Are you stuck trying to figure out how to get Fly in Pokemon Emerald? You’re not alone – many players hit this roadblock while exploring the Hoenn region. Fly is one of the most essential Hidden Machines in the game, saving you countless hours of travel time between cities and locations.
To get HM02 Fly in Pokemon Emerald, you must defeat Team Magma or Team Aqua at the Weather Institute on Route 119, then defeat your rival (Brendan or May) in a battle on the bridge north of the institute. After winning this battle, your rival will give you HM02 Fly as a reward for helping them.
As someone who has played through Pokemon Emerald multiple times, I can tell you that getting Fly at the right time completely transforms your gameplay experience. No more tedious backtracking through tall grass or cycling across the entire region – instant travel becomes your new best friend.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through every step needed to obtain Fly, including all prerequisites, team recommendations, and troubleshooting tips for common issues players face. Check out our other beginner gaming guides for more helpful walkthroughs.
Before you can even think about getting HM02 Fly, you’ll need to complete several important objectives in the game. I learned this the hard way during my first playthrough when I arrived at the Weather Institute unprepared and had to trek all the way back to train my team.
Required Badges:
Required HMs:
Team Level Recommendations:
Based on my experience playing through Emerald multiple times, here are the recommended levels for each section of this quest:
Team Composition Tips:
Your team should have a good balance of types for the upcoming battles. I recommend having:
Now that you’re properly prepared, let’s dive into the exact steps needed to obtain HM02 Fly. I’ve broken this down into the most efficient path based on dozens of playthroughs.
Before you can reach Route 119, you need HM03 Surf. After helping Wally catch a Ralts in Verdanturf Town, head to Mauville City. From there, go east to Route 118 and talk to Wally’s uncle. He’ll give you Surf, which allows you to travel across water.
With Surf in hand, make your way to Route 119. You can reach this route by:
Route 119 is known for its heavy rain and tall grass, so be prepared for frequent wild Pokemon encounters. The Weather Institute is located in the northern part of this route – you can’t miss it as it’s a large building with a satellite dish.
When you enter the Weather Institute, you’ll discover that Team Magma (in Ruby/Sapphire) or Team Aqua (in Emerald) has taken over the building. You’ll need to battle through several grunts to reach the top floor.
Battle Tips:
At the top floor, you’ll battle the Team Admin (Tabitha for Magma or Shelly for Aqua). After defeating them, you’ll receive a Castform as a thank you gift from the Weather Institute researchers.
As you exit the Weather Institute and head north toward Fortree City, you’ll encounter your rival (Brendan if playing as female, May if playing as male) on a bridge. They’ll challenge you to a battle immediately.
Rival’s Team Composition:
This battle can be challenging if you’re underleveled. I recommend saving before the bridge and ensuring your team is at least level 30. After defeating your rival, they’ll notice something wrong and rush off toward Fortree City.
Immediately after the rival battle, they’ll turn back and give you HM02 Fly as thanks for your help. This is the moment you’ve been working toward! HM02 Fly allows your Pokemon to learn the Fly move, which can transport you to any previously visited Pokemon Center.
The rival will mention something about strange invisible objects blocking the path to Fortree City before leaving. This is a hint for your next objective – obtaining the Devon Scope from Steven in Route 120.
While you now have HM02 Fly in your possession, you can’t actually use it outside of battle yet. To use Fly for fast travel, you need the Feather Badge from Fortree City Gym. Here’s how to get there and claim it.
After getting HM02 Fly from your rival, continue north on Route 119. You’ll soon encounter invisible objects blocking your path – these are Kecleon that you can see with the Devon Scope.
To get the Devon Scope:
With the Devon Scope, return to Route 119 and reveal the Kecleon blocking the path to Fortree City. Battle or catch them to clear the way, then head into Fortree City.
