ROUTE 38

Items- Berry, Chad's #

Mainly a level up route - Tauros and Miltank both give pretty good

experience, and there's a few trainer. Chad will offer his phone # when

you beat it, and Pokedex hounds should take it - it means you'll get

a call when the normally-rare Snubbull appear. Pick up the Berry as

well, you'll want it for the next route.

ROUTE 39

Items- Mint Berry, MooMoo Milk, TM 13 (Snore) (last two items require 7

Berries)

Route 38 - Snubbull swarm = pointless route for Wild Pokemon. Stick

to beating the trainers for experience.

As for the berries, if you've been hoarding them for the whole game you

should have 7 of them. Here's where it pays off - feed the Miltank in

the farmhouse 7 Berries, and it will recover from an illness. The farm

hands will give you TM 13 (Snore) for curing it and start selling MooMoo

Milk for $500 out of the house. Word of warning - you get one bottle at

a time, but you can come back and get more later.

OLIVINE CITY

Items- Good Rod, HM 04 (Strength)

In-Game Trade: Voltorb (trade Krabby at a house north of the Lighthouse).

Your rival will intercept you as you enter town. He doesn't want to fight

you, because he's looking for Olivine's Gym Leader, Jasmine. The story

around town is that she's helping a sick Pokemon at the Lighthouse in the

southeast part of the city.

We'll get to her later, but for now, start by going to the house right below

the Gym. Someone there will give you a Good Rod, which is a serious upgrade.

Deposit the Old Rod in your PC. Also, just west of the Pokemon Center is a

restraunt. Talk to the sailor at the table to get HM 04, which teaches

Strength.

Now, you've got a decision to make. Shortly, you're going to need a Water-

type as there's a giant Surf area. If you don't have Croconaw (or even if

you do and want to upgrade), you've got some decent choices here. Staryu

is always a good option (even with the rarity of Water Stones), Chinchou

or Lanturn are Water/Electric, which means it can do two jobs at once,

and there's even the comedy Shellder option. But if you want the best one

for ingame, you need to hold off until Friday, then get back to Union Cave

by any means necessary. (Fastest way is Olivine -> 39 -> 38 -> Ecruteak

-> 37 -> 36 -> Violet City or Ruins of Alph -> 32 -> Union Cave.) Bring

as many Great Balls as you can afford.

When you get to Union Cave, go near the exit. Remember the ladder you took

down to get TM39? Below that, there's a small Surf passage. Take it down

to find a ladder. Go down the ladder and you'll emerge in a new portion

of the Cave. (Note: In addition to the Pokemon in the Union Cave, you

can find Quagsire in the water areas. It tends to flee, so be careful.)

At the bottom of this water area, once a week, is Lapras. Treat it as an

event battle (even though you can do this every Friday) and catch Lapras

- who is, in this author's humble opinion, the best Water-type for

going through the game and will pay off big time at the end.

Back in Olivine (with Lapras in your party for good), make sure everyone

you're using is at about the same level - 26 is good enough for where

we're headed. In the bottom-right corner of Olivine is a Lighthouse -

the same one Jasmine is in. Enter.

OLIVINE LIGHTHOUSE

Items- Great Ball, TM 34 (Swagger), Rare Candy, Ether, Super Potion

Pokemon- None

This is pretty straightforward for the first couple of floors. Beat the

Gentlemen: they carry a lot of money. On the fourth floor, you can either go

up or down. Go up to collect some good items: A Rare Candy and TM 34, which

teaches the Swagger move. This will confuse your opponent and double their

physical Attack. Drop down to the 4th floor, and fall down the hole to a part

of the 3rd floor you couldn't reach before. From there, take the stairs to

to the 6th floor and Jasmine. She won't come down until you get the Ampharos

who charges the lighthouse some medicine. The medicine's in Cianwood City,

across the ocean.

From the lighthouse, go to the open land area. Use Rock Smash to break some

of the rocks and find some Pokemon. Krabby are pretty common, but every once

in a while, you'll find the Bug/Rock Shuckle. This guy has no offense to

speak of, and his speed's terrible. But his defensive stats... Off the page.

Don't worry if you don't get one here, as there's one in Cianwood. When

ready, shove off for Routes 40-41.

ROUTES 40-41

Items- None

This whole route is Surfing, so I hope you don't get seasick easily. Just

go along, getting level ups (if the trainers don't give them to you, the

wild Pokemon will) and any Pokemon you may have missed. Along the way, you

will see islands with Whirlpools blocking the entrances. These are the Whirl

Islands, home to the mystical Psychic/Flying Pokemon Lugia. However, there's

a couple of items you need to catch Lugia (the Whirlpool HM and the Silver

Wing) that you won't get 'til much later. So, head into Cianwood City.

CIANWOOD CITY

Items- Secret Potion, HM 02 (Fly)

Pokemon- Shuckle

After healing, the first place you should go is the house down-and-left from

the Pokemon Center. The guy inside has Jasmine's medicine. If you leave and

come back, he'll sell some healing items. Just above his house is a paranoid

trainer. It would appear that Rival bullied him into giving up a rare

Pokemon. He'll give you Shuckle if you have an open slot on the team.

Next stop would be the gym. This is a Fighting-type gym, so bring any

Psychics and Flyers you might have. Also, bring someone with Strength, and

an Electric Pokemon. The trainers all have non-Fighting attacks on their

Pokemon, so Ghost's invulnerability is nullified. Beat the three trainers,

move the rocks (move the left and right ones up, then move the center one

either to the left or right), beat one more trainer, and fight Chuck, the

local Gym Leader.

Recommended level: 27-28

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Chuck

Pokemon:

~ Primeape L27

~ Poliwrath L30

For the first time in the game, Golem can't roll over this gym - Fighting

attacks do big damage even with its high Defense. However, Alakazam lives

to beat up the low Special Defense enemies here. Paste Primeape with a

Psybeam.

If for some reason you DON'T want to win this easily, throw an

Electric-type out for Poliwrath and Thundershock/Thunderpunch it into

oblivion - but watch out for the Mind Reader->Dynamicpunch combo that will

have said Electric type eating a 100-power Fighting move with guaranteed

confusion. See why using a Psychic Pokemon is easier?

Rewards- $3000, Storm Badge, TM 01 (Dynamicpunch)

___________________________________________________________________________

After the fight, you'll get the Storm Badge and the TM for Dynamicpunch,

which really isn't useful now. When you get outside, talk to Chuck's wife

to get HM 02, which is Fly. This will get you back to Olivine very quickly.

OLIVINE CITY GYM

Items- None

Pokemon- None

When you land in Olivine, climb back to Jasmine's location. Give her the

medicine and she'll go back to the gym. Inside, she'll offer to fight you

for the Mineral Badge. She uses one of the new types, Steel.

Recommended level: 28-29

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Jasmine

Pokemon:

~ Magnemite L30

~ Magnemite L30

~ Steelix L35

Two Magnemite? Someone better pinch Golem, he's dreaming.

Steelix is a rarity in this game, a Pokemon designed to fight around its

weaknesses. It has Iron Tail for its main damage dealer (beats Rock/Ground

Pokemon like Golem who would normally take on the Ground weakness), Rock

Slide should you throw a Fire or Water/Ice type at it, and Sunny Day to

weaken Water moves. You could fake it out by luring it into Sunny Day and

then switching to the Fire-type, but there's a good chance it'll be pasted

by Rock Slide on the switchin. Your best bets are a Fighting type such as

Machoke/Machamp, or a high Special Attack Water-type like Lapras to Surf

it for massive damage before it can get the Sunny Day up.

Rewards- $3500, Mineral Badge, TM 23 (Iron Tail)

___________________________________________________________________________

Now, the next stop is Route 42, east of Ecruteak City. However, there are

some side items you can do with the HMs. These are outlined below.

New Bark Town: Get out the Togepi and show it to Professor Elm. As a reward,

he'll give you an Everstone.

Cherrygrove City: Surf to the fisherman and talk to him. He'll give you

the Mystic Water that boosts Water damage.

Violet City: Use Surf in the waterways to get a PP Up and a Rare Candy.

Route 32: Use Cut to access a portly man who has TM 05, Roar.

Union Cave: In the room where you got Swift, Surf the water to a new part

of the cave. Go left the first chance you get and go out. This leads to a

new part of the ruins with a trainer, and is the only place in the game to

catch Psychic/Flying Natu and Normal-type Smeargle. Smeargle's unusual, in

that it learns only one move, Sketch. But that move can open up any move in

the game, because it permanetly copies the last move the other Pokemon used.

Azalea Town: You can use Strength in the Slowpoke Well to access a couple of

new items. One is TM 18, Rain Dance. The other one is the King's Rock, which

gives all moves a chance at flinching, and evolves Poliwhirl and Slowpoke

when you trade them with the rock attached. As well, this is the earliest

place to catch Slowpoke, Slowbro, and Golbat.

