Pokemon Red/Blue Speedrunning Guide 1.1

Pokemon Red/Blue Speedrunning Guide by SociableJesus

Huge thanks to werster for basically making this route himself and pushing this game extremely far. I've only managed to find two very slight time savers to his route (early Rare Candy and one less Super Repel). As of this publishing (June 6th, 2013) he has the World Record with Squirtle with 1:57 ingame time.

Version 1.1: Fixed some typos and the formatting, corrected some false information (mostly trash cans and the Agatha fight), added more clarification, cut some theoretical time savers I had in that didn't end up saving time, added my small route changes, added link to trash can solutions, and omitted a bunch of unnecessary text.

A few things to note:
* This covers the Squirtle route. There is an alternative Nidoran route.

* This will not cover movement and assumes you know where to go. I'll cover the general area of hidden items since those are much less obvious.

* This also will not cover type weaknesses. Again, this assumes you're familiar with this game.

* Bundling your item usage together is faster than spacing it out. Also, if you use the last of an item the cursor will automatically set itself to the top of the list. When shopping, if you were to buy the third item, the cursor will set to the highest item on the list. This is why Antidotes are bought before Potions in Pewter City, for example.

* When using an attack, a screen shake is faster than a flash, so things like Bubble are faster than Tackle.

* When learning a new move you cannot hit up to make the cursor go to the bottom slot, you must press down three times. Don't accidentally delete the wrong move.

* The differences between running Red and Blue are very slight. You can choose whichever one you like better. The only relevant differences are Sandshrew in Blue (in case no Paras in Mt. Moon, also allows you to bypass Lapras in Silph) and Oddish in Red (in case you don't run into Paras in Mt. Moon).

* Talking to a trainer you're about to battle is faster if they're two or less tiles away from your route; four or less on the bike. Also, approaching events from the front is faster (including entering/exiting buildings).

* Perhaps worth noting, Ice is neutral to Fire in Gen 1. This is why Ice moves are used on Growlithe. The other type differences have no effect on a speedrun.

* Every move in Gen 1, even with 100% accuracy, has a 1/256 (0.4%) chance to miss.** When an X Accuracy is used, a flag is set that bypasses the accuracy check.
  **The exception is Swift, which is irrelevant to speedrunning.

* Critical Hits are based on base Speed in Gen 1, thus things like Starmie and Alakazam will be critting your hapless ass up and dow the street. Also, moves with higher crit chance (Slash, Razor Leaf, etc.) are basically guaranteed to crit.

* Freezing can only be undone by Full Restores (Fire moves and Haze will also remove it, but you'll never see that situation in a speedrun).

* Stat reducing moves (Growl, Tail Whip, etc.) also increase another stat. werster has mentioned this but I haven't found any information on how it works and what stats are influenced. I'll add it once I find out.

* For those interested:
- Bug, Fighting, Flying, Ground, Ghost, Normal, Poison and Rock-type moves are physical (Attack and Defense applied).
- Electric, Fire, Grass, Ice, Psychic and Water-type moves are special (Special stat of each Pokémon applied).

* Your biggest threats are the Saurs, Weedle, Shorts Guy, Zubat/Golbat, Oddish, Starmie, Sand-Attack, Oddish, Kadabra/Alakazam, Raichu, Drowzee/Hypno, Gyarados, Gengar, and patience. Oh, and RNG.

* Shoutouts to Rhyhorn and Rhydon for getting annihilated in every appearance, and Blaine for using Super Potions on Pokemon with full HP.

* I'll be posting some race strats (such as where to save, precautionary items, backup strats) as well as other game mechanic related things where they are relevant [which will be conveniently bracketed. Race strats can also be used if you're pumping out runs to get familiar with the game and save spots
can be useful if you want to do your own testing. These are done from the mindset of a full game run, I've never done a Misty or Lt. Surge race, so I have no say on whether or not certain things will be useful in those.

* Fuck trash cans

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

***The Run***

- Before you select New Game make sure to delete a file that's been previously saved on. You can do this by pressing Up+Select+B on the title screen.
- Go to Options and set text to fast, animations off, and battle mode to set.

