This friendly city started as a place where people and Pokémon gathered, then grew into a center of commerce. If you care about the looks of your Pokémon, head for the Contest Hall. For toughness, go to the Gym. The entrance to Amity Square is here. The square is a place where Trainers can stroll peacefully with Pokémon. There is a building here that is symbolic of the city's status as a place where different cultures meet. A nice fountain with benches, as well as the Pokémon Fan Club, are among the city's amenities.
Hearthome City is a child-friendly city; there are many families and young mothers living there, some of whom can be seen with prams. Most of the buildings use elevators instead of stairs so that small children and Pokémon can move through the houses. The citizens scrupulously keep their city clean.
In Platinum, the road paving was given an update so it is now all beige. The tree's sprites were changed to match those in Platinum's Eterna Forest. In addition, the appearance of the entrances to Amity Square was modified so that the arch features a Psyduck, a Torchic and a Drifloon, and a Pikachu on its back.
The biggest attraction, garnering contestants from all throughout the region, is the Super Contest Hall. The Super Contest Hall is an expanded format of the Pokémon Contests within Hoenn. In it, Pokémon are rated on their appearance and performance, rather than strength. They are different from the previous generation's competitions in that not only do they have more rounds, but rounds from the earlier games have been altered. The city's Gym Leader, Fantina, is a self-proclaimed master at Pokémon Super Contests.
A notable attraction is Amity Square, where Trainers relax with their Pokémon. Eleven different types of cute Pokémon will follow the player about in Amity Square, and many Pokémon wander about the city outside of their Poké Balls. Amity Square is located north of Hearthome City. The setup in Amity Square is identical to the Pikachu interaction system that was in Pokémon Yellow. Only certain small Pokémon can be taken for walks in Amity Square, usually of a "cute" appearance. Pokémon will fetch Accessories or Berries for their owners every 200 steps. In Pokémon Platinum, more Pokémon are allowed in than before, and the area has been expanded and redesigned. It now includes a rather large pool of water.
The Sinnoh's Pokémon Fan Club is located in the eastern area of Hearthome City. The Fan Club is a place for people to meet and chat about their favorite Pokémon and to show off their collections to each other. In general, the members are usually more oriented to unevolved, cute Pokémon and Pokémon Contests than Pokémon battles. The Sinnoh Pokémon Fan Club Chairman says that his Fan Club is number one nationwide because he brags more than anyone. However, he doesn't do it anymore because of people's complaints. This may also explain why only two other members are found in his club. Inside the Pokémon Fan Club, the player will receive the Poffin Case, needed to bake Poffins. Another member of the club will rate the friendship of first Pokémon in the player's party.
The Poffin House is also here, where Coordinators can bake Poffins to boost their Pokémon's condition for Pokémon Super Contests, either alone or through DS Wireless Communications with people nearby. Up to four people may bake at a time. The Poffin House is located west of the Poké Mart where the player can make Poffins, which are the replacement of Pokéblocks from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. The player has to speak to the lady a little to the left of the entrance, throw in their selected Berry and start stirring the liquid to begin creating their own Poffin. The Poffin's level depends on the amount of time consumed cooking the Poffin, the number of burns, and the number of spills.
In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Mr. Goods lives on the street of Hearthome, although he claims he can't remember who he is or his real name. He is a bemused man dedicated to rarities who gives out goods to decorate the Secret Base in the Sinnoh Underground with upon completion of certain tasks, such as using the GTS or defeating all eight Gyms. Mr. Goods will also reward a Trainer for other miscellaneous achievements. He does not appear in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Foreign Building
The Foreign Building
The Foreign Building (Japanese: 異文化の建物Foreign Culture Building) is a building located in the western side of Hearthome City. It has six benches and stained glass windows. All the people there talk about the grace of life in the Pokémon world, supernatural powers, and the balance of spirit and nature. It seems to be loosely based on a church or cathedral, and is the first building in all the Pokémon games to be so. Respectfully, no music can be heard in the building. In the morning, one can see a piece of the wall jutting out behind the stone tablets on either side of the inside.
Pokémon Hotel
In the middle of the city, next to the Pokémon Fan Club, is a hotel called the Pokémon Hotel. There are only two accessible floors within the hotel. These can be accessed to by a large, automatic elevator. Many visitors come from all parts of the world to enter the Super Contest, or visit Amity Square. Visitors can stay here for a while to enjoy the parts of Hearthome. The landlord inhibits the first floor, and on the second floor lives a woman and a Clefairy. She will give the player a Shell Bell, saying that she was given it on vacation, but already had one.
In Diamond, Pearl, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl, the Gym consists of five stories, with a mathematical puzzle on each floor and three doors corresponding to a potential answer, with the correct door leading to the next floor and the wrong doors leading only to a battle with a Trainer. In Platinum, the inside of the Gym is shrouded in darkness and the player must navigate using a flashlight.
For defeating Fantina, Trainers receive the Relic Badge and TM65 (Shadow Claw). They also gain the ability to use Surf outside of battle in Diamond, Pearl, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, or Defog in Platinum.
Demographics
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the population of Hearthome City is 91 people. It is Sinnoh's largest city and one of the largest cities in the Pokémon world. Given that it is the only town in the Pokémon world to feature babies, it probably has the lowest age distribution too.
Pokémon Platinum
In Pokémon Platinum, the population of Hearthome City has decreased to 81 people. Despite the drop, it is still one of the largest cities in the Pokémon world.
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.
