• Welcome to the world of Pokémon!

After Professor Oak's introduction to the world of Pokémon, you'll find yourself in your room. Head downstairs and your mom will stop you. She'll give you a speech about a new item to the series, the Pokégear. This handy device acts as a phone, a radio, and a map. You'll be using this quite frequently. After setting the date, she'll ask you to head over to Prof. Elm's lab.

Prof. Elm will ask you to do him a favor. He says he has a friend who's constantly saying he's made discoveries and this time he wants you to go check out what's up. To do this, he offers us three Pokémon: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile. Chikorita is a good choice if you want the game to be hard. Cyndaquil and Totodile are both good average choices.

Before leaving, Prof. Elm will offer his phone number. His number is one of few that you cannot remove from your contacts, as you can only hold 20 numbers. Calling him does very little, he'll only encourage you to stay strong on your journey. However, he'll call you periodically in the game. Before leaving, his assistant gives you some potions, which will heal your Pokémon a small amount.

Route 29 is relatively short, and is highly uneventful. The only things to do here is to grab the Potion hidden away in the route and the berry from the tree towards the end. Otherwise, you can just walk right through.

It is recommended, however, that you train up your Pokémon a bit before returning from Mr. Pokémon's house. This isn't the only opportunity you'll have, but it certainly isn't the worst one. Level 7 is a good place to get your Pokémon to. If you ever feel the need, use potions or berries to heal your Pokémon. If you lack either, head back to Prof. Elm's lab to heal your Pokemon.

Upon entering Cherrygrove City, you'll notice an old man. If you talk to him, he'll offer to teach you a few things, as you're a new trainer. Agree and he'll show you around town, mainly landmarks that appear in each city up ahead. If you've played a Pokémon game before, you'll probably know this information, but it's useful nonetheless. After his tour, he'll load the Map Card into your Pokégear, which replaces the Town Map in this game.

After the tour, you might want to consider picking up some Antidote in the Pokémart. The next route has Weedle in Silver and Crystal, and Spinarak in Gold and Crystal. Both have the ability to poison your Pokémon, which will slowly drain your health. Once you're ready to leave, head north to Route 30.

Route 30 is considerably larger than the routes we've seen previously, and has a lot more variety in terms of Pokémon we'll see here, especially in Crystal. Outside the first house you'll see is a Berry Tree. If you talk to the man inside the house, he'll give you yet another berry. If your Pokémon has eaten the Berry it was holding when you got it, you might want to consider replacing it.

Exit his house and head through the next patch of grass. If you're playing Crystal Version, you'll find an Antidote here. This is useful, as poison is a problem in this route, with Weedle and Spinarak wandering around. Eventually you'll reach a fork in the road. Head right, through the grass.

Continue through the grass and you'll reach Mr Pokémon's house. Before entering, to the left of his house is another Berry Tree. This tree has a PSN Cure Berry, which does just what you'd think it does, cure poison. Upon entering, Mr. Pokémon will greet you, giving you the Mystery Egg, saying the Day Care couple gave it to him.

After his gift, Prof. Oak, who was apparently listening to the conversation, approaches you. He admires your starter Pokémon and offers you a Pokédex, which records data on Pokémon you catch. After leaving Mr. Pokémon's house, Prof. Elm calls saying something disasterous happened, and begs that you return to the lab immediately.

Once you reach Cherrygrove City, make sure you heal your Pokémon in the Pokémon Center. If you feel the need, purchase a few potions from the Pokémart. We're about to face our first battle.

Once you attempt to leave towards New Bark Town, a trainer with red hair will taunt you, saying he got a Pokémon from the lab and challenges you to a battle.

• Rival Battle 1

Silver

• • • • •

300

If you picked Chikorita:

Cyndaquil Lv. 5

• Tackle
• Leer

If you picked Cyndaquil:

Totodile Lv. 5

• Scratch
• Leer

If you picked Totodile:

Chikorita Lv. 5

• Tackle
• Leer

Your Rival will use the starter that is strong against your type. None of them have any type moves at this point, so that's no real concern. My only recommendation for this battle is to use leer once or twice, then follow up using either Tackle or Scratch until their Pokémon has fainted.

After the battle, he'll tell you how he plans to be the strongest trainer in the world and leaves. You are now free to continue to Prof. Elm's lab.

Upon returning to Prof. Elm's lab, you'll learn that a Pokémon was stolen from here. The Police Officer will ask for the name of the individual that you battled. This'll be the name of your rival for the rest of the game, and there's no changing it, so make sure you like it on the first try. After telling him the name, he'll leave.

Talk to Prof. Elm, and he'll ask what Mr. Pokémon gave you. He'll be thrilled with the discovery and recommend you try and go and face the Gyms of the region. He recommends you talk to your mom before leaving. Leave Prof. Elm's lab and his assistant will stop you. He'll give you five Poké Balls and tells you to use them on your journey. We use these to capture Pokémon, so it's a pretty sweet gift!

Prof. Elm will also recommend you talk to your mom before heading out. When doing so, she asks to help out by saving some of your money. You may be wondering why this is useful. On occasion your mom will buy you gifts using your money and storing it in your PC. This isn't all that terribly useful, but gives you some small items to use in a pinch. However, in addition to minor gifts, your mom may buy you Poké dolls for use in your bedroom in New Bark Town. You can place them on your desk in any order you'd like, and she'll buy them for you every now and then. If you have no interest in these benefits, simply tell her no.

Upon entering Route 29 again, the man in the tall grass will offer to teach you how to catch Pokémon. If you agree, he'll face off against a Rattata and captures it using one of his Pokéballs, just like what we got. In reality, you'll want to make sure to weaken the target a bit more before using a Poké ball. Poké Balls are one of four types of balls, and are the weakest, so make sure you weaken the opposing Pokémon. You can just head on through the Route otherwise and straight to Route 30.