Fortree City Gym is a Flying-type gym led by Winona. The gym puzzle involves navigating through a maze of invisible walls using the Devon Scope. Here’s how to beat Winona:
Winona’s Team:
Recommended Strategy:
After defeating Winona, you’ll receive the Feather Badge, which allows you to use Fly outside of battle. You’ll also receive TM40 Aerial Ace, a useful Flying-type move.
Now that you can finally use Fly, you’ll want to teach it to a suitable Pokemon. Based on hundreds of hours playing Emerald, here are my top recommendations:
Taillow/Swellow: Available early on Route 104, Taillow evolves into Swellow at level 22. Swellow has excellent Speed and Attack stats, making it a valuable team member throughout the game.
Wingull/Pelipper: Found on beaches throughout Hoenn, Wingull evolves into Pelipper at level 25. While not as powerful offensively, Pelipper has good defensive stats and can learn other useful HM moves like Surf.
Skarmory: Catchable in Route 113 and other areas, Skarmory has incredible Defense and can learn many HM moves. It’s a fantastic “HM slave” that also contributes to your team defensively.
Crobat: Evolves from Golbat at high happiness, Crobat is one of the fastest Pokemon in the game. While catching a Zubat early and evolving it requires patience, the payoff is worth it.
Salamence: Available as Bagon in Meteor Falls, Salamence is a pseudo-legendary with incredible stats. While challenging to obtain and evolve, it’s one of the best Pokemon in the entire game.
Rayquaza: The legendary dragon Pokemon that can learn Fly. You’ll encounter Rayquaza at the Sky Pillar much later in the game, but it’s worth mentioning as an end-game Fly user.
Through helping friends and reading forum discussions, I’ve identified several common issues players face when trying to get Fly. Here are solutions to the most frequent problems:
Problem: “I can’t find my rival on Route 119 after the Weather Institute”
Solution: Make sure you exit the Weather Institute through the main entrance and head north toward the bridge. Your rival won’t appear if you try to exit through other entrances or if you haven’t fully cleared the Weather Institute of Team Magma/Aqua members.
Problem: “My team is too weak for the battles”
Solution: Take time to level up your team in the tall grass of Route 119. The experience gains are excellent, and you can catch new team members like Oddish, Linoone, and Kecleon.
Problem: “I got HM Fly but can’t use it outside of battle”
Solution: This is normal – you need the Feather Badge from Fortree City Gym first. Follow the steps in the “How to Use Fly” section to obtain it.
Problem: “I’m stuck in Fortree City Gym puzzle”
Solution: Use your Devon Scope to reveal invisible walls. The path to Winona involves going right, up, left, up, right, up, left, up from the entrance.
⚠️ Important: Don’t delete HM moves! Unlike TMs, HMs can only be replaced by visiting the Move Deleter in Lilycove City. Think carefully before teaching Fly to a Pokemon you might want to use competitively.
You need the Feather Badge from Fortree City Gym to use Fly outside of battle. After getting HM02 Fly from your rival on Route 119, you must defeat Winona in Fortree Gym to obtain this badge.
The Weather Institute is located in the northern section of Route 119. You’ll need Surf to reach this route from Route 118. The building has a distinctive satellite dish and is impossible to miss once you’re in the right area.
Your Pokemon should be around level 28-32 for the rival battle on Route 119. The rival’s team will be similar in level to yours, so being slightly overleveled gives you a good advantage. Focus on type matchups against their starter Pokemon.
No, HM02 Fly is only available after the Weather Institute events on Route 119. This is part of the game’s designed progression system. You’ll need to complete several gyms and story events before reaching this point.
Getting Fly in Pokemon Emerald is a significant milestone that opens up the entire Hoenn region for efficient exploration. By following this guide, you should have no trouble obtaining HM02 Fly and the Feather Badge needed to use it.
Remember to take your time and enjoy the journey – Pokemon Emerald is designed to be explored at a thoughtful pace. If you’re using an emulator to play, check out our gaming hardware for emulation guide to ensure smooth performance.
For more Pokemon content and gaming guides, visit our more Pokemon guides section. Happy exploring, trainer!
