The Trick House (Japanese: カラクリやしきTrick House) is located on Route 110 in Hoenn. It is owned by the Trick Master, who poses puzzling challenges to travelers. Those who wish to play his game must find their way through a maze-like puzzle at the back of his house. If successful, they will be rewarded.
The puzzles for Trick House are divided into three parts. First, the Trick Master is hiding somewhere in the first room of the house. The first few times the player enters the house, a small twinkle indicates the Trick Master's hiding place right away, but in later challenges the player must find him without any help.
Once the Trick Master is found, the player may enter the larger rear room through a passageway hidden behind the scroll on the wall. The rooms consist of some sort of maze with a gimmick to each of them, and each room also has mail and Trainers. The player must navigate through the maze to a second scroll, where they will obtain a secret code. Finally, the player must find the door to the Trick Master's room and write the code on it to gain access. Upon being found, the Trick Master will reward the player, and the player may take a shortcut passage out of the Trick House.
While the rooms in Trick House use mostly the same gimmicks in Emerald as were used in Ruby and Sapphire, the layouts of the rooms are each changed slightly. Trainers, items and the password scrolls are in different locations, and the maze's course changes as well. However, it is only their locations that differ; the items and Trainers in each room are the same in all versions except for the Seventh Puzzle room. Between Ruby and Sapphire, and Emerald, the Trick Master's hiding spots in the first room also change.
Players can take the challenges as they earn new GymBadges, but the final challenge cannot be taken until they defeat the Elite Four. Each one, however, is only available once and they must be completed in order.
After completing the final puzzle in Pokémon Emerald, players may choose between either tent, but may only take one.
Also, after all challenges are completed, the Trick Master disappears, leaving behind only a note saying he has gone to distant lands to search for new tricks.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
The second puzzle is another maze, but with a more confusing layout. Holes in the ground cannot be passed until the player hits a switch to extend a platform over them. However, the player cannot tell which switches cover which holes.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
The third puzzle is a room full of alternating red and blue doors. Stepping on a switch opens all red doors and closes all blue doors, and stepping on a switch again will open all blue doors and close all red doors. The entrance to the room, and some switches, are covered by rocks that can be shattered with Rock Smash.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
The fourth puzzle is a room full of boulders that must be pushed aside using Strength. However, due to the close quarters, pushing boulders the wrong way can block certain paths.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
The fifth puzzle is a sequence of robots (mechadolls) that will ask the player questions of escalating difficulty. Answering correctly allows advance, a wrong answer sends him or her back to the start of the room. The riddles asked are chosen randomly each time the player enters the room.
The sixth room is full of flipping gates like those found in Fortree Gym, but arranged in a more confusing pattern. As with Fortree, the player must walk through the gates in certain combinations to advance through the room.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
The seventh room is filled with spinners similar to Mossdeep Gym. The player must navigate the maze of spinners and pull switches to change their directions to advance through the room. In Pokémon Emerald, the room is instead full of Trainers standing on spinners that rotate when switches are triggered, due to Mossdeep Gym being redesigned for Emerald.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
The eight room is divided into two areas, an upper and lower area. Both are made up primarily of polished floors lined with pots. Stepping on the polished floor will send the player sliding across it until they hit an obstacle. The player must navigate their way across both floors to conquer Trick Master's final challenge.
After the player talks to the Trick Master, he will leave. A Nugget can be found under his cushion.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
Each scroll has a compliment about the Trick Master on it (Trick Master is fabulous, Trick Master is smart, Trick Master is coveted, Trick Master is cool, Trick Master is a genius, Trick Master is my life, Trick Master is huggable, Trick Master I love.).
In puzzle five some of the tiles are arranged in the shape of a question mark in Ruby and Sapphire. In Emerald, the tiles are arranged in the shape of two exclamation marks instead. These punctuation mark arrangements tie in with the trivia-based nature of the fifth puzzle.