Pokémon Red and Blue/Mt. Moon

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

New Pokémon Available
Red Blue Yellow
Zubat

Geodude
Paras
Clefairy

Mt. Moon is crawling with all sorts of new Pokémon as well as several menacing members of 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!

Mt. Moon Floor 1
1Bug CatcherFile:Pokebuck.png110
WeedleLV11
KakunaLV11
2LassFile:Pokebuck.png210
ClefairyLV14
3Super NerdFile:Pokebuck.png275
MagnemiteLV11
VoltorbLV11
4Bug CatcherFile:Pokebuck.png100
CaterpieLV10
MetapodLV10
CaterpieLV10
5LassFile:Pokebuck.png165
OddishLV11
BellsproutLV11
6YoungsterFile:Pokebuck.png150
RattataLV10
RattataLV10
ZubatLV10
7HikerFile:Pokebuck.png350
GeodudeLV10
GeodudeLV10
OnixLV10
A TM 12
B Potion
C Potion
D Rare Candy
E Escape Rope
F Moon Stone

[edit] Mt. Moon Battle Tactics

This cave is full of Zubats, but once you put a Pikachu or Spearow at the head of the roster, you'll find them to be little more than an annoyance. Deeper levels of the dungeon have Zubats that use the Supersonic skill to confuse your Pokémon, but that can be shaken simply by swapping the Confused fighter for another.

Geodudes 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. But if you don't have either of those guys, you can just grab TM 12 and use it to teach Water Gun to one of your Rattatas, Jigglypuffs, Nidorinas, or Nidorinos. Remember that Poison and Rock-type attacks don't do so well against Geodude, and Electric attacks have no effect at all.

Feel free to equip the TM 01, which is Mega Punch. It's a pretty powerful Normal-typed attack, if slightly inaccurate. It will be outclassed by other attacks such as Strength, Body Slam, and Double Edge later on.

Mt. Moon Basement 1
Mt. Moon 1F encounters
Zubat 80% 80% 80%
Geodude 12% 12% 12%
Paras 4% 4% N/A
Clefairy 4% 4% 4%
Sandshrew N/A N/A 4%
Mt. Moon B1 encounters
Zubat 70% 70% 70%
Geodude 16% 16% 16%
Paras 10% 10% 10%
Clefairy 4% 4% 4%
Mt. Moon B2 encounters
Zubat 50% 50% 50%
Geodude 30% 30% 26%
Paras 14% 14% 14%
Clefairy 6% 6% 10%

[edit] 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). Blue and Red players may simply want to avoid Rocket #3 since his Level 16 Ratticate can easily slay a half HP starter monster 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), 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 one, or receive one as a prize in Pokémon Stadium.

Mt. Moon Basement 2
1RocketFile:Pokebuck.png330
SandshrewLV11
RattataLV11
ZubatLV11
2RocketFile:Pokebuck.png360
ZubatLV12
EkansLV12
3RocketFile:Pokebuck.png390
RaticateLV16
RattataLV13
ZubatLV13
4RocketFile:Pokebuck.png390
RattataLV13
ZubatLV13
5Super NerdFile:Pokebuck.png300
GrimerLV12
VoltorbLV12
KoffingLV12
6Jessie & JamesFile:Pokebuck.png420
EkansLV14
MeowthLV14
KoffingLV14
A TM 01
B Ether
C HP Up
D Moon Stone

[edit] Secrets of the Moon Stones

The Moon Stone you picked up in Mt. Moon is a crucial item, and one of only five Moon Stones in Pokémon's 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 burning that Moon Stone quite yet: All four of these Pokémon basically stop learning skills once they're evolved, 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. Take Ladder B, then Ladder E, as indicated in the above maps. Check by the rock in the middle of the E room.

#41 Zubat #74 Geodude
Zubats aren't really that exciting. They're Flying and Poison-type (even though they don't learn any Poison techniques), so they're weak to many types. Leech Life's draining ability is cool, but is extremely weak at 15 power. You'll be hard pressed to damage most things with it.
Geodudes can be painfully slow, and their dual weakness to Grass and Water can be devastating. However, their Attack and Defense can grow to high tiered levels, and they can gain Rock and Ground attacks without the use of TMs. Their strength versus Electric, Flying, Fire, and Normal attacks is also very useful throughout the game.
#35 Clefairy #46 Paras
Clefairys and Jigglypuffs are very similar; both are big, puffy Pokémon that evolve with a Moon Stone, have a ton of HP, and can use just about any Technical Machine. However, Clefairys have much better stats overall. They aren't very useful for adventuring, but can become fairly strong with TMs for link battles.
A unique Grass/Bug combo, Paras is very weak in general. Many tout him as a "Psychic stopper", given his Bug status, sans a Poison type, and his Leech Life Bug attack. Unfortunately, this just isn't the case. Leech Life is extremely weak no matter what, and his stats are rock-bottom.

His only saving grace is Spore, a Sleep inducing attack which has a nearly 100% accuracy. Since Paras (more likely Parasect) is so slow, you will likely lose most of its HP before landing it.