- Be sure to be Hoenn Champion before starting this quest.
- Go Route 114 in Hoenn, find Fossil Maniac Charles in his house and talk to him about the permit.
- Now you will have to collect six different fragments spread around all Excavation Sites (excluding Wondrous Site, Briny Site and Draconic Site).
- You do not have to enter the sites. Use a Pokemon with Rock Smash and destroy all breakable rocks around the Excavation Sites. Please note that this step is not needed for every player.
- Once you have all six fragments collected, come back to Route 114 and talk with Fossil Maniac Charles. He will ask you to pay 100.000 Pokedollar in order to buy the permit.
- You are now owner of the Archaeologist Permit and can start visiting the different sites.
Feral Site - Fiery Path - East of Lavaridge Town
Historical Site - Northern Route 111 Desert - East of Lavaridge Town
Haunted Site - Rusturf Tunnel - Near Verdanturf Town
Mineral Site - Route 115 - North of Rustboro City
Glacial Site - Route 103 - North of Oldale Town
Natural Site - Route 119A - South of Fortree City
Wondrous Site - Route 114 - West of Fallarbor Town - 3000+ discoveries as requirement
Briny Site - Route 124 - West of Mossdeep Town - 6000+ discoveries as requirement
Draconic Site - Route 113 - East of Fallabor - 10000+ discoveries as requirement
There are different tiers of expertise in archaeology. The tier depends on the discoveries you have made. You get one "Discovery Point" by smashing the rocks inside each site. With every tier you get access to more Pokemon and items. You can check your tier on your Trainer Card. The rocks inside of every Excavation Site respawn every 20h after being broken. You have also a low chance of getting nothing when breaking a rock.
- Excavation Ranks:
Explorer
(1-500 discoveries)
Scrounger
(501-999 discoveries)
Plunderer
(1000-1999 discoveries)
Relic Hunter
(2000-3999 discoveries)
Archaeologist
(4000-5900 discoveries)
Paleontologist
(6000-7999 discoveries)
Tomb Raider
(8000+ discoveries)
If you encounter a spawn you're not experienced enough to get, the Pokemon will flee or the item gets destroyed. How many Discoveries you need for each Pokémon rarity is mentioned below. You will however gain one or more "Bonus Discovery Point" each time you'll encounter a Pokemon who fled or if the item gets destroyed. The rock will tell you how many extra points you gained.
- Used Rarity Tiers in the guide:
Common
0+ Discoveries
Uncommon
1000+ Discoveries
Rare
2000+ Discoveries
Super Rare
4000+ Discoveries
Excavation Sites are shiny locked, which means that you are not able to encounter Shiny or Themed Pokemon in the sites. With the exception of Shiny Rocks, which may contain shiny Pokémon.
As for all scripted spawns for wild Pokemon, an active BMS won't influence the chance of a hidden ability in the excavation sites.
In every site you are able to find "Artifact Pieces", which can be traded in the Historical Site for items and fossils by talking to Artifact Maniac Hastor.
Fossils:
Vitamins (10 per 70 Artifact Pieces):
Consumables:
Battle Items:
TM Moves:
Gems:
Evolution Items:
Damage-reducing Berries:
Mega Stones:
All Sites
Feral Site
Historical Site
Haunted Site
Mineral Site
Glacial Site
Natural Site
Wondrous Site
Briny Site
Draconic Site
Contribution
SyaoranLi, thank you for giving me a lot of useful information to complete this guide.
Neroli, original owner of the former version of the guide: Hoenn Excavation Sites Guide