Red | Blue | Yellow |
---|---|---|
Oddish |
Bellsprout |
Oddish Venonat |
After you defeat Misty, you should head north from Cerulean City. Your rival, who now has four Pokémon, blocks the bridge. So do six other trainers. If you can defeat them all, you'll receive a valuable Nugget and the freedom to travel to the end of this path, where you can meet the world's greatest Pokémon enthusiast, Bill the Pokémaniac!
Psyduck | 33% | 33% | N/A |
Krabby | 33% | 33% | N/A |
Goldeen | 33% | 33% | 70% |
Seaking | N/A | N/A | 30% |
Rival Battle #3
Pidgeotto Level 18 |
Abra Level 15 | ||
Rattata Level 15 |
Rival's Starter Level 17 | ||
Spearow Level 18 |
Sandshrew Level 15 | ||
Rattata Level 15 |
Eevee Level 17 |
You'll meet a familiar foe at the beginning of Nugget Bridge. Your rival is back, and this time he's actually improved enough to pose a small threat.
That same party of Pikachu, starter and Spearow will carry you to victory again in Red and Blue, presuming they're all Level 16 or above. Lead with Pikachu and zap Pidgeotto out of the sky; 1-2 Thundershocks will do the trick once again. Use your lowest-level Pokémon (that you actually want to train) against Abra: it can't do anything to your Pokémon at all, so it's basically free EXP. Rattata is hard; Quick Attack and Hyper Fang can cause problems if allowed to go unchecked. Use your strongest Pokémon available on Rattata. Finally, use Spearow's Peck against Bulbasaur, Pikachu's Thunder Wave and Quick Attack on Charmander (Thundershock gets STAB, but Quick Attack runs off of Pikachu's higher Attack stat and hits Charmander's lower Defense stat), and Pikachu's Thundershock against Squirtle.
In Yellow, you can use the same party of Spearow/Pikachu/Mankey from earlier and be victorious, but it's easier if you make another acquisition. Get Bulbasaur from Cerulean City, train it on Route 4 to Level 13 to have it learn Vine Whip, and prepare for a sweep. Pikachu leads against Spearow and Thundershocks it into oblivion. Use Bulbasaur and its Vine Whip against Sandshrew, and use Mankey against Rattata. Just make sure you're using Low Kick and not Karate Chop. Eevee will fall to Low Kick as well. Spearow is your backup: if a Pokémon (maybe Mankey; frail defensively and two enemies to defeat) falls, use the bird.
Nugget Bridge
Once you've beaten your rival, you can cross Nugget Bridge by besting the six Jr. Trainers blocking your progress.
On the other side, Yellow players will find a man (at the yellow A) who wants to give a Charmander a good home (such as your team), while Blue and Red players will only find TM45, which teaches Thunder Wave. It's a bad skill for winning battles, but it's good for disabling Pokémon to make them easy to catch.
More interesting is TM19 on Route 25. You'll need to be crafty to get it: be at least three squares below the Jr. Trainer (#7 on the map) who's blocking it when you cross his line of vision, and he'll abandon his post to come fight you. Immediately after, loop behind him and grab it.
TM19 holds Seismic Toss, a Fighting-type move that does damage equal to the level of the Pokémon using it to an enemy regardless of their type or Defense.
You'll find an Ether if you look one space East of the Lass (#9 on the map.)
Psyduck | 33% | 33% | N/A |
Krabby | 67% | 67% | 70% |
Kingler | N/A | N/A | 30% |
Note: The Youngster (#4 on the map) on Route #25 is crucial to the performance of the Mew glitch and should be not be challenged until you are ready to perform the glitch. The Jr. Trainer (#7 on the map) on Route #24 can also be used to perform this glitch, depending on which method you choose to use.
Bill, the Pokémaniac
Bill has a problem. Help him out by going to his PC's keyboard and doing what he asks. Yellow players can enjoy some amusing Pikachu antics as well.
Rocket | 525 | |
Machop | LV17 | |
Drowzee | LV17 |
Once he's rewarded you with an S.S. Ticket, exit the cottage and enter again. Check Bill's PC once again for information on four rare Pokémon. When you're done, take the shortcut (go south from the cottage) back to Cerulean City and go to the house that's guarded by a cop. Head on through it and fight the Team Rocket burglar (his roster is in the table to the left). Knock him out and recover TM28, containing Dig. Dig is a decent Ground-type skill that can be learned by Sandshrew, Geodude, and even non-Ground Pokémon like Squirtle, Charmander, Rattata, and a couple of others. In battles, it does a ton of damage, though it's unfortunately delayed by a turn (during which point you're invulnerable), giving it essentially 50 base power. However,you can use it out of battles to escape from dungeons!
While in town, you can sell your Nugget for 5,000 (that's all it's good for) and then cut through the burgled house's yard and head around Cerulean City to the south. You've got a ship to catch.
#69 Bellsprout | #63 Abra |
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Bellsprouts can thoroughly thrash your opponents early in the game, since they get the Wrap skill at level 13 and have the Geodude-beating Grass skill Vine Whip built right in.
Their next couple of skills are all Poison, Sleep, and Stun moves. Sleep Power and Stun Spore are both useful for helping you catch and battle Pokémon, so Bellsprouts are a good choice if you didn't pick a Bulbasaur early on and you need a Grass-type. |
Abras can be difficult to catch. The only move they know is Teleport, which removes them from battle instantly. So if you're lucky enough to see one in the wild, you've got one turn to snag it. You have a few options: one is to have a Jigglypuff or Clefairy Sing it to sleep, or Sleep Powder if you have Butterfree, which makes it easier to catch and also gives you an opportunity to knock it around a bit while it's dozing. The next is to use Wrap to squeeze it until it's weak enough to catch, while keeping it from Teleporting away. The last option is to use Pikachu's Thunder Wave to paralyze it and capture it right away with a Pokéball (though this option isn'y very reliable).
But are they worth it? Definitely, since Psychic Pokémon are the best in the game, and Abra evolves into the best one you can get (before the game ends, that is.) At level 16, Abra will turn into a Kadabra, which you can (and should) immediately trade to a friend to evolve it into a powerful Alakazam. Even if you don't, however, the Confusion attack Kadabra learns, combined with the Same-Type Attack Bonus it gives, grants even a level 16 Kadabra the ability to knock out almost any Pokémon of comparable level in one hit, even without type advantage. |
#43 Oddish | |
Don't worry if you're playing Red: there may not be any Bellsprouts, but you can still get a decent Grass-type in Oddish. Oddish's initial Absorb skill puts Leech Life to shame, and since it's Grass-type, one Oddish can take down dozens of Water, Rock or Ground-typed Pokémon, healing as it goes. You'll need a Leaf Stone to reach the final stage of evolution, but keep in mind that it learns powerful moves like Petal Dance and Solarbeam later on. | |
#48 Venonat | |
Available here in Yellow only, Venonats are quite rare, but hardly worth the trouble. It's just another Poison/Bug thing, albeit one that can learn good Psychic moves later in the game. |