• Dream Mist Mission

Even though we've conquered the Pokemon Gym here at Striaton, our work in the city is not yet complete. After exiting the gym, you will be greeted by Fennel, who will lead you to her house saying that she is a friend of Professor Juniper's. Upstairs, she will introduce herself and present HM01 Cut! This HM will allow you to cut small trees outside of battle, revealing passages to new areas. Be careful using HMs, because they can only be forgotten by use of the Move Deleter in Mistralton City, which is quite a way off at the moment.

Our new friend Fennel will send us on a mission to retrieve some Dream Mist from the Dreamyard, which is where we saw the tree we were unable to cut down earlier. Teach one of your Pokemon HM01 Cut and head on your way. Stop by the Pokemon Center if you need to heal up.

• Double Plasma Trouble

Now we'll want to walk up to that fragile tree we saw when visiting the Dreamyard earlier, and we can interact with it now. After you've taught HM01 Cut to one of your Pokemon, walk up to the tree and interact with it. This will prompt you to cut down the tree, which will allow access deeper into the Dreamyard. After cutting down the tree and moving forward, Bianca will pay us another visit. She asks if you're also looking for a Pokemon, which means that Fennel must have sent her to do the same as us.

When moving deeper into the Dreamyard, you will hear the cry of Munna. This Munna will be sitting in the middle of Dreamyard by itself, and as you approach it the Pokemon will walk away from you, probably in surprise at seeing people there. It is at this time that you will be ambushed by two Team Plasma Grunts, who have come to do the same as you -- retrieve the Dream Mist from Munna. They will begin abusing the Pokemon. This is when Bianca will confront them, and the Team Plasma Grunts will issue a challenge against you, so I hope you're ready for a battle. This one is nothing to fret over, as the Pokemon you are facing here are less powerful than the ones you faced in the gym, and are in lesser numbers. The second grunt will challenge us after defeating the first one.

The grunts will go right back to abusing the Munna for the Dream Mist after you take care of them, though. Bianca will once again yell at them to stop, and this is when Ghetsis suddenly appears for the second time. But wait... another Ghetsis appears on the right, too? I guess that makes it the third appearance. The two Ghetsises... Ghetsi? will disappear and be replaced by one, and he will reprimand the grunts for their failure... but is this really Ghetsis?

After this odd event, Musharna will appear from around the corner. This is the evolution of Munna, and has the ability to project dreams into reality. That means - you guessed it - the event with Ghetsis was all an illusion. Fennel will rush in excitedly after the appearance of Musharna, and both Pokemon will retreat back into the Dreamyard. Bianca will explain the situation, and Fennel will go examine the item that Munna seemed to have left behind. This is the Dream Mist we came to collect, so our little task is completed.

Fennel will request you come back to her house, but first we're going to be doing a little collecting in the Dreamyard. Now that we've cut down the tree that blocked the path, we have access to all kinds of new items. Directly to your left where Musharna and Munna exited there is an item in the dark grass. Grab it to receive a Poke Ball. Next, walk through the grass in the top right and walk around the steps to climb up them. On the right side of the bridge is where a Repel is located, and you can also find a Potion on the right. Slightly hidden is another item that we can find by heading straight down after coming down the steps. It is located by the hole in the wall, and is a Paralyz Heal.

If you want to do some more collecting, there are a few Pokemon we haven't seen before located in the Dreamyard. There are a couple patches of grass in the area we are in, so have a ball.

• C-Gear and Dream World

Now we can return to Fennel's house to see what she's got for us. Heading upstairs, Fennel will jump in excitement and give you the C-Gear. The C-Gear is a replacement to the PokeGear you may have been familiar with in previous games. The C-Gear offers many different features, including the Online Pokemon Dream World. As Fennel is explaining the C-Gear's features, a girl named Amanita will come over and introduce herself as Fennel's little sister. She will give you a Pal Pad as a gift and explain how to add friends so you can communicate with them over Wi-Fi Connection. Amanita also happens to be the person who developed the Pokemon Storage System that you keep your Pokemon in on the PC.

