Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

Hey there! So you're diving into the world of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen? Awesome choice! While both games are super similar, there are a few version-exclusive Pokemon that set them apart. For example, in Leaf Green, you'll find Bellsprout, Slowpoke, Sandshrew, Vulpix, Pinsir, Staryu, Azurill, Misdreavus, Sneasel, Remoraid, and Mantine. Fire Red, on the other hand, has Magby, Psyduck, Ekans, Growlithe, Scyther, Shellder, Wooper, Murkrow, and Delibird. Fire Red also makes you pay a bit more for Porygon. But honestly, the choice is yours – pick the one that has the Pokemon you love!

This section is all about the essentials, the stuff you'd normally find in a game manual. Think of it as a quick rundown so you're not totally lost when you start up. We'll cover how to move around, what all those buttons do, and how to handle your first battles.

Controls:

Pro Tip: To jump down ledges, just move the control pad downwards. You can only go down, not up!

The Field Screen:

Once you've got the controls down, it's time to explore! Your first instinct might be to just run around, but be a little cautious – sometimes triggering an event too early can be a pain. You'll find Pokemon Centers in pretty much every town. Look for the buildings with red roofs; they're your safe havens. Head inside and chat with the nurse behind the counter – she'll heal up your Pokemon for free!

Right next to the nurse, you'll usually find a PC. Press 'A' to bring up its menu. Here's a quick rundown:

• Bill's PC: This is where you manage your Pokemon storage. You can Withdraw Pokemon, Deposit Pokemon, Move Pokemon between boxes, or Release Pokemon (be careful with that last one!).
• Your PC: This PC lets you manage items. You can Withdraw or Deposit items and mail. Don't worry too much about the mail for now.
• Professor Oak's PC: This keeps track of your Pokedex progress. It's not super critical for gameplay but good to check occasionally.

Upstairs in the Pokemon Center, you'll find people ready for some friendly battles or trades. The first person lets you battle, and the second allows you to trade Pokemon with friends.

Buildings with blue roofs are Pokemarts. These are your go-to shops for supplies. Definitely stock up whenever you can!

Gyms are usually the biggest buildings in town, often with 'Gym' written on them. Beating the Gym Leader is key to progressing the story and earning badges, which often have special abilities.

Don't forget to talk to everyone you meet in a city! You can often get useful items or helpful advice. To leave a house, just step onto the red rectangular mat near the door.

Looking for hidden items? Just press 'A' when standing on the ground. If there's something hidden there, you'll find it! Sometimes, regular items will just appear on the ground in the shape of a Pokeball.

The Battle Screen:

Battling is how your Pokemon get stronger, and it's a core part of the game. When a battle starts, the first Pokemon in your party is automatically sent out. You'll see this menu:

• Fight: Select this to choose one of your Pokemon's moves. Your Pokemon can only know four moves at a time. If it learns a new one and you already have four, you'll have to choose which move to forget.
• Item: Use this to select an item from your bag.
• Pokemon: Switch out your current Pokemon for another one in your party.
• Run: Try to escape from the battle. This doesn't always work, especially against trainers!

When you choose 'Fight', your move list appears. Remember, the Pokemon with the higher Speed stat usually attacks first. Some moves deal damage, while others have different effects. Each move also has a type, so pay attention to type matchups for super-effective hits! You'll also see PP next to each move, which is how many times you can use it. Once PP hits 0, you can't use that move anymore. Generally, stronger moves have less PP.

Direct Status Conditions:

You can only have one direct condition at a time, indicated above your HP. These conditions persist after battles and when switching Pokemon, and can only be cured at a Pokemon Center or with a special item.

• Poison: Takes about 1/16th of your HP per turn. Outside of battle, you take 1 HP damage per 4 steps.
• Sleep: The affected Pokemon usually cannot attack and wakes up after 2-5 turns.
• Frozen: Similar to Sleep, but a Fire-type attack will automatically thaw a frozen Pokemon, regardless of who uses it.
• Paralyzed: The affected Pokemon's Speed is halved, and there is a 30% chance it will not be able to attack.
• Burn: Takes about 1/8th HP damage per turn, and the Pokemon's Attack stat is halved.
• Faint: The affected Pokemon cannot stay in battle.

Special Poison: Using Toxic or Poison Fang inflicts a special poison that starts by taking 1/16th of your max HP per turn but doubles each turn until switched. Unlike in Red, Blue, and Yellow, this status will stay even after switching.

Indirect Status Conditions:

These conditions are not directly indicated and are nullified by switching Pokemon or ending the battle. They cannot be cured by items.

• Leech Seed: Absorbs 1/8th of the target's max HP per turn.
• Confusion: There is a 50% chance the affected Pokemon will attack itself. The damage dealt depends on its Attack and Defense stats.
• Attract: Inflicts a 50% chance of not attacking. This condition can only be used on a Pokemon of the opposite gender and is nullified if either Pokemon is switched out.

Pokemon Personalities:

Each Pokemon has a unique personality that affects its stats. Each stat increase or decrease is by 10%.

