Olivine City: Jasmine, Amphy's Lighthouse and the S.S. Aqua

Here, the light that guides ships comes from a Pokémon. Olivine City, Johto's port city, brings together Jasmine's Steel-type Gym, a six-story Lighthouse watched over from the top by Amphy the Ampharos, and the dock from which the S.S. Aqua sets sail for Kanto. The anime even gave it a second lighthouse.

Contents

• Olivine City, Johto's port city
• Jasmine's Steel-type Gym and the Mineral Badge
• Olivine Lighthouse and Amphy, the sick Ampharos
• Setting sail for Kanto from Olivine City
• Olivine City in the anime: two lighthouses and an Entei
• Echoes of Olivine City, from Hoenn to the manga
• Olivine City at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Olivine City, Johto's port city

A coastal city in Johto, Olivine City appears in Gold and Silver, in Crystal and in their remake HeartGold and SoulSilver. Route 39 connects to it from the north, while Route 40 heads off to the west. From one generation to the next, its population goes from 27 to 46 residents, and the motto on the entrance sign changes too: "The Port Closest to Foreign Lands", then "The Port with Sea Breezes".

Sailors on shore leave eat at the Olivine Cafe, next to the Pokémon Center on the west side; one of them wolfs down his food without chewing and nearly chokes. The counter plays a different role depending on the version: in Gold, Silver and Crystal, a Sailor there gives you HM04, that is, Strength, while in the remake you're sent to Mt. Mortar, where Hikers have this HM.

Other encounters are worth a detour. In the house south of the Gym, a fisherman gives you the Good Rod; another, to the northeast, trades his Voltorb for a Krabby, a Voltorb nicknamed Volty that holds a PRZCureBerry in the original games and a Cheri Berry in the remake, where the French version renames it Voltounet. The remake adds two regular meetups: Cameron photographs the player's team downtown on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Jasmine, who's at the cafe from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., takes the opportunity to give you her number; once it's saved, she comes back every day between noon and 1 p.m. for a photo together.

Jasmine's Steel-type Gym and the Mineral Badge

In charge here, Jasmine relies on the Steel type. Her Gym has a numbering quirk: it's the fifth one you come across on your journey, but the Mineral Badge she awards is the sixth in the collection. Victory also earns you TM23, which teaches Iron Tail.

The remake gives her a follow-up. Once you've collected all sixteen Badges and won the rematch, Jasmine offers a trade in her Gym: her Steelix, holding a Soothe Bell, which she gives up in exchange for a Pokémon of her choosing.

Olivine Lighthouse and Amphy, the sick Ampharos

The Lighthouse stands in the southeast of Olivine City and has six floors. You won't run into a single wild Pokémon inside; nine Trainers, on the other hand, block the climb: Sailors, two Gentlemen, two Bird Keepers and a Lass. On the top floor lives Amphy, an Ampharos whose glow serves as a beacon for ships approaching the city.

The building is also the heart of the local story. It's Silver, met at the Gym door as soon as you arrive in town, who puts the player on the trail: Jasmine's mind isn't on battling, she's at the Lighthouse. Up there, the Gym Leader is watching over Amphy, who has fallen ill, and its condition is serious. You have to bring back a remedy from Cianwood City, the SecretPotion; once the Ampharos has recovered, Jasmine returns to her Gym and the battle finally becomes possible.

The floors hide a few finds: TM34 in Gold, Silver and Crystal, replaced by TM87 in the remake, plus a Rare Candy and an Ether in both. Some Trainers register the player in their Pokégear to challenge them again later; in the remake, Sailor Huey hands over a Protein after each of these rematches, and you can call him on Wednesday nights. A small inconsistency along the way: three of these Trainers send out a Poliwhirl still at level 18 or 20, even though Poliwag only evolves at level 25.

💡 An Ampharos to light up the coast, a lamp to light up your bedroom: discover our Pokémon lamps.

Setting sail for Kanto from Olivine City

The port opens the sea route to Kanto. To board the S.S. Aqua, you need the S.S. Ticket, which the player receives from Professor Elm after beating the Elite Four; the ship then sails to Kanto twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. The same ticket opens the docks beyond the boarding gate, where a Protein is waiting to be picked up.

In the remake, the port also gets a visitor: Sabrina, the Saffron City Gym Leader, strolls there on Friday evenings, and it's your only chance to get her number so you can challenge her a second time. On the surface, the waters are home to Tentacool and Tentacruel; with a rod, you mostly reel in Krabby and Magikarp, but also Staryu at night, Corsola during the day and, more rarely, Kingler. In Gold, Silver and Crystal, the harbor basin has its own list, with Shellder, Chinchou and Lanturn.