- Name your character and rival a single character (i.e. "I" and "U"). This saves time throughout the run.

- Note: the introduction does not add time to the ingame timer.

Palett Town:

- [race strat] There's a Potion in the PC in your room.
- [race strat] Save before picking up Squirtle so you can reset for stats.

- Looking for Squirtle with:
  - 11 Special
  - 11 Attack
  - 10 Speed
  - Perfect stats are those three plus 13 Defense (unnecessary, just a note)
[2 out of 3 for races. Alternatively, you can run with the first Squirtle you get and live dangerously.]
- Feel free to try out Squirtle with varying stats to see how important they are.

- Name your Squirtle a single character as well.

- In the first fight, I like to use Tail Whip 2-3 times to help with damage and help mitigate the reduced damage from inevitable Growls.
  - Yolo strat: Tackle

Route 1:

- Fight one random battle before Viridian Forest. Level 2's are best since you can two shot them with Tackle. Rattatas are a but better since they have a chance to use Tail Whip.


Viridian City:

- [race strat] Get the Potion hidden in the tree next to the old man.

Route 2: ???

Viridian Forest:

- Pick up the Antidote.

- [race strat] Get the Potion hidden in the tile in front of the Weedle trainer. Also, there's a Potion item ball South of him. You can also get this in a regular run if Weedle messes you up.

- Battle against Bug Trainer: Tail Whip Weedle twice and proceed to Tackle. Hope you get mostly String Shots and don't get Poisoned. Only heal if you're close to death as you'll take minimal damage from it with such low HP. If you're Poisoned after the battle use the Antidote. Only cure Poison after the battle.

Pewter City:

- [race strat] Use a Potion if you're at less than 15 HP.

- Battle against Brock: Bubble. Hope Geodude uses Defense Curl and Onix used Bide so you take no damage.
  - Yolo strat: don't heal, just Bubble.
- Optimally, after Brock you'll want 19 Attack, 18 Speed, and 19 Special (at level 11), which is also unlikely. 19 Special is the most important part.

- After Brock, proceed to the Pokemart. Buy 3 Pokeballs, 3 Antidotes, 10 Potions, 1 Escape Rope, 1 Parlyz Heal. Enjoy your dollar.

Route 3:

- Potion up before the first Bug Trainer if necessary.
- Battle against Bug Trainer:
  - Caterpie: For higher Special, use Bubble. For higher Attack, Tail Whip once, then Tackle.
  - Weedle: If Weedle Poisons you, Antidote after he is dead.
- [race strat] Save before Shorts Guy. Doesn't tend to be necessary.
- Battle against Shorts Guy:
  - Hardest trainer in the game.
  - Rattata: Bubble and hope for a speed drop. Also hope he doesn't Tail Whip and Quick Attack. Potion when necessary.
  - Ekans: Tail Whip + Tackle. Hope he doesn't use Wrap and hope you don't get Poisoned.
  - Antidote if necessary.
  - Yolo strat: I whited out, I'm an idiot.
- Battle against Bug Trainer:
  - You'll want at least 6 Bubbles, 3 for Kakuna and Metapod. You'll likely be using Bubble on everything.
  - Additionally, you may want 2-3 Bubbles at the end for the next fight. This isn't necessary, just helpful. If you have to Tackle anything, Tackle Caterpie.
  - Obviously Antidote if Weedle Poisons.
- Battle against Bug Trainer:
  - Caterpie: Bubble.
  - Metapod: Water Gun.

- In the grass you can either encounter a Spearow or Pidgey (and, rarely (5%), Jigglypuff ). Tackle it and chuck a ball.

Mt. Moon

- If you encounter Paras at any point, Tackle it down to less than half health and chuck balls.

- Zubats.

- Get TM01 (Mega Punch).

- Zubats.