Ilex Forest: Surf in the pond by the exit to find Psyduck and Golduck.

Route 34: On the left side of the Route is a water path. Surf down it and

go into the inlet. Beat the 3 trainers inside to earn the Soft Sand item,

which boosts Ground damage.

Ecruteak City: In the Burned Tower, use Rock Smash on the right side and go

up to a hole. Fall down and use Strength to get TM 20, which is Endure.

With all that done, head east to Route 42.

ROUTE 42

Items- Ultra Ball, Yellow Apricorn, Green Apricorn, Peach Apricorn

Here's your chance to catch a wild Flaaffy if for some stupid reason you're

not raising Mareep. (By now, it should nearly be an Ampharos). Mankey's here

for Gold players as well. Also, you're now in what's considered a mountain

area in Johto, which means you can Headbutt for Aipom and Heracross if you

haven't already.

The only reason why you're on this route is that it's the only route leading

to Mahogany Town. That's the next destination.

MAHOGANY TOWN

Items- None

Pokemon- None

When you come into town, you'll notice several things. The Poke Mart is

selling useless items, the Gym is blocked off, and the path to Route 44 is

blocked. And I'll give you 3 guesses as to who's behind this*. So heal, and

head north to Route 43/Lake of Rage.

* And the first two don't count.

ROUTE 43/LAKE OF RAGE

Items- Bitter Berry, Max Ether x2, TM 10 (Hidden Power), TM 43 (Detect),

Red Scale

The best of the n00bs is Girafarig, and it's just a novelty (how in heaven's

name do you get a Normal/Psychic type?) Wild Noctowl are also good Pokedex

fodder.

The tollbooth on Route 43 is being manned by a member of Team Rocket. If you

want to pass, they'll let you, but it'll cost $1000. It's better to take the

grassy path, as you can catch some Pokemon and fight some trainers. The route

leads to the Lake of Rage.

If you take the left entrance to the Lake, you'll be able to use Cut to get

some TMs. In the house is TM 10, Hidden Power. You may remember the Unowns

back in the Ruins of Alph using this move. Also, you can find TM 43, Detect.

This will prevent damage for 1 round, but doesn't work the more you use it.

The main reason why you're here, though, is the Red Gyarados. To find it,

take the right path and Surf to the center of the lake.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPOTLIGHT: Shiny Pokemon

The event battle with the Red Gyarados is the only time in the game you're

required to see a Shiny Pokemon. Shiny Pokemon are normal Pokemon with a

specific set of DVs (see the max stat and Hidden Power sections for more

fun with DVs) that glow when they enter battle.

The required stats are, on a scale of 0-15:

~ Attack can be 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, or 15 (50%)

~ Defense, Speed and the Specials must be 10

~ As a result, HP will either be 0 or 8

So if you get a Shiny, it's purely decorative and should only be used in

competitive play if you have no other options. And the same can be said for

Gyarados - in GSC play, he's horrible. He does learn a lot of HMs, so he can

be used as a cool-looking HM slave.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

After you either catch or faint the Red Gyarados, you'll receive a Red Scale.

Hang onto this for now, you can trade it for an item later. Head back to

shore and you'll meet Lance - the Dragon specialist and final member of the

Elite 4 in RBY. He senses something wrong with the Pokemon in the lake and

wants you to investigate with him. Return to Mahogany Town and go to the

little shop, where after the threat of death by Hyper Beam, you'll enter

the Team Rocket Base.

TEAM ROCKET BASE

Items- Hyper Potion, Nugget, X Accuracy, Protein, Ice Heal, Dire Hit, Full

Heal, TM 46 (Thief), HM 06 (Whirlpool

When you go down the stairs, you'll walk by a Persian statue. As soon as you

do, two Rockets will attack you. After beating them off, walk left to a

passage, and right to another. Go down and around to find a computer. Engage

it to stop that from happening.

Next, you'll want to double back, and go left past the passage. After a

trainer, you'll come to a booby-trapped field. When you step on a tile, a

random Pokemon of Geodude, Koffing, and Voltorb will attack. This is your

first crack at getting Voltorb without a trade, so catch one but watch out

for the Selfdestruct attacks all three Pokemon will throw at you.

"If I ran Team Rocket, I'd spring for better traps. Booby-trapped Persian

statues and emo Pokemon? What the hell?" - _Raptor_

"KOFFFFFFFFFFING IN MY SKINNNNNNNNNN" - Blackthorne2050

- From a GameFAQs Pokemon Gold board thread, "If I Ran Team Rocket"

When you come to a flight of stairs, go down and Lance will give you a one-

time healing. Go to the right, and down the stairs. Now, you'll have to beat

two specific trainers to get passwords to the leader. The trainers you have

to beat are the trainer by the Full Heal and Dire Hit items (1 L19 Raticate)

and the trainer at the upper computer bank (L18 Arbok, L18 Gloom). They will

give you the password after you beat them and talk to them again. When you

get the passwords, take the stairs above the Protein and go left. Down the

stairs, and take the next flight to TM 46, Thief. Head back down the stairs,

run into Rival (Lance kicked his butt so you don't have to), and check the

door. When it opens, fight the Rocket inside....

Male Rocket Leader

Pokemon- L22 Zubat, L22 Koffing, L24 Raticate

Rewards- $1584, Generator Room Password

Simple trainer. A Rock with a ground move (Graveler/Golem) will do well here.

After you beat him, he teleports away, but his Murkrow has the password.

Backtrack to the hallway where Lance healed you to start a 2-vs-2 match.

Lance will take the guy, while you fight this evil lady....

Female Rocket Leader

Pokemon- L26 Ekans, L26 Gloom, L26 Murkrow

Rewards- $1800, access to the Generator room

Pretty easy. Ground gets Ekans, Fire takes Gloom, and Murkrow falls to an

Ice or Electric attack.

When the leaders book, you and Lance will eliminate the Electrode by any

means necessary. You can catch them if you want, but only catch 1 and faint

the other 2. When the Pokemon are gone, Lance will thank you and give you

HM 06, Whirlpool. Don't use this on a team member, though. (If you caught the

Red Gyarados and aren't using it, give it Whirlpool.)

When you come out of the shop, the Gym will be opened up. Walk in to find

pretty early on that this place loves Ice-types. Here's the path, fighting

every trainer:

From the start, go one step past the left statue and go up to the trainer.

Beat her, and go back to the start. Beat the trainers on the side in any

order. Next, go one square to the left of the right statue, and up to the

trainer. Beat him and go back down. Finally, go to the left side of the left

statue, and go up, right, down, left, up, and right to find the old man

Pryce.

Recommended level: 31

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Pryce

Pokemon:

~ Seel L27

~ Dewgong L29

~ Piloswine L31

Wow, the trainers ARE regressing in this game. Pryce would get stomped

quite hard by Jasmine, not only based on Pokemon but on the levels alone.

As such, this is one of the easier Badge fights.

Seel is pure-Water, but has Ice moves so you may want to hold the Grass

types and stick with Thunderpunching it.

Dewgong is Water/Ice but has the same problems as Seel - so just

Thunderpunch it down.

Piloswine is the odd combo of Ice/Ground, which nulls the Electric damage.

But it also opens them up to a good Fire-type roasting. Or you could whack

it with Fighting moves until it croaks, or Surf it out of play. The special

moves are preferred, as Pilo's Special Defense isn't the hottest.

Rewards- $3100, Glacier Badge, TM 16 (Icy Wind)

___________________________________________________________________________

After you beat the gym, you should have seven badges. If you do and have

beaten the Rockets twice - and basically followed the walkthrough to the

letter, you should trigger a phone call from Elm. If not, you may have to

restart - I haven't missed the call in my playthroughs, but people have.

Since I haven't been able to replicate the error, I can't explain it myself.

Anyway, if you get a call from Elm, you're in good shape. But the Radio

Tower in Goldenrod is not - it's being used to broadcast a pirate signal.

Time to crack some skulls in Golden Rod.

RADIO TOWER: 1st PASS

Items- Underground Key, Max Ether, TM 35 (Sleep Talk), Card Key, Amulet

Coin, Smoke Ball

Pokemon- None

The basic point of this area is to waste the 11 Rockets hanging around.

Expect Poison, Normal, Steel, and part-Flying Pokemon. When you get to the

5th floor, talk to the "director" to engage a fight.

Fake Director

Pokemon- L30 Koffing (x5), Weezing L32

Rewards- $2160, Underground Key

Five. Koffings. What. The. ****. Psybeam. Him. Talking. Like. Kirk. Is.

Fun.

The "director" will give you the Underground Key for beating him. Now, you

have to go to the Underground section of Goldenrod and use the key on the

locked door. When you do, Rival will take the time to attack....

