Pokemon Red Version (Part I)

Yes okay, we're doing this. I've already got my team planned out for this thankfully, because I am absolutely awful at making decisions and it usually takes me ages. I'm not going to tell you who I'm using ahead of time though, because that would ruin all of the fun.

This is so exciting for me, I have literally been wanting to do this for years and years and years. SO I GUESS I SHOULD SHUT UP AND GET TO IT SHOULDN'T I.

Thinking of red things that actually work as effective names is harder than I thought. I was going to name my rival "BJay" as in Blue Jay, but then I decided I really don't want to think of sexual acts every time he shows up. So I just went with "Jay".

First thing to do is grab our free Potion from our PC storage. Hooray! Spoils already, no wonder this game turned out to be such a classic.

If you go next door and check the map on the wall, we can see all the main towns and dungeons in the entire game. So if you are unfamiliar with the territory (in which case, shame on you) or you just want to take a look at all the nostalgia, here's a good opportunity. (I was just kidding about the shame on you part)

Feel free to talk to the people around town, though nobody really has anything of great importance to say. We are supposed to go to Professor Oak's lab, but if you do you will find out that he is not there at the moment. You can talk to everybody and take a look around, but if you want to progress with the story without bothering, then your destination is the line of grass north of town.

You won't have taken more than a single step before the great Professor will appear and save you from a grisly fate at the hands of a level 2 Rattata (I am assuming, we don't actually encounter anything).

Are you excited? I'm excited. WHICH ONE WILL YOU (or I) CHOOOOSE. It is a tense moment indeed. The Pokemon you pick as a starter influences the mechanics of your team for the entire game! (Unless of course you just go and catch something else and chuck your starter in the PC forever like people sometimes do).


If you choose Bulbasaur (Grass/Poison type) you will have an easier time for the first three gyms and an advantage over the last, though it is not very useful for the final challenge. Your rival will choose Charmander.

If you choose Charmander (Fire type and later Fire/Flying) then you will have the hardest time for the first two gyms. It only has an advantage over the 4th and will not have much advantage in the final challenge. Your rival will choose Squirtle.

If you choose Squirtle (Water type) you will have an advantage over the first, and final two gyms. Although not directly advantageous over the final challenge, it can learn Ice Beam or Blizzard which are helpful. Your rival will choose Bulbasaur.

In any case, make your selection and as you go to leave you will be forced into a battle

Wants to fight, does he?! Why I oughtta... oh... you mean he wants our Pokemon to fight. Well, alright then.

Rival || ¥175

Bulbasaur Lv.5 || Grass / Poison || 67 exp

Charmander Lv.5 || Fire || 69 exp

Squirtle Lv.5 || Water || 70 exp

[Obviously, your rival will only have one of these. I won't be keeping up with the information on all three because I just don't have the time to be playing through three separate files. But the experience values will be roughly the same, as you can see.]

Ah, the very first rival battle of the Pokemon franchise. What a wonderful moment. Also I have never, in my entire life, known what the hek that round thing on his one boob is. Like, it's not a pocket or a button or his necklace. Is he dropping his Pokeball? But there are Pokeballs in other sprites and they don't look like that? I don't know, I just ? ? ? ?

Anyway, use whatever combination of Tackle/Growl/Scratch/Tail Whip (depending on which Pokemon you have of course) that you wish and hopefully you'll win out. If things get rough there is the option of that Potion we picked up earlier.

Once you've smacked him up a bit he'll scamper off in a big huff and you are free to exit the lab. You may go and talk to your mother at any point if your Pokemon needs to be healed. You can spend some time to train if you wish, but you won't be encountering much that will give you trouble just yet.

Route 1

Pidgey || Normal / Flying
Rattata || Normal

 Head up north now to Route 1 and talk to the very first person you encounter.

Turns out he works at a Pokemart and he's so enthusiastic about getting rid of his merchandise that he's giving it away for free. He'll present you with another Potion. Carry on, talking to the other npc along the way and reading the signs if you wish. It's a straight-forward path, as you would expect this early on.

Soon enough you will arrive in Viridian City. Rest at the Pokemon Center if you've done a bit of training, and wander around speaking to people if you wish. Our destination is the Pokemon Mart, though take note that you won't actually be able to buy anything at the moment. Probably because someone's been handing the stock out for free. In any case, you will be given our first "key" item, Oak's Parcel.

Return to Pallet town and hand the old man his mail and he'll recall that the reason he asked you to come to his lab in the first place was not just to remind him what his grandson's name is. 

In actuality, he is manning a massive underground smuggling operation and wants you to go out and capture one of every single type of Pokemon in the world so he can make big bucks. To that end he will give you the Pokedex, which will record your progress.

If you would like it, you can also receive a Town Map from Daisy (the girl in the house beside yours). When you are ready, set out once more for Viridian City, where you will now be able to buy Pokeballs (but still no Potions). 

On the west side of town you will notice a forked tree, these will block your path at several points in the game. This one however holds a hidden item. If you go up to it and press a you will receive a Potion.

From west of the city, you also have access to a new route with a couple new Pokemon.

Route 22

Rattata || Normal

Spearow || Normal / Flying

Nidoran♀ || Poison

Nidoran♂ || Poison

*Note: Stick to the lower grassy area until you've trained your Pokemon a bit. If you venture north you will initiate a battle with your rival who has fairly strong Pokemon for this stage. 

