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A simple and modest route, Route 101 is where the professor and his aides perform much of their field work and its home to some of the region's more common Pokemon.
The most common of these Pokemon may be Zigzagoon, the normal type raccoon Pokemon. It is often used for its Hidden Move executing properties, as it gets access to the HMs Cut, Rock Smash, Strength (upon evolution), and even Surf! This Pokemon possesses the Pickup ability, and in the preceding games of Ruby and Sapphire, this ability could be exploited right at the beginning of the game to farm Rare Candies and other very rare and expensively sought after items by shops. In Emerald, however, the ability was toned down, though this Pokemon can still often be seen collecting useful items randomly during the player's adventure such as Great Balls, Super Potions, and even much more rare items at times like Nuggets. Zigzagoon itself is not even a particularly weak Pokemon. It gets access to a rather remarkably strong move in Headbutt at level 9, and upon evolution into Linoone at level 20 has access to fast speed stat (100) and decent attack stat. If leveled up to level 53, it even is granted access to one of the most lethal moves in the game Belly Drum, a move that halves max HP to maximize attack. Paired with the Move Tutor move Substitute and the right "pinch" berry, this Pokemon actually possess at least some potential for devastation.
Realistically speaking, Linoone is far from the best Pokemon in the game, but it arguably one of the most underestimated in its versatility.
