As you head forward, you’ll be stopped by Sonia, who is waving at you from over by the Pokémon Center. She’ll lead you inside and will point out the Rotomi to you, telling you that you can use it to customize your League Card. She’ll give you Leon’s League Card to get started.
She’ll leave after a bit more discussion and tell you to track her down later.
There’s another man at the Poké Mart. Some Poké Marts have multiple clerks, and when you find a Poké Mart that does, be sure to talk to the clerk on the bottom, as they have a unique inventory while the one on top will have the standard selection of items for sale based on the number of badges you have.
| Shop Items | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
Heal Ball |  300 |
 |
Net Ball | 1000 |
 |
Nest Ball | 1000 |
 |
X Attack | 1000 |
 |
X Defense | 2000 |
 |
X Sp. Atk | 1000 |
 |
X Sp. Def | 2000 |
The various Poké Balls aren’t terribly useful, especially given how much they cost, so you’re best not to worry about them for now, although Nest Balls will be quite effective at this point in the game, so having one or two around just in case there’s a Pokémon you absolutely must have might not be a terrible idea.
The X Items for sale here are temporary stat-boosting items that raise your battling Pokémon’s Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, or Sp. Def — depending on the item — by two stages in battle, as if it were the effect of a move. That effectively doubles the corresponding stat the first time you use it in a battle, so it’s very helpful to have a few just in case things get rough. The defensive ones cost more, but they can help weaker Pokémon survive moves they otherwise wouldn’t. It’s not necessary to get any just yet, though, and you’re unlikely to find any fight outside of the Wild Area too threatening, but don’t forget these items if you run into trouble later on in the game.
If you have a Bunnelby, you can talk to the Lass on the right, Haley, and she’ll trade you her Skwovet for it. Her Skwovet is named Cheekers and is at level 10, holding an Oran Berry. It’s not really a particularly good trade, since Skwovet are pretty easy to find, but Bunnelby is rather common in the Wild Area, and since this Skwovet is considered a traded Pokémon, it will gain EXP 50% faster.
Additionally, at this point, not only will you be able to use Rotomi to customize your League Card with the “Use Card Maker” option, but Poké Jobs are now available for you from this menu. Poké Jobs are a way for you to send your unused or extra Pokémon out into the world to complete tasks and earn rewards, including EXP. You’ll unlock better jobs as you complete more and some Pokémon types fit better for some jobs.
Upon leaving the Pokémon Center, you’ll find Sonia waiting for you. She’ll ask if you remember what your goal was. Whatever you say, she’ll point you towards the lift in the center of town and tell you that’s where you need to go. You need to take the lift at the end of the path to reach the upper level.
However, there’s a lot of stuff you can do in town. One thing you can’t do is go too far to the west, as there are some people blocking the bridge. There is a hidden item to the north before the bridge. It’s a Nugget, which is a valuable item that can be sold for 5,000 and is definitely worth picking up.
There’s another hidden item if you go along the eastern path, down the steps. Against the eastern wall, inside of a trash can, is a hidden Poké Ball. Less exciting, but still useful.
Anyway, you’ll find a few shops down the main avenue before the lift.
Battle Café
The first building on the left is the Battle Café. Once per day you can challenge the Café Master to a battle and, if you win, you’ll receive a reward in the form of a Sweet.
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The item he gives is random and include various sweets, including the Sweets that evolve Milcery into Alcremie and the HP-recovering Sweet Heart. You can battle him once per day.
Record Shop
The second shop on the left isn’t really a shop, but you can talk to the man and he’ll give you TR13 Focus Energy. TRs are similar to TMs, except they stand for Technical Records instead and, unlike TMs, can only be used a single time before breaking.
Think carefully before using them on your Pokémon, although you can wind up with a bunch of them in the Wild Area by battling in Max Raid Battles or exchanging Watts for them. Focus Energy raises the Pokémon’s critical hit rate by two stages, giving it a base rate of 50%, or 100% for moves that already have a higher critical hit rate.
Salon
The Salon is the second storefront on the right, after the Flower Shop — which doesn’t even sell flowers. You can pay 3,000 to get your hairstyle changed or 1,000 for makeup.
There are a variety of hairstyles and hair colors to choose from and, unlike previous games, you’ll be able to see a preview while making your choice. There are also more exotic colors such as blue, green, and red available to choose from.
As for makeup, while there are a lot more options available to players playing as the girl Trainer, there are also eyebrow options and contact — eye color — options for both genders. Some of the contact options are particularly wild, such as rainbows, fire, stars, hearts, and pure darkness.
Boutique
There’s a boutique in the third storefront on the right, past the Salon, and there are a lot more items for sale in the Boutique. You can also find Sonia there if you haven’t already been to the Stadium.
Under the Bridge
While it isn’t necessarily a shop, there is a bridge that separates the southern and northern parts of the street. There’s also a hidden Super Potion in the top-left corner of the underside of the bridge, near the top-left pillar.
