Walkthru You can download the text version of this here <Zip file> Basic Strategies: Well, there are two ways to play.... 1. Get all your pokemon at a high level 2. Have 6 pokemon and use them exclusively through out the game Both of these seem to work as long as you spend the time to construct a well balanced team. For example, even those guyz may be cute, 6 Pikachus will surely lose against any ground-type pokemon. A well balanced team should include a normal pokemon, a psychic pokemon, a ground pokemon, and 3 other different pokemon. This ensures you will always have the upper advantage in a battle. Leveling Weak Pokemon: Here is an extremely effective way to level up pokemon. - First you must have 5 self destruct pokemon - Start your weak pokemon off in a battle - Now switch to a self destruct pokemon and sacrifice it - Keep changing to self destructing pokemon until the enemies are dead <remember to switch back to your first pokemon when a new pokemon enters the battle> - Since you self destructing pokemon all are dead, the first pokemon gets ALL of the EXP Excellent way to Capture Pokemon - okay, this is an almost guaranteed way to capture a pokemon - weaken the pokemon, or make it go to sleep - as soon as you throw the ball, hold B <the cancel button> and furiously keep hitting right. - this captures pokemon the majority of the time

The Actual Walkthrough

Pallet Town

This is where you begin. You start in your room, where there is a PC. Go check it out and WITHDRAW the Potion. It will come in handy. Journey to the grassy area north, and Prof. Oak will drag you back to his lab. You will be given the choice between 3 Pokemon, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. No matter what you choose, your rival Gary (or whatever you named him), will pick the Pokemon that has an advantage over yours.

Note: Bulbasaur is the best BEGINNER'S choice. Squirtle is what most people choose, because he will become quite strong. Charmander is probably the strongest, but the most difficult to raise early on, because early enemies are immune to Charmander's fire attacks.

After you select your Pokemon, you will battle Gary. Be sure to win, so you can gain a little experience and score some cash. Both yours and Gary's Pokemon have about 2 moves. 1 is Tackle, and the other is a move that lowers defense or attack. Use use the basic attack, that should kill Gary since he usually wastes his time on the attacks that lower defense or attack. Once you win/lose against Gary, go to his house (right of your house), to get a Town Map from his sister. Now, you will set off to Viridian City, by going north through Route 1.

Viridian City

The PokeMart has something for Professor Oak that you need to bring to him. It allows you to use the Pokedex and allow you to play linked games or trade. Bring Oak's Parcel (that's the item) back to Professor Oak in Pallet Town. On the way back, you can catch two pokemon, Pidgey and Rattata.. Now, go back to Viridian, buy whatever items you feel is neccessary from the Pokemart (just some pokeballs, potions, and maybe antidotes) and go through Route 2 to get to the Viridian Forest.

Viridian Forest

Here, you will face many trainers. Don't worry, this can be a good thing. It builds up experience real fast, and you can catch Pokemon while your here. Building up levels too fast can be bad too, since they won't obey you early on. If you bought Pokeballs, you can capture some ok Pokemon. Depending on what version, you'll either get a lot of Caterpie/Metapods or Weedle/Kakunas and less of the other. If you're lucky, you can find a Pikachu. (Pikachu is really really rare..... I takes a lot of patience to find one.... Just wander in grass and fight waves of caterpie/weedles untill you finally see a pikachu... it took me about 30 minutes untill I finally caught a Pikachu)

Pewter City

Here is the location of the first Gym. The trainer here is Brock. He uses rock-type Pokemon. If you chose a Squirtle, you'll win fast. Bulbasaur does pretty good too. Charmander isn't effective when you use Fire attacks on rock-pokemon, so over level him or use other pokemon. Defeating Brock will get you a Boulder Badge, which will let you use FLASH any time and raises the Power of all your Pokemon a little.

Note: When a badge lets you use something like FLASH or CUT, it doesn't mean you can use it right away. You need to find a Hidden Machine (HM) that teaches that ability. Use it to give that ability to a Pokemon and THEN you can use it.