Now we are prepared to exit Striaton City. Head to the garden on the west side of the city and pick up the Great Ball in the southwest. When approaching the gate, take a left and go up to the row of trees at the top. Walk straight to the water and turn so you are facing the tree. Interact with the tree to get a BalmMushroom. This mushroom can be sold for a high price to a collector on Route 5. After taking care of this, walk through the gate and onto Route 3.

• Route to a Rival

Moving straight up along Route 3, we will find the Pokemon Daycare at the top of the stairs. You can leave your Pokemon here and they will be raised for you. Be aware that any moves they learn while they are at the Daycare may replace another move that you want, though. Heading to the west from the Daycare, while still at the top of the stairs, there is a playground. Here you will encounter a few trainers. All of these should be relatively easy, and three are optional and only engage if you speak to the trainer. If you interact with a space near the middle of the sandbox, you will find an Ultra Ball hidden there.

Heading back onto the main route, there are two twins along the way who will challenge you to a double battle, so get ready. Continuing along the path, we will come to a fork in the road. This will signal the entrance of Cheren, who wishes to contest his strength against you one more. This battle is a little harder than some we've had so far, so get ready!

Cheren will lead with his starter, so if you want to switch to the Pokemon you obtained at the Dreamyard earlier, it may help in covering your weakness. You should have no problem combating your foe's starter in this manner, as the typical attack will be the type-move that your opponent learns. The only threat with Purrloin is Assist, and only presents a problem if it ends up being the move that your starter is weak against, provided you are using your starter.

After winning the battle against Cheren, two Team Plasma Grunts will rush from Route 3 and shout at you. Bianca follows these two grunts, who appear to be headed west. Accompanying Bianca is a little girl, and it is revealed that Team Plasma stole this girl's Pokemon as a part of their "liberation of Pokemon" ideal. We can't just let these brutes take Pokemon from little girls, so let's get on their case. As we follow Cheren, make a turn up into the grass to grab the Super Potion.

• Crime and Punishment

When you enter the cave you will stand next to Cheren's side while battling a Team Plasma Grunt. The battle should be fairly easy if your Pokemon are in a good condition. After defeating the first grunt, two more will appear from deeper within the cave and challenge you. This time we've got a double battle on our hands. Instead of just one Patrat, we'll be going up against two this time. The battle, once again, should be fairly easy. You'll receive another speech about how humans are abusing Pokemon, and the little girl's Pokemon will be returned to you. Before we leave, there is an item that we can grab while we're here. Head east and wind around so you are on the other side of the ledge. The item here is TM46 Thief.

After exiting Wellspring Cave, walk through the grass directly east of the entrance and head down to find a Repel. The trainer here is also avoidable but should be easy to defeat even if you are low on health from the Team Plasma battle. You can receive an Oran Berry as a reward for defeating her. As we approach Bianca and the little girl, you will be thanked and presented with Heal Balls as a thank you gift for saving the little girl's Pokemon.

Proceeding along Route 3 there are a few trainers, most of which are avoidable if you sidetrack a little bit. In the grass behind the first trainer is an Antidote. You will encounter Cheren along the way, and he will tell you about thick grass. Sometimes, when walking through thick grass, you will encounter two Pokemon in a double battle. Be aware that you can't catch the Pokemon you encounter during a double battle, though. Just before the bridge there is a stretch of grass that leads south. Follow this path to a Great Ball. After crossing the bridge there is also an Antidote located in the middle of the grass patches. Now we can make our way to Nacrene City.

• Power to Change the World

As soon as we take our first few steps into the city, we see our friend Cheren in front of us. He will point out the location of the Pokemon Center and give you a Chesto Berry, which awakens a Pokemon from Sleep. You can give this to a Pokemon and it will take effect during battle. He'll offer some useful information about the Pokemon Gym here, as well. First, head to the far house west of the Pokemon Center. The first person on the left will give you an item that boosts the power of moves that are the same type as your starter. The warehouse next to this one sells some battle items if you want to check it out, too.