- If in either battle something has very low health, use Bubble (if PP is left). Otherwise use Water Gun.
- Before the Rocket fight, learn Mega Punch over Tackle. Potion if HP is less than 20 or so. [race strat: If you're playing Blue and have got to this point without Paras and got Pidgey instead of Spearow, consider Mega Punch over Tackle so you don't kill Sandshrew, as it's imperative to catch it at the next point.]
- Battle against Rocket:
  - Rattata: Water Gun twice. If low Special, Mega Punch, then Water Gun.
  - Zubat: Mega Punch + Water Gun (Mega Punch twice if you get a low damage roll)
- Battle against guy with fossil fetish:
  - Grimer: Mega Punch twice.
  - Voltorb: Mega Punch + Water Gun.
  - Koffing: Mega Punch twice.
- Grab Helix Fossil.
- If you're at low health or Poisoned, don't worry about healing (unless you'll die of Poison damage before being out of Mt. Moon). Also, if you're playing Blue and didn't catch a Paras, watch your health since you need to be alive to damage and catch Sandshrew.

Route 4:

- Hum along

- In Blue, if you did not catch a Paras, catch a Sandshrew in this grass (encounter rate is 25%).
- [race strat] If you caught a Spearow and run out of Poke Balls or get over 5 encounters and no Sandshrew, carry on instead; there's a backup strat in Vermilion.

Cerulean City

- Heal at the Pokecenter

- Battle against Jr. Trainer:
  - Goldeen: Tail Whip + Mega Punch. Hopefully you don't get Supersonic'd.
  - [race strat] If your Attack was low, Tail Whip twice.
- Be at near full HP for Misty. Use the Pokecenter [in a race] if you have less than 3 Potions.
- [race strat] Save before Misty.
- Battle against Misty:
  - Staryu: Mega Punch. Tail Whip if X Defend is used.
  - Starmie: Tail Whip twice, thrice if X Defend is used, then Mega Punch. Use an additional Tail Whip for X defend use. Watch out for crits. Critical Hit Tackle will generally do around 13 damage. Potion when necessary.
  - Yolo strat: Mega Punching when in crit range.
- You'll want to still have 3-5 Potions at this point. If you're low on them, take the Pokecenter. If you have 5 or more, you had good luck.

- Grab the hidden Rare Candy north of the Badge guy's house.  Upon exiting out the back of his house, one tile up, five right.

- Teach TM11 (Bubblebeam) over Tail Whip and Potion up to near full health.

- Keep a mental note that you'll be using Bubble on anything with low very low HP up until you no longer have it.

- [race strat] Save before rival
- Battle against Rival #2:
  - Pidgeotto: Bubblebeam twice.
  - Abra: Mega Punch. Note: Potion if you need to on Abra since it can't do anything.
  - Rattata: Bubblebeam. Also, if you were Sand-Attacked by Pidgeotto, consider switching to another Pokemon and let it get knocked out. This gets rid of the accuracy drop.
  - Bulbasaur: Mega Punch twice. I know a Vine Whip Crit will do at least 20 HP. Keep that in mind.
  - Yolo strat: not healing.

Route 24 & 25:

- [race strat] If you should wipe at any point (likely to Misty or rival) and didn't save, pick up TM45 North of the bridge.

- Bubblebeam everything (Bubble Onix, dum dum).
- [race strat] If your Attack was low, you may want to fight the Hiker rather than the Jr. Trainer. Explanation later.
- Battle with Jr. Trainer right before Bill:
  - Oddish: Mega Punch. Damage range.
  - Pidgey: Bubblebeam.
  - Oddish: Mega Punch. Damage range. If you have Bite, use that.

- After S.S. Ticket is acquired, use Escape Rope.

Cerulean City:

- Use Pokecenter.

- Battle against Rocket:
  - Machop: Bubblebeam.
  - Bite over Bubble.
  - Drowzee: Bite twice.

- Now that Bubble is gone, Bite things when they're at very low health.

Route 5:

- Get hidden Full Restore. ~Jingle Skip~

Route 6:

- For Red, catch an Oddish here if you didn't catch a Paras. Keep in mind that backup Vermilion strat (Spearow only).

- Bubblebeam
- Raticate can't be one shot even with perfect Special. Go for the flinch!

Vermilion City:

- Don't use the Pokecenter here.
- Pokemart: Buy 7 Super Potions, 3 Repels.

