r/ProfessorOak

I’m currently working on a Professor Oak challenge in ZA, and the guide instructs me to evolve Pichu into Pikachu before fighting Zach. I’ve got a Pichu who I’ve leveled up to level 35 already but I wanted to know if I should continue trying to level up my Pichu’s friendship to evolve it here or maybe just move on and save myself some time. I’m not sure how many levels I would need to boost my Pichu’s friendship high enough to evolve and I’ve got 2 of them so it’ll take a while, I’m just not sure how long.

Update: Pichu 1 evolved at lvl 36, gonna grind exp for the other one who should hopefully also evolve at around lvl 36.

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Professor Oak’s Tangrowth’s Challenge Guide 

Disclaimer 

While I have completed this challenge, there are a few pokemon that I believe might be possible in the Wastelands that I was unable to get. I will leave a list of these pokemon along with the items I couldn't get at the end of the description for the Wastelands section of the run. 

Unfortunately, I am unable to make a more 100% guide at this time because I will be unable to work on it after the first week of July, but I wanted to get this out before the DLC came out and possibly changed how items will spawn making all my work useless. 

Once the DLC comes out I might try this run again to check for changes and update if I have the time to get a full 100% guide done up. 

Rules  

No using outside help: This means no use of any online features or additional Switch 2's 

All on one cartridge: You can only use one copy of the game, so no offline help using another counsel + game 

Capture every pokemon before going to a new Area: Finding and having a pokemon be added to your pokedex counts as “Capture”, this includes pokemon like Kyoger who will be added to your pokedex without being a town resident. 

No Glitches: Can’t use anything that would be considered “Breaking the game”. Exploits are not included here because without date skipping this challenge could take months to years to complete. 

Best order: When progressing to the next area you need to go to the area where you can add the most to your pokedex. In this game you always start with Withered Wastelands and end with Sparkling Skylands due to story reason, the other 3 must be done in order based on which can progress the pokedex the most. 

Definitions 

Active Pokemon: Pokemon that are walking around. Has a limit of around 20 at a time 

Area: A place in the game that has an “Environment Level”, these include; 

1. Wither Wastelands 
2. Bleak Beach 
3. Rocky Ridges 
4. Sparkling Skylands 
5. Palette Town

  

 

Introduction/What to expect 

Unlike the mainline games where you may be stuck due to needing to find 1 or 2 pokemon/items using RNG, the majority of pokemon you will be finding in the first area relies on finding items randomly. I highly suggest that you tackle this challenge while also doing other things within the Wastelands in order to prevent burnout, personally I took time to build out a giant apartment for every pokemon I will get while collecting items I didn't need. 

While you are grinding for all the needed items in the Wasteland you should be able to collect nearly every item you need for the other 4 areas before finishing, so you should be able to go to each of the areas and instantly build all habitats and progress the story to the point it will allow you to move on. 

 

IMPORTANT RUN INFORMATION 

1. Trade optimization is key.   You will need to trade for a significant amount of items during your run, and since there is a limit to the amount of active pokemon at one time you will need to make sure that you have as little pokemon as possible that do not have the trade specialty. During my first run I only focused on trades later into the run and was only able to get 2-3 trade tables going at a time, whereas my second run I focused on trade optimization and can see 8-10 per date skip allowing for much quicker resets.   
2. Keep organized and prepare habitats in storage.   Since you want to only have trade pokemon until you get all the items you need it will be best to take the time to prepare all habitats you will need in chests so that you can 1, make sure you have everything, and 2 make sure you are able to fine everything when the time comes. Personally I had two chest sections, one for completed habitats and another for partial habitats that got moved over when I go the missing item.   
3. Keep an eye out for Ho-oh and Lugia feathers.   You will need 5 of each feathers for late into the run in order to make the items to get both birds, and while you should have no problem getting enough for Ho-oh, Lugia will be harder since they only spawn in rain and from what I can tell the dream islands never have rain.   
4. Limit your Pokemon  There can only be so many active pokemon in the area at a single time, so you need to make sure to only have the pokemon you need in order to speed up the run.

