Route 5 is a short route that connects Cerulean City to Saffron City. It has a building which leads to an underground path to Route 6 and a Pokémon Day Care which helps raising weak Pokémon. If you want one, you can catch a Meowth in the Tall Grass behind the Day Care, but then move on.
Day Care
Pokémon can be left here to evolve over time, at a cost of 100 per level gained. Every step traveled outside of the building gives the Pokémon 1 experience point. This may be useful to obtain powerful Pokemon whose earlier evolutions may be too weak and troublesome to deal with, such as Magikarp.
Pokémon found
| FireRed | Level | Encounter Rate | LeafGreen | Level | Encounter Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pidgey
|
13-16 | 40% | Pidgey
|
13-16 | 40% |
 Meowth
|
10-16 | 35% | Meowth
|
10-16 | 35% |
 Oddish
|
13-16 | 25% |  Bellsprout
|
13-16 | 25% |
New Pokémon
| #52 Meowth |
|---|
You'll receive mostly berries, but occasionally you might receive a Nugget or a PP Up. This ability is also the only way to obtain TM10 Hidden Power in Fire Red or Leaf Green. Meowth also has a signature move, Pay Day, which causes the player to receive extra money every time it is used in battle. Meowth evolves into Persian at level 28. Meowth is a rather weak Pokémon and it loses its Pickup ability after evolving. |
Underground Path
The building to the right leads to an underground path that skips Saffron City and reaches route 6. This route has a lot of items. However, most of the items only appear after obtaining it from the Pokémon Center in Vermilion City.
| Trade | For |
|---|---|
 Nidoran♂
|
 Nidoran♀ or
|
| Nidoran♀
|
Nidoran♂
|
Also, the little girl in this building will trade Nidoran♂ for a Nidoran♀ in FireRed and Nidoran♀ in exchange for a Nidoran♂ in LeafGreen. The Pokémon received will be at the same level as the Pokémon given. The Nidoran♀ she gives you in FireRed is named Ms. Nido and the Nidoran♂ she gives you in LeafGreen is named Mr. Nido, so if you're not a fan of named Pokémon, consider this prior warning.
Underground Path's Items
- Ether (middle of the red area)
- Antidote (north, near the steps)
- Paralyze Heal (near the north part of the blue part)
- Awakening (in the middle of the blue area)
- Potion (near the north part of the red area)
- Ice Heal (in the middle of the area between red area and southern steps)
- Burn Heal (near the southern steps)