S.S. Anne:

- [race strat] With low Attack, it may be beneficial to get the Rare Candy on the ship, which requires an additional battle (Bubblebeam). The room is the fourth from the staircase going to the rival fight. This will give you an additional level for Surge and a better chance at not dying to Surge. This is really slow but can be used for early runs if you're really scared of Surge. I don't recommend it but it's worth mentioning babby strats.

- Heal to near full HP. Teach TM28 (Dig) over Water Gun.
- Battle against Rival #3
  - Pidgeotto: Bubblebeam
  - Raticate: Bubblebeam
  - Kadabra: Mega Punch. Dig will one shot if you're afraid of missing. Speed tie at 45 Speed.
  - Ivysaur: Bite + Dig. This can be a damage range and not 2 hit (even critical Dig is damage range). Mega Punch twice will also work. Keep in mind critical Vine Whips can do upwards of 30 damage. Bad attack can Dig twice.
- Get HM01 (Cut)

Vermilion City:

- [race strat] If you didn't catch a Paras, Sandshrew, or Oddish, but you caught a Spearow, you can trade for a Farfetch'd to cover Cut and Fly.
- [race strat] If you got the Rare Candy on the S.S. Anne, use it now.

- Walk over to the tree by the Gym. Switch the top item in your inventory to Repels. Teach Cut to Oddish, Paras, Sandshrew, or Farfetch'd.
- ???
- Walk into Gym.

- Ass cans.
- Here's a helpful image for trash cans: http://imgur.com/mCgVe4w (credit to whoever made this, sorry I don't know)
  - I believe the second switch can be in the upper left can from any of the others, even if the first was in the upper left.
- [race strat] Save after you find the first switch do you can reset to easily find the second.
- [race strat] Save before Surge.
- Battle against Lt. Surge:
  - Voltorb: Dig. The only thing troublesome this can do is Sonicboom.
  - Pikachu: Dig.
  - Raichu: Dig.
  - Raichu will almost always be one shot if your attack is at least 45. 44 usually works. 42 and 43 get iffier, etc.

Vermilion City:

- Go to the Pokemon Fan Club, get Bike Voucher, Dig out (to Cerulean).

Cerulean City:

- Pokecenter after Surge is not necessary unless you've been Paralyzed. Keep in mind there are seven plants weak to Dig coming up. You'll likely be trying to Bite flinch a few of them, however.

- Get the Bike, set it toward the top of the item list.

- Using Cut on the tree down and right of the Bike Shop is faster than going through the Dig house.

Route 9:

- Note regarding Grass Pokemon: This is the first of three battles coming up with dangerous status moves likely to happen. This is four of the seven Pokemon. Oddish is basically the real threat. If you are Poisoned in this first fight, don't heal until after the battle, as it will prevent you from receiving a more dubious affliction (Sleep or Paralysis). If you are Paralyzed you can tough it out and heal at the upcoming Pokecenter if you'd prefer to save your Parlyz Heal (not recommended, just an option). You'll have to fight a bug Trainer before the Center, but he's non-threatening...mostly. For sleep, you have the possibility of using your Full Restore or waiting it out. Also, if you are Paralyzed, switching out to heal it will help since get Paralyzed recalculates your Speed to 25%, making you extremely slow. This can suck, though, since your reserve Pokes will likely be resistant to Grass so you can't hope for a quick knock out.Furthermore, Sleep can last from 0 to 7 turns and you cannot attack the turn upon waking in Gen 1.
- Battle against Jr. Trainer: Dig. Even with high Attack the Oddishes fall into damage ranges. The first has lower Defense and is worth Digging, but the second may be worth going for a Bite flinch.

- Battle against Bug Trainer: Bubblebeam. Venonat may live and be a bit annoying, but not dangerous.

Rock Tunnel:

- Upon entrance, use your first Repel.

- Battle against Pokemaniac:
  - Cubone: Bubblebeam
  - Slowpoke: Due to his bulk, you'll have to 3 shot him (outside of a crit). Two Bites (flinch!) and a Mega Punch should suffice (Lower Attack may call for two Punches and a Bite). Confusion and Disable can be very threatening. Don't be afraid to heal if your HP starts dipping below 30.

