Rustboro City

Rustboro City (Japanese:  Kanazumi City) is a metropolis located in western Hoenn. It is the fourth largest city in Hoenn, after Mauville City, Lilycove City and Slateport City. Rustboro City has an unusual yet unique cityscape in the Hoenn region. The buildings' architectures are designed with stones, giving it an old-town feeling.

According to the Cutter's daughter, Rustboro was expanded to accommodate its growing size with the help of the Cutter's Pokémon which cleared the trees. The Devon Corporation is headquartered in the northwest side of the city. The first Gym is located here with Roxanne as the Gym Leader.

Slogan
The city probing the integration of nature and science. (Japanese:  The city probing the integration of nature and science.)

Devon Corporation
Rustboro serves as the establishment for the Devon Corporation, a company which makes many items for Pokémon Trainers. The company headquarters is located in the northwest corner of the city, and takes the appearance of a large, old-fashioned looking building. A sign outside reads:

Apart from developing improved and innovative items, the company also revives Pokémon from Fossils. The Devon Corporation's workers are also attempting to build impossible machines such as one that can transform people into Pokémon. In the south section of the town is an apartment complex for Devon employees.

Cutter's house
A Cutter lives near the Pokémon Center with his daughter.

When the city of Rustboro was undergoing expansion, the Cutter had his Pokémon use Cut to help clear the land of trees. He will give the player. According to May/Brendan, he has a younger brother in Mauville City, which is the person that gives out in Generation III.

Elyssa's house
Elyssa's House is located next to the Gym in Rustboro City. By talking to Elyssa, the player is given the option to make an in-game trade. In and, Elyssa wants a , and will trade a  named Makit in exchange. Makit is holding an X Attack.

Kobe's house
In, Elyssa gets replaced by Kobe and he will instead want a (found on ), and will trade a  named Dots in exchange. Dots is holding a Chesto Berry.

Pokémon Trainers' School
The Pokémon Trainers' School is located east of the Pokémon Center. A sign outside reads:

Inside are five students and a teacher, who gives the undefined the Quick Claw. Talking to the students also reveals helpful information. Behind the teacher is the blackboard with the list of status conditions (,, , , and ) that may affect Pokémon in a. In the anime, Roxanne, the local Gym Leader, runs the school.

Walda's house
In, a sad young girl named Walda lives between the Pokémon Center and the Devon Corporation building. If the proper 'funny' word is given to her caretaker, she will reward the player with a new wallpaper for the Pokémon Storage System.

Rustboro Gym
Rustboro Gym is the first Gym a player must face in the Hoenn region. It is located in the northern part of Rustboro, east of the Devon Corporation. The sign outside reads:

The Gym Leader is Roxanne, who specializes in Pokémon. The is awarded for defeating Roxanne. The Gym is a maze; there are two paths, one path which battles the Gym Trainers, while the other path lets the players go through without battling.

Delta Episode
During the Delta Episode, after receiving 's call in Petalburg City, Steven will be waiting outside the Devon Corporation building in Rustboro City for the player, escorting the player to Mr. Stone's office when they arrive.

In his office, Mr. Stone tells the player about the history of the Devon Corporation, then asks the player to retrieve a Meteorite Shard from Granite Cave. Throughout the Delta Episode, Mr. Stone mentions where Steven has most recently headed to.

After listening to Zinnia's grandmother at Meteor Falls, Steven heads to the Devon Corporation building in Rustboro City. When the player arrives there, a scientist runs out the front door, running away from a Team Aqua Grunt. That grunt then challenges the player, followed by a second and third grunt, all of whom run away after their own defeat. After defeating the third grunt, the scientist reveals that the device to control the Link Cable was stolen by / and that Steven has headed off to the Mossdeep Space Center.

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
In, the population of Rustboro City is 57, making it the third largest city in Hoenn, behind Lilycove City and Slateport City.

Pokémon Emerald
In, the population of Rustboro City is 61, making it the second largest city in Hoenn, behind Lilycove City, which has over twice the population of Rustboro.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
In, Rustboro City has a total population of 63, making it the fourth largest city in Hoenn.

Pokémon Emerald
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In the anime
Rustboro City first appeared in Gonna Rule The School!, where and  attended the Pokémon Trainers' School and first met Roxanne, the Rustboro Gym Leader and Trainers' School headmistress. Max spent much of his time with, , and Anita, all Beginner Class students, and helped defeat.

In The Winner by a Nosepass, Ash d Roxanne and earned himself the. The match was filmed by some of Roxanne's students to become a learning resource at the Rustboro Trainers' School.

