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Slippery slopes? No problem for the Mach Bike!

Hoenn is a pretty big place, even if you can run without rest (and you can very well do that, since you’re playing a videogame). Not to mention approximately half of the region is filled with water and, despite your superhuman stamina, you cannot swim.

Fortunately, there are some ways to get around quicker or reach places otherwise impossible for a normal videogame human.

Bicycle¶

No Pokémon game is complete without one and, actually, there are two types of bicycles in this game (and in the original Ruby/Sapphire). Both can be obtained free of charge from Rydel’s Cycles towards the east side of Mauville City.

The Mach Bike is the bicycle of choice for those who prefer no-nonsense speed-riding across the region; riding one of these lets you move at more than twice the speed of running. In addition, certain slippery slopes can only be scaled with a Mach Bike.

On the other hand, the Acro Bike is pretty nimble, but nowhere near as fast as the Mach Bike. However this neat pair of wheels allows you to perform hopping tricks, enabling you to hop across parallel railings or rock steps and reach new places.

Surfing¶

Surf’s up dude! Ahem, as we hinted, Hoenn is rather… notorious for its massive stretches of water. Thankfully, there’s no need to get wet, as - like in all past titles - you can traverse the waters with a Water-type (or other) Pokémon with the aid of HM03 - Surf .

Once you’ve taught Surf to a Pokémon and so long as you have the required Gym badge, you can Surf by approaching and inspecting the edge of the water (or by opening the menu and choosing Surf from your Pokémon’s possible field actions).

Flying¶

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Return to old locations in a jiffy!

Even with your bicycles and Water-type Pokémon, there will be times when the place you want to go next is too far away to reach in good time (AKA you’re lazy). If this place is somewhere you’ve already been, there is one thing you can do: Fly.

By teaching HM02 - Fly to a Flying-type (or similar) Pokémon and with the relevant Gym badge, you can near-instantly travel back to most locations you’ve visited from the AreaNav or by choosing Fly from your Pokémon’s field actions.

Soaring¶

New to the series, instead of the auto-pilot nature of Fly, you can also physically soar the skies of Hoenn after obtaining the Eon Flute , during an event towards the end of the game.

Soaring, in principle, is similar to Flying, in that you can only visit locations you’ve already visited, but obviously being able to control your actual flight path and see the region of Hoenn from high up is an altogether different experience.

The exception to the above rule is Mirage Spots - unique locations only found when Soaring. Because they can’t be visited in any other way, so long as you can see them, you can Soar to them without worries.