In the upcoming Pokemon Heart Gold and Pokemon Soul Silver games,, two new routes and a Safari Zone have been added to the leftmost part of Johto, where Cianwood City is. No doubt some of you internet-savvy types will have already read up on it, or maybe even watched a video on it(don't ask me if it exists or not, it's not something people would want to go out on a limb to record :P). But here's my screenshot guide on both new routes. And the obligatory spoiler warning.
Here's the extra cave just a little above the Gym(lolManaphy). Enter, and it's a counter with a sign that says 'To Safari Zone'. So you walk left and then turn to climb up the stairs, all the way up to the exit of the cave and...
...Route 47 begins with a bang. You're looking down from a high cliff towards the ocean below. It's lovely and refreshing, ain't it, having new scenery for once in good ol' Johto? See that cave in the second pic? You can go into it and come out from the lower entrance.
Looks great from up there, but looks better from down here! You can Surf it up all the way to the left to a cliff where you can Rock Climb(you won't get HM Rock Climb till after you finish the Kanto league, so that's a while off). It leads to the place where you catch Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza in this game. You can also climb up the two waterfalls along the route.
First one leads to a secret patch of grass(nothing much here) and the second one takes you to Route 47's river, with an item at the platform on the end(3rd pic). The actual route criss-crosses around this body of water. Nice to have so many water-related hidden areas, eh?
Back to traversing the main part of Route 47. The cave from just now also takes you to the top. Expect a few Trainer battles. Too bad there aren't any new phone numbers to get here. It would've been awesome to return to this route for a battle...Cameo by a certain Gym Leader from Sinnoh. Wake only appears in Route 47 after you've met him in Celadon City Dept. Store(he gives you the Piplup, Turtwig and Chimchar Masks). He's just there to talk though. No photo op with him. Boo.
A little bit upwards and you see another Safari Zone signboard....you're getting close. To the left is the river you get to Surf on. Cross the 2 bridges to a large patch of (avoidable) grass, and....
You've arrived at the Safari Zone! Oh wait...Route 48. If you were wondering about that, it's only the short stretch up to the Safari Zone. The 4th pic in the last paragraph was part of it. Anyway the Zone looks festive with the tiki torches and alfresco stores set up like in Two Island/ Slateport City. They sell Quick Balls and Nest Balls, something you can't get anywhere else in Johto(or Kanto, for that matter). And one more store sells HP Up, Protein, Calcium, the works. You can fly back here to the Pokemon Center too.
This is the main building of the Safari Zone. For 500 credits you have an unlimited amount of time(yes, you read correctly) and 30 Safari Balls to catch whatever. Finish the Warden's request and you'll get his phone number. He'll add new areas and building blocks for you to make your very own Safari, and the areas and blocks you choose can affect the types of Pokemon that appear. And there are a lot of them! After you lick off the Johto League there's a ton more coming in from the National Dex too. Wholesome fun for hours, amirite?
Anyway that concludes my visit to the new routes of Johto. Next time maybe I'll cover Mt. Silver, since that place has also been given a total revamp. I'm off then, but just for now.
