Mt. Mortar - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Mt. Mortar (Japanese: スリバチ山 Mt. Suribachi) is a large cave in Johto with three entrances on Route 42. Part of the large range of mountains north of the Johto region, it is known to be a confusing maze-like area with an interior cave known as the Waterfall Cave. It is an optional cave to enter, but contains many valuable items and Pokémon. The player can pass through the mountain caves to bypass the lakes on Route 42. It is the training place of Kiyo, the Karate King from Saffron City. He will reward the player with a level 10 Tyrogue upon defeat.

Geography

Mt. Mortar has three entrances and is huge inside, one of the largest of all caves in the games. It has four floors, and its high Pokémon-encounter rate makes getting lost very costly. It has Surfable waterways, Waterfalls, Strength puzzles, and multiple levels. It is usually considered to be one of the toughest caves to navigate. The cave also provides limited vision in Gold and Silver unless Flash is used, but is already lit in Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver.

The Karate King

The Karate King, Kiyo, is the leader of the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City. In Gold, Silver, and Crystal, he has gone to Mt. Mortar to train. In order to find him, the player must use the center entrance which offers access to water, then Surf ahead and climb a waterfall. Then they must make their way to the bottom of the cave, where they will eventually find him waiting to be challenged. Kiyo uses a Hitmonchan and a Hitmonlee, and once they are defeated, he will give the player a Tyrogue as a reward. However, if the player does not have an empty slot in their party, Kiyo will tell them to make room for it, then come back.

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Items

1F (entrance)

1F (back)

2F

Surf and Waterfall are required to reach this area.

B1F

Pokémon

Generation II

1F (entrance)

1F (back)

2F

B1F

Generation IV

1F (entrance)

1F (back)

2F

B1F

Trainers

Generation II

1F

2F

B1F

Requires Surf and Waterfall

Generation IV

1F

2F

B1F

Requires Surf and Waterfall

• Morning (Seaking)

• Day (Marill)

• Evening (Marill)

• Night (Golbat)

Layout

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Gold, Silver & Crystal arc

Years before the chapter, Crystal had trained on Mt. Mortar to develop her Pokémon catching skills. During her training, she was attacked by a wild Arcanine, but a group of other wild Pokémon helped her recover. While her hands were covered in bandages as they recovered, Crystal learned to launch Poké Balls more effectively by kicking them instead of throwing them. When the wild Arcanine appeared again, Crystal noticed an injury next to one of its eyes, and used the wild Pokémon she had befriended to help treat Arcanine's wound. Subsequently, Arcanine and the other wild Pokémon joined Crystal, forming her main team.

In Absolutely Azumarill, Mirei sent Crystal to Mt. Mortar to relearn her Pokémon catching skills, which she had suddenly lost after failing to catch Suicune. In Lively Larvitar, Crystal was attacked by a wild Larvitar a few days into her training. As it kept attacking Crystal's Arcanine, Archy, only from its blind side, Crystal was able to figure out that this Larvitar was the Pokémon that had attacked Archy years earlier. Thanks to Crystal's Chikorita, Megaree, evolving into Bayleef, Crystal was able to capture Larvitar, showing that she had recovered her ability to catch Pokémon.

Trivia

Name origin

Mt. Mortar is named after a mortar bowl used for grinding and mixing substances. A suribachi is the Japanese equivalent of a mortar bowl. Mortar is also a mixture of cement and water that is used to bind and fill gaps between construction bricks.

In other languages

References