 

 

Run by Steps 

Step 1: Build the Poke center 

Step 1 is the simplest step since all you want to do is progress through the games story until you rescue Onix and rebuild the Poke center. The only really important thing to remember when doing this step is to only get necessary pokemon, these would be the pokemon the story forces you to get to progress and pokemon who give you abilities that you will need for this run. 
Below is a list of all the pokemon I obtained during this section, the order I got them in, the habitat/how I got them, and why I got them; 

Ditto	1	I am ditto	Forced/Story
Tangrowth/Professor	2	Added after obtaining PokeDex	Forced/Story
Squirtle	3	Watered Squirtle, no habitat needed	Forced/Story
Bulbasaur	4	Found in Tall Grass Habitat story forced to build	Forced/Story
Charmander	5	Found in Tall Grass Habitat, story forced spawn	Forced/Story
Scyther	6	Found in Tree-Shaded Tall Grass Habitat.	Need Cut for challenge
Hitmonchan	7	Found in Exercise Resting Spot habitat that I built	Need Rock Smash for challenge
Magikarp	8	Added to dex once you talk to them	Couldn't pay me to do this run without being able to jump
Drilbur	9	They encounter you	Rototiller is surprisingly one of the most important abilities needed
Timburr	10	Boulder-shaded Tall Grass habitat	Forced/Story
Drifloon	11	Riding Warm Updrafts Habitat	Dream Islands require for run
Onix	12	Story, no Habitat used	Forced/Story
Slowpoke	13	Seaside Tall Grass Habitat	Forced/Story
Kyogre	14	Story Forced Encounter	Forced/Story

 

Now that you have the Poke center completed you gain access to a single trade spot since it doesn't require power to work. 

 

Step 2: Getting power 

Within the Wasteland there are two sources of power, the already working windmill and two water wheels that are currently dried up and not giving power. While the water wheel furthest north is impossible to get running at this point in the run, you can enter the water flow point for the horsea fountain area and dig through the mountain to the other side just barely get the water flow to reach the water wheel on the other side. You might have to adjust your tunnel to reach the water wheel. 

Sadly unlike most games where you can power items close to generators without wires, in this game you require either a utility pole or wireless transmitter in order to use the energy to power anything. You can't get the wireless energy items until you get porygon who is area locked to the Skylands, and you can't find utility poles from trades, shops, or item pokeballs. 

Thankfully this part of the challenge is saved by 1 key item, the Pikachu Doll. 

Step 2.1: Getting Pikachu 

While simple in concept, actually finding the Pikachu doll is fully reliant on RNG. All the dolls in the game can be found from the Buried Treasure spots that you can find by their glow or by using a pokemon with the Search specialty. Each of the dolls are locked to the areas that they take their Biomes from; Eevee in Wasteland, Pikachu in Bleach Beach, Dragonite in Skylands, and Clefairy & Arcanine in Rocky Ridges.  

While each area has their own dolls the dream islands are not locked to specific dolls, so what you'll need to do is bring a Pokemon with Search to your daily dream island and dig up every spotm and if you don't find Pikachu you repeat until you do. 

While searching for the Pikachu doll you can use this time to gather the fossils you will need for later in the run 

Tips: 

• The distance a pokemon can detect buried treasure is further than you think. 
• They will only move about 10 blocks towards the spot each time you use search 
• To speed up finding the spots underground you can either run quite a bit towards where your search pokemon was heading, or move to the side and search again then using the angle to plot out how far away it should be. 
• USE A FLYING POKEMON, the pathing isn't the wrost but that doesn't make it good. I used Vespiquen since you will want her anyways since she can give you rare furniture in trade for honey. 
• Make sure to full clear the dream island of pokeball items and underground items, even if you don’t need them now you will in the future 
• If you find other dolls, rotate which island you explore to get more other items you will need, there are a lot of items that can only be found on specific dream islands, or at least have much higher spawn chances.

 

 

Step 2.2: Getting Utility poles 

Now that you got the Pikachu doll it will allow you to go to a dream island that shares a biome with Bleak Beach, and on this dream island it can spawn what I call "The Park" area which has; two benches, a garbage bin, vending machine, and two utility poles. While "The Park" doesn't have a 100% chance to generate each time you go to the dream island, it does spawn quite often so it won't take too long to get all the utility poles you will need for the run. 

 

Step 3: Building the Trade Area 

Now that you have the ability to run power to anywhere in the map, you can start planning where to put all your trade spots, personally I'd recommend clearing out the area in front of the Poke center all the way to the stairs leading up to the starting spawn area you come from when you started the save file. This way you can quickly check the pokemon inside the poke center along with the rest. 

For each trade spot you will need 6 small tables or 3 long tables, 1 spot for the cash register, and 5 for the items pokemon will trade. 

What surprised me the most during my initial run is that if you go into the poke center without a pokemon currently trading, you can't take a picture of the cash register so you can't print more, but if you wait for a pokemon to go into it and set up a trade stand you can now use your camera to take a picture of the cash register and use pokemetal to print as many as you need. 

