#diamond and pearl remakes

City of Energy

Once you’ve made it through the Oreburgh Gate tunnel you arrive in Oreburgh city. This mining town is also the home of the first gym on your journey! Are you ready to take on the gym leader?

If you are interested in following the story of Peaks of Sinnoh, start here!

You run into Matilda just inside of town. She informs you that she’s already defeated the gym, and she recommends that you stock on antidotes before you challenge it yourself. However, you’ll have to go find the gym leader first. After being defeated by Matilda, the leader left the gym. 

Matilda heads back toward Jubilife city, and you are left to explore Oreburgh. You can look around the local homes, the patch of grass on route 207, the Oreburgh mine, or the mining museum. 

In the Orebrugh mine, workers are using both rock and poison type Pokémon to either chip away or burn through the rock. Some workers will say they find using acid on the walls much easier, while others will reminisce about the more traditional ways of mining. In the mining museum you will find a man with distinctive, teal hair talking to someone at the front desk. 

When you get close enough, you can overhear the conversation. The scientist behind the desk is explaining that ancient Pokémon can only be revived using fossils. What this man has are not fossils, the scientist explains, but artifacts more generally. From what the scientist can tell they are artistic representations that predate Sinnoh as we think of it. Where did the man get it? This artifact would be greatly appreciated by any number of museums in the region–

The teal-haired man proclaims that if these well-regarded scientists cannot revive these Pokémon, he has no interest in working with them. He rushes from the building, just barely missing running headlong into a young girl. 

The young girl steps up to the desk, and asks, “Is everything alright? I came as quick as I could.”

The scientist explains that the man didn’t end up being a threat, just strange. There’s no need for her to worry. Before leaving again, she stops to ask you if you noticed anything strange about that man. Whether you reply with yes or no, she thanks you, and says she’ll keep that in mind. She’ll also keep an eye out for him.

Now, if you return to the gym, the same young girl can be found talking to the man by the door. When you walk through the door, she looks your way.

“Oh!” she says, “You’re a gym challenger! Welcome! I’m Carmilla, Oreburgh’s gym leader. I’ll see you on the other side, if you’re able to defeat my friends. Good luck!” Carmilla hurries away to her spot at the back of the gym. If you talk to the man at the front of the gym, he will, of course, refer to you as the Champ to Be, and let you know that Carmilla specializes in poison type Pokémon. He also warns you that you’ll have a tough time if you’re using grass type Pokémon.

The Oreburgh gym has been refitted in sleek purple. The layout is largely similar to how the Oreburgh gym appeared in the past. However, instead of stairs, there are bouncy pads on each of the three levels (ground, first level, and Carmilla’s perch), which launch the player up to the next level, and slides down from each level, including one down the entire (screen) left side of the gym, down from Carmilla’s spot. To reach each of the two bounce pads, you’ll have to pass by two picnickers (one on each level). One picnicker, Susie, has a level 8 Stunky, and the other, Zelda, has two level 9 Zubats.

When you reach Carmilla, she greets you:

“You made it! I’m always excited to face new challengers! It looks like you don’t have any badges yet, so I’ll have to use my lowest-level team. Don’t let that fool you, we’re still strong!”

Carmilla’s team consists of a level 12 Stunky, a level 12 Budew, and a level 14 Zubat. Once you defeat them all, Carmilla is upset to have lost:

“Oh no! That’s my second loss in a row! If only I could have used my stronger Pokémon…” But, she’s also happy for you: “Great job! Being a gym leader is tough, but it means I get to meet cool trainers like you. Good luck with the rest of your gym challenge!”

For your victory, you are presented with the Venom Badge, and three TMs containing Venoshock. You can also now call on wild Pokémon to help you out by using the move Rock Smash. Congratulations! That’s one gym defeated, with seven more to go!

Now, if you’re done exploring, it’s time to move on. Unfortunately, you don’t have a bike, so you can’t get up the slope to reach the rest of Route 207, or Route 206, so it’s back to Jubilife city.