The Game
The Beginning
You start your Pokémon journey at Professor Oak's Lab where you have to talk to Professor Oak who is standing next to Gary (the black shirt and purple pants NPC)
I recommend choosing from Generation 1 or 2 as those Pokémon cannot be caught in the wild unless you have the Gamepasses for each of them.
After you choose a Pokémon, Gary insists a battle with you right after he chooses a Pokémon (a pokemon from the first Generation that has an advantage against your starter e.g. if you choose squirtle as your starter, Gary chooses Bulbasaur). After you have defeated Gary (your rival), Professor Oak will request you to deliver a package from Viridian City's PokéMart.
Between your journey, you will encounter trainers and wild Pokemon battles.
Route 1 Trainers:
Bug catcher joey: caterpie level 4. weedle level 4. money reward: 500 pokedollars
Youngster Danny: Two pidgey, level 4. money reward: 500 Pokedollars
Youngster billy: two rattata, level 4. money reward: 500 Pokedollars
Youngster jason: rattata level 7. money reward: 500 Pokedollars
Youngster albert: sandshrew, level 8. money reward: 500 Pokedollars
Remember you have 3 pokeballs! You can catch a pikachu (Good for misty! Recommended if picked charmander!)
Once you have reached Viridian City, go to the PokéMart (building with blue rooftop). Talk to the cashier (NPC with blue shirt and a black coat) and he will give a package to you. Walk OR Run (holding spacebar or shift, run button for mobile version) all the way back to Professor Oak, talk to him again and he will reward you a Pokédex and 3 Pokéballs.
Your Adventure Starts Here
Once you've delivered Professor Oak's package and have been rewarded 3 Pokéballs, your journey in the Pokémon world has begun.
Finding, Luring and Catching a Pokémon
You can catch Pokémon from the grass patches found all over the place. Once you encounter a wild Pokémon, you have to lower its health low enough for better chances of Catch Rate. Catch Rate can also be increased by adding a status effect to the opposing Pokémon.
Be careful not to faint/kill the Pokémon because you will not be able to catch it and you will gain experience instead.
Once you have lowered some or much of the HP (health OR hitpoints), Click on 'Bag' and select the 'Pokéballs' section. This is where your either purchased or rewarded Pokéballs will be stored. Go ahead and select a Pokéball and click 'Use'. Each kind of Pokéball works differently and has a different catch rate.
There are some chances that the Pokémon will escape the Pokéball so you will have to try again and again until you catch it.
If your Pokemon is severely harmed or fainted by the opposing Pokémon, you will have to switch to another Pokémon (if you have any in your Party). If all your Pokémon are fainted, you will lose the battle and will be transported to the nearest PokéCenter or your house (if you are near your house).
Once you've caught the Pokémon, it will either be put in your Party or in your PC (box-like computers in the PokéCenter) if your Party is full.
You can also escape wild Pokémon battles if you don't want to catch anymore of the same Pokémon by pressing 'Run'. There are chances that you cannot escape a wild Pokémon battle because your Pokémon's level may be lower than the opposing Pokémon.
Battling a Trainer
You may have already have learned much about battling an opposing Pokémon from the previous section and the same applies to this part, but with some changes. The changes are:
- You cannot catch (use a Pokéball on) the foe's Pokémon
- You cannot escape a trainer battle (unless it is a PVP battle)
Buying Pokéballs / Buying Useful Items / PokéMart
You can buy items such as Pokéballs, evolution Items, etc. at the Pokémart (building with a blue roof). Each item also has a specific price set. Each item is put under one of four categories (Healing Items, Pokéballs, Evolution Items and Competitive), so you can easily navigate to the right item. In the PokéMart, you use Pokédollars to buy items. For more information on the PokéMart, click here.
Pokédollars / How to Obtain Them
You may have already read about the usage of Pokédollars in the previous sections and the importance of their use. So here are the ways you can earn Pokédollars:
- Winning a trainer battle
- Winning a Gym battle
You can check the amount of Pokédollars you have in your Trainers Card. For more information, click here.
The best trainers to get money from are gentlemen. They have a black suit and tie and their speech often has something to do with money. You earn $1000-$7000 from beating them.
Gym Battles
In your Pokémon journey, you will see buildings with the word 'GYM' on the side. This means that a gym leader is inside usually with at least one admirer/apprentice near the inside entrance. You must defeat that trainer first and they usually have the same type of Pokémon as the gym leader specializes in. Gym badges are given when you defeat the Gym leader and badges are used for other purposes (eg. Mystery Gift Codes).
The gym leaders go in this order:
- Brock of Pewter City who specializes in Rock-type Pokémon
- Misty of Cerulean City who specializes in Water-type Pokémon
- Lt. Surge of Vermillion City who specializes in -type Pokémon
- Erika of Celadon City who specializes in Grass-type Pokémon
- Koga of Fuchsia City who specializes in Poison-type Pokémon
- Sabrina of Saffron City who specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon
- Blaine of Mt. Cinnabar/Cinnabar Volcano who specializes in -type Pokémon
- Giovanni of Viridian City who specializes in Ground-type Pokémon
- The Elite Four of Indigo Plateau who specialize in Ice-type (Lorelei), Fighting-type (Bruno), Ghost-type (Agatha), and Dragon-type (Lance) Pokémon
- Gary of Indigo Plateau who is the Champion with strongest Pokémon (Comparing to Elite Four).