____________________________________________________________________________

--------------

RIVAL BATTLE 3

--------------

Pokemon:

~ Golbat L30

~ Magnemite L28

~ Haunter L30

~ Sneasel L32

You picked Chikorita:

~ Typhlosion L32

Cyndaquil:

~ Feraligatr L32

Totodile:

~ Meganium L32

Look out, Chikorita starters - Rival grabbed the "Illegal Evolution Poke-

Wheaties" again and is turning them on you. And we now know what Pokemon

Rival stole in Cianwood - the Sneasel. Dark/Ice, and blinding fast, but

it's physical defense is subpar and it's quad-weak to Fighting. You know

what that means.

Golbat is quick and annoying, but can't take a hit to save its life.

Psybeam or Psychic it. Haunter and Magnemite you know already. That leaves

the starter, who can be simply counter-typed as you've done in the previous

two fights.

___________________________________________________________________________

After he goes down, you'll fight 3 Rockets, each guarding a switch. The

switches manipulate walls and doors in an effort to get to the final door.

To get to it, activate the left, center, and right switches in that order.

You can play with the doors to get a couple of new items, including the

Smoke Ball which is guaranteed to let you run away from wild Pokemon

battles. But then again, having a higher speed rating will accomplish the

same thing...

Anyway, doors 3, 2, and 1 in order get you another Rocket. Beat her and go

through the door that will open, then slay some more Rockets. Pick up the

TM 35, Sleep Talk (uses one of your Pokemon's moves while asleep), and then

beat the Rocket in the center. I'm not even going to bother listing him as

a boss anymore because he's only packing 2 Koffing - at level 25.

Talk to the director for the Card Key, which opens the shuttle doors in the

Radio Tower. Before you leave, take the stairs to the cash-doubling Amulet

Coin hold item. Then, head back to Radio Tower.

RADIO TOWER: 2nd PASS

Items- Rainbow/Silver Wing (Rainbow in Gold, Silver in Silver), Pink Bow,

TM 11 (Sunny Day)

Pokemon- None

In the tower, go up to the 3rd floor, and use the Card Key in the slot. This

will give you access to the hardest Rocket fights. Go up three floors,

beating Rockets along the way. On the 5th floor, you'll have to fight the

female and male leaders of TR back to back, so be ready.

Female Leader (Round 2)

Pokemon- L32 Arbok, L32 Vileplume, L32 Murkrow

Same Pokemon as in Mahogany, and should be dealt with in the same way.

Male Leader (Round 2)

Pokemon- L33 Houndoor, L33 Koffing, L35 Houndoom

Reward- Rainbow/Silver Wing

Koffing you should have no problem with. Houndoor and Houndoom are both

Fire/Dark, so use the approriate counters (Water, Ground, Rock, Fighting).

When the man drops, the real director will take his seat and give you a

different-colored Wing. In Silver, it's the Silver Wing. In Gold, you get

the Rainbow Wing. These are the keys to getting to Lugia or Ho-oh - and

you can do it now, but I recommend holding off until you hit the city

with the next badge so you can stock up on supplies. You'll also get

TM 11 (Sunny Day) and a Pink Bow (10% boost - Normal) from various

staffers.

After you collect your rewards, beat it back to Mahogany. Now that Team

Rocket is dead for good, you can now go on Route 44.

ROUTE 44

Items- Burnt Berry, Max Revive, Ultra Ball, Wilton's #

The trainers on this route are easy after the experience you got fighting

Team Rocket. Wilton, a fisherman on the eastern part of the Route, will

let you know when the Remoraid swarm, so keep in touch. As for the wild

Pokemon, you have to Surf to the grass patch, which has a Max Revive in it.

Be sure to get Lickitung, as you'll need it for a scenario later.

The cave at the end of the route is the Ice Path. Enter and prepare to

freeze your (Poke) Balls off.

ICE PATH

Items- HM 07 (Waterfall), Max Potion, Full Heal, Nevermelt Ice, TM 44

(Rest), Iron, PP Up

Swinub becomes Pilowswine, and you know how that goes from the last Gym.

Delibird learns one move, and can't use that move very well ANYWAY, so

it's purely relegated to the position of Santa Claus on the official

Christmas theme team. The prize here is Jynx - if you don't have Lapras,

you'll want an Ice-type for the next gym. Even if you do, its Lovely Kiss

is a far better Sleep technique than anything you've got at this point

on a non-Grass Pokemon, and you can catch a Legendary soon. Get it and

start leveling it up.

Remember the sliding puzzles of the Mahogany Gym? Well, they're back and

worse than ever. The first major one is a pain in the neck, but I'll guide

you through.

First, go up, then left, down, left, up, right, up, and right. This will

place you in the upper-right corner. From there, go down, left, up, left,

down, right, down, right, up, and right to escape. To the right is another

path, one you have to negotiate to beat this game. Starting at the higher

point, go right, up, left, down, right, up, and right to get HM 07. This

is Waterfall, which is needed to win the game. From the HM, go left, down

and left to get out and go up the ladder.

When up the ladder, go right and down to appear in a boulder-and-hole room.

Push the boulders into the holes and go down the ladder. (It shouldn't be

that hard.) You'll appear in a giant ice sheet with items around it. From the

ladder, go left, down, left, up, and right to get to the next ladder. When

you come up, go around the rocks and get the Nevermelt Ice, which increases

the power of Ice moves. Double back to a ladder, and you'll turn up in a room

with a Z-shaped platform. Go to the stairs and jump down, then go over to get

TM 44 (Rest). Then, slide up, left, and down to the final ladder. Get the PP

Up on the way out. You'll end up in Blackthorne City.

BLACKTHORN CITY

Items- Dragon Fang

Pokemon- None

The best part of the city is the Move Deleter. This man located near the

south end of town will make your Pokemon forget useless moves, including HMs!

Finally, giving someone good a rotten HM isn't permanent.

The Poke Mart here sells Ultra Balls, which are the second thing you need to

catch the Legendary Birds. Stock up, and you may actually want to skip ahead

to the Tin Tower or Whirl Islands (Gold to the Tower, Silver to the Islands)

to catch it now. You'll need it for the next gym, ESPECIALLY if you have

Lugia.

The most important thing in the long run, however, is Blackthorn Gym. And

you'll need to bring everything but the kitchen sink to beat it. Make sure

you have one Ice move user, and a bunch of strong attackers to act as your

backup.

To get to Clair, you'll need to beat a trainer, then go up a ladder. Move the

rock on the right all the way up, and move the left one into the pit. Go

down, fight the trainer, and go to the right. Push the right boulder down,

and the left one up all the way, then two spaces right. After beating a third

trainer, push a boulder all the way to the right, and a final boulder down

into the pit. Go down the ladder you passed, beat two more trainers, and

fight the hardest (radio edit) boss in the history of Pokemon to this point.

Recommended level: 38, but try to go higher.

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Clair

Pokemon:

~ Dragonair L37

~ Dragonair L37

~ Dragonair L37

~ Kingdra L40

Just for the record, and this is purely my opinion - we have the hottest

lady in Pokemon right here. It's a shame that she's such a pain, in more

ways than one. She's a Dragon user, and Dragons have a grand total of TWO

weaknesses - their own type (which makes it nigh-impossible to use as the

best Dragon move you'd have at this point is the 40-power Twister), and

Ice. See why I brought Lapras and recommended Jynx?

The three Dragons attack with various Special types. But they can't do

enough damage before you drop them all with Ice Beams. The big problem here

is Kingdra. It's a Water/Dragon Pokemon, which drops Ice Beams to neutral

damage (but also opens it up for neutral damage from Thunderpunch). It'll

shrug off your attacks, get Hyper Potioned, and keep firing away. Blast

it with your best shots - Ice Beams, Thunderpunches, and if you happen to

have Aeroblast on your Lugia, USE IT.

Reward- $4000

___________________________________________________________________________

After the toughest fight yet, Clair refuses to give you the Badge! Unless you

enter the Dragon's Den and get the Dragon Fang item. Bring a Whirlpooler, and

follow the left side of the screen to a Whirlpool. Have said Pokemon destroy

it, and surf on. Eventually, you'll find the Dragon Fang and claim your

well-deserved prizes - the Rising Badge (the 8th badge in Johto) and TM24,

Dragonbreath.

Once you leave the Den, you'll get a call from Professor Elm. He'd like to see

you at his lab ASAP. Now, we could Fly there, but there are Pokemon to be had.

So let's heal up and go south from Blackthorn to hit Route 45.

ROUTE 45

Items- Elixir, Max Potion, X Special, Revive, Mystery Berry, Parry's #

Gligar can't learn Earthquake without outside influence (Pokemon Stadium

2), whereas Skarmory is one of the best Pokemon in the game. Phanpy's

evolved form eats Teddiursa's for lunch. I think Gold got the shaft here.

