Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen/Cerulean City

There is much to do in Cerulean City. You will have to battle your Rival, beat a rain of trainers, stop Team Rocket from their usual deeds and of course earn another badge. The way out is blocked by a guard, who will move away after you visit Bill at his house on Route 25.



Rival battle #3
When you go north, attempting to go on the bridge to Bill's house, your Rival will stop you for a fight. After the battle has ended, he will give you a Fame Checker.

Your rival can be quite tough to beat, even tougher than the Gym Leader of this city. His Pidgeotto is the toughest, it uses annoying Sand Attack which decreases Accuracy and forces to switch. His Rattata uses mainly Hyper Fang (very powerful attack in this stage) and Quick Attack. His Abra is very easy to beat since it can only Teleport. Make sure you have well enough trained Pokémon before you face him.

Gym battle
You might want to wait with the gym battle after you've visited Bill, since Misty can be a tough opponent at this point of the game. After you beat Misty you will be able to use the HM01, outside of battle.

Misty has two Pokémon: Staryu and Starmie. Staryu should be piece of cake, it falls easily to couple attacks and isn't too strong. Starmie is however going to be tough one to beat: it has very powerful stats at this point, its Water Pulse does major damage (and has chance of confusing your Pokémon) and it can heal itself by using.


 * If you have Ivysaur, first use Leech Seed and then attack with Razor Leaf. Leech Seed steals HP from Starmie and heals your Pokémon at the same time. You can also use Sleep Powder to put Starmie asleep.
 * Pikachu learns at level 26, which is a powerful Electric-type move. It easily takes Starmie down in one or two hits.
 * Wartortle learns a Dark-type move at level 19. Since Starmie is part Psychic type, it's weak against Dark-type moves. Wartortle has decent defenses to take incoming attacks, and he also resists Water Pulse.
 * If you don't own any of these Pokémon, save the gym for later when you have Pokémon leveled up enough. You can also catch, which can be found on routes 5 and 6.

Trade
At the house west to the PokéCenter there is an old man who will trade Pokémon with you. You will get a Jynx at the same level as the Poliwhirl you have given. You won't be able to do this trade until much later in the game, after you get a Good Rod.

Bike Shop
You may buy a bike from the shop at the southwest corner of the city. However, it costs 1,000,000, which is more money than you are capable of holding. In Vermilion City, you will receive a Bike Voucher that you can exchange in this store for a free bike.

Leaving Town
When you finally leaving Cerulean from the house where the guard used to be, a Team Rocket Grunt will stop and fight you. When you defeat him he will give you a TM28.

Items

 * Rare Candy (hidden behind the house on the north west corner of the city between two flowers)
 * TM03 (given by Misty after you beat her)
 * Powder Jar (given by the old man in the 2nd upper house, but only if you already have at least one berry)
 * Fame Checker (given by your Rival after you beat him)
 * TM 28 (Given by the TR Grunt after you beat him)