 

Step 4: Staffing your Trade Area 

With your trade area now set up and powered, you only need to get pokemon that will use the area to trade. 

The important thing to remember when getting all the pokemon you need is to only get the pokemon who can trade while not spawning in anything else. Most Pokemon have 2 different habitats they can spawn at, so you want to make sure that you are setting up the habitat that has the lowest chance of spawning something you don't want. A good example of this is Blastoise, they can spawn from the Hydrated Tall Grass or Floating in the Shade habitats. While you can easily make the first habitat from the start, it can 2 pokemon that would take up active pokemon space with no benefit. The 2^(nd) habitat listed can only spawn Blastoise, so you should only use that habitat to get them. 

There are also two different spawn types when a pokemon shows up in a habitat, the Surprise and the Wanderer.  

The Surprise spawn type is when an item in the habitat shakes, forcing you to interact with it in order to see which pokemon has spawned. Example is Charmander spawning from shaking grass. 

The Wanderer spawn type is when a pokemon shows up and walks around the habitat with a big yellow speech bubble. Example is Hitmonchan showing up to look at the punching bag. 

When deciding which trade pokemon to focus on, try to set up a habitat with a Wanderer spawn since if something spawns that you don't want you can break the habitat then reload the area to despawn them before setting it back up and hoping for better odds. 

Below is a list of recommended/easiest trade pokemon (minus impossible/story spawns/area locked), the habitat you should use, and a comment about why they are good to go for. 

Blastoise	Floating in the Shade	Solo spawn
Slowbro	Bed with Plush	Two spawn, same rarity, Wanderer spawn
Tyrogue	Training Waterfall	Solo spawn
Hitmonlee	Urgent Care	Solo spawn
Hitmontop	Gym First Aid	Solo spawn
Hoothoot	Gently Lit Bed	2 trader spawn only
Noctowl	Gently Lit Bed	2 trader spawn only
Gastrodon East & West	Ocean Fishing Spot	2 trader spawn only
Goodra	Very-Berry Space	Solo spawn
Persian	Evil Organization HQ	Solo spawn
Gastly	Spooky Study	2 trader spawn only
Haunter	Spooky Study	2 trader spawn only
Gengar	Surprise in Store	3 trader spawn only
Chansey	Full Recovery	Solo spawn
Ampharos	Plain Life	Solo spawn
Prinplup	Waterwheel Spot	2 trader spawn only, need for power anyways
Empoleon	Waterwheel Spot	2 trader spawn only, need for power anyways
Audino	Working The Register
Zoroark	Surprise in Store	3 trader spawn only
Mimikyu	Pikachu Space	Solo spawn
Tatsugiri x3	Beach Set	3 trader spawn only
Golem	Mossy Boulder	Solo spawn
Sudowoodo	House Party	2 Spawns only, Wanderer spawn type
Typhlosion	Top Pop	Solo spawn
Misdreavus	Office Storeroom	4 spawns but 3 are traders
Mismagius	Office Storeroom	4 spawns but 3 are traders
Dragapult	Office Storeroom	4 spawns but 3 are traders

 

Since each cash register is a habitat you can set them as your traders home to cut down on clutter. 

Step 5: The Grind 

Welcome to about 80%-90% of your run's total playtime.  

The grind will consist of a cycle of only a few steps 

1. Load in and see if there is a new item that the traders are offering. (Date skipping can cause traders to keep inventory from previous day until you leave the area) 
2. Grab your search pokemon and go to a dream island 
3. Get all buried treasure on island 
4. Get all poke balls (gold and red) on dream island 
5. Check the underground spawns 
6. Return to the wasteland and check trade offers (Most if not all trades that rolled over from date skipping will change into correct trades) 
7. Repeat until Lucky or give up

 

Yes, this is all you'll be doing as you slowly build up the items needed for the rest of the pokemon you can get in the first area. 

 

Step 6: Good Luck 

Now for the fun part where I tell you that by grinding hard enough you can get your Pokedex total up to 216 with 3 "maybes" for a total of 219/300. 

Personally I only got 207 before giving up, the pokemon and items I didn't get in the Wasteland were 

Blissey	Cute Lamp + Cute Dresser
Absol	Resort Lamp
Wigglytuff	Speaker
Toxtricity x2	Speaker
Armarouge	Stepping Stones + Iron Ingot
Ceruledge	Stepping Stones + Iron Ingot
Gholdengo	Luxury Lamp
Mr. Mime	Sink (Modern Sink won't work)
Metagross	Gaming PC
Noibat	Speaker
Noivern	Speaker
Entei	Never Spawned

 

The 3 that I classify as "Maybe" are Ceruledge, Armarouge, and Entei. 