- Battle against Pokemaniac:
  - Slowpoke: Even bulkier. Due to damage ranges, Biting will likely be the most effective. If you Bite thrice and it looks like he could live a fourth, Mega Punch. Flinches and/or crits on this guy are very nice.

- [race strat] You can save before her if you wish, but it's not necessary.
- Battle against Jr. Trainer:
  - Note: if you're Poisoned or Paralyzed during battle, wait until after to heal. This helps block a new ailment (like Sleep). Also, this is an instance where the AI flat out cheats. If you heal a status during a turn they can pick a move to add a new status (usually), as the computer selects a move after your turn has already passed. If you're put to Sleep, use the Full Restore. If you're Poisoned or Paralyzed at the end and are out of Antidotes or used your Parlyz Heal, use the Full Restore. If you have none of these things, may god have mercy on your soul.
  - Oddish: If you can believe it, we're dealing with more damage ranges. Going for a flinch Bite is likely your best option, then hope you don't end up status'd. Dig or Mega Punch second will *usually* finish it off. Going for a Dig crit is an alternative.
  - Bulbasaur: Another damage range. Luckily seems to enjoy Leech Seed, so Bite is usually a safe option. Bulbasaur only has Poisonpowder as far as status moves go. So you can heal Paralysis after Oddish. Bite -> Dig is a safe option. Having one Dig left is nice for the Oddish coming up and the last one you'll ever have to see in the run (also ending the Grass moves blues). Critical Vine Whip is actually the biggest threat this poses.

- You'll likely either be pleased/content or angry/annoyed at this point.

- Use your second Repel at the second corner after the Jr. Trainer. If this is confusing, use it once you start going up toward the next ladder. We'll be using Repels at certain landmarks to avoid the text of the game telling you the Repel has run out.

- Battle against Hi-BUBBLEBEAM!
- Use your last Repel after this battle

- Bobbin' and weavin'.

- Unless your health is perilously low, you won't have to use a Potion.

- Battle against Jr. Trainer:
  - Meowth: Bubblebeam
  - Oddish: Hopefully Dig kills. You can try the ol' go-for-the-flinch. If put to Sleep, use the Full Restore. If Paralyzed, just kill it and heal on Pidgey (or after). Poison is only bad if you'll die between here and the next battle, which is very close. Otherwise, you'll be visiting a Pokecenter soon and it doesn't matter if you faint (UNLESS YOUR OTHER POKES ARE FAINTED! I've done this before). Healing at the Lavender Pokecenter is an annoying option for the weak willed.
  - Pidgey: Bubblebeam

- Light!

Lavender Town:

- See ya

Route 8:

- Battle against bald guy:
  - This is the battle that dying to Poison before is bad. Oh yeah, Bubblebeam.

Secret Passage:

- There's a hidden Nugget in here. Count 4 Mississippi's once you start moving left. You should find it. If you don't land on it, just move one space at a time and tap A until you get it.

Route 7:

- Dodge the grass.

Celadon City:

- Heal at the Pokecenter even if you're at full health/PP to set it as a Dig waypoint for the rest of the run.

- Mega shopping:
  - Go to the fourth floor. Sell your extra Potions (not Super Potions), extra Poke Ball(s), the Parlyz Heal, both Nuggets, TM24, and TM34. Buy a Pokedoll.
  - [sell TM45 if you wiped in Cerulean]
  - Go to the fifth floor. Buy 9 X Accuracies, 5 X Speeds, 2 X Attacks, and 9 X Specials.
  - Go to the roof. Buy two Fresh Waters. Get TM13 from dehydrated girl.
  - Go to the second floor. Buy TM05, then 9 Super Repels. Any extra money should go to extra Super Potions.
  - Leave.

- It's hard to figure out exact amounts if you wipe during a race. The best I can recommend is to get the things you need that are coming up. Here's what you'll need in the next segment:
  - Ice Beam and Mega Kick. The Pokedoll. One X Special. One X Accuracy. One Super Repel.
  - Those are for Pokemon Tower. After that you should be able to come back and afford the rest. I can't be certain, though.
  - Also keep in mind that you can buy Hyper Potions in Fuchsia and on Cinnabar (Cinnabar's shop is much more accessible) should you need them.
  - Should you wipe in a fight that necessitates X Items (Silph Rival, Sabrina), you'll have to come back to Celadon and get more. Or reset.

