Pokewalker Setup Walkthrough

Since my friend asked me for some help setting up her son's Pokewalker the other day I decided to write up the instructions in a fun little blog post.

I'd call this a Discipline Blog post however, it won't have any of the other earmarks of a normal post as I have misplaced my Pokewalker and I'm a bit out of practice.

Anyway, to all the Pokemon enthusiasts out there: Enjoy!

How to setup and use your Pokewalker attachment for Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver:

So, you’ve visited your local game store or gone online and used your hard-earned money to purchase your very own copy of Pokémon: Heart Gold or Soul Silver with Pokewalker, and you are incredibly excited to start walking around in real-life with your favorite Pokémon, gaining experience while catching more Pokémon in the field. Unfortunately, you have no idea how to begin using your Pokewalker.

To begin, you must have advanced far enough into the main story of the game to be able to catch Pokémon. This should not be too difficult, about five to ten minutes of steady game play should get you where you need to be. Once you’ve gained access to poke balls (I also recommend buying some extras from the local Pokemart) start wandering into the tall grass found all around the beginning areas of the game. Spend a little time leveling up and capturing Pokémon. Once you have captured at least one Pokémon, you are nearly ready to begin using your Pokewalker.

Now, you must take a trip to your local Pokémon Center. Once there access the PC located near the lovely young lady at the counter who offers to heal your Pokémon free of charge. When the menu options show, select “Someone’s PC” you are now given several options (Deposit Pokémon, Withdraw Pokémon, Move Pokémon, and Move Items). You may either simply deposit a Pokémon from your team of 2-6 currently travelling with you, or (if you are a more advanced user of the Pokémon storage system) you can use “Move Pokémon” to have more controlled distribution of the Pokémon on your team and in storage. Once you have at least one Pokémon in storage you can begin using your Pokewalker attachment.

Restart your game, when you come to the menu screen (after pressing Start on the title screen) move down through the menu options until you have selected “Connect to Pokewalker”. The on screen directions tell you how to connect the Pokewalker; however, for ease I’ll also explain the process. When prompted, press and hold the large central button on the Pokewalker until the LCD display shows a background and a number (usually 0). Once you can see the LCD image, press the central button again to access the Pokewalker menu (the cursor should default to the CONNECT option but if not you may have to press the left and right buttons to move it to the appropriate menu option).

With CONNECT highlighted, point the Pokewalker at the DS cartridge and press the central button again (depending on how much time you’ve taken to do this the Pokewalker may go into sleep mode again, simply press and hold the central button as before to resume its functioning) . You should see some flashing lights on your DS screen indicating a connection and you will also hear a beep on your Pokewalker attachment (if the sound is on).

Once the connection has been made, you can select the option “Go for a Stroll” which will then allow you to select both a Pokémon from those currently stored in your PC to move to the Pokewalker, and a route to stroll on (you begin only able to use 2 routes but unlock more as you use the Pokewalker. Select your chosen Pokémon and connect again to the Pokewalker. You will hear a chime on the Pokewalker indicating that you have successfully moved a Pokémon over (there will also be an indication on the DS).

When you want to switch Pokémon out of the Pokewalker or unlock new routes (or unload the Pokémon and Items you’ve found on your stroll) simply follow the same connection process and select the option “Return from Stroll”. Upon return all Pokémon and Items found during your stroll with be deposited into your PC (along with the Pokémon you’ve been strolling with) and your bag respectively (you will need to do this periodically as the Pokewalker can only hold 3 Pokémon and 3 Items at a time). You then repeat the above process to go on another stroll either with the same Pokémon as before or with another one currently stored in your PC.

With that you’ve learned how to utilize your Pokewalker attachment. Now get out there, get walking and level up your favorite Pokémon, I personally keep my Gyrados on me at all times!