short scene: she rejects the Spinarak and it runs off. It then turns up in Ilex Forest, where Bug Catcher Andy has caught it and asks you to be their first opponent (optional battle, no item).
- Kimono Girl Sakura (Ilex Forest gatehouse, north end): part of the Ilex Forest Kimono Girl story; talking to her moves it on a step. See the Ilex Forest entry.
- Kurt’s Apricorn Balls: vanilla system. One Apricorn batch at a time, ready the next day.
Technical source (script files and flags)
file 863 script 23 (flags 426, 427; girl ≈415,469) → file 92 script 21 / L3698; file 869 script 5 (Sakura: var 0x409a 1→3 or 2→4); file 871 script 8.
Ilex Forest: Bugsy’s bug hunt with Honey (story; the more you catch, the better the reward)
Section titled “Ilex Forest: Bugsy’s bug hunt with Honey (story; the more you catch, the better the reward)”Where: Ilex Forest. The scene starts when you walk along the path about a dozen steps north of the south entrance (the one from Azalea Town). Bugsy and his team wait a few steps east of that path.
Who gets it / when: everyone, on the Ilex Forest chapter (after Slowpoke Well). Saying you won’t help only makes Bugsy ask again, so you have to accept.
Before you start: if you want the top reward, don’t take the Rocky Helmet from the man with the sore head yet (see Ilex Forest: small extras). Finish the hunt first.
How it works:
- Bugsy shows you the trick on a Beautifly and gives you 3 Honey. More Honey is sold by the Gym Trainer next to him: 1 for $500, 3 for $1,500, 5 for $2,500, 10 for $5,000. The Honey isn’t used up when you spread it.
- Four Bug Pokémon sit near four mossy rocks. Examine a rock with Honey in your Bag → “Spread Honey on it?” → Yes. The bug jumps down and runs straight to the rock. Where you stand decides the result: if you’re on its path, it runs away (and Bugsy’s team rounds it up). If you aren’t, it licks the Honey and you can talk to it for a wild battle (Lv. 20).
| Rock | Where it is | Bug | Stand here | Don’t stand here (it flees) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kricketune rock | middle of the forest, ten steps south of the Leaf Storm tutor | Kricketune (east of the rock) | west side or south side | north side or east side |
| Ariados rock | about 14 steps east of the Kricketune rock | Ariados (south-west) | west side or north side (the south side does nothing) | east side |
| Burmy rock | far east side, about 15 steps east of the Ariados rock | Burmy (west) | any side except west | west side |
| Skorupi rock | about ten steps south of the Ariados rock | Skorupi (south-east) | any side except west | west side |
- Do the Ariados rock before the Skorupi rock. If Ariados is still up a tree, spreading Honey on Skorupi’s rock draws both bugs, and one of them flees.
- After your first Honey, Bugsy moves next to another rock and deals with that bug himself. Your first rock was Burmy’s → he takes Kricketune. Any other first rock → he takes Burmy. So you can handle at most 3 bugs yourself.
- When all four are dealt with, talk to Bugsy (he’s back a few steps south-east of where his team stood).
Reward (counts the bugs you dealt with yourself: beaten, caught, or run from in battle):
| Bugs | Reward |
|---|---|
| 0 | nothing |
| 1 | Energy Powder |
| 2 | 3 Energy Powder |
| 3 | 3 Energy Powder, PP Max, Heart Scale |
Notes: a bug that runs away from the Honey can’t be retried. Losing a bug battle blacks you out. Beating it without catching still counts, and so does running from the battle. The best plan: start with Kricketune or Ariados from a safe side, then Ariados before Skorupi, and skip Burmy (Bugsy takes it). Finishing the hunt sends Bugsy back to the Azalea Gym (see Azalea Gym: Bugsy’s no-type-advantage battle). Finish the hunt before you talk to Koume, Sakura or the fire ranger: their quests share the bugs’ progress, and finishing the hunt resets it (see the Houndour entry).
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 92 (coord script 22 on var 0x4099 = 1; scripts 2, 4–10, 17, 18; L4209–L10991; reward L2879–L5514; var 0x409f counts catches; wild battles L2069/L2258/L2447/L2542 count any result except a loss; the hunt’s end resets the bugs’ state variables and the counter). Positions: scene trigger ≈34,60–62, Bugsy’s team ≈38–41,60–62, Bugsy afterwards ≈45,65; rocks ≈64–65,49–50 (Kricketune), ≈78–79,50–51 (Ariados; works from x = 77 or y = 49 only), ≈94–95,48–49 (Burmy), ≈74–75,60–61 (Skorupi). The Rocky Helmet man uses the Ariados flag 2104.