- Go to that house and have her teach you how to be cool.
- Teach HM02 (Fly) to your bird.
- Teach TM05 (Mega Kick) over Bite.
- Teach TM13 (Ice Beam) over Mega Punch.
- Use a Super Repel. Fly to Lavender.
- For those curious, walking is faster than biking into the Fly house and into Pokemon Tower.

Lavender Town (Pokemon Tower):

- Battle against Rival #3
  - Pidgeotto: Use one X Accuracy (8) and one X Special (8). Ice Beam. Only Potion if you're taken to at or below 40 HP.
  - Gyarados: Mega Kick twice.
  - Growlithe: Mega Kick.
  - Kadabra: Mega Kick.
  - Ivysaur: Ice Beam.
- You stinker!

- Dig every Gastly.

- On the fourth floor, grab the Elixer item ball.
- On the fifth floor, grab the hidden Elixer one space right, two spaces down from the staircase.
- Free heal.
- Free candy.

- Use a Rare Candy.
- Use the Pokedoll on the spooky specter.

- Battle against Rocket #1:
  - Zubat: If your special is good you can Bubblebeam. Ice Beam otherwise.
  - Zubat: ^                                                             ^
  - Golbat: Damage-range Ice Beam with good special. Perilous situation without.
- Battle against Rocket #2:
  - Koffing: Dig. May not die due to damage range. Finish with Bubblebeam.
  - Drowzee: Annoying. Can Confuse and/or Sleep you. Dig then Bubblebeam.
- Battle against Rocket #3:
  - Bubblebeam everything. Raticate may take two.

- Poke Flute
- In an ideal situation, you'll have 17 items at this point (a minimum of 15). This assumes you have Antidotes left and never used your Full Restore. This is important to note due to upcoming sexy text skips.
- Fly to Celadon.

Celadon City:

- Use a Super Repel, ride over to Snorlax.
- Wake his fat ass up.
- Run.

Route 16:

- There's a Rare Candy hidden in the grass, grab it. It's two spaces above the Biker, third column from the right.
- Stay all the way right all the way down.

Fuchsia City (Safari Zone):

- Use a Super Repel.
- Use two Rare Candies to get Blastoise.
- When you get to the lone item ball (it's TM42) in area three, use another Super Repel.
- Get Golden Teeth and HM03 (Surf).
- Dig out.
- Ride over and give the guard a drink.

Saffron City (Silph Co.):

- Go to the fifth floor (walking is faster than the elevator). You can either count or look for the Rocket on the right side of the screen.
- Grab the hidden Elixer in the pot of the right plant.
- Battle against Rocket:
  - Arbok: Dig.
- Grab the Card Key
- For those who don't know, unlock the door above the Rocket left of the Card Key and teleport. Walk right down the hall way and unlock the door up and left. Teleport.
- [race strat] If you're getting low on Super Potions and/or don't have leftover Antidotes or your Full Restore, there's a Max Potion if you unlock the door to the left of the teleporter. Probably unnecessary, but worth noting.
- Be near full HP.
- Teach Surf over Bubblebeam.
- Battle against Rival #4: Crits in this battle are detrimental.
  - Pidgeot: Use three X Specials (5). If you are Sand-Attacked use an X Accuracy (7). Ice Beam.
  - Gyarados: Watch out for Dragon Rage. Ice Beam.
  - Growlithe: Ice Beam. [maybe Surf]
  - Alakazam: Watch out for Psybeam crits, Disable, and getting confused. Surf. If low, Surf again, in case of your rival using a Potion (20 HP, lol).
  - Venusaur: Ice Beam. If Ice Beam got Disabled by Alakazam, use Surf.
  - Yolo strat: don't heal. For the rest of the game.
- Get Lapras, unless you have Sandshrew.
- Note: this part of the game is where PP can start to vary a bit more than before.

