All right, time to head out of Pallet Town and into the world!
Route 1, stretching north from Pallet, is fairly standard for starting routes in Pokemon games. There's plenty of tall grass to find wild Pokemon in (though right now I can't catch any), no trainers to fight, and a guy who gives me a free Potion just for talking to him. Handy!
Along the way, Furnace levels up and learns Ember, a Fire-type move. It isn't very strong, but it does get bonus damage from being the same type as him. It can also burn enemies, which is always handy.
Anyway, after going through Route 1 I arrive in...
Viridian City -The Eternally Green Paradise-
Viridian City's pretty boring, but it does have a Pokemon Center (where you can get your Pokemon healed for free) and a Poke Mart (which sells stuff). There's roads leading farther north and east, but the north road is blocked by an old man who hasn't had his coffee yet.
Anyway, to advance I have to go to the Poke Mart, where the cashier immediately decides that I must be from Pallet Town and thus must know Professor Oak. He ordered something, and the cashier would rather hand it off to some random ten-year-old than actually do his job. He doesn't even let me buy anything. Jerk.
So, back to Pallet Town, along the road that has been covered with one-way ledges to force anyone headed to Viridian to walk through tall grass. Oak's quite happy to get his parcel, and conveniently has a request for both Mike and Gary. He's invented this thing called a Pokedex that records what Pokemon I've seen and caught, with more detailed data for species I've actually captured. He hands one out to each of us, along with five basic Poke Balls to start us off.
So, what does Oak want us to do? Well, he'd like us to record data on all 150 Pokemon species found in the Kanto region! Of course, I won't be able to finish it in this playthrough because I have nobody to trade with for the ones that can't be found in FireRed, but I can try.
Gary, of course, declares that I am not needed because he can complete the Pokedex on his own. He also tells me not to bother going to his place for a Town Map, but luckily his sister Daisy is more reasonable and gives me one anyway.
So, before we leave, let's check out Furnace's entry!
Charmander: Lizard Pokemon
"From the time it is born, a flame burns at the tip of its tail. Its life would end if the flame were to go out."
Luckily, that can't actually happen ingame.
At any rate, it's time to get started catching Pokemon! There are two found on Route 1:
- Pidgey
: A Normal/Flying-type Pokemon. I'm sure everyone who's ever played the Gen 1 games has trained a Pidgey. They're not particularly strong or interesting, but they're dependable enough in the early game. I named mine Orville. His nature's actually pretty decent: Naive raises Speed at the cost of Special Defense. His ability, Keen Eye, makes him immune to any effects that would lower his Accuracy. He only has one move, though: Tackle is the most basic attack in the book.
- Rattata: A Normal-type Pokemon. Rattata is the basis for pretty much every early-game Normal-type in the series: it's stats are low but usable, it learns a few surprisingly strong moves, and it and its evolutions show up all over the freaking place. Sentret, Zigzagoon, Bidoof, Lillipup, and Bunnelby all owe something to this guy (or girl, in the case of my particular Rattata). I name her Plague. She has a Quiet nature (raises Special Attack at the cost of Speed—nothing interesting here), and the Guts ability, which raises her Attack when she has a status effect. For moves, she's only got Tackle and Tail Whip (a Defense-lowering move).
Now, Pokedex entries for both of those. First Pidgey:
Pidgey: Tiny Bird Pokemon
"Does not like to fight. It hides in tall grass and so on, foraging for food such as small bugs."
Nor for Rattata:
Rattata: Mouse Pokemon
"Its fangs are ling and very sharp. They grow continuously, so it gnaws on hard things to whittle them down."
I then enter the most tedious part of any Pokemon game: level grinding my first few Pokemon so they can help me through the early battles before I get better ones. What makes this problematic is that Orville and Plague were caught at levels 2 and 3, respectively, and I want them both at level 7 for something coming up in a bit.
Once they're both level 7, I'm done grinding. Both have learned new moves, too. Orville gained Sand-Attack at level 5, allowing him to reduce his opponent's Accuracy by 1 stage (this mainly just annoys the player when fighting wild ones, because it's not nearly effective enough to be worth keeping). Plague, meanwhile, learned Quick Attack at level 7, allowing her to strike before her opponent gets a chance to react. It's also a bit stronger than Tackle, as a bonus.
With my grinding complete, I'm ready to take on a challenge on Route 22 to the east. I make sure to pick up the Potion semi-hidden on a side path before heading there, because the challenge in question happens to be another fight with Gary!
He first tells me about how I'll need Badges to get into the Pokemon League (which is conveniently located at the end of Route 22), then challenges me to see if my Pokemon have improved. He's leading with a Pidgey at level 9, so I start off with Furnace. His Pidgey should know Gust (a Flying-type attack of minimal strength), but he's content to just use Sand-Attack once and then Tackle until he's knocked out. Next up I have to deal with his Squirtle, which now knows the Water-type Bubble attack—that'll tear Furnace a new one, so I send in Orville to use Sand-Attack a few times—the maximum of six, leaving poor Squirtle barely able to see where he's going. He certainly can't see Orville, who escapes completely undamaged and reaches level 9 for his trouble (learning Gust in the process—he'll never have to deal with Tackle missing on him again).