There are several things to do in Pewter. Pewter is one of the few cities where you don't have to do anything to get out of that city, in order to get to the next one. It's a good thing to talk to everyone, explore suspicious areas, and check our all the buildings. As in every RPG, it will usually end up with you getting rewards and freebies. When you're ready, take Route 3 to get to Mt. Moon. If your Pokemon are in bad condition, use an item to heal them. If you are cheap (like I was), you just have to make the trip back to the Pokecenter in Pewter.

Mt. Moon

Outside is a Pokecenter. In there, there is a man who will sell you a Magikarp for $500. Do not be dumb like James and buy it.... just leave it alone. Magikarp is the worst Pokemon out there. BUT once he evolves to level 20, he turns into a Gyrados. At level 20, I think he's as strong as some level 30 Pokemon even. But, don't get it right now. you can get one (or many) for free later.

Not much to say about Mt. Moon. Find your way out. <You can find rare Clefairy's in the deeper sections> There are plenty of items lying around, and trainers protecting them as well. Some trainers give you special items when you defeat them. Bring items along or go back to the Pokecenter is all I have to say. There is one person who you MUST battle that isn't too tough, but when you win, will give you a special item. There are 2 Fossils to choose from when you defeat him. Dome or Helix Fossils. Either one of those fossils will allow you to get a Rare Pokemon when you get to the Cinnebar Island. For now, when you get to a PC, store this item, since you won't be able to use it for a while.

Cerulean City

At this city, Misty is the trainer at Gym #2. She uses water type Pokemon. If you have a Bulbasaur, he'll make short work of them. Squirtle does average, and Charmander the worst. Like I said, Charmander isn't good early on. If you captured a Pikachu already, he'll do well also. It's important that you defeat Misty, because you will get the Cascade Badge. It lets you use CUT and Pokemon up to level 30 will obey you. That means that your Pokemon won't ignore your orders in combat unless they are higher than level 30. It'll be a major relief when you get this. Explore a little. In this city, there's a Bike Shop that will sell you a Bike for $1,000,000,000 (or was it 1 mil?). Don't buy it! You can get a coupon which is good for a free bike in the next town. There's a house with a cop blocking it. This will be important later. Gary is lurking around, so be prepared to fight. He's at the bridge. There's a few trainers on the bridge that you must defeat to get to Bill's Sea Cottage. Defeat them and get a prize.

Sea Cottage

Bill, the Pokemaniac is here. He invented the Pokemon storage system (the thing that says Someone's PC on the computer). He is stuck in the form of a Pokemon until you can help him turn back to a human. Help him, and you will recieve an SS Anne Ticket. As a bonus, you can check out Bill's PC and get the info on the evolved forms of Evee. Now that you've helped him, when you go to a PC, it will now say Bill's PC instead of someone's PC. Return to Cerulean City when you're all wrapped up.

Cerulean City (Part II)

Now that you've helped Bill, the house that was guarded by the cop is now accessible. Talk to the people inside. They will tell you that Team Rocket messed up their house and stole the Dig TM. He's right outside in the back. Defeat him, get the TM, and return it. You'll get it as a reward. Go out to the back of the house again, and travel South. There's 3 buildings there. There's a daycare center, here, you can leave a Pokemon and have the person raise it's level. You will be charged $100 minimum. You have to leave it there for a while. For every level it's raised, it will cost you another $100. The daycare center is great for low-level Pokemon. They improve faster than a Pokemon who is already strong. There is a second building to the right. It has an underground tunnel that will take you to Vermilion City and the SS Anne. Below the daycare center is the city gates. This one leads to Saffron City, which is between Cerulean and Vermilion City on the Map. You can't really go though yet. City gates are everywhere, and are not usable until you do a favor for the guards.

