Oldale Town (Japanese: コトキタウンKotoki Town) is located in southern Hoenn. As Kyushu coincides with Hoenn, Oldale approximates with Saga City, Saga Prefecture.
South of Oldale Town is Route 101 and Littleroot Town. North is Route 103, which can be Surfed to use as a shortcut to Slateport City. West is Route 102 and Petalburg beyond.
The main character's rival in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald (Brendan or May depending on the player's selected gender) trains to the north of Oldale Town when the games begin.
At the beginning of the game, when the player first reaches the town, there will be a scientist, or rather a maniac, studying at the entrance of Route 102, and believes he has found footprints of a newly discovered Pokémon, and will not let anyone pass, not even the player, until he is done. This is just a barrier in the game, to stop player from wandering off past Oldale Town until the player challenges the rival on Route 103 and gets a Pokédex from Professor Birch. Later on, after he is finished with his sampling, he concludes that it was his own footprints that he made earlier.
Demographics
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
The population of Oldale Town is 16, making it the second-smallest town in Hoenn, with Littleroot Town being the smallest.