Old Timey Games: Pokemon Red Version (Part III)

**Note: From now on I will only be posting my rival's starter as Charmander, I'm sure you are capable of figuring out that if you picked a different starter than me it will be replaced by whichever one corresponds to the strength of yours.

Welcome back to "Critical Hits: The Game" with me, a crotchety person. We are in a new area!

Route 4

Rattata || Normal

Spearow || Normal / Flying

Ekans || Poison (Red version only)

Sandshrew || Ground (Blue version only)

Even though we are out of the actual dungeon now, there are still quite a few trainer battles between us and the next gym. But that's actually not such a bad thing because the gym leader owns a level 21 Starmie that will have no problems taking out a Pikachu or Ivysaur who is even just a few levels lower.

First of all though, there is an item hanging out in plain sight for us to grab. It is TM04 Whirlwind which is a move I have never used in all of my years playing Pokemon. It deals no damage (which I find offensive) though it does force the opponent's current Pokemon to switch out. I'm not saying it's useless, I'm just saying that personally I will be selling it once we get to the next town.

There is a female trainer up north but we actually don't have any way of getting to her at present, so we are left with the option of hopping down the ledges. Make sure you've caught all the Pokemon around Mt. Moon that you want for the time being because we won't be able to make it back here for a little while.

Catch an Ekans/Sandshrew in the patch of grass here if you want, then continue east into...

Yaaaay, we're heeeeere! I love this place. It's probably my favourite city in Kanto. I don't really know why, though.

There is a bicycle shop in the southern part of town, but you cannot afford a bike no matter much money you've saved up on your journey - the price is one dollar above the maximum you are allowed to carry.

Stop by the Pokemon center to heal if you need it, or to store some items in the PC. The Mart is a little southwest of there if you have some money to toss around.

This trader lives in the house west of the Pokemon Center. We have no way of obtaining a Poliwhirl at the moment, but you may want to take note of this location if you're going to be looking to fill your Pokedex. This is the only place in the game to get a Jynx; it has a useful type combination (Ice / Psychic) however, like all in-game trades, it comes with a ridiculous nickname that the game does not allow you to change.

North of the trader lives a man who will tell you about all of the gym badges in Kanto and all the different effects each of them has. You can talk to him if you're curious, but the gym leaders will explain everything when they award the badges to you anyway. However, if you go out his back door you will find a small enclosure in which hides an invisible Rare Candy.

Northeast of the badge man's house there is a bridge, but you should make sure you've saved and healed up before you approach it.

Yep. This guy.

Rival || ¥595

Pidgeotto Lv.18 || Normal / Flying || 435 exp

Abra Lv.15 || Psychic || 234

Rattata Lv.15 || Normal || 183

Charmander Lv.17 || Fire || 235 exp

By far, his Pidgeotto gave me the most trouble. Since it doesn't actually know any Flying attacks yet though, I ended up winning with Ivysaur by using Leech Seed and lowering its attack with Growl, then whittling its hp down with Tackle. I still had to use a Potion because it scored a critical hit at one point, but other than that the battle went pretty smoothly. Abra only knows Teleport so it's pretty much free exp, and my Rattata took his out without sustaining any damage. For Charmander I had Spearow use Leer twice and then Fury Attack.

North of here is a bunch of other trainers which you will have to fight in a fixed sequence.

Route 24 & 25

Caterpie || Bug (Blue version only)

Metapod || Bug (Blue version only)

Weedle || Bug / Poison (Red version only)

Kakuna || Bug / Poison (Red version only)

Pidgey || Normal / Flying

Oddish || Grass / Poison (Red version only)

Abra || Psychic

Bellsprout || Grass / Poison (Blue version only)

Abra can be a handy Pokemon to have around, but catching one can be a bit tricky. The only attack they know is Teleport which instantly removes them from battle, meaning you don't have any chance to lower their hp. If you have a high level Pokemon that knows Sing, you may be able to get the jump on it, however it does have decent speed. Once you've caught one training is also a bit difficult, since it won't learn any damaging attacks until it evolves into Kadabra at level 16. However, its power with even the simple Confusion attack is quite impressive.

Bug Catcher || ¥140

Caterpie Lv.14 || Bug || 159 exp

Weedle Lv.14 || Bug / Poison || 156 exp

Lass || ¥210

Pidgey Lv.14 || Normal / Flying || 165 exp

Nidoran♀ Lv.14 || Poison || 177 exp

Youngster || ¥210

Rattata Lv.14 || Normal || 171 exp

Ekans Lv.14 || Poison || 186 exp

Zubat Lv.14 || Poison / Flying || 162 exp

Lass || ¥240

Pidgey Lv.16 || Normal / Flying || 187 exp

Nidoran♀ Lv.16 || Poison || 201 exp

Jr. Trainer♂ || ¥360

Mankey Lv.18 || Fighting || 285 exp

For defeating these five trainers (it will not count against you if you heal in between) you will be rewarded by
the next person with a Nugget. However after giving you your prize, they will engage you in battle as well.