To the west of the warehouses is a railroad track. If you inspect the area on the railroad track you will find a hidden Revive. In the northwest part of the city there is a Cafe and an accordion player. To the right of him there is a hidden Ultra Ball you can grab by inspecting the area. On Wednesday you will get a Soda Pop if you talk to the waitress in the Cafe. Heading out the west side of the city, there is as girl along the fence here. Talk to her and she will give you TM94 Rock Smash, which is super-effective against Nacrene City's Gym Leader.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's head to the Nacrene Gym. When we walk up to the door, though, N will appear for the second time in our journey. He will give you a speech about the ideals of trainers, the truth inside Pokeballs. You will now be challenged to another Pokemon battle to see if you can see this perfect future.

• Trainer Battle: N

This is one of the more difficult battles we've had so far, so be aware of your type weaknesses. Use a combination of the moves you have so far to defeat your opponent's Pokemon. I suggest using moves that are the same type as the Pokemon as you are using, as they get a boost in power for being the same type. One of the things you should look out for is Timburr's Bide. I don't suggest switching out unless your Pokemon can take a large hit when it uses Bide. It takes a couple turns to use, but it does a lot of damage to your Pokemon. Tympole's Supersonic can be annoying, so make sure you use your potions if you find yourself needing to.

• Back to Basics

After defeating N, we are free to enter the Nacrene Gym, which is actually partially a museum. When you enter you will be greeted by a man who shows the skeleton of a dragon Pokemon. If you are a veteran Pokemon fan, you may notice that this skeleton looks an awful lot like Dragonite. He will show you around to various other exhibits in the museum, as well. The gym itself is located in the back of the building, past the museum. The man will finally introduce himself as the wife of the Gym Leader, and then we are free to challenge the gym.

Taking the first few steps into the actual gym, we will be presented with another Fresh Water as we begin the challenge. If your Pokemon are not at least level 17, you may want to go train a little bit and perhaps catch a fighting Pokemon in the area to the west of Nacrene City. You will notice that the theme of this gym is a library, which relates to the personality of the Gym Leader and her husband.

Right away there is a trainer at the entrance, so prepare your Pokemon for a battle. The first thing you'll notice when battling is that the Pokemon here are quite a bit higher leveled than the Pokemon we have encountered so far. All of the trainers here use Normal-type Pokemon, so you don't have to worry too much about type disadvantages. The first thing you want to do is head to the bookshelf that you see immediately on your left. Read the book here and follow the hint to the bookshelf on the left side in the middle row. Taking this hint into account, talk to the person reading the book in the back of the gym.

The hint from the locomotive book tells us that the next one is close to the entrance, so let's take a look at the one bookshelf we didn't check out over there. This last note leads you to the girl standing at the bookshelf in the middle of the room, and she will ask you a question and start another battle. After winning, a staircase will be revealed by the moved bookshelf that leads us to the Nacrene Gym Leader Lenora. I suggest giving your Pokemon Chesto Berries to hold before challenging her.

• Gym Leader Battle: Lenora

Be wary of some of the more powerful moves that this Gym Leader's Pokemon have. Some of them can cause quite a bit of damage, especially Take Down. The biggest threat, though, is probably Lenora's Watchog. Retaliate will pack a large punch to your Pokemon after you defeat Herdier, so you may want to switch out on the first move. Hypnosis is the primary move of choice, and your Pokemon is left wide open for attack while sleeping. Though hypnosis doesn't have the accuracy of some moves, it's still best not to gamble. If you gave your Pokemon Chesto Berries as suggested, you should have less trouble with Watchog. If you chose Tepig as your starter and have a fighting type move or obtained a Fighting-type Pokemon from the area west of Nacrene City, you should be better off, as both of these Pokemon are Normal-type, and thus have a weakness to fighting.

After this battle - truly the toughest so far - you will be rewarded with both the Basic Badge and TM67 Retaliate for your outstanding effort. Retaliate is a move that has more power if used after the opponent faints one of your party Pokemon. This is a great move to use a scapegoat with. You can send out a low-leveled Pokemon to have it purposely faint, then send in your attacker. In addition to receiving these, Pokemon up to Level 30 now obey you without fail.