Olivine City in the anime: two lighthouses and an Entei

The anime keeps the essentials from the games: Jasmine runs the Gym there, a lighthouse watches over the ocean, and Ash Ketchum wins his sixth Badge. The series does, however, give the city two lighthouses. The old lighthouse, known as the "Shining Lighthouse", owes its fame to the Ampharos that tends it, and Johto counts it among its historic landmarks; next to it, a modern lighthouse runs automatically, but the locals still prefer the old one.

Episodes 208 and 223 devote a short arc to it. In the first, toward the end of season 4, Jasmine turns down Ash's challenge: Sparkle, the old lighthouse's Ampharos, has fallen ill and she won't leave its side. Team Rocket shows up at the top and grabs it, until Janina, the Gym Leader's student, stops them with her Onix; Janina then sets off to fetch the medicine in Cianwood City, escorted by Ash and his friends. In the second, at the start of season 5, the cured Pokémon shines again and guides Wings Alexander out of the fog, while Jasmine and Janina happily welcome the plane bringing the heroes back.

The city resurfaces much later. In DP143 of DP Galactic Battles, a Johto-themed festival is held in Sinnoh: Lyra presents the landmarks of her home region there, Olivine City included. Then the second season of Pokémon Horizons gives it its first appearance in the new series, in HZ077. Having come looking for anyone who had seen the Entei belonging to Lucius, the Rising Volt Tacklers set off again, with Siskel pointing them toward an archipelago close to the coast. As for Ludlow, it turns out that he comes from this city.

Echoes of Olivine City, from Hoenn to the manga

At the start of Ruby and Sapphire, Emerald as well as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the hero moves to Littleroot Town, home of Professor Birch, a childhood friend of the hero's father. This move starts in Olivine City: Norman, the father, has just been appointed Gym Leader in Petalburg City, and the whole family has had to leave Johto for Hoenn.

Sinnoh, in turn, keeps a trace of the port. In Diamond and Pearl as well as in their remakes, you run into Jasmine in Sunyshore City, a port city that also has a lighthouse, and what she says there subtly points back to Olivine City. In French, the Lighthouse even lent its adjectives: "scintillant" (shining) on its sign in Gold, Silver and Crystal, "étincelant" (brilliant) in the remake. These two adjectives gave their names, in France, to the remakes Diamant Étincelant and Perle Scintillante (Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl). Finally, the French version of the Johto remake puts a Gentleman and a Lass named Aurore, Dawn's French name, on the same floor of the Lighthouse, the third: a pairing that recalls the opening of Diamond and Pearl, by Lake Verity.

On the print side, two manga feature the Lighthouse. In chapter 448 of Pokémon Adventures, Silver and Crystal spot it from the ferry taking them to the port; in Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys, it's in chapter 17 that Jasmine tells Gold and Chris that her Ampharos is sick. Then there's the name: the French Oliville combines olive and ville (town), while the Japanese Asagi refers to a pale blue.

Olivine City at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• What type of Pokémon does the Olivine Gym use?
  The Steel type. Jasmine is its Gym Leader; beating her earns you the Mineral Badge, along with TM23 (Iron Tail).
• Why isn't Jasmine in her Gym when you arrive?
  She's at the top of the Lighthouse, at Amphy's bedside: the Ampharos whose light guides the ships has fallen ill. The player has to bring back the SecretPotion from Cianwood City; once Amphy is cured, Jasmine returns to her place at the Gym.
• How do you board the S.S. Aqua in Olivine City?
  You need the S.S. Ticket, which Professor Elm gives the player after they beat the Elite Four. The ship then sails to Kanto on Mondays and Fridays.
• How many floors does Olivine Lighthouse have?
  Six. Nine Trainers await the player there, no wild Pokémon live inside, and Amphy occupies the top floor.
• How many lighthouses does Olivine City have in the anime?
  Two: the old "Shining Lighthouse", famous for the Ampharos that tends it, and a modern lighthouse that runs on its own, though the locals prefer the old one.

In short

Olivine City lives to the rhythm of the sea: a Gym whose fate hangs on a Pokémon's health, a Lighthouse whose light guides the ships and a dock facing Kanto. From Hoenn, where Norman's family moved after leaving it, to the Diamond and Pearl remakes, whose French titles carry its lighthouse's adjectives, Jasmine's city shines far beyond its own region.