Ceruledge and Armarouge are maybe's because I do not think you can find Iron Ingot's from trade or in the wild, so you can't make their respective armors. While I doubt stepping stones, if you can find the armor whole from Gholdengo I'd classify them as possible yet hard. If impossible, both can be gotten in Rocky Ridges once you are able to smelt. 

As for Entei, I just never got them to spawn even after dozens or more of dream Island resets. While I could have been insanly unlucky, there is also the chance they are locked to a story trigger I do not know about. 

Below I will list out every Pokemon I have gotten within the Wasteland (Including previously stated in this guide) along with the Habitat that I used to spawn it. Everything listed here is 100% possible at time of posting this. 

1	Bulbasaur	Tall Grass
2	Ivysaur	Field of Flowers
3	Venusaur	Garden Terrace
4	Charmander	Tall Grass
5	Charmeleon	Campsite
6	Charizard	Berry-Feast Campsite
7	Squirtle	Tall Grass
8	Wartortle	Hydrated Tall Grass
9	Blastoise	Floating in the Shade
10	Pidgey	Elevated Tall Grass
11	Pidgeotto	Elevated Tall Grass
12	Pidgeot	Luxury Chirp-Chirp Meal
13	Oddish	Tall Grass
14	Gloom	Tropical Vibes
15	Vileplume	Chansey Resting Area
16	Bellossom	Chansey Resting Area
17	Paras	Elevated Flower Bed
18	Parasect	Elevated Flower Bed
19	Venonat	Illuminated Tall Grass
20	Venomoth	Illuminated Tall Grass
21	Bellsprout	Tree-Shaded Tall Grass
22	Weepinbell	Irresistible Scent and Glow
23	Victreebel	Irresistible Scent and Glow
24	Slowpoke	Seaside Tall Grass
25	Slowbro	Bed with a Plush
26	Slowking	Bed with a Plush
27	Magneton	Mini Game Corner
28	Magnezone	Mini Game Corner
29	Onix	Smooth Tall Grass
30	Steelix	Cling-Clang Iron Contruction
31	Cubone	Grave with Flowers
32	Marowak	Grave with Flowers
33	Tyrogue	Training Waterfall
34	Hitmonlee	Urgent Care
35	Hitmonchan	Exercise Resting Spot
36	Hitmontop	Gym First Aid
37	Prof. Tangrowth	Start of game
38	Scyther	Tree-Shaded Tall Grass
39	Pinsir	Tree-Shaded Tall Grass
40	Magikarp	Ocean Fishing Spot
41	Ditto (You the Player)	Free space
42	Hoothoot	Gently Lit Bed
43	Noctowl	Gently Lit Bed
44	Heracross	Tree-Shaded Tall Grass
45	Volbeat	Hydrated Flower Bed
46	Illumise	Hydrated Flower Bed
47	Gulpin	Tantalizing Dining Set
48	Cacnea	Sunny Day Site
49	Cacturne	Tree-Shaded Flower Bed
50	Combee	Pretty Flower Bed
51	Vespiquen	Field of Flowers
52.1	Shellos West	Road Sign
52.2	Shellos East	Road Sign
53.2	Gastrodon West	Ocean Fishing Spot
53.2	Gastrodon East	Ocean Fishing Spot
54	Drifloon	Riding Warm Updrafts
55	Drifblim	Plush Central
56	Drilbur	Fresh Veggie Field
57	Excadrill	Fresh Veggie Field
58	Timburr	Boulder-Shaded Tall Grass
59	Gurdurr	Boulder-Shaded Tall Grass
60	Litwick	Grave Offering
61	Lampent	Grave Offering
62	Chandelure	Creepy Grave Offering
63	Axew	Lumberjack's Workplace
64	Fraxure	Lumberjack's Workplace
65	Haxorus	Lumberjack's Workplace
66	Goomy	Rain Dance Site
67	Sliggoo	Hydrated Tall Grass
68	Goodra	Very-Berry Table
69	Pichu	Picnic Set
70	Raichu	Nature's Market
71	Golbat	Tree-Shaded Yellow Tall Grass
72	Crobat	Trash Disposal Site
73	Persian	Evil Organization HQ
74	Growlithe	Perpetual Mess
75	Arcanine	Mini Museum
76	Farfetch'd	All Packed Up
77	Gastly	Spooky Study
78	Haunter	Spooky Study
79	Gengar	Surprise in Store
80	Voltorb	Park Bench
81	Electrode	Park Bench
82	Exeggcute	Tropical Vibes
83	Exeggutor	Tropical Vibes
84	Chansey	Full Recovery
85	Elekid	Vending Machine Set
86	Electabuzz	Trash Can Central
87	Electivire	Vending Machine Set
88	Spinarak	Yellow Tall Grass
89	Ariados	Yellow Tall Grass
90	Flaaffy	Night Festival Venue
91	Ampharos	Plain Life
92	Azurill	Perpetual Mess
93	Marill	Dock
94	Azumarill	Dock
95	Combusken	Resort Meal Prep
96	Blaziken	Chirp-Chirp Meal
97	Wingull	Elevated Yellow Tall Grass