Basically, just hop the fences and beat up all the trainers. Parry will

track the Marill at Mt. Mortar for you, so stop by and pick him up. At

the end, go left to Route 46.

ROUTE 46

Items- Berry, Paralyzecure Berry, Dire Hit

You may remember this as the place where you caught Spearow and Geodude

way back when. At the bottom of Route 46 is Route 29, which means you have

officialy come full circle.

WELCOME BACK TO NEW BARK

Items- Master Ball

Pokemon- None

When you get home, go see Prof. Elm to get a Master Ball! This is a once-in

a lifetime item that catches any Pokemon without fail. Save this for much

later, as you'll need it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPOTLIGHT: The Hierarchy Of The Master Ball

"With great power comes great responsibility

That's the catchphrase of old Uncle Ben

And if you missed it, don't worry - he'll say the line

Again and again and again"

- Weird Al Yankovic, "Ode to a Superhero"

So Elm's just given you a Poke Ball that can catch anything in the game

without you having to put in any effort whatsoever. The question becomes...

what do you do with it?

Clearly, you don't want to waste it on a Rattata or something common like

that. It's got to be something big. If you see something shiny that tends

to flee battle or explode, you may choose to use it on that. However, that's

only going to happen once in a blue moon, and you often have a turn before

they run or blow up to get a sleeper in.

So what you will likely want to use it on is legendaries. If you REALLY want

to use one of the Gerbils, then you may want to use it on that when you see

it to save yourself flying all over Johto. But the main thing I'd recommend

saving it for is the legendary bird you get after you beat the Elite 4 -

it's level 70, and a total pain in the you-know-what to catch.

So the hierarchy goes:

~ Level 70 bird

~ Gerbils

~ Shiny Pokemon

~ Level 40 bird

~ Other Pokemon

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

At this point, the next required place is Route 26/27. There's a couple of

quick side items to take care of, though:

~ Take the Red Scale item you got from the Red Gyarados to Mr. Pokemon on

Route 30. He'll give you the Experience Share item in exchange, which when

held by a Pokemon will give them half the experience even if they don't

fight. Good for getting a Pokemon up to speed quickly.

~ Go back to Route 43's tollbooth. The guard is so happy to be back on the

job that he'll give you TM 36 (Sludge Bomb) - the best Poison attack in the

game.

You can also go after some interesting Pokemon at Mt. Mortar, Whirl Islands

(Silver), Tin Tower (Gold), and the Dark Cave. We'll start in Mt. Mortar.

MT. MORTAR

REQUIREMENTS: Surf, Flash, Waterfall, one open slot in your party

Items- Rare Candy, Max Potion, TM 40 (Defense Curl), Escape Rope, Dragon

Scale, Elixir, Max Revive

If you've seen a map of this place, you'll know this is one big mountain.

But most of it is bad items and wasted time. To get to where you need to,

take the second entrance on Route 42. (NOTE: I will only cover the parts

leading to Tyrogue. You can explore further if you wish.)

Use Flash when you enter, or you'll be banging your head a lot. When the

place is lit up, surf around the platform. When you come to the waterfall,

use Waterfall to fly right up. From there, surf around the blocks and enter

the next room.

This next room is a pain, but the items are worth it. Go left and Surf the

little pond to get a Rare Candy, then go back to the start. Go right, and

Surf through two ponds to get the Max Potion. From the item, go up, Surf

another pond, and go past where the item was. Jump down and head left. When

you come to another pond, Surf it and head right. Jump down the first fence

and collect TM 40 (Defense Curl), then return to the fence just above the

TM. Keep going right, and Surf up. This will take you to an Escape Rope. Get

it, and go right to another Surf pond. Go around the rocks and hop two

fences to collect the Dragon Scale, which evolves Seadra to Kingdra after

trading. Go left and pick up the Elixir, and retrace your steps to the

point where you took the two jumps. This time, go left, take one last leap,

and left to a ladder. Whew....

You'll appear on a platform. Go around to the maze of rocks, and look for

a Max Revive. From the item, go up, left, and down to come to another

ladder. From the ladder, it's a short jaunt to the Karate Master, Kiyo.

Karate Kiyo

Pokemon- L34 Hitmonlee, L34 Hitmonchan

Rewards- $816, Tyrogue

Getting to him is hard, beating him's a snap. Just use good Flying/Psychic

Pokemon and you'll have no problem.

After you win, the Master will give you a rare Pokemon that evolves 3

different ways, based on his L20 stats.

Attack higher than Defense = Hitmonlee.

Defense higher than Attack = Hitmonchan.

Equal stats = new Pokemon Hitmontop.

After collecting your prize, Escape Rope out of here.

DARK CAVE

REQUIREMENTS: Surf, Flash, Rock Smash

Items- Revive, Darkglasses, TM 13 (Snore), Max Potion, Full Heal, Potion

The best entrance to take is just south of Blackthorn, on Route 45. You'll

need Surf, Flash, and Rock Smash.

When you go in, you'll see a giant lake. Surf down to a distant platform to

find a Revive, and go left to TM 13 (Snore). Double back to the pond, and

exit on the left side. Go up a set of stairs and down another, then go up

past the platforms. The guy there will give you the Darkglasses, which power

up Dark-element moves. Go down from him to exit the room.

The next section starts with a corner entrance. Go down and Smash the rock,

and go right. Break rocks and jump platforms for the other items, and go

out on Route 46. Or, you can go left from the entrance, and down to find

the exit leading to Route 31.

WHIRL ISLANDS

REQUIREMENTS: Surf, Flash, Whirlpool, recommend an Escape Rope

Items- Ultra Ball, Max Revive, Max Ether, Full Restore *These are just the

items on the way to Lugia.*

To even go near Lugia, you'll need Surf and Whirlpool. You'll need Surf

and Flash to get to it. Also, bring an Escape Rope. You'll need a sleep

Pokemon, so break out Jynx and level it up quickly.

Go back to Route 41. Remember the 4 islands? Take the northeastern one and

use Whirlpool on the right side. When you enter the cave, go right and get

down the ladder. (Take the upper jump. The old info had a lot of people

confused.) When you land, go down as far as you can, left, and down again

to a ladder.

When you land again, get the Max Revive, then take the waterfall down. Enter

the cave and Surf up to Lugia. Save right now.

To catch it, you'll need to put it to sleep, wear its health down with

attacks, then throw Ultra Balls. A Jynx at a similar level (within a couple

of levels of 40) with Lovely Kiss, Ice Punch, and Doubleslap would do great

here. Sleep it, Ice Punch it once, then use Doubleslap (which does little

damage) to put it in the red. When it's health is as low as you can get it,

and it's asleep, throw Ultra/Heavy Balls for the catch.

Lugia starts at L40, with the best Flying technique in the game, Aeroblast.

It also has Safeguard (prevents status for 5 rounds), Gust, and Recover (you

know what this does.) Give it Psychic and Earthquake by TM, and you'll have

little problems with the last half of the game.

*Note: If you're playing Gold, this doesn't apply. Just catch Lugia with

the Master Ball later, and meet me in Tin Tower.*

TIN TOWER

Items- Full Heal, Ultra Bal, Escape Rope, Max Revive, Full Restore, Rare

Candy, Super Potion, Nugget, Max Elixir

Go to Ecruteak City, and have a sleep Pokemon handy. The Jynx I recommended

for Whirl Islands would be good enough. To get to the tower, go to the house

north of the Dance Hall (where you got Surf.)

The first couple of floors are pretty basic, just get ready for an amaze-ing

next few floors. Starting on the 3rd floor, go left to the Full Heal, then

go right. Next, go up and left to the pillar, then go around the pillar and

up. Take the ramps going right to get to the 4th floor.

The 4th floor is simple. From the ladder, go down, left 2, down to the Ultra

Ball, and right. Go down to the Super Potion, then bounce all the way to the

left. Ignore the stairs, but get the Escape Rope. Go left from there, and

past the left side of the pillar. Take the next staircase.

On the 5th floor, go up and right, until you come to the first ramp. Go

right 2 ramps, down 1, left 2, down 5, right 2, and down to the next

staircase.

The 6th floor is easy. Go up to the pillar, right, up, and left to the

ramps. Hop down and take the stairs. The 7th floor is where the fun begins.

Go up, ignore the teleporter, and right to the Max Revive. Next, go down and

left until you come to a fork. Take this one down and step on the pad. From

there, follow the teleporters until you come to a lone teleporter and the

pillar. Take the stairs to Ho-oh.

To get this one, use Lovely Kiss/Hypnosis to put it to sleep. Use weak

attacks like Ice Punch and Doubleslap or set damage moves (like Night Shade

and Seismic Toss) to put it in the red. Next, toss Ultra/Heavy Balls and

ka-ching! You've got Ho-oh.