In Stairway to Devon, Max spilled soda on the PokéNav, causing it to malfunction. While attempting to avoid so she wouldn't find out, Max bumped into Mr. Stone, who agreed to fix the PokéNav and take him on a guided tour through this company, the Devon Corporation. During the tour, Mr. Stone and Max spotted a mysterious scientist, later revealed to be a, who stole two capsules from the Fossil restoration lab. The thief was eventually cornered by Mr.Stone, Ash, and his friends, with Team Rocket inadvertently causing the grunt to lose the stolen goods. While the thief managed to escape, Max was able to recover the tubes for Mr. Stone.

In On a Wingull and a Prayer!, Ash and his friends visited the desolate harbor of Rustboro City to take a boat to Dewford Town. After missing the morning service boat, the group decided to wait for the afternoon ferry. During that time, the group re-encountered the Team Aqua Grunt from the Devon Corporation heist, who hoped to take Mr. Briney's boat and make his getaway. The grunt took Mr. Briney's, nicknamed Peeko, as a hostage. While Mr. Briney recovered Peeko using his other boat, the S.S. Wingull, the grunt escaped with Mr. Briney's boat. Afterwards, he was recovered by his fellow grunts, who were waiting out at sea with a submarine. As a reward for their assistance, Mr. Briney escorted Ash and his friends to Dewford Island.

Rustboro City also has a Contest Hall on its outskirts. Ash and his friends arrived at the Rustboro Hall in All Things Bright and Beautifly! and discovered that a Pokémon Contest was scheduled to take place there in just a few hours. They were surprised by the way contestants prepared their for the event, as it was very different from how s usually  their Pokémon for Gym matches. After a meeting with Janet and, two skilled Pokémon Coordinators, they learned about the proceedings of the competition and decided to enter. However, the lady in the registration desk was not accepting new entries as the event had already reached the maximum number of contestants allowed. Nonetheless, they received Contest Passes and watched the Pokémon Contest get underway, with and Max working as Janet's assistants.

During the Appeals Round, Chaz had his showing off its  attack, while Janet had her  using  to break plates thrown by May and Max. Their performances impressed the panel of judges enough to secure them a place in the second round. Jessie's performance, on the other hand, was a total failure as she commanded her newly  to use several moves it didn't known. In the Contest Battles, both Janet and Chaz defeated their opponents to reach the finals. The two had a close battle, but when time ran out Janet was shown to have more points. As a result, she was declared the winner of the Rustboro Contest, earning her third Ribbon. Throughout the competition, May was amazed by the performances and the different kind of battling, and this inspired her to become a Pokémon Coordinator.

After a long absence, Rustboro City appeared again in Mega Evolution Special III, where Alain, Mairin, and arrived there, following the energy signature of the giant rock they had previously encountered. Primal and Primal  also followed the energy, and clashed with each other just off the coast of Rustboro City. The battle was eventually stopped by, although the giant rock was taken away by Lysandre's submarine to be studied at Lysandre Labs.

Much of Rustboro City is tall buildings and thriving, but its seaport and the neighboring suburb appear derelict. In On a Wingull and a Prayer!, May was particularly disappointed to learn that the famous "Rustboro City Pasta" restaurant was closed up. Rustboro's coastline is largely open water, with sharp rocks like Triangle Rock further out.

In the Ash and Pikachu manga
Rustboro City was mentioned in Trust In Each Other!!.

In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga
Rustboro City was mentioned in Extra Heavyweight Battle.

Trivia

 * As Hoenn coincides with, Rustboro coincides approximately with and.
 * Rustboro City is very similar to Saffron City of Kanto and Jubilife City of Sinnoh. All three cities are home to their region's corporate giants.
 * It is also similar to Pewter City of Kanto and Goldenrod City of Johto. Their geographic locations to their regions are very remarkably similar, as well as being only accessible through a forest during the beginning of the games. Rustboro is more like Pewter in that both cities are the second city visited with a Gym, but first to be beaten by the undefined. Both Pewter and Rustboro's Gyms specialize in Pokémon, and play a role in the player obtaining Fossil Pokémon.
 * In, there is an findable in Rustboro City, involving the  who gives the undefined a Float Stone. After giving it to the player, he will explain its effect of halving the holder's weight. If the player then leaves and re-enters the floor, the Ace Trainer has turned into a , who tells that he has put on a lot of weight recently for some reason.

Name origin
Metarost City Ciudad Férrica Mérouville Ferrugipoli カナズミシティ 卡那兹市