Northern Record Shop
The first storefront on the right after crossing beneath the bridge allegedly sells records, but you can’t actually buy any. You can, however, talk to the man nearby and he’ll give you the Hi-tech Earbuds. This is a Key Item that actually unlocks some extra options in your Options menu. At the bottom of the Options menu, you’ll find three new options: Background Music, Sound Effects, and Pokémon Cries. You can freely adjust the volume of all three of these now that you have the earbuds.
There are also 2 Paralyze Heals to the north of it, in the corner by the fence.
Motostoke Stadium and Budew Drop Inn
As you approach the lift, you’ll hear the roar of a Charizard. It’s Leon and his Charizard! He’ll give you an item, although which item depends on which starter Pokémon you chose — he’ll give a Miracle Seed if you chose Grookey, a Charcoal if you chose Scorbunny, or a Mystic Water if you chose Sobble. These items, when held, power up the respective type’s moves by 20%, so they’re a good idea to give to your starter Pokémon.
Now, head up the lift by walking into it and you’ll be brought up to the top level. Talk to the man wearing a Poké Ball on his head and he’ll give you a Poké Ball. Wow! He’s known as the Ball Guy and you’ll find him at other points throughout your adventure, usually at Gyms.
As you approach the Stadium, you’ll find Hop waiting for you there. He’ll say a few things and then head inside. You’ll run into a rather smug looking dude who just got done registering, and will then both get registered as Gym Challengers.
You’ll then be given the option to choose a uniform number for the back of your uniform. It will show up on the challenger uniform you’ll wear to Gyms as well on any uniform style outfits. You can pick up to three numbers for your uniform number.
After that, you’ll need to stay the night at the Budew Drop Inn, so leave the building and head south. A man will show you the way to the Inn, so follow him west and then go inside the Inn when you get there.
Sonia will be waiting for you inside. She’ll point out a cool statue in the lobby of the hotel and will offer to tell you its story. It’s of a hero who once saved the Galar region from a great black storm called “the Darkest Day.”
Next up, you’ll need to check in, however there’s an unruly crowd of people at the check in desk. They introduce themselves as Team Yell, and you’ll be prompted to battle them. Say yes and you’ll start the fight.
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The first two you’ll fight one-on-one and they use Dark-type Pokémon, so keep that in mind. After taking them down, Hop will come over, fully heal your Pokémon, and then will join you in a Double Battle against two Team Yell Grunts.
720720Hop will use his Pokémon in the fight to serve as your ally, and he leads with his Wooloo at level 10, but will send out his starter Pokémon at level 12 if it faints.
After the fight, one of the girls that was registering at the Stadium earlier will appear and attract the attention of Team Yell. Her name is Marnie and Team Yell are essentially her rabid, out of control fans. They all root for her and try to disrupt everyone else standing in her way.
Anyway, after some more discussion, talk to the man at the desk to check in and stay the night.
The next morning, you’ll find Hop ready to go and he’ll tell you to head to the Stadium. You’ll also find Marnie in the lobby to talk to. Go outside and the league assistant will direct you to the Stadium. You can decline to let him take you there if you want, but saying Yes brings you right there, so you might as well.
Inside, talk to the man at the desk and he’ll give you your uniform to change into. You’ll change into it and then be brought into the stadium for a cool cutscene showing the Chairman introducing the Gym Challengers as well as the Gym Leaders.
The Gym Leaders are mostly the same regardless of which version you’re playing, but there are two that are different in each version.
After the cutscene concludes, you’ll be greeted by Leon and Chairman Rose, who introduces himself to you. The group will talk a bit and then you’ll be told you need to go to Turffield in order to take on the first Gym, the Grass Gym. You’ll have to cross through Route 3 in order to get there, which is to the west of Motostoke.
As you leave the Stadium, someone outside will have a gift for you from the Chairman: it’s the ability to use the Flying Taxis — in other words, giving you the ability to Fly. You can now fly back to any location on the Town Map that shows a little wing icon and you’ll travel there immediately.
The Rest of Motostoke
There’s still more to explore in Motostoke. Head to the west to make your way back to the Budew Drop Inn, but keep going further west to find more in town. In order to reach Route 3, you just need to keep going west, but there’s still plenty of other optional things to check out in Motostoke.
Near the building with a Lapras on its garage door, talk to a boy and he’ll be sad that his Minccino is missing. You can offer to help him look for it. He says it likes to play in the water and likes the sound of whistling. If you hear a sound that sounds like a “Mworp,” according to him, then you should whistle by pressing in on the left control stick. You’ll have to be on the lookout for that Minccino! You can find it down by a water fountain to the west of the Motostoke Stadium and he’ll reward you with a Throat Spray when you find it and speak with him again. There’s also a man in the eastern water fountain that will give you a Fresh Water if you whistle near there.
To the south of him, head south until you pass through a giant gear, then head a bit to the right. There’s a hidden X Accuracy behind the container. Head down the stairs to the south to reach a lot of shipping containers. There’s a man down here that says you should return to him after becoming the Champion. Hmmm! There’s also TM02 Pay Day down here, which scatters coins after battle based on the Pokémon’s level and can be very handy to earn some extra cash.