In Gold, Ho-oh starts at L40 and has Sacred Fire, the most powerful Fire

move in the game. It also has Recover, Gust, and Safeguard. It can learn

the Grass-type Solarbeam, and the Sunny Day attack that makes its Fire

moves more powerful (and eliminates Solarbeam's charge.) Be sure to keep

Recover.

*Silver players, come back here later with the Rainbow Wing and a Master

Ball.*

Now that that's taken care of, it's time to fight the Elite 4. Go east

from New Bark Town, and you'll come up on a new route...

ROUTE 26/27

REQUIREMENTS: Surf, Waterfall, Whirlpool (optional, but leads to a TM)

Items- Rare Candy, Moon Stone, TM 37 (Sandstorm), TM 22 (Solarbeam), Ice

Berry, Max Elixir

Surf east from New Bark to come out on Route 27. Oh, and welcome to Kanto

by the way. To get the Candy, Surf to the far right. Enter the first cave

you see and surf to the Moon Stone, then Waterfall up to the other side of

the fence. When you come out, enter the house, where a lady will check the

happiness of your lead Pokemon. If it likes you, you'll get TM 37

(Sandstorm), which damages both Pokemon every turn. Steel, Rock, and Ground

aren't affected, so give it to one of those. To get TM 22 (Solarbeam), go

on the boardwalk and Surf until you see the Whirlpool. Destroy it and Surf

until you see an item and a trainer. Beat the trainer for Solarbeam.

The trainers in this area are not easy by any stretch of the imagination.

On Route 26, there's a lady who will heal your Pokemon, so stop in. At the

end of the route, you'll come to Champion's Path. Show the badges, ignore

the guards (they'll clear out eventually), and enter Victory Road.

VICTORY ROAD

Items- Max Revive, Full Heal, X Special, TM 26 (Earthquake), Full Restore

The most annoying parts of the Red/Blue Victory Road (the trainers and the

rock puzzles) are gone. However, the wild Pokemon still roam. This is quite

easy, with one exception. Rival's back for another butt-kicking.

____________________________________________________________________________

--------------

RIVAL BATTLE 4

--------------

Pokemon:

~ Sneasel L34

~ Kadabra L35

~ Magneton L35

~ Haunter L35

~ Golbat L36

You picked Chikorita:

~ Typhlosion L38

Cyndaquil:

~ Feraligatr L38

Totodile:

~ Meganium L38

No illegal evolutions here, but the Rival's strategy ought to be illegal

due to extreme stupidity. The newcomer is Kadabra, who you can probably

two-shot with any good physical attack before it can start Psychicing you.

Magnemite evolved, but the evolved form doesn't change types so you can

Earthquake it out as usual.

Sneasel gets creamed by the same Fighting attacks, Haunter and Golbat eat

Psychic or Earthquake/Thunderpunch, and the starter gets blasted as you've

done all game. Yawn.

___________________________________________________________________________

After the fight, Rival runs away. But you'll see him again. After the fight,

go left and drop down the hole. This leads to TM 26 (Earthquake), the best

Ground move in the game. Give this to a Ground or Rock type if they

don't already have it. Get back to the exit, and enter Indigo Plateau.

INDIGO PLATEAU/ELITE 4

Items- None

Pokemon- None

This is it. The halfway point of the game. My general advice: Have everyone

at least L45, and have plenty of items from the Mart with you. That way, if

you do manage to lose, your cash penalty won't be as bad. My specific

advice... well, see below.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPOTLIGHT: Preparation for the Elite 4

Now you've reached the official midpoint of the game. If you're raising a

team, it should be around L45. If you're just going with a couple of Pokemon,

they're about L55 by now.

The team I'm going to use for this follows below. Keep in mind that I have

full trading capability, including the ability to send Pokemon back to RBY

for TMs they need. Substitute moves are in brackets if that is the case.

Golem:

Earthquake, Rock Slide (Rock Throw), two filler moves

Alakazam:

Psychic, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch

Magmar:

Flamethrower, Thunderpunch, Smokescreen, Strength

Ampharos:

Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Fire Punch, Return

Lapras:

Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt (Body Slam), Confuse Ray

Machamp:

Cross Chop, Karate Chop*, Earthquake, Rock Slide (Return)

* Purely to make sure I can still use Fighting moves when Cross Chop

invariably runs out of PP

Held items not used, except to give the opening Pokemon an Amulet Coin to

double money earned. This opening Pokemon will be listed in each member's

section.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

___________________________________________________________________________

---------------

ELITE FOUR WILL

---------------

Pokemon:

~ Xatu L40

~ Xatu L42

~ Slowbro L41

~ Exeggutor L41

~ Jynx L41

Lead Pokemon: Ampharos

An all-Psychic team sounds like a golden opportunity for Dark-types, but

unless you imported a Houndour egg from another game you don't have one

that can attack worth a damn (Umbreon can't. Trust me.) But they're all

dual-typed Psychics, so you can strike at the other type weaknesses.

Although Ampharos could solo this fight with Fire Punch, let Magmar take

care of Exeggutor and Jynx for you with Flamethrower and just have Ampharos

Thunderpunch everything else in sight.

Reward: $4,200

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

---------------

ELITE FOUR KOGA

---------------

Pokemon:

~ Ariados L40

~ Forretress L43

~ Muk L42

~ Venomoth L41

~ Crobat L44

Lead Pokemon: Magmar or Golem

In theory, if you had Rollout on Golem you could start rolling and

beat Koga in one PP. It's not likely, however, due to high HP from Muk and

defense from Forretress.

Ariados is the evolved form of Spinarak, and you've been killing Bug/Poison

all game, so torch them or drop rocks. Same with Venomoth. Forretress is

Bug/Steel, which means a Cyndaquil's Ember might OHKO it - and certainly

Magmar's Flamethrower will.

Muk is pure-Poison and can take quite a few hits. Sadly for Koga, he's

mortally slow - my Golem was outrunning it at a level DISadvantage, and

gets ripped apart by Earthquake.

Crobat is an evolved Golbat, and is BLINDING fast. He'll use the Koga

trademarks of Toxic and Double Team, but it's still somewhat frail. Rock

Slide or Psychic it.

Reward: $4,400

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

----------------

ELITE FOUR BRUNO

----------------

Pokemon:

~ Hitmontop L42

~ Hitmonlee L42

~ Hitmonchan L42

~ Onix L43

~ Machamp L46

Lead Pokemon: Alakazam

This is pretty much Alakazam's fight to lose. All three Hitmons sport high

Special Defense, but their HP is still so low that you can probably OHKO

the lost of them with Psychic. You might get Mach Punched (Fighting-type

Quick Attack), but that's it.

You've been fighting Onix all game, and it's still pathetic. Surf it and

be done. (You would think they would have evolved it to Steelix...)

Machamp might be tricky with Cross Chop, but it too is Psychic bait.

Reward: $4,600

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

----------------

ELITE FOUR KAREN

----------------

Pokemon:

~ Umbreon L42

~ Vileplume L42

~ Gengar L45

~ Murkrow L44

~ Houndoom L47

Lead Pokemon: Machamp

Think back... all the way back... to Ecruteak. Remember the dance with the

Umbreon and I said her weaknesses were Bug and Fighting? Well, since I

don't have a Bug move here, we have to use Machamp to take out this Umbreon

as well.

Vileplume is the final form of Oddish, and it's toast to a Flamethrower.

Gengar is the same thing you've been killing with the Rival all game,

Psychic or Earthquake it out.

Murkrow is Dark/Flying, so that nulls all the Dark weaknesses. But it opens

up all the Flying ones. Ampahros's Thunderpunch will be sufficient to KO

it.

Houndoom is Dark/Fire, so you can use Water or Rock to beat it - but I'd

stick with Machamp just to make sure.

Reward: $4,700

___________________________________________________________________________

After beating Karen, because they're called the Elite 4, you'll probably

think it's over. But it's not over yet, because Lance awaits. The winner

is League Champion. Are you ready for the fight of your career so far?

____________________________________________________________________________

--------------

CHAMPION LANCE

--------------

Pokemon:

~ Gyarados L44

~ Charizard L46

~ Aerodactyl L46

~ Dragonite L47

~ Dragonite L47

~ Dragonite L50

Lead Pokemon: Ampharos

Ah, so THAT'S the source of these illegal evolutions - the league Champion!

And not only does he have three illegal Dragonites, but his Aerodactyl has

Rock Slide, which is only legal in the 3rd generation of games. Time to

paste this Sharker all over the Plateau.

Gyarados might be tough, but it still folds to an Electric attack.

Charizard is quad-weak to Rock Slide, but you may want to Surf it out as

well.

The aforementioned Aerodactyl is going to flinch you left and right with

Rock Slide if it gets enough luck. Send out Ampharos to T-Wave it, then

Thunderpunch or switch to Lapras and Surf it into oblivion.

Finally, the three Dragonites can all be brought down with Ice Beams.