Ilex Forest: small extras
Section titled “Ilex Forest: small extras”Take the Rocky Helmet only after the bug hunt.
- The man with the sore head (in the north of the forest, about halfway between the north exit and the fire ranger) gives you a Rocky Helmet, once. Take it only after the bug hunt: he uses the same record as the hunt’s Ariados. Taking it earlier makes the Ariados rock do nothing: the hunt still counts Ariados as dealt with and can still be finished, but not as one of yours, so you can deal with at most two bugs yourself and miss the top reward (PP Max + Heart Scale). If you’ve already done the Ariados rock, he won’t give the Helmet until the hunt ends. A Helmet taken mid-hunt means you can get a second one after the hunt.
- Leaf Storm tutor (in the middle of the forest, ten steps north of the Kricketune rock): teaches Leaf Storm for a Leaf Stone.
- Forest rangers (appear after Koume’s scene): Ace Trainer Heath, in the south-east about a dozen steps south of the Burmy rock, offers Singles or Doubles as often as you like. Ace Trainer Flo stands just north of the Skorupi rock. Fisherman Noah, a few steps south-east of the north exit, is always there and isn’t a ranger. Flo and Noah share one “battle done” record, which is set only when you win: you get to battle whichever of the two you beat first, and the other one is closed after that.
- Bug Catcher Andy (north-east of the forest, a few steps north of where Koume first stands): once he has caught the Spinarak that ran away from Azalea Town, he asks you to be their first opponent. Optional battle, no item (see Azalea Town: small extras).
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 92 (scripts 13, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27; Andy ≈78,25, trainer 121, flags 427/1481). Rocky Helmet man ≈63,12 (shares flag 2104 with the Ariados rock; hack finding: a set 2104 makes the Ariados rock skip at L1927 → L4344 without adding to counter 0x409f, while the end-of-hunt checks (e.g. L4490, L9322) only need 2104 set, so the hunt still ends; Skorupi’s rock also resolves Ariados if it is still up, so Ariados can never be the last bug left); Leaf Storm tutor ≈64,39; Heath ≈92,62 and Flo ≈74,57 (appear after Koume); Noah ≈39,16; Flo and Noah share flag 1460, set only on a win.
Azalea Gym: Bugsy’s no-type-advantage battle (the Hive Badge)
Section titled “Azalea Gym: Bugsy’s no-type-advantage battle (the Hive Badge)”Bugsy's team is Lv. 80. Do first: Ilex Forest: Bugsy's bug hunt with Honey (story; the more you catch, the better the reward).
Where: Azalea Gym (the Spinarak-cart puzzle leads to him).
Who gets it / when: Bugsy is away in Ilex Forest until you finish the Ilex Forest bug-catching story. Until then the Gym guide says he’s out, and Bugsy isn’t in the Gym.
How it works: Bugsy asks you to fight without any Pokémon strong against Bug. He calls it a 4-on-4 match, but the game never actually counts your party, so you can most likely bring six (see Known issues). He checks your party against a fixed list of 203 species (Eggs are skipped). If any of them is in your party he refuses (“None of your Pokémon can have a type that’s strong against Bug”).
- The list is essentially every Fire-, Flying- and Rock-type (Charmander line, Pidgey line, Geodude line, Gyarados, Scyther, Pinsir, Skarmory, Volcarona, Talonflame…). It also bans a few you might not expect, because of this hack’s type changes and forms: Conkeldurr, Tangrowth, Grumpig and Cursola are part Rock here; Lumineon and Sirfetch’d are part Flying; Cherrim (its Sunshine Form is Grass/Fire), Rotom (Heat and Fan forms) and Shaymin (Sky Forme, a form you can’t get here) are banned as a whole species because one of their forms has a banned type.
- Some Pokémon with those types are not on it: Hippowdon (Ground/Rock in this hack) and 55 Fire, Flying or Rock species from after Sinnoh. (Altaria and Tropius aren’t Flying here: Altaria is Dragon/Fairy and Tropius is Grass/Dragon.) Check your party before you go in.
- His team: Scyther Lv. 80, Escavalier 80, Heracross 80, Volcarona 80.
Reward: Hive Badge, TM81 X-Scissor, and Bugsy’s phone number.
Rematch: after the badge, talk to him again → Singles or Doubles (Doubles needs two Pokémon). Level 86–87 team, no type restriction. After a rematch win he repeats his “None of your Pokémon can have a type…” line instead of a victory line; it means nothing. After your final Hall of Fame entry he is away on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Before that he’s there every day.
