Red | Blue | Yellow |
---|---|---|
Zubat |
Mt. Moon is full of several new Pokémon as well as the menacing Team Rocket. Team Rocket is after Pokémon fossils, no doubt as part of some diabolical scheme. It's up to you to stop them from raiding these lost paleontological treasures!
Zubat | 79% | 79% | 75% |
Geodude | 15% | 15% | 20% |
Paras | 5% | 5% | N/A |
Clefairy | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Sandshrew | N/A | N/A | 4% |
Mt. Moon Battle Tactics
This cave is full of Zubat, but once you put a Pikachu or other strong Pokémon at the head of the roster, you'll find them to be little more than an annoyance. Deeper levels of the dungeon have Zubat that use the Supersonic skill to confuse your Pokémon, but that can be shaken simply by swapping the confused fighter for another.
Geodude are a bit trickier. They're weak to Grass and Water, so Squirtle's Bubble and Bulbasaur's Vine Whip can wipe them out quickly. If you don't have either of these, you can just grab TM 12 and use it to teach Water Gun to one of your Rattata, Jigglypuff, Nidorina or Nidorino. Remember that Poison- and Rock-type attacks don't do very well against Geodude, and Electric attacks have no effect at all.
Also feel free to use TM 01, which teaches Mega Punch. It's a pretty powerful Normal-type attack, although it's slightly inaccurate. It will be outclassed by other attacks such as Strength, Body Slam and Double-Edge later on.
Zubat | 60% | 60% | 65% |
Geodude | 26% | 26% | 20% |
Paras | 10% | 10% | 10% |
Clefairy | 4% | 4% | 5% |
More Battles Await
Two nasty surprises await at the end of Mt. Moon (to get to the end, take ladder C to F to G). Red and Blue players may simply want to avoid Rocket #3, since his Level 16 Raticate can easily slay a Pokémon with Hyper Fang. Yellow players can't avoid their extra battle, though. Use an Escape Rope and come back with a healed party, or heal up with Potions as needed. Yellow players should also watch out for Jessie and James, who will ambush you at the end after the battle over the fossils.
Which fossil should you take? When you get the Dome Fossil cloned (much later in the game), it will become Kabuto. The Helix Fossil will yield an Omanyte. You can't go wrong with either one, since chances are you won't want to exchange a member of your high-level team by that time. To get the other one, you'll either have to trade for it, or receive one as a prize in Pokémon Stadium.
Zubat | 54% | 54% | 60% |
Geodude | 25% | 25% | 15% |
Paras | 15% | 15% | 15% |
Clefairy | 6% | 6% | 10% |
Secrets of the Moon Stones
The Moon Stone you pick up here is a crucial item, and one of only five Moon Stones in the Pokémon world. Moon Stones are the one and only way to make certain Pokémon evolve, of which there are exactly four: Nidorino (Nidoking), Nidorina (Nidoqueen), Jigglypuff (Wigglytuff) and Clefairy (Clefable). But don't go using that Moon Stone quite yet: all four of these Pokémon stop learning moves once they're evolved (although the Nidos do get one new move: ??), so before you evolve any of them, check the Pokédex and make sure they've learned all the skills you want out of them. Note, though, that all four can still learn a wide variety of skills from TMs and HMs.
There is one Moon Stone here in plain sight, and another hidden in one of the basements. Before you take on Trainer #5 near the two fossils, search the dead end marked D for a second Moon Stone.
#41 Zubat | #74 Geodude |
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Zubat isn't that good. It's a Poison and Flying-type (although it doesn't learn any Poison attacks), so it's weak to many types. Leech Life's draining ability is useful, but is extremely weak at 15 power. It's hard to damage most things with it. | Geodude is painfully slow, and its double weaknesses to Grass and Water can be devastating. However, its Attack and Defense can grow to high levels, and it can gain Rock and Ground attacks without the use of TMs. Geodude's strength against Electric, Flying, Fire and Normal attacks is also very useful throughout the game. |
#35 Clefairy | #46 Paras |
Clefairy and Jigglypuff are very similar; both are pink, puffy Pokémon that evolve with a Moon Stone, have a ton of HP, and can use just about any TM. However, Clefairy has much better stats overall. Clefairy isn't very useful for adventuring, but can become fairly useful in link battles with the help of TMs. Clefairy is definitely better than Jigglypuff, and it can learn Water Gun from that TM you obtained recently. | A unique Bug/Grass combo, Paras is very weak in general. Many claim it's a "Psychic stopper", given its Bug-type, lack of a Poison-type, and its Leech Life Bug-type attack. Unfortunately, this just isn't the case. Leech Life is extremely weak no matter what, and Paras' stats are mediocre. Paras' only saving grace is Spore, a Sleep-inducing attack with a nearly perfect accuracy that is great for catching Pokémon. Unforunately, since Paras (more likely Parasect) is so slow, it will likely lose most of its HP before hitting anything with it. |