The complete journey — jump to any chapter.

≡ Chapters & milestones

Click a milestone to jump to it. Badges are marked as you'd earn them in order.

1 Pallet Town — your adventure begins

1. Leave your house; Mom gives you Running Shoes (hold B to run). Try to walk into the tall grass on Route 1 and Prof. Oak stops you and leads you to his lab.
2. Choose your starter. This guide's sample team is built on Charmander (→ Charizard), but any starter works — see the note below.
3. Your Rival takes the starter strong against yours and battles you immediately. Spam your starter's attack; a loss here is harmless.
4. Oak's errand: head toward Viridian, and in Chapter 2 you'll fetch Oak's Parcel and bring it back for your Pokédex + 5 Poké Balls.

2 Routes 1–2 & Viridian City

1. Walk north up Route 1 to Viridian City. Grab the free Potion in the Poké Mart as a tutorial.
2. The Mart clerk hands you Oak's Parcel — take it back south to Oak. He gives you the Pokédex and 5 Poké Balls, and your rival gets one too.
3. Stock up on Poké Balls & Potions, then head north through Viridian onto Route 2. The Viridian Gym is locked for now.

3 Viridian Forest → Pewter City — Gym 1

1. Viridian Forest is a small maze of Bug Catchers and grass. Catch a Pikachu here if you want the electric slot early (it's rare — keep looking). Also Caterpie/Weedle.
2. Exit north to Pewter City. Visit the Museum (you can return later with Cut for the Old Amber → Aerodactyl).

4 Route 3 → Mt. Moon & the fossils

1. Route 3 is trainer-heavy — great early XP. A Pokémon Center sits at the Mt. Moon entrance.
2. Inside Mt. Moon: Zubat, Geodude, Paras, and rare Clefairy. Fight through Team Rocket.
3. Pick up a hidden Moon Stone (evolves Nidorino→Nidoking, Clefairy→Clefable).
4. At the end a scientist offers a fossil — choose one: Dome (→ Kabutops) or Helix (→ Omastar). Revive it much later at Cinnabar. Exit to Route 4.

5 Cerulean City — Gym 2

1. In Cerulean, a Rocket robs a house (nabs TM28 Dig — you can reclaim it later). The Bike Shop is here (you'll want the Bike Voucher from Vermilion).
2. North of town, cross Nugget Bridge (Route 24): beat five trainers for a Nugget (sells for ₽5,000), then decline the Rocket recruiter. Continue up Route 25 to Bill's house.
3. Help Bill out of his teleporter mishap → he gives the S.S. Anne Ticket.

6 S.S. Anne — HM01 Cut

1. From Cerulean head south down Route 5, through the Underground Path to Route 6, into Vermilion City.
2. Board the S.S. Anne with Bill's ticket. Work through the cabins for items, beat your Rival on board, then the Captain (cure his seasickness) gives you HM01 Cut.
3. Teach Cut to a spare Pokémon — you need it to reach the Vermilion Gym (a tree blocks the path) and lots of places later.
4. Grab the Bike Voucher from a man in Vermilion; redeem it at the Cerulean Bike Shop for a free Bicycle.

7 Vermilion City — Gym 3

1. Use Cut on the small tree to reach the gym. Inside, find two switches hidden in the bins to unlock the door — check the cans; the second switch is always adjacent to the first.
2. Optional but recommended: nip into Diglett's Cave (Route 11 side) and catch a Diglett — a Ground type that's immune to Electric and wrecks Surge.

8 Rock Tunnel → Lavender Town

1. Get Flash first. From Vermilion go east to Route 11 and cross Diglett's Cave to Route 2; in the Route 2 house, Oak's aide gives HM05 Flash once you've caught 10+ species. Teach it to your HM-mule.
2. Return to Cerulean, head east onto Route 9 → Route 10 (heal at the Rock Tunnel Pokémon Center).
3. Enter Rock Tunnel and use Flash — it's pitch black otherwise. Wind south-west through the maze to the lower Route 10, then south into Lavender Town.

9 Celadon City — Gym 4 & the Rocket Hideout

1. Leave Lavender west onto Route 8. Saffron's gates are guarded (thirsty guards) — skip them via the Underground Path house, which surfaces on Route 7 by Celadon City.

• Dept Store 4F: buy evolution stones — Thunder Stone (Raichu), Leaf Stone (Vileplume), a stone for your Eevee (₽2,100 each).
• Dept Store 5F: vitamins to boost your best mons. Roof: buy a Fresh Water (₽200) for the Saffron guard in Chapter 11.
• Get Eevee: from the Pokémon Center go right & up through the trees, into the tall building's back door, climb to the rooftop — a Poké Ball on the table.
• Game Corner: TM shop (Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Shadow Ball) + rare mons (Dratini). See Secrets.

10 Pokémon Tower & the Poké Flute

1. With the Silph Scope, return to Lavender and climb the Pokémon Tower, beating Rocket grunts and Channelers.
2. At the top, the Scope reveals the restless ghost of Marowak — defeat it (you can't catch it), then beat the Rockets to rescue Mr. Fuji. He gives the Poké Flute.

11 Saffron City, Silph Co. & Gym 5

1. Give a Saffron gate guard the Fresh Water → all gates open. The city is full of Team Rocket.
2. Silph Co.: grab the Card Key on 5F, then ride the warp tiles up. On 7F a worker gifts a free Lapras — a cornerstone of your team.
3. Reach 11F, beat Giovanni, and the President rewards you with the Master Ball — save it for a legendary.
4. Side trips: the Fighting Dojo (free Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan) and a man who gives TM29 Psychic for Alakazam.

12 Cycling Road, Fuchsia & Gym 6

1. Take the Bicycle to Route 16 (a Snorlax blocks it — flute it). Grab HM02 Fly in the gate house — teach Charizard immediately for fast travel.
2. Coast down Cycling Road (Route 17), along Route 18, into Fuchsia City.

13 Cinnabar Island — Gym 7

1. Fly to Pallet and Surf south to Cinnabar Island (or Surf west from Fuchsia past the Seafoam Islands — Articuno lives there, see Post-Game).
2. Blaine's gym is locked — clear the Pokémon Mansion switch puzzle for the Secret Key (also a Fire Stone & the Mewtwo diaries).
3. At the Pokémon Lab, revive your fossil into Aerodactyl / Kabutops / Omastar.

14 Viridian City — Gym 8

1. Fly to Viridian — the long-closed gym is now open. It's Giovanni's, for a final showdown. Ride the arrow-tile puzzles to reach him.

15 Victory Road & the Elite Four

1. From Viridian go west to Route 22 (your Rival ambushes you) then north up Route 23; the guards check your 8 badges.
2. Victory Road is a boulder puzzle — use Strength (Snorlax) to push boulders onto floor switches. Climb to the Indigo Plateau and stock up.
3. The Pokémon League is five fights back-to-back with no counter healing — bring ≥10 Full Restores, Revives, and a few X items.