Vermilion City

Vermilion is the location of Gym #3. The leader is known as Lt. Surge. He uses Electric Pokemon. Electric Pokemon suck against Grass Pokemon. Water will last the shortest. Fire fights average. Defeating Surge will get you the Lightning Badge. It increases your Pokemon's speed slightly, and lets you use FLY. You won't be able to get to Surge however, until you get the CUT HM (see SS Anne). Vermilion has some neat stuff. Check out all the buidlings you can. There's even a Pokemon club. Going there will get you a Bike Voucher. Take it back to the bike shop in Cerulean to get a free Bike. Now, traveling is a breeze. Put it at the top of your item list, since you will use it a lot. Bike's can be used only outdoors and in caves. Go back to Vermilion City and get a fishing rod from the old man in the house near the SS Anne. Now you can get unlimited Magic Karps when you fish in water. Fish up a "Magic Krap" and leave it at the daycare.... Now go back and board the SS Anne.

SS Anne

I hope you brought some items along, because you will have many opponents to face. This is mostly optional though. But it's best to do so to get some items and experience. Most of the SS Anne's passengers quarters have trainers who will fight you. Almost all of them use Water Pokemon also. There are many visible items as well as hidden items to search for in the rooms. Gary is on the ship too. Try to stock up on recovery items because you are not permitted to leave the ship often to go to the Pokecenter. You MIGHT be able to get off once, but if you try again, the ship might just leave before you accomplish an important goal. The Captain of the ship is sick. Help him <rub rub??!!>, and get the CUT HM. If you don't get it before the SS Anne leaves, you never will. And, you will be stuck forever. Save before you board the ship just to be safe. Getting the CUT HM lets you figt Lt Surge by the way.

Vermilion City (Part II)

Now that you have the CUT HM, teach it to one of your Pokemon. I don't know who can be taught for sure, but I know ground-type can be taught (like Sandshrew), Charmander, grass-type (Bulbasaur), and a few others. Know one really knows how they are limited. The good thing about HMs is that they can be used an unlimited amount of times, where as with TMs, you can only use them once, and many of them you will only find 1 of in the game. CUT can also be used as an attack in combat, but it is pretty weak (it's ideal for weakening Pokemon to capture in my opinion). BE sure to use it on a pokemonFight Surge and win the badge. East of Vermilion City is Diglett's Cave.

Diglett's Cave

This is a short path that will take you back to a special part of Pewter City that you couldn't reach before, unless you returned their and used CUT. Diglett's cave is filled with yup, you guessed it-Digletts. Very few Dugtrios are in there, but they are hard to capture anyways. You should try and capture one. They are great. At a certain level, they learn DIG which is a skill you can use in and out of combat. Out of combat, you can use it like an Escape Rope and get it out of Caves and some buildings, and will take you back to the Pokecenter you visited last. DIG in combat is a devatating attack. It can often be a 1-hit kill move. Beware, Diglett is a ground-type, which means it will die with just a splash of water.

Pewter City (from Diglett's Cave or using CUT ability)

Here, you will get the FLASH HM from one of Oak's Aides in one of the houses. He will give it to you AFTER you catch a certain amount of Pokemon. Also, you can get many items that you missed because you didn't have CUT before. Now go back to Cerulean City so you can get to Rock Tunnel. With the CUT ability, use it right next to the museum. It will take you behind the counter of the museum so you can talk to some Scientists. Talk to the top one and you will get Amber. Store this in your PC. It is just like the Helix and Dome Fossil, which can be used to get some rare pokemon later.

Rock Tunnel

To get here, you have to defeat some trainers. You will be able to catch some Electric Pokemon that you couldn't find before. Teach FLASH to an Electric Pokemon that you don't like. Flash isn't a good attack to begin with, plus, you'll only use it ONCE to see in the dark at Rock Tunnel. So, like I said, give it to a one of your crappy electric-pokemon. Flash isn't really an attack. It's one of those abilities that lowers stats in combat, although I forget which. While in the tunnel, you will fight trainers and find items.