Gary then tells me to "get a move on", and heads off to train some more.
There's technically no reason to stay on Route 22, but there's two new Pokemon to catch here:
- Mankey: A Fighting-type Pokemon. This one's mainly remembered for one important reason that has to do with the first gym. It's pretty standard, with high Attack and Speed, though there are better Fighting-types out there. Mine took all of my remaining Poke Balls to catch, forcing me to go buy some more. His name's Monkeyball and he's got a Lax nature (Defense up, Special Defense down). His starting moves are Scratch and Leer (lowers Defense). His ability is Vital Spirit, which makes him immune to Sleep.
- Spearow: A Normal/Flying-type Pokemon. This guy's an angrier alternative to Pidgey. Like Pidgey it'll probably be replaced, but it's perfectly fine for the early game. Mine's female, and nicknamed Flint. Her nature is Bashful (no effect on any stat), her ability is Keen Eye like Orville, and the moves she has access to are Peck (another basic Flying-type move, almost identical to Gust) and Growl. I'll need her for something later, but unfortunately it doesn't involve keeping her around.
Anyway, time for their Pokedex entries! First Mankey:
Mankey: Pig Monkey Pokemon
"Light and agile on its feet, and ferocious in temperament. When angered, it flies into an uncontrollable frenzy."
Now Spearow:
Spearow: Tiny Bird Pokemon
"It busily flits around here and there. Even if it is frail, it can be a tough foe that uses Mirror Move."
With that done, I can finally head north! The old man who was blocking the road has had his coffee, and now he's willing to show me how to catch Pokemon (actually, he pretty much insists despite my collection of 5). He then gives me the Teachy TV, which is basically a portable tutorial hosted by a guy who's trying too hard to be "hip" and "radical". Now that he's out of the way, I can also check out the local Pokemon gym, though it's closed. It'll take quite a while for it to reopen—long enough to get badges from all seven other gyms in Kanto.
So, with everything in Viridian City done, I can move on through the depths of...Viridian Forest!
Current Team:
Furnace: Level 9 Charmander
- Gender: Male
- Type: Fire
- HP: 28
- Attack: 14
- Defense: 12
- Special Attack: 15
- Special Defense: 15
- Speed: 19
- Nature: Careful (Special Defense up, Special Attack down)
- Ability: Blaze (Powers up Fire-type moves when the user is critically wounded)
- Moves:
- Scratch: Basic Normal-type attack (40 power, 100 accuracy)
- Growl: Normal-type move to lower the opponent's Attack by one stage (100 accuracy)
- Ember: Basic Fire-type attack that can cause burns (40 power, 100 accuracy)
Orville: Level 9 Pidgey
- Gender: Male
- Type: Normal/Flying
- HP: 27
- Attack: 15
- Defense: 12
- Special Attack: 12
- Special Defense: 10
- Speed: 16
- Nature: Naive (Speed up, Special Defense down)
- Ability: Keen Eye (Blocks all Accuracy-lowering effects)
- Moves:
- Tackle: Basic Normal-type attack (35 power, 95 accuracy)
- Sand-Attack: Ground-type move to lower the opponent's Accuracy one stage (100 accuracy)
- Gust: Basic Flying-type attack (40 power, 100 accuracy)
Plague: Level 7 Rattata
- Gender: Female
- Type: Normal
- HP: 21
- Attack: 14
- Defense: 10
- Special Attack: 8
- Special Defense: 10
- Speed: 14
- Nature: Quiet (Special Attack up, Speed down)
- Ability: Guts (increases physical attack power when the user has a status ailment)
- Moves:
- Tackle: Basic Normal-type attack (35 power, 95 accuracy)
- Tail Whip: Normal-type move to lower the opponent's Defense one stage (100 accuracy)
- Quick Attack: Normal-type attack that moves before egular moves no matter what (40 power, 100 accuracy)
Monkeyball: Level 4 Mankey
- Gender: Male
- Type: Fighting
- HP: 18
- Attack: 12
- Defense: 8
- Special Attack: 7
- Special Defense: 8
- Speed: 10
- Nature: Lax (Defense up, Special Defense down)
- Ability: Vital Spirit (Grants complete immunity to Sleep)
- Moves:
- Scratch: Basic Normal-type attack (40 power, 100 accuracy)
- Leer: Normal-type move to lower the opponent's Defense one stage (100 accuracy)
Flint: Level 5 Spearow
- Gender: Female
- Type: Normal/Flying
- HP: 19
- Attack: 11
- Defense: 8
- Special Attack: 9
- Special Defense: 9
- Speed: 13
- Nature: Bashful (No effect on stats)
- Ability: Keen Eye (Blocks all Accuracy-lowering effects)
- Moves:
- Peck: Basic Flying-type attack (35 power, 100 accuracy)
- Growl: Normal-type move to lower the opponent's Attack one stage (100 accuracy)