Reward: $5,000

___________________________________________________________________________

After you win, Mary tries to get a word with you, but Lance pulls you into

the Hall of Fame room where you and your Pokemon are enshrined. The credits

roll, and the game is over.

Or is it...?

FREE TRIP TO KANTO

Items- S.S. Ticket

Pokemon- None

When you restart the game, you'll be back home in New Bark, when Prof. Elm

calls. He has a present for you: it's a ticket for the S.S. Aqua, which is

docked in Olivine City. So get there.

Head to the docks (the building in the south end of town), and go down the

stairs. When you come out in a watery area, show the man the ticket, and hop

on the S.S. Aqua.

S.S. AQUA

Items- Metal Coat

Pokemon- None

The Prof. must have some connections to get you a private room. It's also a

miniature Pokemon center, with the ability to heal and a PC. Go around,

beat a few trainers, break in some new Pokemon, etc. Eventually, you'll hear

about a man whose daughter is missing. She's downstairs with someone, but a

sailor is blocking the path because one of his sailors is shirking.

To find the lazy bum, check the room next to yours. You'll have to beat him

in a fight, but he's a cinch.

He'll report for duty after you beat him, so you can now access the ship's

lower decks. Beat a few trainers, and find a staircase on the left side.

Follow the doors to find the child. A grateful father will give you the

Metal Coat, which powers Steel moves and evolves a couple of Pokemon. After

collecting your prize, the ship will pull into Vermillion City.

VERMILLION CITY

Items- Rare Candy, Thunder Badge

Pokemon- None

When you pull into port, you'll come out in familiar surroundings for

Pokemon veterans: Vermillion City! Not a lot has changed, but the prize for

hearing the Fan Club president's speech is different. Now, it's a Rare

Candy.

The town is small, and it feels smaller because there's a huge Snorlax

blocking Diglett's Cave. However, the Gym is still around, and they still

train Electric Pokemon. The Jr. Trainers are easy, and the puzzle is

deactivated. Which means, you can easily access Lt. Surge.

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Lt. Surge

Pokemon:

~ Raichu L44

~ Electrode L40

~ Electrode L40

~ Magneton L40

~ Electabuzz L46

Five Electric types, and you should still have Golem who can walk all over

them with Earthquakes. They may spam Double Team a little bit, but just

keep Earthquaking and they'll go down eventually.

Rewards: $4,600, Thuderbadge

___________________________________________________________________________

After you leave the Gym, heal and go around town to find out about a Kanto

wide power outage. You can't do anything about it now, so just go north to

Route 6.

ROUTE 6

Items- None

The wild Pokemon are EXTREMELY low-leveled here. We're talking mid-teens

for levels. Just ignore them since there's nothing new, and go north to

Saffron City.

SAFFRON CITY

Items- Upgrade, TM 29 (Psychic), Focus Band

Pokemon- None

The big city's just as busy. Silph Co. is sealed off above the first floor,

but the Upgrade, which evolves Porygon after a trade, is in there. Also, Mr.

Psychic is still reading people's minds, so pick up the Psychic TM from him.

The Fighting gym has only one person in it (you probably beat their leader,

Kiyo, already), but the Focus Band is inside. This sometimes prevents

fainting.

If you want to pick up a great Pokemon for the endgame, go west out of

Saffron at night and catch a Houndour. Give it the Experience Share and

perhaps let it beat up some trainers, and it'll become Houndoom, Karen's

powerful Dark-type Pokemon. Give it Solarbeam and Sunny Day TMs, let it

build up to Crunch and Flamethrower, and you've got a Kanto killing

machine on your hands.

This is probably the first place you'll hear that the power is out across

Kanto. But, the Psychic Gym is up and running, and Sabrina's still in

charge. The teleporter puzzle is still the same (for those who don't know,

it's upper-right, upper-left, lower-left, lower-left teleporters). The only

difference is in Sabrina's party.

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Sabrina

Pokemon:

~ Espeon L46

~ Mr. Mime L46

~ Alakazam L48

If you've got Houndoom even at L35, this should be an easy fight. Faint

Attack will do a number on these Pokemon, who can't attack beyond the

Psychic type except for Future Sight. Otherwise, Houndoom is immune to

their attacks.

If he's not available, then it's still doable. Just attack with your

strongest physical attacks, and don't be afraid to have Lapras Body Slam

everything into oblivion.

Rewards: $4,800, Marshbadge

___________________________________________________________________________

After you get the Marsh Badge, take the same route out of the gym, and

head north of Saffron to Route 5. You'll be back.

ROTUE 5

Items- Cleanse Tag

When you get to the top of Route 5, jump down for wild Pokemon, and go into

the house where the Daycare was in Red/Blue. The old lady inside will give

you the Cleanse Tag, which lowers the chances of meeting a wild Pokemon when

it's attached. After that, head north to Cerulean City.

CERULEAN CITY

Items- None

Pokemon- None

The Gym would be a logical place to start, but it's empty except for a

chicken TR member with a weird accent. So, head east (with Cut) to Route 9.

ROUTE 9

Items- None

Route 9 is from Cerulean to the Pokemon Center outside of the Rock Tunnel

(which we'll deal with later.) Basically, beat around the trainers, and get

some Exp. When you see water, surf it to Route 10.

ROUTE 10

Items- Machine Part, TM 07 (Zap Cannon)

There's a grass area outside of the Power Plant with Electabuzz in it. Be

sure to pick one up, as it's useful for breeding purposes. When you go into

the plant, talk to everyone inside to learn that a part was stolen.

Go back to Cerulean and head north to the bridge. The Rocket you ran into

earlier will be waiting with an L30 Golbat.

After the fight, the Rocket will reveal the location of the part. It's in

Cerulean Gym. To get it, go to the square of water in the middle. Go to the

upper-left part and search downwards to get the part. Return to the Power

Plant and give the manager the part to kick-start the power and receive TM

07 (Zap Cannon). This is the Electric equivalent of Dynamicpunch, but it

paralyzes instead of causing confusion.

After you get the power restarted, go back to Saffron and talk to the

Copycat Girl. Her house is right below the Train Station. She'll wonder

about a Poke Doll that someone gave her 3 years ago. To find it, go back

to Vermillion's Fan Club and talk to the fat guy. Return the doll to get

the Rail Pass! Now, you can easily transport between Saffron and Goldenrod

back in Johto.

The power's back on, but the Cerulean Gym is still empty. Try looking on

Route 24/25.

ROUTE 24/25

Items- Protein, Nugget, Everstone, Leaf Stone, Fire Stone, Water Stone,

Thunder Stone, Berserk Gene

The old Nugget Challenge is back, and under legitimate ownership. Beat the

first 7 trainers you see, and the 8th will give you a Nugget. Then, he'll

challenge you.

Shortly after that, you'll come to Bill's house, and you'll see Misty, head

over heels in love with someone. When you break up the smooch-fest, you'll

be able to fight for the Cascade Badge.

SIDE QUEST: In Bill's house is someone house-sitting, who's been reading

about Pokemon. He wants to see Lickitung, so bring him one to get an Ever-

Stone, which prevents evolution. After that, he'll want to see other

Pokemon, in riddle form. The answers are below.

"The one with leaves coming out of its head."-Oddish. You'll get a Leaf

Stone.

Either "The one with many tails" or "The one with big jaws." This varies

depending on your version, but it's either Vulpix or Growlithe. For this,

you get a Fire Stone.

"The one with the multi-colored core, that's shaped like a star."-Staryu.

Your reward is a Water Stone.

"The really popular one, before it evolves."-Baby Pokemon Pichu. Collect

a Thunder Stone for your efforts.

This is the only chance you get to collect these particular stones, and you

only get one (unless you use Mystery Gift.)

To get the Berserk Gene, go back to the water near the bridge to Route

24, and surf down to where the old Cerulean Cave/Unknown Dungeon was (for

those who haven't played previous versions, it's across from the top row

of houses in Cerulean City). Look around for the Berserk Gene, a one-use

hold item roughly equivalent to using Swagger on yourself.

CERULEAN CITY- PART 2

Items- None

Pokemon- None

Enter the Gym to see the Jr. Trainers hanging around. Beat the three of them

and talk to Misty to let the fun begin.

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Misty

Pokemon:

~ Golduck L42

~ Quagsire L42

~ Lapras L44

~ Starmie L47

We've been slaying Water types all game, so you should know how Misty rolls.

Use Electric attacks on Golduck, Lapras, and Starmie. The only trouble spot

is Quagsire - it's immune to Electric being a Ground type, and the only

Grass move you likely have is Solarbeam on Houndoom (who may or may not be

ready for this fight). If it is, great. Sunny Day, Solarbeam, seeya. If

not, send out a Water-type and Surf it until it drops.