98	Pelipper	Elevated Yellow Tall Grass
99	Hariyama	All Packed Up
100	Prinplup	Waterwheel Spot
101	Empoleon	Waterwheel Spot
102	Audino	Working the Register
103	Garbodor	Trash Collection Site
104	Zoroark	Surprise in Store
105	Minccino	Changing Area
106	Cinccino	Private Makeup Stand
107	Grubbin	Yellow Tall Grass
108	Charjabug	Vending Machine Break Area
109	Mimikyu	Pikachu Space
110	Pawmo	Tantalizing Restaurant
111	Pawmot	Cafe Space
112.1	Tatsugirir Curly	Beach Set
112.2	Tatsugirir Droopy	Beach Set
112.3	Tatsugirir Stretchy	Beach Set
113	Ekans	Hydrated Graceful Flower Bed
114	Arbok	Hydrated Graceful Flower Bed
115	Cleffa	Graceful Flower Bed
116	Clefairy	Graceful Flower Bed
117	Clefable	Graceful Flower Bed
118	Igglybugg	Flower Garden Stump Stage
119	Jigglypuff	Flower Garden Stump Stage
120	Diglett	Container Snacking
121	Dugtrio	House Party
122	Machamp	Grassy Training Field
123	Golem	Mossy Boulder. (Mossy Boulder can be found rarely unground on dream island)
124	Magmortar	Mini Kitchen
125	Bonsly	Tree-Shaded Red Tall Grass
126	Sudowoodo	Tree-Shaded Red Tall Grass
127	Murkrow	Elevated Red Tall Grass
128	Honchkrow	Elevated Red Tall Grass
129	Larvitar	Mossy Rest Spot
130	Pupitar	Tree-Shaded Pink Tall Grass
131	Tyranitar	Toil in the Soil
132	Lotad	Hydrated Red Tall Grass
133	Lombre	Hydrated Red Tall Grass
134	Ludicolo	Uplifting Duckweed
135	Kricketot	Red Tall Grass
136	Kricetune	Red Tall Grass
137	Chatot	Elevated Red Tall Grass
138	Lucario	Box to the Rhythm
139	Larvesta	Tree-Shaded Graceful Flower Bed
140	Volcarona	Tree-Shaded Graceful Flower Bed
141	Decidueye	Pointy Tree-Shaded Rocky Tall Grass
142	Raboot	Refreshing Locker Room
143	Cinderace	Refreshing Locker Room
144	Rolycoly	Railroad Crossing
145	Coalossal	Heavy Iron
146	Fidough	Graceful Flower Bed
147	Dachsbun	Graceful Flower Bed
148	Glimmet	Creepy White Rocks
149	Glimmora	Creepy White Rocks
150	Vulpix	Fluffy Flower Bed
151	Ninetales	Nine Flames
152	Poliwag	Squeaky Clean
153	Poliwhirl	Hydrated Fluffy Flower Bed
154	Politoad	Flower Garden Stump Stage
155	Abra	Surging Psychic Power
156	Kadabra	Fortune-Teller's Table
157	Mime Jr.	Public Reading Material
158	Porygon 2	Work Desk
159	Porygon Z	Game Corner Battle Zone
160	Dratini	Simple Bathroom
161	Dragonair	Simple Bathroom
162	Cyndaquil	Concrete Pipe Secret Base
163	Quilava	Fireplace Nap Spot
164	Typhlosion	Top Pop
165	Misdreavus	Office Storeroom
166	Mismagius	Office Storeroom
167	Girafarig	Tree-Shaded Fluffy Flower Bed
168	Farigiraf	Tree-Shaded Fluffy Flower Bed
169	Ralts	Study Area
170	Kirlia	Study Area
171	Gallade	Dojo Training
172	Plusle	Picturesque Photo Cutout Board
173	Minun	Picturesque Photo Cutout Board
174	Trapinch	Pink Tall Grass
175	Vibrava	Pink Tall Grass
176	Flygon	Pink Tall Grass
177	Swablu	Pink Tall Grass
178	Altaria	Birdsong Garden
179	Duskull	Pink Tall Grass
180	Dusclops	Trash Site TV
181	Dusknoir	Trash Site TV
182	Beldum	Cycling Rest Stop
183	Servine	Tree-Shaded Fluffy Flower Bed
184	Serperior	Public Reading Material
185	Frogadier	Hydrated Pink Tall Grass
186	Greninja	Hydrated Pink Tall Grass
187	Corvisquire	Elevated Pink Tall Grass
188	Corviknight	Elevated Pink Tall Grass
189	Dreepy	Tree-Shaded Pink Tall Grass
190	Drakloak	Office Storeroom
191	Dragapult	Office Storeroom
192	Floragato	Interrogation Desk
193	Meowscrada	Heart-Pounding Surprise Box
194	Wattrel	Elevated Pink Tall Grass
195	Kilowattrel	Elevated Pink Tall Grass
196	Aerodactyl	Wing Fossil Display
197	Cranidos	Skull Fossil Display
198	Rampardos	Headbutt Fossil Display
199	Shieldon	Armor Fossil Display
200	Bastiodon	Shield Fossil Display
201	Tyrunt	Jaw Fossil Display
202	Tyrantrum	Despot Fossil Display
203	Amaura	Sail Fossil Display
204	Aurorus	Tundra Fossil Display
205	Kyogra	Encountered During Story
206	Suicune	Eevee Dream Island
207	Mew	Wall Mural