- Battle against Rocket:
  - Cubone: Ice Beam (or Surf).
  - Drowzee: Mega Kick. If Mega Kicks misses, Surf.
  - Marowak: Ice Beam (or Surf).
- Battle against Giovanni:
  - Nidorino: Use one X Special (4). Surf.
  - Kangaskhan: Surf.
  - Rhyhorn: Ice Beam if ya got 'em. Surf otherwise.
  - Nidoqueen: Surf.
- Dig out. Fly to Fuchsia.
- Walking is faster than biking from the Center to the Gym.

Fuchsia City (Gym):

- Battle against Juggler: Use one X Accuracy (6) and Mega Kick everything.

- Be at around 80 HP or more.
- Use one Elixer.

- Battle against Juggler:
  - Drowzee: Mega Dick.
  - Hypno: Some combination of Surf and/or Dig.

- Battle against Koga:
  - Koffing: Dig. If you're feeling perky, good special can damage-range one-shot Surf (DROSS).
  - Muk: Surf twice. Minimize can be annoying.
  - Koffing: Same as the first. It's your call. Safety versus speed.
  - Weezing: With Dig, you can hope for him to use Selfdestruct. This is the best case. Dig + Surf or Dig + Dig will usually be enough. [Don't fret much if you're KO'd by Weezing; back up strat in Cinnabar Mansion]
- If you leave Poisoned in this fight and have leftover Antidotes, cure it. Toss any spare Antidotes you have left. If you have none, ignore it for now. Additionally, leaving with 10 or more Surfs will make things a lot easier.
- Note that you may not want to toss your Antidotes depending whether you have the Full Restore or not.

- Ride to the Warden's house, get HM04 (Strength).
- Fly to Palett.

Palett Town:

- Heal at your house only if you're Poisoned, low on healing items and have low HP, got KO'd by Weezing, or are worried about PP.
- Use a Super Repel.

Route 21:

- Stay left under until the Island.

Cinnabar Island (Mansion):

- Proceed as normal until the last room, then use another Super Repel. Muk and Weezing can still give you an encounter on this floor if you're unlucky.
- Grab TM14 (Blizzard).
- [race strat] Get the Rare Candy item ball and the hidden Rare Candy in the upper left corner where you get the Secret Key if you got knocked out by Weezing, or are scared about poor stats for the Elite Four.
- Grab Secret Key.
- Dig out.
- Fly back to Cinnabar.

Cinnabar Island (Gym):

- To make things a little easier, for each quiz console, press A to initiate the text, then mash this button for each console:
  - 1st: A
  - 2nd: B
  - 3rd: B
  - 4th: B
  - 5th: A
  - 6th: B
- A helpful tip is the first is A, then the whole second column of the Gym is all B, then A, then B again.
- Heal if necessary; Arcanine can be somewhat troublesome (can crit with Take Down for big damage).
- Battle against Bl-SURF!
- Don't forget you can finish with Ice Beams, as they are neutral.
- Ideally, this is where you will start to see the text skips as your pack will be full. If you're learning the game still, this will be something you'll begin to manage better later on. If you are receiving these last couple of Gym Leader TM's it doesn't matter much, as it only saves a couple of seconds.
- Dig out.
- Fly to Saffron.

Saffron City (Gym):

- After the initial teleport tile, the solution is Upper Left, Lower Left, Down.
- Heal if necessary.
- Battle against Sabrina:
  - Kadabra: Use one X Accuracy (5) and Mega Kick.
  - Mr. Mime: Use one X Attack (1) and Mega Kick.
  - Venomoth: Mega Kick.
  - Alakazam: Mega Kick. Crits are bad.
- Use the warp tile then Dig for a sped up exit.

Celadon City (Gym):

- Just use Ice Beam. You win.
- Fly to Viridian.

Viridian City (Gym):

- Teach Strength to Lapra/Sandshrew.
- Teach Blizzard over Mega Kick. Take care to not accidentally teach Blizzard to Lapras.
- Battle against Tamer:
  - It's a fucking Rhyhorn.
- Battle against The Karate King:
  - Surf. If the Machokes are dicks, just finish them with Ice Beam. Use Ice Beams if you're low on Surfs. Three Surfs are needed for Giovanni (and two Ice Beams).
- Battle against Giovanni:
  - Rhyhorn: Ice Beam.
  - Dugtrio: Ice Beam.
  - Nidoqueen: Surf.
  - Nidoking: Surf.
  - Rhydon: Surf.
- Make sure you get the TM from Giovanni.
- Leave.
- Heal if necessary. [race strat] If no healing items remain, take the Center.
- Teach TM27 (Fissure) over Dig.