Notes: the Gym guide by the entrance teaches Megahorn once you have the Hive Badge (see the tutor list).
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 866 (Azalea Gym), scripts 17 and 2, L367–L4610 (Bugsy appears with flag 2031, set by the Ilex Forest story); file 865 (Gym entrance). Species-list gaps: hack finding D-1426. Party-size check at L367 compares 0x8005 without a GetPartyCount; rematch win lines L4530/L4590 reuse message 22.
Ilex Forest: Koume, the Kimono Girl who lost her way (blocks the exit to Route 34)
Section titled “Ilex Forest: Koume, the Kimono Girl who lost her way (blocks the exit to Route 34)”Finish Bugsy's hunt first: Koume's, Sakura's and the ranger's talks share the hunt's progress.
Where: Koume stands in the middle of the forest, north-east of the Leaf Storm tutor. Her sister Sakura blocks the Route 34 door of the north gatehouse (the forest’s north exit).
Who gets it / when: everyone. You can’t leave for Route 34 and Goldenrod until you’ve done this: Sakura stands in the doorway until Koume is safe.
How it works:
- Talk to Koume. Whatever you answer (“Go straight ahead” / “Turn north” / “I don’t know the way”), she doesn’t find the way. The first two make her wander off to the north-east of the forest, about 15 steps south of the fire ranger and his Squirtle.
- Go through the north exit and talk to Sakura in the gatehouse.
- Go back to Koume (right next to the Ariados rock if you said “I don’t know the way”, otherwise in the north-east spot from step 1) and choose “Your sister sent me for you”. “Find your own way out” does nothing.
- She follows you. You lead her to the north exit automatically.
Reward: Sun Stone.
Notes: straight after, Gold (badge-race chat) and Crystal (on her way to her grandparents’ Day-Care on Route 34) talk to you. This scene ends several earlier side quests for good: the Union Cave Cyndaquil (Union Cave 1F: Goh and the wild Cyndaquil) and the Violet City Marill (Violet City: the runaway Marill). It also sends the forest rangers into Ilex Forest.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 92 (script 19, L3187–L3452, L5832–L10540; var 0x409a 1→2, 3/4 → 5 → 1; flag 2033), file 869 (Azalea–Ilex gatehouse, Sakura: var 0x409a 1→3, 2→4). Positions: Koume ≈75,32; wander spot ≈93,27; “I don’t know the way” spot ≈80,49; Sakura ≈37,3 in the gatehouse.
Ilex Forest: the fire ranger’s stray Houndour (→ 10 Safari Balls)
Section titled “Ilex Forest: the fire ranger’s stray Houndour (→ 10 Safari Balls)”Safest order: finish Bugsy's hunt first, then start this.
Where: the fire ranger with two Squirtle in the north-east of the forest. The Houndour starts in the north-west, about 20 steps south of the north exit.
Who gets it / when: as soon as you reach the ranger. Talk to the ranger first; before that, the Houndour only barks. Safest order: finish Bugsy’s hunt, then start this quest. If you’ve already caught the Houndour during the hunt, claim the Safari Balls from the ranger before you report the hunt to Bugsy; otherwise the quest resets and the Balls are lost.
How it works:
- The ranger asks you to catch a stray Houndour.
- Talk to the Houndour. It runs away four times, each time to a new spot. Follow it and talk to it again each time:
- first next to Bugsy’s team, near the south entrance;
- then just north-east of the Ariados rock;
- then in the north, just south-east of the man with the sore head;
- then on the far east side, just south of the Burmy rock.
- The fifth time it attacks: a battle against a Lv. 20 Houndour. Win, then “Catch it?” → Yes: Houndour (Lv. 20) joins you (party needs a free slot; if it’s full, come back and it asks again).
- Tell the ranger.
Reward: Houndour Lv. 20 and 10 Safari Balls.
Notes: losing the battle blacks you out. You can retry. Afterwards the ranger tells you a legend about Shaymin, Leafeon and Celebi (a hint for the Forest of Time entry below).
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 92 (scripts 30, 31; L3866–L4198, L6779; var 0x409b 1→9; trainer 764; flag 303). The hunt’s end sets 0x409b = 1 (L5725); the ranger’s start sets 2 (L4155) and the report sets 9 (L4188). The ranger starts the quest whenever the Burmy state is at its starting value; the hunt’s end resets it. Positions: ranger ≈87,12; Houndour ≈35,30 → ≈41,61 → ≈81,48 → ≈64,15 → ≈95,53.
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