 

Here are the ones I was unable to find + the area you would be able to get them in should they turn out to actually be possible 

208	Blissey	Cuteness Overload	Bleak Beach
209	Absol	Welcoming Resort	Bleak Beach
210	Wigglytuff	Recital Stage	Rocky Ridges
211.1	Toxtricity Amped	Amped Rock Stage	Rocky Ridges
211.2	Toxtricity Low-key	Low-Key Rock Stage	Rocky Ridges
212	Armarouge	Auspicious Knight's Shrine	Rocky Ridges
213	Ceruledge	Malicious Knight's Shrine	Rocky Ridges
214	Gholdengo	Absolute Luxury	Rocky Ridges
215	Mr. Mime	Spotless Washing Station	Bleak Beach
216	Metagross	Gamer's Paradise	Rocky Ridges
217	Noibat	Rhythmic Living Room	Rocky Ridges
218	Noivern	Rhythmic Living Room	Rocky Ridges
219	Entei	Arcanine Dream Island	Rocky Ridges (Guess)

 

For the remaining 81 pokemon, 66 are area locked, and 15 are impossible to get in the Wasteland due to requirements. 

Below is the list of Impossible Wasteland spawns along with what makes them impossible to obtain in the Wasteland 

Swalot	The party platters require cooked food in order to count as the habitat. You are unable to cook until you complete the story quest.
Psyduck	Requires Hot-Spring water to make habitat. Can't get Hot-Spring water in the Wasteland until completing Wooper quest in Bleak Beach
Golduck	Requires Hot-Spring water to make habitat. Can't get Hot-Spring water in the Wasteland until completing Wooper quest in Bleak Beach
Grimer	Requires Muddy water to make habitat. Can't get Hot-Spring water in the Wasteland until completing Wooper quest in Bleak Beach
Muk	Requires Muddy water to make habitat. Can't get Hot-Spring water in the Wasteland until completing Wooper quest in Bleak Beach
Clodsire	Requires Muddy water to make habitat. Can't get Hot-Spring water in the Wasteland until completing Wooper quest in Bleak Beach
Charcadet	Requires Lava to make habitat. Can't get Hot-Spring water in the Wasteland until completing Wooper quest in Bleak Beach
Raikou	Story encounter in Bleak Beach
Volcanion	Story encounter in Rocky Ridges
Articuno	Freezing Chambers found in Palette Town
Zapdos	Abandoned Power Plant found in Palette Town
Moltres	Altar of Fire found in Palette Town
Lugia	Required having all 3 legendary birds in pokedex to gain recipe for Tidal Bell
Ho-oh	Required having all 3 legendary birds in pokedex to gain recipe for Tidal Bell
Mewtwo	Story encounter in Sparkling Skylands

 

After the Wastelands 

Congratulations on making it out of the Wasteland and finishing most of the run, by now you should have been able to collect the majority of items needed to finish every habitat in the game. 