Route 22:

- [race strat] You can save before this fight but your chances of losing are slim unless you have no healing items. Even then they're not that low.
- Right before the grass, use a Super Repel.
- Battle against Rival #5:
  - If you still have your Full Restore, don't be afraid to use it in this battle (or before) if your HP starts dipping from a big hit.
  - Pidgeot: Use one X Special (3), one X Speed (4), and one X Accuracy (4). Ice Beam or Blizzard.
  - Gyarados: Blizzard twice.
  - Growlithe: Blizzard.
  - Alakazam: Fissure.
  - Venusaur: Fissure.
- Healing after the fight is unnecessary as there are no battles to be fought in Victory Road.

Route 23:

- TEXT

Victory Road:

- Use a Super Repel, then Strength.
- Impossible rock puzzles.
- At the third rock, use the last Super Repel, then Strength.

Elite Four:

- Deposit everyone but Blastoise [in a race, skip this].
- Heal at the Pokecenter.
- Buy 6-10 Full Restores [in a race, you can buy one or two Revives]

- Battle against Lorelei:
  - Dewgong: Use one X Speed (3) and one X Accuracy (3), then Fissure everything.
- Use one Elixer.

- Battle against Bruno:
  - Onix: Use one X Accuracy (2). Ice Beam.
  - Hitmonchan: Surf.
  - Hitmonlee: Surf.
  - Onix: Blizzard.
  - Machamp: Fissure.

- [race strat] Save before Agatha.
- Battle against Agatha:
  - Gengar: Use one X Special (2), one X Speed (2), and one X Accuracy (1). Fissure. Can Sleep and Confuse you, has a high set damage move, and has a high crit chance with its last move (though you have to be asleep). Very dangerous, particularly coupled with Golbat. DO NOT USE A FULL RESTORE AT FULL HP WHILE ASLEEP. This will kill your stat gains from the X Items. Use the Poke Flute instead. In Gen 1, Full Restores don't heal confusion.
  - Golbat: Blizzard. Worth mentioning is the fact that Golbat has Haze, which will undo all stat gains/losses, screwing your X Item use. If you have one or two X Item boosts and Agatha switches to Golbat, it's worth it to just Blizzard him, especially considering he can also Confuse you. Order of X Items is therefore important in this fight. If you go in being Confused you're in a risky situation - Haze has a 25% chance to be used and you have a 50% chance to hit yourself. If your're Haze'd in a race, it's better to just reset.
  - Haunter, Arbok, and Gengar: Fissure.

- Heal.

- [race strat] Save before Lance. Not as deadly as Agatha, but Gyarados (and sometimes Aerodactyl) can screw you over.
- Battle against Lance:
  - Gyarados: Use one X Special (1). It's your choice whether to X Speed (1) now or on one of the Dragonairs. Critical Hyper Beams are bad news. Blizzard. Note that Lance has a chance to use Hyper Potions if his Pokemon are below 25% HP. If Blizzard will knock Gyarados' HP down very low but not KO, Ice Beam is better to use. This also applies to the Gyarados after this battle where Full Restores are used which would undo a freeze.
  - Dragonair: Possible X Speed. Ice Beam.
  - Dragonair: Ice Beam.
  - Aerodactyl: This is why X Speed is necessary. His crit rate is high and he has Supersonic. Ice Beam does not guarantee a one shot. Use Surf.
  - Dragonite: Ice Beam.
- Heal and use last Elixer.
- [race strat] Save before final fight, but it's unlikely you'll wipe.

- Battle against Rival #6;
  - Pidgeot: Use one X Special, one x Speed, and one X Accuracy. Sky Attack crit will kill you but is unlikely.
  - Rhydon: Blizzard.
  - Gyarados: Blizzard.
  - Arcanine: Fissure.
  - Alakazam: Fissure.
  - Venusaur: Fissure.

Boop.