Lavender Town

There's no gym here. This Town is the location of Pokemon Tower, where dead pokemon are remembered. Don't try going in there unless you want to find out why, the hard way. Talk to all the people and you will find out Mr. Fuji is missing. He is in Pokemon Tower. If you try and go in, on the second floor, you will be greeted by Gary. Continue after that, and you will fight a host of Channellers (ghost-pokemon trainers) and a bunch of Ghost pokemon. You can't fight/ID Ghost Pokemon unless you have a Silph Scope, which you can get from Celadon City. So heed my warning, and don't go. Just find out what's up, and go West of Lavender Town. There will be a City Gate to Saffron City (which you can't use, STILL) and an underground tunnel that will take you to Celadon City.

Celadon City

This is the location of Gym #4. The trainer here is Erika. She specializes in grass-type pokemon. If you have a Charmander, you will kill her pokemon quick. You can match grass vs. grass pokemon if you had a Bulbasaur. Squirtle's water attacks will not be effective against grass, so if you use him, just use non-water attacks. However, since Squirtle is a water-type pokemon, thier grass attacks will kill him fast. You will be awarded a Rainbow Badge for winning. It makes it so level 50 pokemon obey you, and lets you use STRENGTH. To get to here, you will need to use CUT on the bushes South of Celadon. In her gym, you will find MANY trainers. Take your time to gain more EXP. Celadon is home to a very large shopping mall where you can buy things for your Pokemon. On the top floor, there are vending machines where you can buy Water, Soda Pop, or Lemonade. If you've been talking to the guards at the city gates, you'd know you need to buy them water. Buy one for a guard, and give it to him. He will share some with the other guards, and you can now go through the city gates. Also on the top floor, there is a girl who is thirsty. Buy here any one of those drinks, give it to her, and she will give you a TM. You can give her all 3. In the mall, you can get a Stone that evolves certain pokemon. Also, there is a Pokedoll, which will get you an item later, or help you RUN from combat. You can also get the one of a kind Evee by going into the back of one of the buildings. Once you have given the water to the guards, you can go to Saffron. But first, back to the Lavender Town business. If you've been around, you know what the Game Corner is. If you want to play, you need to get a Coin Case from a guy in the Diner. You might have heard rumors that Game Corner is run by Team Rocket. You also might have heard there is a secret switch. Go to Game Corner and talk to the guy facing the wall. He is a member of Team Rocket and will fight you. Defeat him and you can press the switch. It will open a door to the left, which leads to the basement levels of Game Corner.

In Game Corner's basement, there are some Team Rocket trainers to fight, and items to find. In a nutshell, here's how you get to the boss, Geovanni, leader of Team Rocket. Go down the stairs as far as you can (4th Basement Level). You're going to have to find and fight a Team Rocket guy who mentions the Lift Key. It will make it so you can operate the elevator on the lower right-hand of every floor (except 3rd Basement) so you can get to Geovanni. You might have to talk to him after you beat him so
you get the Lift Key. Now, take the elevator to get to the bottom floor and fight Geovanni. Defeat him and get the Silph Scope. Now, you can identify/fight ghost pokemon in Lavender Town. At this point, you can either go to Saffron City and get the Marsh Badge or return to Lavender Town to rescue Doctor Fuji. Also in this city is HM 02 which is FLY. It is located left of Celadon City, near the city gate. Get to it's location by CUTTING the bush in the small path that is close to the City Gates which lead to the bike path. Go up and left, through the house. It will take you to a small hallway that is right above the guardhouse. Then, there will be a house. Go in it and the girl inside will give you FLY. Now, you can quickly return to cities that you have already visited without having to journey long distances to return.