Rocket || ¥450

Ekans Lv.15 || Poison || 198 exp

Zubat Lv.15 || Poison / Flying || 172 exp

Over to the left, we have another trainer waiting in a patch of grass. There is a glitch involving this trainer that allows you to get a Mew, you can read about it here.

Jr. Trainer♂ || ¥280

Rattata Lv.14 || Normal || 171 exp

Ekans Lv.14 || Poison || 186 exp

Hooray! Toby's uselessness is decreased somewhat! I have to admit that I really dislike Raticate, but I decided to use one because for the team I picked out, I would have been stuck with just Bulbasaur and Spearow all the way until the third gym. Also I needed someone who could learn Strength. Toby takes a lot of exp to level up unfortunately, but he's been doing a good enough job so far.

In the northwest corner of route 24 you'll find an item ball. It has TM45 Thunder Wave inside, which none of my Pokemon can actually learn at the moment. I'll save it for later.

East on route 25 there are some more trainers. I'll be starting with the left-most Hiker, then the next Hiker a bit southeast of him, and then just the rest in basic left-to-right order.

Hiker || ¥525

Machop Lv.15 || Fighting || 282 exp

Geodude Lv.15 || Rock / Ground || 276 exp

Right beside this guy is another hidden item.

Hiker || ¥595

Onix Lv.17 || Rock / Ground || 393 exp

Youngster || ¥225

Rattata Lv.15 || Normal || 183 exp

Spearow Lv.15 || Normal / Flying || 186 exp

Youngster || ¥255

Slowpoke Lv.17 || Water / Psychic || 360 exp

Lass || ¥225

Nidoran♂ Lv.15 || Poison || 192 exp

Nidoran♀ Lv.15 || Poison || 189 exp

Hiker || ¥455

Geodude Lv.13 || Rock / Ground || 238 exp

Machop Lv.13 || Fighting || 244 exp

Geodude Lv.13 || Rock / Ground || 238 exp

Make this trainer walk down to meet you to get him out of the way.

Jr. Trainer♂ || ¥280

Rattata Lv.14 || Normal || 171 exp

Ekans Lv.14 || Poison || 186 exp

With the battle won, head into the little space behind him and get the item ball which contains TM19 Seismic Toss. Head on over to the east and you'll find the last two trainers out of this particular set.

Youngster || ¥210

Ekans Lv.14 || Poison || 186 exp

Sandshrew Lv.14 || Ground || 279 exp

Yaaaay Annie! Gooooo Annie! Now you're ready to play with the big boys!

Lass || ¥195

Oddish Lv.13 || Grass / Poison || 216 exp

Pidgey Lv.13 || Normal / Flying || 153 exp

Oddish Lv.13 || Grass / Poison || 216 exp

With that last trainer out of the way, collect the invisible Ether and head on into the small house a few steps to the right. Talk to the "Pokemon" here and agree to help him. Simply inspect the computer as he instructed. When you talk to Bill again he will reward you with the S.S. Ticket. If you leave and return to inspect the pc again you can view the blank pages for Eevee and all its evolutions. Since no trainers use these Pokemon and you only get one Eevee to evolve, this is the only way to see all the pages without having to trade in two more Eevee from another game.

With this business done, go south and take the straight path west and south back to the city. It is finally time to take on the second gym.

Cerulean City Gym Challenge

All of the trainers here use water-type Pokemon. Bellsprout, Oddish, Bulbasaur and Pikachu are the main choices here. If you really grind you could even have a Gloom or Weepinbell by the time you face the leader. Paras will also be resistant to the attacks, and Leech Life will be supereffective against Misty's Starmie - though it doesn't learn it until level 20 and it's such a weak attack it won't be of much use. A normal-type that knows strong attacks like Hyper Fang or Mega Punch could also work well.

Swimmer || ¥80

Horsea Lv.16 || Water || 283 exp

Shellder Lv.16 || Water || 331 exp

Jr. Trainer♀ || ¥380

Goldeen Lv.19 || Water || 451 exp

Gym Leader Misty || ¥2079

Staryu Lv.18 || Water || 408 exp

Starmie Lv.21 || Water / Psychic || 931 exp

Yeah, I know. That screen capture has nothing to do with the badge. I was expecting there to be a "Robin got the Cascade Badge!" message but there wasn't, there was just Misty mentioning it in her defeat speech. Anyway, with this all Pokemon up to level 30 will obey you, even if you got them in a trade. You can also use Cut outside of battle, which again we do not possess yet. She also gives you TM11 Bubblebeam which is a fantastic move.

Go to part IV --->

My Team So Far