Rewards: $4,700, Cascade Badge

___________________________________________________________________________

After getting the Cascade Badge, go back toward the Power Plant, but enter

the Rock Tunnel instead. Bring a Flasher as well.

ROCK TUNNEL

Items- Iron, Revive, PP Up, TM 47 (Steel Wing), Elixir

Rock Tunnel looks a little different, and it actually has items in it.

Otherwise, it's the same dungeon with new Pokemon. This is your first

shot to catch Kangaskhan, Cubone, and Marowak - and every so often,

the Cubone or Marowak will have an item. If they do, it's the Thick Club

- an item only they can hold which doubles their Attack rating.

Go right to the ladder from the start, and take it down. When you go down,

go all the way to the left for the Iron, then double back and go up. Go

up, avoiding rocks, until you come to the next ladder. Take the ladder, and

then go down and right to another ladder. In the next room, go up to a

Revive, and left and down to get the PP Up. Go to the next ladder, and

snag the Elixir and Steel Wing TM, then go down to the exit. When outside,

just jump ledges to Lavender Town.

LAVENDER TOWN

Items- Expansion Card

Pokemon- None

First, go to the Radio Tower (it's where Pokemon Tower was in Red/Blue.)

Talk to the people to get Kanto's Radio Card, which has a Poke Flute

channel. You'll need that later. There's not much else here, so go west,

young trainer, to Route 8.

ROUTE 8

Items- Paralyzecure Berry

You'll need Cut to get any of the Pokemon here. Just as in Yellow, Kadabra

caught here have the Kinesis move, which lowers accuracy. Get anything

you don't have, and beat some trainers around. The Underground Path is

closed, so cut through Saffron to Route 7.

ROUTE 7

Items- None

Come here at night to catch some Dark-types (as mentioned in the Saffron

Gym). Houndour is Fire/Dark, and can learn the best Dark move, Crunch.

Murkrow is Dark/Flying, and can learn Faint Attack, which is the Dark

version of Swift - and not a whole lot else. You should have Houndour

already, so go into Saffron City.

CELADON CITY

Items- Leftovers, TM 03 (Curse), PP Up (thanks to Delong Yang)

Pokemon- None

When you enter Celadon City, start by going around the Pokemon Center to

the back entrance. If you do this at night, you'll get a scary (?) story

and TM 03, which is Curse. You know what it does to Ghosts, but in the

possession of anyone else, it raises Attack and Defense while cutting Speed.

Go to the bottom block of buildings, on the right side, and go in the second

building. Check the trash can for the Leftovers, which restore HP after

every turn.

The Department Store isn't selling anything big, except for maybe the TMs.

You can now buy Hidden Power (TM 10), Sunny Day (TM 11), Protect (TM 17,

exact same as Detect), Rain Dance (TM 18), and Sandstorm (TM 37). Find all

these on the 3rd floor.

Fortunatley, you don't HAVE to do any of that. Instead, Cut your way into

the Celadon Gym. Beat the 4 Grass-element trainers, and talk to Erika to

start a fight for the Rainbow Badge.

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Erika

Pokemon:

~ Tangela L42

~ Jumpluff L41

~ Victreebel L46

~ Bellossom L46

Any Fire or Flying types will have a grand old time here. Tangela is

extremely weak to Special moves, so you can especially burninate it.

Jumpluff might be the only annoyance with its high Speed, but a good

Ice move can tear it a new one. Same with Victreebel and Bellossom.

If you need to level up Houndoom, this might be your best shot. Oh, and

you actually get a TM here unlike the rest of the leaders we've fought

to this point. Huzzah!

Rewards: $4,600, Rainbow Badge, TM 19 (Giga Drain)

___________________________________________________________________________

With Erika defeated, get out the Bicycle and move west to Cycling Road.

*NOTE* The PP Up is in the right side of town, hidden in the bushes.

CYCLING ROAD

Items- None

Muk + Slugma = HOT GOOEY ACTION :P

They're the newbies on Cycling Road, along with Grimer and Fearow if you

don't have it yet. Slugma is a pain because quite frankly, it's horrible -

and you have to level it up to 38 to get something that's not much better.

If you like the Poison-type, though, you can't go wrong with Muk.

At the bottom of the hill there's a few trainers to beat around, and also

the entrance to Fuschia City.

FUSCHIA CITY

Items- Burnt Berry

Pokemon- None

So you're going to Fuschia City, which means Safari Zone. Right? Well,

let's check with Lex Luthor...

"WRONG!!!"

Yep, they closed the Safari Zone - and after the 15,000th Tauros got

away from me in Red version, maybe there's a reason. Grab the Burnt

Berry off the bush as a consolation prize.

The fact that the Zone is closed makes this a very boring town. Routes 19-

21 are closed because the volcano that is Cinnabar Island blew its top one

day. However, the Gym is still running, and they're dedicated to Poison. All

the Jr. Trainers look like the new leader, Janine, but they're easy to find

and defeat. When you've fought 4 trainers, Janine is just a few feet away.

She'll fight you for the Soul Badge. (And for the record, she's Koga's

daughter.)

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Janine*

Pokemon:

~ Crobat L36

~ Ariados L33

~ Weezing L36

~ Weezing L36

~ Venomoth L39

I never understood - considering when you get here in the game, you'd think

the Pokemon would be slightly higher levels. Considering how the Poison

type doesn't get any love in this generation anyway, it's not that

suprising though.

You've faced all these Pokemon before between Janine's daddy Koga and Team

Rocket so this should be quite easy. They can all be Psychiced down, or

you can torch the Bugs and Earthquake/Rock Slide the others.

* I'm aware that Fire Red/Leaf Green calls her "Charine". But this isn't

the 3rd generation, so I call her how I see her. Besides, "Janine" makes

more sense anyway.

Rewards: $3,900, Soul Badge, TM 06 (Toxic)

___________________________________________________________________________

This should put you at 13 badges - so rather than double back, let's go

East to clean out some trainers on Silence Bridge. You might know it as...

ROUTES 15-12

Items- PP Up, Nugget, Calcium, Super Rod

Since the Safari Zone closed, they had to relocate Chansey - and so they

did, to the Silence Bridge area. Of course, they kept its rarity the same,

so you'll be pulling your hair out trying to find one. To make matters

worse, you need two - and it's easier to catch two than to get one and

breed another. You need two because of the trade for Aerodactyl on Route

14 and if for some unknown reason, you actually WANT a Blissey...

There are about 20 trainers on the 4 routes combined, which means major exp.

for all your Pokemon. At the end of the routes is Lavender Town. Heal there,

and go back down to Route 11.

ROUTE 11

Items- Berry

East Kanto's last gasp holds a single berry and relief for those who are too

lazy to level up a Drowzee (in an incredibly under-leveled Hypno). But

the main attraction here is another event battle - the Snorlax fight. You

know what to do with this one, though you may want to add a Thief Pokemon

in to steal Snorlax's attached Leftovers...

Once Snorlax buggers away, either in your Poke Ball or otherwise, you'll

open the door to Diglett's Cave.

DIGLETT'S CAVE

REQUIREMENTS: Cut (to get out)

Items- None

Catch the moles and move through to Route 2. Very short and very sweet. Just

make sure you have Cut for the next part.

ROUTE 2

Items- Carbos, Nugget, Elixir, Max Potion, Poisoncureberry, Dire Hit

I think I figured out why this game never got much love from Nintendo -

how the heck did they get away with leaving the rat to this late portion

of the game? And if you had trouble catching Pokemon before, imagine now

that the highest leveled Pokemon is L8? (Hint: At this point in the game,

simply throwing an Ultra Ball can get a catch a majority of the time).

To get all the items here, start with the Carbos in the upper-right corner

of the area. Go down to the house to get a Nugget, and Cut down a bush. Keep

going to get an Elixir, then cut down another bush to come out on the left

side. Go through what's left of Viridian Forest, and get the remaining

items in there. Go north to Pewter City.

PEWTER CITY

Items- Mint Berry, Ice Berry, Silver/Rainbow Wing (the one you didn't get in

Goldenrod)

Pokemon- None

The Berries are in the top-right corner of the map. The Wing is held by an

old man who's hanging out at the entrance to Route 3. Pick up the wing, grab

a Master Ball, and go for that second bird. (The way to get to them is back

in Johto, under the second set of Side Areas.)

After you get back, go to the old gym. There's still only one Jr. Trainer,

so beat him and get a piece of the Brock.

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Brock

Pokemon:

~ Graveler L41

~ Rhyhorn L41

~ Omastar L42

~ Kabutops L42

~ Onix L44

Oh good lord, another unevolved Onix. It's like they're not even TRYING

anymore. If you're raising a Grass Pokemon (or a Solarbeam Houndoom), it

can solo this fight. If not, a Water-type with Thunderbolt (or just an

Electric type), or a Fighting type... basically, as long as you don't

use a party of Pokemon you caught on Route 2, you win.