Rival || ¥280

Pidgey Lv.9 || Normal / Flying || 105 exp

Bulbasaur Lv.8 || Grass / Poison || 111 exp

Charmander Lv.8 || Fire || 111 exp

Squirtle Lv.8 || Water || 111 exp

There is also a man in the city who will give you a demonstration on how to catch Pokemon, but unlike every other game it's not mandatory to watch it. (He's the same guy who was laying across the path earlier, if you saw him). 

When you've bought any items you think you might need and trained your Pokemon a bit, head north to the Viridian Forest. 

Route 2

Caterpie || Bug (Blue version only)

Weedle || Bug / Poison (Red version only)

Pidgey || Normal / Flying 

Rattata || Normal

Viridian Forest

Caterpie || Bug
Metapod || Bug
Weedle || Bug / Poison

Kakuna || Bug / Poison

Pikachu || Electric

The Metapod and Kakuna here give out good experience, but they can be really annoying. The only move they know is Harden meaning they will increase their defense every single turn (up to 5 times). Your best bet is using Ember if you started out with Charmander, but Bulbasaur's Leech Seed will help take some of the tediousness out of it as well. Squirtle's bubble works well as it is a Special attack and will bypass the raised defense. Spearow's Peck attack and Weedle's Poison Sting are both super effective. Weedle has a poor attack score, but if the opponent gets poisoned the battle will be won soon enough. 

If you started out with Squirtle or Charmander, the Pikachu you can catch here would be very useful for the next gym. However, they are fairly rare so it may take a while to find one. You will have access to a Grass Pokemon a bit later on that will also be helpful, if you want to save the Pikachu for a time when it's more common.

Right at the entrance is another hidden item, an Antidote this time. These items are not very expensive, but it never hurts to have a few seeing as all the trainers here use Weedle. And the less antidotes and potions you have to buy, the more money you'll have for Pokeballs, or even some Repels.

Directly west of where you come in is a dead end, but if you walk that direction a bit and take the fork upward, you will find another small path off to the left which has a Pokeball. To the east of where you enter you will find an npc who advises you to carry a decent stock of Pokeballs. Up the path from him you will find a trainer who will engage you in battle if you get within his line of sight.

Bug Catcher || ¥60

Weedle Lv.6 || Bug / Poison || 66 exp

Caterpie Lv.6 || Bug || 67 exp

And then another further north.

Bug Catcher || ¥70

Weedle Lv.7 || Bug / Poison || 78 exp

Kakuna Lv.7 || Bug / Poison || 109 exp

Weedle Lv.7 || Bug / Poison || 78 exp

 Up the path from here a bit more is another item ball, this one with an Antidote.

If you take the path to the right here it will just loop around to the left side, so go left and down. You'll end up on a path that dips up and down, and a couple rows over there will be a sign. Southeast of here will be a little niche with an item ball you may have seen from the other side of the path earlier.

This one contains another Potion. Northwest of this item is the final trainer who stands between you and the exit.

Bug Catcher || ¥90 

Weedle Lv.9 || Bug / Poison || 99 exp

Right next to this guy is another Potion, this one invisible as well. It probably belonged to him actually, but whatever. It's ours now!

You will come out the other side at the north end of route 2, which will lead you into Pewter City.

There isn't much to do around the city besides perhaps check out the museum, though you have to pay to get in and there aren't any items or anything to be obtained. The Pokemart has Potions and Escape Ropes available, so stock up if you think you will need them (escape ropes teleport you to the entrance of a dungeon). Our main attraction here is the gym, which you will need to go all the way north and west and around to access.

Pewter City Gym Challenge

Technically, this is classified as a rock-type gym, though the lone backup trainer in here uses only Ground types. Both Bulbasaur and Squirtle have an advantage over ground and rock types, but Charmander's Ember will not be effective on either. A decently levelled Pokemon of almost any type (Pikachu excluded as electric attacks will be completely cancelled out) should be able to take on Diglett and Sandshrew. However for Brock's resistant Rock-types, Charmander users will either have to try to whittle them down slowly with Ember or bring in a Butterfree that knows Confusion and hope it lasts the battle.

Jr. Trainer♂ || ¥220

Diglett Lv.11 || Ground || 190 exp

Sandshrew Lv.11 || Ground || 219 exp

Gym Leader Brock || ¥1386

Geodude Lv.12  || Rock / Ground || 220 exp

Onix Lv.14 || Rock / Ground || 324 exp

With this badge, the Attack stat of your Pokemon is slightly raised and we are now able to use the HM "Flash" outside of battle (though that's not extremely important at present because we don't have it yet). We also get TM34 Bide, which is a move that causes your Pokemon to store energy for two turns (depending on how much damage is dealt to them) and then release the energy on the third. If no offensive moves are made by the opponent during this time, the move will fail. 

And so, that is all for part 1! We have taken our first step on our Pokemon adventure, and we are ready to set out again for the next challenge!

Continue to part II ---> 

My Team So Far

 

Murphy, Lv.14

Toby, Lv.9

Annie, Lv.9

Items Obtained

Potion (4)

Oak's Parcel (key - exchanged)

Pokedex

Town Map

Antidote (2)

Pokeball

TM 34

Pokedex

Seen: 16

Caught: 11