On certain days, if the VS Seeker is acquired, the player can challenge a Trainer who appears in the Pokémon Center. Depending on the game's progress, these Trainers will have teams with higher leveled Pokémon upon rematch.
Ash and his friends first arrived in Hearthome City in the end of Sandshrew's Locker!, getting teleported there by Mira and her Abra. In the next episode, Dawn's Early Night!, Ash was excited at the opportunity to win his third SinnohGymBadge and went running through the city along with his Pokémon to get to the Hearthome Gym. However, the Gym Leader was not present, and they were instead greeted by Nando, who informed them about the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. This got Ash and Brock interested and they decided to enter the tournament together as a team. Later, Dawn and Nando headed to the Contest Hall to compete in the city's Pokémon Contest. On their way, they met up with Zoey, who was also entering the Contest and told them that the Contest would follow the Double Performance format, requiring each participating Coordinator to use two Pokémon. Despite her confidence and receiving positive reviews, Dawn, to her shock, failed to get past even the Performance Stage, while her rivals proceeded to the Contest Battles. In the semifinals, Nando defeated Jessilina and advanced to the finals to face Zoey. With his Roselia and Kricketune, Nando was able to defeat Zoey, earning him his second Contest Ribbon.
The city's Tag Battle tournament began in Tag! We're It...!, where it was revealed that the competing Trainers would be randomly paired up by a computer. For this reason, Ash, Dawn, and Brock got tagged with Paul, Conway, and Holly, respectively. By Glory Blaze!, all of them had succeeded in reaching the semifinals. Before the final two rounds, Paul released his Chimchar due to its inability to activate Blaze during their last battle. Feeling sorry for Chimchar, Ash invited him to join his team, which Chimchar accepted. In Smells Like Team Spirit!, Dawn and Conway made it to the finals, while Paul and Ash defeated Brock and Holly to make it to the finals as well. There, Ash and Paul sent out Chimchar and Elekid, while Dawn and Conway called out Buizel and Heracross. During their battle, Paul's Elekidevolved into Electabuzz, which helped Ash and Paul win the competition. For winning, each of them was rewarded with a Soothe Bell, but Paul felt he didn't need one and gave his Soothe Bell to Ash as well.
In Arriving in Style!, the group returned to Hearthome City for Ash's Gym battle, only to find out the Gym Leader was still out of town, developing a new battling style. While in the city, Ash and Dawn were invited by Paris to enter the Hearthome Collection, a fashion show for Stylists and their Pokémon, where the winner gets to work on a photo shoot for the Poké Chic magazine. Together with Cocoa and Jessilina, Ash and Dawn entered the event, with Paris and Hermione choosing all of them, except Jessilina, as finalists. In the end, Ash and Pikachu placed third and received the Unique Award for their originality, while Cocoa and Mismagius received the Accessory Award as a prize for getting to second place, and Dawn and Buneary were declared as the overall winners. However, Dawn declined to take part in the Poké Chic campaign in order to focus on her Coordinator training.
Hearthome City first appeared in Boogying with Buneary, where Platinum, Diamond, and Pearl arrived there. They followed Keira's Buneary to the Super Contest Hall, where Platinum was accidentally whisked to the Contest stage. When she failed to perform, the audience saw her expensive jewelry and assumed she had tried to win just by being rich. Wanting to defend the name of her family, Platinum registered for the next day's Normal RankCoolnessContest.
In Perturbed by Pachirisu, while Diamond and Pearl were helping Platinum in her Contest training, they were approached by the Pokémon Fan Club Chairman, who made the three members of the Pokémon Fan Club and taught them about Poffins, giving them a Poffin Case to put their Poffins in. Diamond visited the Poffin House and proved to be an excellent Poffin maker, cooking Platinum a Poffin that increased her Prinplup's Coolness. In the Contest, other contestants sought to sabotage Platinum by disorganizing her Fashion Case and having their Pokémon bump into Prinplup during the Dance Competition. These setbacks made Platinum feel dejected, but Diamond managed to cheer her up and remind her that Contests are all about having fun. With these encouragements, Platinum was able to overcome her dejection and give it her all during the Acting Competition. Her performance enthralled both the audience and the judges, allowing her to win the Contest. In Crowded by Croagunk & Advanced on by Abra I, the trio met Fantina, who took them to visit the Lost Tower.
Hearthome City first appeared in Beauty Contest: The Pokémon Super Contest!!. After arriving in the city, Hareta learned about Pokémon Super Contests and, along with Mitsumi and Jun, decided to participate in one. Hareta and Jun participated in a Normal Rank Super Contest, but only succeeded in getting themselves disqualified for their poor performances. Mitsumi participated in a Master Rank Super Contest, but went overboard as her Infernape accidentally burned down the Contest Hall's dome with Fire Spin. Afterwards, a man introducing himself as Mitsumi's friend asked Hareta to tell her that her performance was great.
In Pokémon Platinum, there is a glitch that occurs in Hearthome City if the player has more than one Pokémon in their party, causing lag if the player runs outside of a building. The more Pokémon the player has on hand, the more lag will be generated.[1]
Hearthome City may correspond to Obihiro, a city in the Tokachi Subprefecture in Hokkaido. The city has its own racecourse and is famed for its unique style of horse racing, possibly serving as the basis for Amity Square.
Names
Language
Name
Origin
Japanese
ヨスガシティ Yosuga City
From 縁 yosuga (connection; a place to belong)
English
Hearthome City
From heart, hearth (figurative term for home), and home