Head all the way back up the stairs and go back to where the Lapras garage was, then keep heading west until you see a Pokémon Center. The second clerk in the Pokémon Center sells some TMs, some of which may be quite useful to you.
| Shop Items | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
TM94 False Swipe | 10000 |
|
TM76 Round | 10000 |
 |
TM17 Light Screen | 10000 |
|
TM18 Reflect | 10000 |
|
TM19 Safeguard | 10000 |
|
TM25 Protect | 10000 |
|
TM41 Helping Hand | 10000 |
False Swipe is a very helpful move for when you’re out catching Pokémon as it will never KO a Pokémon and, if it would, it leaves it with 1 HP instead, meaning you won’t have to worry about accidentally knocking it out.
Round is a 60 power Special-based Normal-type move, which isn’t terrible at this point in the game, but if you and a few friends use that on your Pokémon in a Max Raid Battle early on, each use of it on that turn will increase in power, so it can be an alright way to do some damage.
Light Screen and Reflect both set up “screens” that reduce the damage your Pokémon take from Special-based and Physical-based moves respectively. The damage reduction is 50% in Single Battles and 33% in Double Battles or Max Raid Battles. It affects everyone on your side of the field for 5 turns, not just the Pokémon that uses it, so it can be a great way to help support ally Pokémon in a Max Raid Battle or to just overall make your team a lot harder to take down.
Helping Hand is now a lot more useful than in older games as it can help power up a player’s Dynamax Pokémon in a Max Raid Battle, so if you’re a newbie to Max Raid Battles but still want to help out your more experienced friends, this is a great way to do so. It’s not overly useful for most other battles in the game, though, so keep that in mind.
Anyway, leave the Pokémon Center and head to the south, then a little west, near the path leading further south. Before you go too far, pick up the Silk Scarf near the containers and the fence. It’s a held item similar to the one you got from Leon earlier, except for Normal-type moves, boosting their power by 20%.
To the north of the bench on the right is a hidden Poké Doll that you might as well pick up.
Motostoke Station
Keep heading south and you’ll eventually find the Motostoke Station, which you can use to travel back to Wedgehurst or the Wild Area Station. Of course you can also freely Fly back to these locations even faster using the Flying Taxi, so it’s not really necessary, although you can buy some refreshments in the vending machine for drinks inside.
You can buy Fresh Water for 200, Soda Pop for 300, and Lemonade for 350. You can only buy them one at a time, but they’re extremely cost-effective for the amount of HP they heal. Fresh Water heals 30HP, Soda Pop heals 50HP, and Lemonade heals a respectable 70HP. These all cost less than Super Potions, which heal 60HP, so it’s recommended to buy these for general use healing items throughout your journey. The only downside is you have to buy them one at a time, which takes longer, but at least you can buy the one you just bought repeatedly without having to reselect it.
Lower Motostoke (West)
| Encounters in the area | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| While Fishing | ||||
| Pokémon | Types | Level | Rarity | |
 |
Magikarp | 7–11 | 50% | |
 |
Chewtle | 7–11 | 40% | |
 |
Barboach | 7–11 | 10% | |
Take the lift down to the lower part of town. It’s a different lift than the one you took earlier, don’t worry; this one actually takes you over where the bridge was blocked earlier on, on the west side of town.
Head down the stairs to the south, over to the water to the west, then north to pick up 3 Great Balls.
Go back to the lift and then head a little bit to the east, past the bushes but before the next building. There’s a very narrow path you can walk down between the buildings and there’s a pair of Black Glasses at the very end, which powers up Dark-type moves just like the Silk Scarf powers up Normal-type moves. Handy!
Uniform Shop
The building to the right is actually the Uniform Shop, where you can buy a few special uniforms based on different types. You’ll get uniforms of the types of the Gym Leaders in the game for free, but you can buy all of the ones you won’t get for free here, and the selection does vary by game since there are different Gym Leaders in each game. They’re 18,000 each, though, and unfortunately, no, you can’t use these as your challenger’s uniform — these are just normal clothing items.
To the right of the Uniform Shop is a hidden Revival Herb at the base of the hedges. It’s like a Revive, except it heals your Pokémon’s HP to full although lowers their happiness towards you, which doesn’t actually affect much nowadays except for Pokémon that evolve via happiness.
Anyway, the bridge to the east just connects you back to the part of town you were first at. Head back to the Pokémon Center in the upper part of town, which should be easy to do by using the Flying Taxi.
The Bridge to Route 3
As you try to leave west towards Route 3, you’ll be stopped by Hop, who will challenge you to a battle. If he catches you by surprise, you can just say “But why?” and he’ll give you a chance to heal up or explore more of town.
He has a Potion that he may use in battle if his Pokémon get weak, so keep an eye out for that! Otherwise he’s mostly the same story from the last time you fought him, except a few levels stronger.
He’ll give you Hop’s League Card after the fight and will run off shortly afterward. Make sure you heal up your Pokémon in the nearby Pokémon Center before you follow him over to Route 3!