Lavender Town (Part II)

Why are we here at Lavender Town rescuing someone if our goal is to get badges to go to the Pokemon league? 2 Reasons. There's a sleeping Snorlax blocking the route from Lavender to Fuschia (Routes 12-15) and another Snorlax blocking the Bike Path that takes you from Celadon City to Fuschia City (Routes 16-18). Now, what does this have to do with Lavender Town? Well, Mr. Fuji is trapped in pokemon tower. So what you say? Well, he has a PokeFlute. What's a PokeFlute? It is an item that will
wake up the Snorlax and can be used to wake up sleeping pokemon in combat. Mr. Fuji is on the top floor if I haven't mentioned it already. With the PokeFlute, you can wake up a Snorlax and attempt to capture it. There are only 2 in the whole game, so you should save before you wake it up. It sleeps a lot, so it should make it easier. You can go right on ahead to Fuschia but it's better to go to the Saffron City Gym first. You might wanna get a ghost-type pokemon just in case (because the Saffron Gym Leader uses psychic pokemon, which are weak against ghosts.

Saffron City

This is the location of Gym #5, which is headed by Sabrina. She prefers Psychic pokemon and will give you a Marsh Badge if you defeat her. It will make it so level 70 pokemon will obey you. You can't access this gym at first. If you've been to Saffron before you finished up business in Pokemon Tower, you'd have noticed that there was a tall building (Silph Co.) with the entrance guarded. If you rescued Mr. Fuji, you can now go in. Here, you will take on Team Rocket trainers and rescue Silph Co. Doing so earns you a Master Ball. The Master Ball will catch ANY pokemon, 100% of the time. Beware, you only get one, so save it (for Mewtwo). To get the Master Ball, defeat Giovanni to save the president of Silph Co.

If you don't wanna go there right away, you can find the Psychic's house. The person there will give you a free TM. Another place you can visit is a Dojo (Gym). It was the former Pokemon Gym, but lost thier title, and now operate outside of the Pokemon League. In there, you will fight a few fighting-type pokemon trainers. Defeat the boss of the gym and you get a free pokemon. He will let you pick between Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee. There's only one of each in the game, so this is the only time you can get
it. When you finish off Geovanni and defeat Sabrina, you should move on to Fuschia City. It is home of the Safari Zone.

Fuchsia City

This is the location of Gym #6. The leader is Koga, who uses pokemon with hypnosis-related abilities. You can access this gym right away, but there's a catch. There are invisible walls in the gym, so you'll have to navigate blindly through the maze. If you look close enough, you'll notice that the floor has lines going from left to right. You can tell what is a wall and what isn't by the lines on the floor. If they go up-down, then thats a piece of wall. It's pretty simple to figure out. And you can get there
eventually if you run into the wall enough times. Anyways, defeat Koga and get a Soul Badge. It lets you use SURF and the defense of your Pokemon will be raised a little.

Safari Zone/Helping the Warden

If you do some exploring in Fuschia, you'll find out something's up with the warden of the Safari Zone. He's missing his gold teeth. You can find it in the Safari Zone next to the Secret House. In the Secret House, you can get a free SURF HM. When you bring the Gold Teeth back to the Warden, give it to him and he will give you the STRENGTH HM. It is used to move boulders, and can be a pretty strong attack. You can use the skill and move the Boulder in the Warden's house and get the TM. Next Door to the Warden's house is the fisherman's older brother. Talk to him and he'll give you a Great Rod to fish with. You can catch Goldeen and a few other water-pokemon. If you came to Fuschia through Routes 12-15 (from Lavender to Fuschia), you might have met the fisherman's oldest brother. Talk to him and get the Super Rod, which will catch you some better water-pokemon.

Seafoam Islands

Not much to explain here. Navigate through the cave to get out the other end so you can head off to Cinnebar. If you try to swim inside the cave, there might be strong currents that will push you in the wrong directions. To stop that, look for boulders in the cave and use STRENGTH to push them in the nearest holes you can see. This will act as a dam and regulate the force of the current, so you can SURF easier and maybe get out quicker. Theres a secret Pokémon in here. It's one of the rare birds...Articuno!