For players of Pokémon Crystal Version, you may have noticed the gatehouse heading north. This will lead to a small patch of grass featuring Pokémon normally found in rugged terrain, such as Geodude. While the Pokémon obtained here aren't super notable, other than Spearow which I recommend catching for slightly later in the game, there is one Pokémon here that only players of Pokémon Crstal can catch this early. Phanpy is extremely rare here and is only found in the mornings, but evolves into the very powerful Donphan. It is extremely rare, but worth the hunt. If you are not playing Crystal Version, consider heading into Route 46 to grab a Spearow or a Geodude.

Route 30 has changed only slightly since we first visited to talk to Mr. Pokémon. This time, the trainers that were battling before have finished, and they're awaiting our challenge. Navigate past the house with the berry man, and head left to find them awaiting us. While the first one is skippable, you can talk to him after the battle and he'll ask to exchange phone numbers with us. Joey will offer to have a rematch should you choose to put him in your contacts. You only have 20 so decide carefully. You can always remove them, should you need more.

This route offers little else. Continue heading north and eventually you'll reach Route 31. If you didn't talk to your mom after our journey to Mr Pokémon's house, she'll call you now, asking if you'd like to save your money. Again, benefits include buying you somewhat common items and PokéDolls for your room, or having plenty of money throughout the game.

There isn't much in Route 31. It's a fairly short route with only one trainer. If you're playing Crystal Version, you'll find a potion near the entrance to Dark Cave. Otherwise the only items are a Bitter berry and a Poké Ball near a trainer. This trainer is very weak, and will give us his phone number after battling him. When he calls, he'll share some berries with us.

If you'd like, catch a Bellsprout here. If you plan on using one, catch two. In Violet City, the next town, we'll find a trainer willing to trade us an Onix for one. Onix is Rock type, which is strong against the resident Flying-type gym. He's one of the two alternative options for Pokémon that are strong against Falkner's birds. Onix learns Rock Throw at level 14, which is very high compared to the alternative, Geodude. Geodude learns Rock Throw at level 12.

• Dark Cave - Optional

Dark Cave is, as the name implies, is very dark. So dark that it is impossible to see. The gym in Violet City enables the use of the move Flash, which will brighten the cave. However, what we came here for is the Pokémon, Geodude. Geodude is probably the better of the two choices against Falkner, as it has arguably better stats than Onix, and learns Rock Throw two levels earlier. Geodude is the most common Pokémon in this cave, so it should be no problem finding it.

If you're playing Pokémon Crystal Version, Teddiursa has a very small chance to appear in this cave in the mornings. If you go out to find it, be warned that it flees the first turn of the battle, so carry a Gastly with Mean Look or Hypnosis in order to catch it. Gastly can be found in Route 31 at night, but again, only ing Pokémon Crystal Version.

Violet City is much larger compared to the two towns we've seen previously. However, there's not much here to find. The Poke Mart offers a few new items, none of them worth checking out. There's the local Trainer School if you're new to the series. Otherwise, there's just a few houses.

One of these houses, south of the Pokemon Center, offers a trade for us; an Onix for a Bellsprout. If you didn't already, Bellsprout can be captured in Route 31. Traded Pokemon level up faster, however, they'll begin to disobey if you don't have the proper gym badge. Onix learns Rock Throw at level 14, which is beyond the obedience level. I recommend heading back and catching a Geodude if you didn't already in Dark Cave.

• Route 36 - Crystal Version

There's very little to do here on Route 36. To the south is the Ruins of Alph, if you feel like checking those out. Route 36 is a great place to train your Rock-type for Violet City's gym, as the chances of finding Bellsprout have lowered from Route 31, and the chances of finding Pidgey have raised. There's also chance of finding Growlithe, a Fire Type Pokémon.

Growlithe gets very, very powerful once it evolves into Arcanine. If you don't plan on keeping it, consider catching either this or Pidgey to go up against Sprout Tower. The abundant Grass Types are no fun for the Rock-types we're raising, so an alternative will need to be used. It will also be very useful against Azalea Town's gym, the one following Falkner. Watch out for its move, Roar, when attempting to capture it. All your hard work will be wasted if it uses this, as it instantly ends the battle.

Violet City is much larger compared to the two towns we've seen previously. However, there's not much here to find. The Poke Mart offers a few new items, none of them worth checking out. There's the local Trainer School if you're new to the series. Otherwise, there's just a few houses.

One of these houses, south of the Pokemon Center, offers a trade for us; an Onix for a Bellsprout. If you didn't already, Bellsprout can be captured in Route 31. Traded Pokemon level up faster, however, they'll begin to disobey if you don't have the proper gym badge. Onix learns Rock Throw at level 14, which is beyond the obedience level. I recommend heading back and catching a Geodude if you didn't already in Dark Cave.

• Route 36 - Crystal Version

There's very little to do here on Route 36. To the south is the Ruins of Alph, if you feel like checking those out. Route 36 is a great place to train your Rock-type for Violet City's gym, as the chances of finding Bellsprout have lowered from Route 31, and the chances of finding Pidgey have raised. There's also chance of finding Growlithe, a Fire Type Pokémon.

Growlithe gets very, very powerful once it evolves into Arcanine. If you don't plan on keeping it, consider catching either this or Pidgey to go up against Sprout Tower. The abundant Grass Types are no fun for the Rock-types we're raising, so an alternative will need to be used. It will also be very useful against Azalea Town's gym, the one following Falkner. Watch out for its move, Roar, when attempting to capture it. All your hard work will be wasted if it uses this, as it instantly ends the battle.