Rewards: $4,200, Boulder Badge

___________________________________________________________________________

Collect the Boulder Badge, and head out. At this point, you can check out

Mt. Moon, or go to Viridian City. We'll be going to Mt. Moon first, by

Route 3.

ROUTE 3

Items- None

Only 4 trainers to defeat this time. Snag Jigglypuff and Arbok (Silver only)

if you don't have them already and go into Mt. Moon. Just be healed before

entering.

MT. MOON

Items- Moon Stone (Monday nights, need Rock Smash)

As soon as you enter Mt. Moon, the Rival will make one last forced

appearence. (After this, he's fighting at Indigo Plateau on Monday and

Wednesday.)

____________________________________________________________________________

--------------

RIVAL BATTLE 5

--------------

Pokemon:

~ Sneasel L41

~ Alakazam L43

~ Magneton L41

~ Gengar L43

~ Golbat L42

You picked Chikorita:

~ Typhlosion L45

Cyndaquil:

~ Feraligatr L45

Totodile:

~ Meganium L45

The final (forced) battle with the Rival goes as you'd expect. Cream

Sneasel with a Fighting type, Magneton with Earthquake, etc. The only

problems may be the fact that he got Alakazam and Gengar this time, but

you should still have 7-8 levels on him and can go fast enough to leave

their guts splattered all over Mt. Moon.

___________________________________________________________________________

After he goes, catch Clefairy and leave by the top ladder. This will take

you to a small shop that sells large quantities of Lemonade, and the site of

the Clefairy's Moon Dance. After the dance, break the rock for a Moon Stone,

then go to the lower cave entrance. A quick hop to Route 4.

ROUTE 4

Items- HP Up

Pokemon- Same as Route 3

Just head east, beat the trainers, and go to Cerulean. Go through Saffron

to Diglett's Cave, and back to Route 2. This time, head south to Viridian

City.

VIRIDIAN CITY

Items- TM 42 (Dream Eater)

Pokemon- None

To get Dream Eater, go down to the Pokemon Center, and Surf the pond to a

sleeping guy. Talk to him for the TM.

The Viridian Gym is closed, but the One-on-One Trainer House is now open.

Once a day, you can fight the last person you used Mystery Gift with. It's

a great way to learn your friend's strengths and weaknesses. If you've not

used Mystery Gift, you'll fight this guy (who looks awfully familiar.)

Pokemon Trainer Cal

Pokemon- L50 Meganium, L50 Typhlosion, L50 Feraligatr

Use Fire on Meganium, Water on Typhlosion, and Electric/Grass on Feraligatr.

After finishing here, go south to Route 1.

ROUTE 1

Items- Bitter Berry

Ah, memories... Catch Furret if you don't have one, then go down through

Pallet Town to Route 21.

ROUTE 21-19

Items- No

Mr. Mime is the newb here. And yes, even though it's called "Mr. Mime",

you can still get a female. The thing is, its original name in Japan

is "Barriyado" or "Barriered", and of course, there's no gender assumption

there. Apparently someone wasn't thinking ahead to genders... I blame

Creatures, personally.

After catching Mr. Mime, surf south to what's left of Cinnabar Island. Talk

to Gary (the game calls him Blue for some reason), and he'll fly away. Surf

east until you come to the old Seafoam Islands, where it seems that Blaine

is hiding. Beat him.

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Blaine

Pokemon:

~ Magcargo L45

~ Magmar L45

~ Rapidash L50

You will quickly learn just how badly Magcargo fails when you face it

here. It's Fire/Rock, and that makes it quad-weak to Water AND Ground.

Rapidash and Magmar are both pretty weak defensively, but they're also fast

so you might want to stick with the Water-types to ensure a quick win.

Rewards: $5,000, Volcano Badge

___________________________________________________________________________

After you get the Badge, surf east until you come to Fuschia. The rocks have

been cleared, and the world unlocked. But you haven't the time for

celebration, as you've got one badge to go before you can call yourself a

great trainer.

VIRIDIAN CITY PART TWO

Items- None

Pokemon- None

Go back to the Gym. Gary (Blue)'s the only one around. Get a balanced team

ready for the only hard trainer in Kanto.

Recommended level: L53

__________________________________________________________________________

GYM LEADER FIGHT

Blue

Pokemon:

~ Pidgeot L56

~ Alakazam L54

~ Rhydon L56

~ Exeggutor L58

~ Gyarados L58

~ Arcanine L58

And after all of these wimpy fights throughout Kanto, they have the gall

to throw a somewhat difficult fight at you. The bastards. If it seems like

I half-ass Kanto, it's because I'm only giving it as much attention as

it got from the developers.

Anyway, you're going to need to bring both barrels here. Lead with your

resident Electric-type and Thunderbolt or Thunderpunch Pidgeot out of the

sky. Throw your Houndoom out to beat down Alakazam and Exeggutor, and you

can blast Gyarados with Thunderbolt and Rhydon with Surf.

That just leaves Arcanine, who you can take out with Surf again - just

watch out for its Extremespeed and Fire Blasts. Surf's probably a two-shot

due to being at a level disadvantage, so good luck.

Rewards: $5,800, Earth Badge

___________________________________________________________________________

After Blue hands over the Earth Badge, return to Pallet and go to Oak's Lab.

He'll tell you that Ash (Red) is training in Mt. Silver. The good Prof. will

show you the way to get there, and it involves Route 22.

ROUTE 22

Items- None

The only thing you need to do is go into the building. When you go in, the

guards you passed on the way to Indigo Plateau will be gone, and you'll be

on Route 28.

ROUTE 28

Items- TM 47 (Steel Wing)

This is it. The final grass path of the game. Train well, and get any

Pokemon you don't have already. To get the second Steel Wing TM, go to the

Pokemon Center and cut down the bushes to find a house. The woman inside

will give it to you.

When you are ready, enter Mt. Silver, the final dungeon.

MT. SILVER

Items- X Accuracy, Escape Rope, Max Elixir, Full Restore, Max Revive

You don't need them, but Flash and Waterfall help here. Flash lets you see

in section 1, and Waterfall gets the last two items.

Follow JamesXXIV's path and you'll get into Section 2 without Flash:

6 steps up

3 steps right

6 steps up

9 steps left

6 steps up

5 steps right

3 steps down

7 steps down

4 steps up

2 steps left

5 steps up

6 steps left

6 steps up

5 steps right

3 steps down

3 steps right

5 steps up.

In Section 2, the main thing is to get experience and catch the new Pokemon

here. Larvitar's always at L20, so beware. If you raise it for a long, long

time, it becomes Tyranitar, the Rock/Dark Pokemon with some great moves. As

for the nocturnal Misdreavus, it's a Ghost with no Poison (YES!) but it

largely relies on stuff like Perish Song and Pain Split to annoy rather than

doing direct damange.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPOTLIGHT: Preparation for Red

Last time we had a spotlight, it was for the Elite 4. Now, you're going to

have to take on someone who's lowest leveled Pokemon has 23 levels on the

champion's best, and you couldn't do any training in Kanto because the only

hard fight you had was in the last gym. What do you do?

You grind like crazy, that's what. Your best options are the area in front

of Mt. Silver, where there's a Pokemon Center within ten steps. Or you could

go cream the Elite 4 a couple dozen times. Either way, in order to preserve

your sanity I recommend being L65 - this provides levels good enough for

beating Red while keeping you from going crazy while grinding.

As for Pokemon... the same team that you used to beat down the Elite 4

should be fine, but I do recommend making a couple of changes. Houndoom is

obligatory, since he ripped Kanto apart on his own and can take the role of

two Pokemon. As for the other, and this is optional, I would swap Ampharos

out for a Jolteon or Electabuzz, as long as you have Thunderbolt on whatever

Electric you're using.

So it's Golem as the lead, then a backup of Lapras, Houndoom, Electabuzz,

Machamp, and Alakazam.

Heaven or hell... let's rock.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

____________________________________________________________________________

-------------------

POKEMON TRAINER RED

-------------------

Pokemon:

~ Pikachu L81

~ Espeon L73

~ Snorlax L75

~ Venusaur L77

~ Charizard L77

~ Blastoise L77

Of course, Ash will lead with his rat. Earthquake the hell out of it.

Espeon and Venusaur will go down to Crunch/Flamethrower respectively. If

you want to hold off and heal your team, send it out against Espeon - it's

immune to Psychic and its other attack (Swift) will do piddling damage.

Snorlax can be incredibly frustrating - it has Amnesia, Rest, Snore, and

Body Slam for damage. You can stick out a Perish Trapping Misdreavus, but

it will switch out on the same turn you do... bring Machamp and hope for

a critical hit on Cross Chop instead.

Finally, blast Charizard with Surf and Blastoise with Thunderbolt, and

you'll win the game.

Reward: $7,700

___________________________________________________________________________