Cinnebar Islands

Location of Gym #7. The leader here is Blaine, who will give you a Volcano Badge if you win. It makes it so your pokemon's special abilities increase a little. Blaine specializes if fire-type pokemon. You won't be able to get into the gym until you find the Secret Key. The Secret Key is located in the building right above the lab. It has many fire Pokemon. Make plenty of room for items too.

Also on this island is a lab, where you can finally unload those Helix and Dome Fossils, as well as the Old Amber <you get that by cutting a bush near the Museum in Pewter City>. The scientist there will restore the pokemon using the fossil you found. It will take a little bit of time though. When you are done with Blaine, swim North and return home to Pewter. Go through Pewter and get to Viridian City.

Viridian City (Part II)

Location of Gym #8. If you explored here in the beginning, you'd know that the Gym was not accessible before. Now, you will be allowed to enter. In the Gym is a bunch of those spin-tiles that you encountered in Game Corner's basement. If you navigate your way correctly, you will meet the 8th Gym Leader. The Gym Leader is someone you have fought twice before. No, not Gary. You've faced him too many times. If you guessed Geovanni, you are correct. You already know what kinda pokemon he uses. Win against him and you are rewarded with the Earth Badge. It makes it so pokemon at any level will obey you. He will also give you a TM. It contains Fissure, which is a 1-hit kill attack. It is somewhat innaccurate, but could work out pretty well with the correct pokemon. Now, journey West to the Pokemon League. You must have all 8 badges, plus a pokemon with SURF and a pokemon with STRENGTH to head to Indigo Plateau. You need SURF to cross water so you can head to the cave that leads to the Pokemon League. In the cave, you'll need STRENGTH to move boulders to activate switches which operate certain doors. If you travel down the right path, you will actually see a pokemon. Save before you decide to talk to it. That pokemon is a Moltres, a rare bird pokemon. You can capture it with almost any Pokeball, but don't use the Master Ball. When you get through the cave, you will see a cottage-like building. That's a Pokemart/Pokestore. If you are there, you have reached Indigo Plateau.

Indigo Plateau

Inside is a Pokemart and Pokecenter. Here, you can still deposit/withdraw items or pokemon, and you can still trade/match with other players with the game link cable. In order to defeat the Elite Four (the Pokemon League), you will have to rely on items. You will have to face 4 Trainers with lefel 50+ Pokemon, consecutively. Lose once, you'll have to start all over.

Note: The surroundings of the pokemon trainer will give you a hint of what kind of Pokemon they use. The first one uses Ice Pokemon. The second is rock-type. The third is psychic-ghost-type. The fourth is dragon-type.

Upon defeating the Elite Four, they crown you league champion. That is, they would if you didn't have 1 more trainer to face. He defeated the Elite 4 right before you came along. Yup, you've guesses it. Gary. He is pretty tough, but if you have recovery items, you should be fine. Win against him, and your Pokemon's name/level as well as time will be entered into the Hall of Fame. After that, you can continue on an rechallenge the Elite Four and Gary, or continue on with your quest to become a Pokemon
Master.

*Secret Dungeon

The Secret Dungeon is located right next to Cerulean. Go up the bridge and use SURF, and head on downward til you see the cave entrance. This is just a cave with lots of great level 50 pokemon to capture. Here, you will find Mewtwo. If you can see him, capture him with the Master Ball you've saved up. he's a level 70 psychic pokemon!!! In this cave, you will need SURF to get to Mewtwo. You will also find some high-level Raichus as well. You cannot get here until you have ecome a Pokemon League
Champ.

*Power Plant

Another secret area you can only get to with SURF. Here, you will find lots of electric pokemon (including level 20-24 Pikachus). If you manage to find your way to the exit, you will see a Pokemon. This one is a Zapdos, and electric-flying pokemon (lethal combo). You can capture him with any ball except the standard Pokeball I think. he's rare and 1-of-a-kind, so you might wanna save before engaging him. To get to the Power Plant, go to the area North-East of the Rock Tunnel. It's right above the Pokecenter. use SURF and follow the river.