The optimal order to progress through to the end game are Palette Town -> Rocky Ridges -> Bleak Beach -> Sparkling Skylands. 

Since most of what's to come is simply progressing the story and building habitats with items you already have, rather than steps I am going to split the next sections into each area with a table of pokemon you can get along with relevant information to help you complete the area and explain why certain pokemon can/cannot be caught. 

 

Palette Town 

This is going to be kept short with table 1 listing all the pokemon you will be able to get and their habitat, and table 2 is going to list pokemon you'd expect to catch here but are actually not able too along with why. 

220	Koffing	Trash Collection Site
221	Weezing	Trash Collection Site
222	Tangela (Maybe, see table 2)	Nothin' but Poke Balls
223	Scizor	Tree-Shaded Tall Grass
224	Cramorant	Hydrated Tall Grass
225	Pikachu	Picnic Set
226	Munchlax	Tree-Shaded Snoozing Snorlax
227	Snorlax	Tree-Shaded Snoozing Snorlax
228	Vikavolt	Tree-Shaded Flower Bed
229	Machop	Boulder-Shaded Tall Grass
230	Geodude	Tall Grass
231	Magby	Pretty Flower Bed
232	Mawile	Working the Register
233	Rowlet	Fresh Veggie Field
234	Skwovet	Tree-Shaded Tall Grass
235	Tinkatink	Large Luggage Carrier
236	Tinkatuff	Large Luggage Carrier
237	Eevee	Pretty Flower Bed
238	Vaporeon	Boundless Blue Beverage
239	Jolteon	Electrifying Potatoes
240	Flareon	Burning-Hot Spice
241	Espeon	Elegant Daytime Treats
242	Umbreon	Dark-Chocolate Cookies
243	Leafeon	Leafy Greens Sandwich
244	Sylveon	Lovely Ribbon Cake
245	Articuno	Freezing Chambers

 

 

Tangela	While you get recipes for items, you need iron ingots to make. If you can't find items from trade or dream then this is locked until smelting
Glaceon	Need Tinkagears to get item to make Chilly Shaved Ice habitat
Zapdos	Need Copper and Iron Ingots to build Abandoned Power Plant
Moltres	Need Copper and Gold Ingots, along with Lava Blocks to build Altar of Fire
Lugia	Can't get Zapados or Moltres, so no Tidal bell

 

With 26 more pokemon added to the dex, the total left is brought down from 81 to 55 

 

Rocky Ridges 

Personally I believe that this is when Entei gets unlocked and you will now be able to find them, this is also where you will get Ceruledge and Armarouge if impossible before now.  

Unlike Palette town there are no surprise exclusions, so just one table listing of every pokemon you can get along with habitat and a note if needed. 

246	Swalot	Dinner Table Surprise. Can finally make food.
247	Psyduck	Hot-Spring Shower. Natural Hot spring makes this possible due to no area lock.
248	Golduck	Hot-Spring Shower. Natural Hot spring makes this possible due to no area lock.
249	Machoke	Grassy Training Field
250	Graveler	Mossy Boulder
251	Magmar	Digging and Burning
252	Torkoal	Mossy Hot Spring
253	Riolu	Red Tall Grass
254	Rotom	Found in Cave to the right of the Poke center
255	Dartrix	Pointy Tree-Shaded Rocky Tall Grass
256	Scorbunny	Red Tall Grass
257	Greedent	Hanging like a Piñata
256	Carkol	Railroad Crossing
259	Toxel	Lazy-Photo Album Scrolling (confirmed ipad kid)
260	Charcadet	Piping-Hot Lava
261	Gimmighoul	Found in Museum
262	Volcanion	Encountered during main story
263	Zapdos	Can make ingots that were required to make Habitat
264	Moltres	Can make ingots that were required to make Habitat and also gain strength food to break lava rocks needed for Habitat
265	Lugia	Can get all 3 legendary birds giving Tidal bell recipe

 

With 20 more added to the dex total, the total left is brought down from 55 to 35 

 

Bleak Beach 

The only thing of note here is that both Mosslax and Peakychu do not count towards dex total. 

