What a spooky, eerie, mysterious place!
First off, you can use Rock Smash here on the rocks to pick up some neat items fairly frequently. When you run out of rocks to smash, you can just leave the area and go back to it and they will reappear.
[areaitems title=”By using Rock Smash”]
[areaitem i=blue-shard n=”Blue Shard”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins. (More common in SoulSilver.)[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=green-shard n=”Green Shard”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins. (More common in SoulSilver.)[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=red-shard n=”Red Shard”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins. (More common in HeartGold.)[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=yellow-shard n=”Yellow Shard”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins. (More common in HeartGold.)[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=helix-fossil n=”Helix Fossil”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins. (HeartGold only.) (You cannot revive this fossil until you get to Pewter City much later in the game, but it will become an Omanyte.)[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=dome-fossil n=”Dome Fossil”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins. (SoulSilver only.) (You cannot revive this fossil until you get to Pewter City much later in the game, but it will become a Kabuto.)[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=old-amber n=”Old Amber”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins. (You cannot revive this fossil until you get to Pewter City much later in the game, but it will become an Aerodactyl.)[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=max-ether n=”Max Ether”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins.[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=max-revive n=”Max Revive”]Found by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the ruins. (Very rare.)[/areaitem]
[/areaitems]
One of the houses isn’t actually a house. When you walk in it, it won’t take you anywhere, so just walk out the east side of it and you’ll see it’s just covered. Walk through that then through the one nearby to reach the building with a real door in it.
Inside, you’ll find a small room with a lady in it that tells you some stuff. It’s basically just a puzzle that you need to solve.
You need to use your touch screen on your DS to drag these pieces onto the puzzle to make it look like a Kabuto. It’s changed a bit from the old days of Gold and Silver; now you have to rotate the pieces as well! To move them into place, just drag them over (hold down the stylus and move it into position). To rotate a piece, just tap it when it’s in place and it’ll spin.
The first puzzle shouldn’t be too difficult. Just remember to spin and look at the thing! You should be able to determine if it doesn’t look right.
After you’ve solved it, the floor will give up beneath your feet, causing you to fall down into the depths of the ruins! Down there will be another unfortunate soul who passed the test, thinking he’d win a brand new car, only to be sent down there to his doom. Wait, what?! Well he’s down there nonetheless. And because he’s a cool guy, he gives you the Unown Report, which is a Key Item that contains notes on… the Unown. Then he just leaves like it never even happened.
[areaitems title=”Ruins of Alph”]
[areaitem i=unown-report n=”Unown Report”]Given to you by a researcher in the basement of the Ruins of Alph after solving the first puzzle.[/areaitem]
[/areaitems]
[encountertable title=”Ruins of Alph (Basement)”]
[encountersect method=”wild” rate=15]
[encounter p=unown l=5 r=100]
[/encountersect]
[/encountertable]
Now you’ll fight Unown down here. They’re at level 5 and you’ll find a few different letter variants of them. They’re pretty useless in combat, though, but you may want to catch a few of them to get closer to unraveling this puzzle.
Go ahead and make your way south until you get to the ladder, then take it up to leave the basement.
Before you head out, if you have an Escape Rope in your inventory, you can go back to the room with the puzzle to get some items. Go back to that room and then examine the slab on the back wall. It should say some message in Unown, spelling out the word “ESCAPE”.
Yep, that’s your cue: use the Escape Rope and then it will open up a path leading you back to some secret swag.
[areaitems title=”Ruins of Alph (1st Puzzle Room)”]
[areaitem i=energypowder n=”EnergyPowder”]Found behind the first room’s puzzle after using an Escape Rope where the Unown lettering says “ESCAPE”.[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=heal-powder n=”Heal Powder”]Found behind the first room’s puzzle after using an Escape Rope where the Unown lettering says “ESCAPE”.[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=oran-berry n=”Oran Berry”]Found behind the first room’s puzzle after using an Escape Rope where the Unown lettering says “ESCAPE”.[/areaitem]
[areaitem i=pecha-berry n=”Pecha Berry”]Found behind the first room’s puzzle after using an Escape Rope where the Unown lettering says “ESCAPE”.[/areaitem]
[/areaitems]
Nothing that fantastic or anything, but it’s still some stuff to possibly help you out. You can drop down that hole behind the items and you’ll find yourself on a floor with more Unown lettering carved into the ground beneath you.
That lettering spells out the following message: “OUR CLAN ENGRAVED WORDS IN THIS PLACE”. Interesting. Drop down the hole to get back to the basement.
Eh, might as well make your way on to Route 32 now that you’ve done all you can do here for now. Now that you can actually proceed on Route 32, that is.
[link to Route 32]