Catching the Regis

Continuing my Pokémon high, I’ll share my bizarre experience catching the Regis in Gen 3 and 4. It took two days, and many mistakes, but I eventually managed it. Here’s how it happened. You ready? I am!

For context, the Regis are golem-like Pokémon doubling as Legendary Pokémon. It’s weird calling them that, as Golem’s a Pokémon you can acquire by trading in any generation. Nevertheless, the Regis were introduced in Gen 3 as three optional Pokémon to catch via a side-quest, with their leader, so to speak, being accessible in Gen 4. This basically forces you to not discard your GBA Pokémon game simply because you beat it. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In order to acquire Gen 4’s Regi, you need the National Dex from Professor Oak. This means seeing every Pokémon in Sinnoh’s Pokédex, including one I couldn’t acquire due to having Pokémon Pearl. Not to worry, I saw it through a photograph in the game. I guess that counts? The game thinks so.

With all 150 Pokémon from the Regional Dex logged, I received the National Dex and could traverse new areas. It made accessing The Stone Temple in Snowpoint City possible, as I kept getting turned away at the entrance. Once on the bottom floor, I could see Regigigas in the centre. It took a while to get there, as the floor was covered in ice, but once there I was ready for a fight. Unfortunately, I couldn’t challenge it, as I needed the Regis from Gen 3 in my party. Life is cruel, isn’t it?

Essentially, I needed my copy of Pokémon Emerald to achieve this goal. Complicating matters was requiring a Wailord and Relicanth, both of which needed patience to catch. Relicanth had me to traverse the ocean floor for a Pokémon that appears 5% of the time, while Wailord needed me to fish with my Super Rod in a specific location, catch a Wailmer and level it up so it could evolve. That was already getting off to a great start, as I caught a Wailmer at lvl 23 and had to do level grinding. It took all afternoon, and it sucked!

Once I had the appropriate prerequisites, the journey began. Making sure I flew to a specific route, I began the journey of riding the whirlpools and diving in a specific spot. I then entered a cave and went through a chamber inscribed with Braille. I’m no expert in Braille, so I was chained to a walk-through for the remainder of this quest. But with the instructions fulfilled, I heard a rumble and the three pillars signifying the Regis’s locations disappeared. It was time to start the hunt!

The first of the Regis was Regirock. Following the online guide, I used Dig in a specific spot and found it waiting. I’d also stocked up on Ultra Balls and Timer Balls, knowing this’d take a while. It did. I even restarted the game several times because I kept running out of items for catching Regirock. It didn’t help that my copy of Pokémon Emerald was so finicky that a slight push with my thumb made the game freeze and have to be restarted.

After many failed attempts, I caught Regirock. With one Regi down, I made my way to Regice. Surfing to another cave, I ran around the room’s perimeter, as the guide suggested, and opened a sealed entrance to find Regice. This fight was also tedious, but not as much thanks to it being more straightforward. It took two restarts, but I caught Regice.

It was now getting late, so Registeel, which the walk-through warned was the hardest one, would have to wait until after my shift the next day. I was antsy, eagerly awaiting the confrontation. Once I’d come home and gotten out of the shower, I turned on my game. I also made sure I’d stocked up on Ultra Balls and Timer Balls, both of which I’d run out of. I had to sell many of my unused items for quick cash to buy them. If you think that unwise, know that I’m not in the mood to beat The Elite Four in Pokémon Emerald anyway.

Registeel was a nightmare! Ignoring that I had to use Flash in the middle of its cave, a move I despise because it doesn’t do anything in battle, it was easily the hardest of the Regis. It took nearly two hours and multiple restarts, and it felt like a chore. I managed it, but I wasn’t satisfied. If anything, I felt like I’d wasted time.

With all three Regis caught, I turned off Pokémon Emerald and went back to Pokémon Pearl. The games have a one-way communication feature allowing you to port older Pokémon and recapture them via Pal Park, a mini-game that’s best described as The Safari Zone if you had six items and no time limit. Also, if those six items were Capture Balls that all had to be used. In other words, a tedious mini-game. I can’t complain too much, I’ve used Pal Park before, but really? This again?

After successfully capturing all six Pokémon, three being the Regis, I returned to The Stone Temple in Snowpoint City. I trekked through the underground location, making sure I had the three Regis on hand, and after another time waste with the icy floor’s maze, I made my way to Regigigas and saved my game, as this was supposed to be the hardest of the Regis. It took many failed attempts, and a near whiteout, to capture it with a Timer Ball, and this time I played the long game by frequently switching out Pokémon so the Timer Ball would work.

Was the Regis side-quest worth it? No. Like I alluded to previously, the newer Pokémon entries have made collecting every Pokémon a nightmare, with some no longer possible because of decisions Nintendo has made. Catching the Regis isn’t one of them, but it might as well have been. I’m “glad” I’m done, but I never want to do this again. I’m even debating if it’s worth catching Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza, in Pokémon Emerald and porting them to Pokémon Pearl. If it’s anything like catching the Regis...

Anyway, that was me catching the Regi Pokémon. If you’ll excuse me, I should detox.