---	Peakychu	Found while progressing story
---	Mosslax	Found while progressing story
266	Zubat	Tree-Shaded Yellow Tall Grass
267	Meowth	Found while progressing story
268	Grimer	Marsh Fishing Spot
269	Muk	Marsh Fishing Spot
270	Happiny	Found on S.S. Anne
271	Lapras	Tropical Seaside
272	Mareep	Overgrowth Vending Machine
273	Wooper	Marshy Tall Grass
274	Clodsire	Marshy Tall Grass
275	Smearguru	Found painting next to lighthouse
276	Torchic	Chirp-Chirp Meal
277	Makuhita	Tree-Shaded Yellow Tall Grass
278	Piplup	Hydrated Yellow Tall Grass
279	Trubbish	Trash Collection Site
280	Zorua	Will show up next to Poke center as a block
281	Pawmi	Tantalizing Restaurant
282	Raikou	Found while progressing story
283	Ho-oh	Gained recipe for clear bell after adding all 3 beasts to dex

 

With the remaining pokemon going from 35 to 17 we move to the last area 

 

Sparkling Skylands 

Now that we reached the final area we are nearly done.  

 

284	Gyarados	Meet in waterfall on a sky island
285	Conkeldurr	Contruction-Site Generator
286	Poliwrath	Meet on bridge extending from elevator
287	Alakazam	Surging Psychic Power
288	Porygon	Researcher's Desk
289	Dragonite	Waterside Dinghy
290	Gardevoir	Meet walking around a sky island
291	Metang	Professor's Apprentice Program
292	Snivy	Playland
293	Froakie	Hydrated Pink Tall Grass
294	Dedenne	Tire Park
295	Rookidee	Meet on entering area
296	Sprigatito	Tree-Shaded Pink Tall Grass
297	Tinkaton	Meet at top of trash tower
298	Glaceon	Finally get Tinkagears to complete challenge and finally able to make Chilly Shaved Ice Habitat
299	Mewtwo	Meet during story after building tower

 

And with that we have now gotten 299/300 pokemon entered into our dex. 

 

The Post Game and Final Pokemon 

Those of you who already beat the game will know exactly who is last, magnimite. 

Magnimite is the only pokemon in the game that requires you to see the credits before getting them, thankfully once you made it this far there shouldn't be much if anything you are missing. 

In order to see the credits you must complete the team Rocket set of mission, and out of all the missions there are only really 2 that need to be talked about. 

First is mission 5 where you have to give power to the lighthouse. Since we have gotten porygon you should have portable generators, so you can make and place a bunch of those around the lighthourse to quickly and easily generate the power required. 

The second mission that needs talking about is mission 7 that requires a washing machine, refrigerator, and a gameboy. The only way to get these 3 items are to hit environment level 5 in Bleak Beach, Rocky Ridges, and Sparkling Skylands. If you didn't get this naturally, then simply move your legendries between each area and make sure they are comfy. Legendaries give a huge boost to the environment level. 

The very last mission will require party popper that you get for environmental level 5 in Wither Wasteland, but with how many pokemon you got in the first part you should easily have this. 

After finishing the mission and watching the credits you can finally end the run by... 

300	Magnimite	Jump into the hole left by the lighthouse rocket

 

And with that, congratulations on completing the Professor Tangrowth Challenge run. 

I did also make a excel document to track habitat items for each pokemon, but I don't know how I'd go about sharing that here.

And for me I can finally be done with this after 6 hours straight of writing this all out and making sure I listed everything properly, but knowing me I probably messed up something obvious so let me know what I missed. Regardless I am done with this so I can move my fixation over to more fun/stupid stuff within the game. Maybe I'll erase all the cloud Islands next. 

Thank you for those who took the time read this in its entirety, even if you don't end up doing the run. 

I have recently started the challenge of completing a “Full Odds Shiny Professor Oak’s Challenge” in Pokemon Ruby on authentic GBA Sp Hardware. After just a few days I have already collected 2 shiny Pokémon being Treeko and Poocheyna. I am aware that this challenge will not be easy and most likely will be the most time consuming idea that I will ever take part in however I am ready to take it on given my previous history of long and gruelling shiny hunts.

I came on here to ask for any pokemon that I should look out for that will take me quite a long time. Obviously I will have to deal with low encounters rates for pokemon such as Surskit, Skitty, Ralts Etcetera but I’m just wondering if there any other weirder hunts that will take up a large part of my time throughout the journey to completing the challenge.

Like the title says I have never attempted this challenge in any game before and yesterday I started one in Pokémon Sun and am having fun with it, the only problem though is Pichu. Is there any faster way to evolve this thing so that I can use a different Pokémon for a bit. It hasn’t fainted after 200 battles and still hasn’t evolved. I’ve been battling with it just before the first trial and it’s level 23 now. Just thinking about the fact you can catch a Bagon on route 3 is driving me insane. But yeah any tips?

Update: Finally evolved the Pichu, took all day but it’s done.