• Adamant: +Att, -Sp Att
• Impish: +Def, -Sp Att
• Jolly: +Spd, -Sp Att
• Careful: +Sp Def, -Sp Att
• Bold: +Def, -Att
• Timid: +Spd, -Att
• Modest: +Sp Att, -Att
• Calm: +Sp Def, -Att
• Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, Quirky: All stats are EQUAL.
• Lonely: +Att, -Def
• Hasty: +Spd, -Def
• Mild: +Sp Att, -Def
• Gentle: +Sp Def, -Def
• Brave: +Att, -Spd
• Relaxed: +Def, -Spd
• Quiet: +Sp Att, -Spd
• Sassy: +Sp Def, -Spd
• Naughty: +Att, -Sp Def
• Lax: +Def, -Sp Def
• Naive: +Spd, -Sp Def
• Rash: +Sp Att, -Sp Def

Pokemon Growth and Learning Moves:

Pokemon grow stronger by battling and learn new moves as they level up. You can have up to 4 moves at a time. When a Pokemon learns a new move, you will be prompted to choose which existing move to replace, or to forget the new move.

Pokemon Evolution:

Most Pokemon evolve into stronger forms at certain levels. You can press B during evolution to cancel it. Some Pokemon evolve through specific methods:

• Level: Evolves at a certain level.
• Stone: Requires a specific evolution stone (e.g., Jigglypuff with a Moon Stone).
• Trade: Evolves when traded with another player.
• Happiness: Requires making the Pokemon happy through vitamins, battling, and preventing it from fainting.
• Beauty: (Only in Ruby/Sapphire) Requires maximizing the Beauty stat and leveling up.

Learning Moves:

Besides leveling up, Pokemon can learn moves through breeding and Technical Machines (TMs) and Hidden Machines (HMs).

• Breeding: If the father Pokemon knows a move that the baby can only learn by breeding, the baby will inherit it. The baby will always be the same species as the mother.
• TMs: After defeating Brock, you receive the TM Case. TMs can be used once per TM to teach a Pokemon a move if it is compatible.
• HMs: Can be used an unlimited number of times, though many are not competitively useful. Some HMs can be used outside of battle.

Some Pokemon in the wild are special. One kind of special Pokemon is a shiny Pokemon. These are very, very rare and have a different color than normal Pokemon. They also have a special animation when they are sent in to battle. They are ordinary in every other way however.

Some Pokemon also hold a special condition called Pokerus. This is rarer than a shiny Pokemon and very helpful. This doubles the EVs that you get from Pokemon. It can be spread to all Pokemon in your party and disappears after a few days. If you can store it in your PC, it will stay. What sucks is that you can't tell if a wild Pokemon has this condition, but there's a chance your Pokemon can catch it. If you have questions about EVs, take a look at the hidden stat section.

{2.6} Pokedex Information

The Pokedex in this game has greatly evolved. This time, you can view the Pokemon by their size, weight, height, type, Pokeball, and so on and it's much easier to use if you want to search for Pokemon you have to use in your team. Here's a list of the categories in game order:

• Field
• Forest
• Lake
• Ocean
• Cave
• Mountian
• Prairie
• Town
• Special

{2.7} Tips and Tricks for Beginners

There are some essential things that you should do that are vital in the game. These tips are sure to help beginning players.

1. Save often. This is a must in every game. Do especially after tough battles and before a legendary or Gym Leader.
2. When you reach a town, the first thing you should do is go to a Pokemon Center and heal your party unless a guide says not to.
3. Have at least 10 balls with you. You never know if a shiny or rare Pokemon comes up.
4. Don't use your Master Ball unless you are facing a legendary that can run or a shiny Pokemon which can selfdestruct.
5. Have a wide variety of moves so that you can have an attack that is super effective to all types.
6. Have HM Slaves. Stick worthless HMs on Pokemon you won't use so that your "good" team won't have useless attacks.
7. Each type of trainer(going by sprite) usually hold specific types of Pokemon. Ex: Hikers usually hold Rock types and Machop/Zubat and have a fat sprite.
8. Search around in each area of grass for new Pokemon.
9. Sometimes you will find dark spots on the ground. These are usually hidden items! Press A on the spot to find an item! Usually they are berries that you can only get in Ruby/Sapphire.

{III. Walkthrough}

OK, so here's the bulk of the guide, where most players will want to view. Here's my format:

ROUTE NAME/TOWN NAME

WILD POKEMON | APPEARANCE RATE(FR/LG) | CATCH DIFFICULTY

Pokemon Name | 33%/45% | Easy

Pokemon Name | 33%/20% | Normal

Pokemon Name | 33%/35% | Hard

Route Name/Town Name - The area the chart covers(and the walkthrough!).

Wild Pokemon - The name of the Pokemon that appears there.

Appearance Rate - This is the approximate amount that Pokemon will appear in the specified area. The first number is the appearance rate in Fire Red, the second for Leaf Green. If they are both the same, they will appear as the same number.

Catch Difficulty - How hard it is to catch the Pokemon.

Please note that these are not 100% accurate other than what Pokemon appear there, they're based on what I have seen in the game, not official sources. I also do fishing and Surfing. It's safe to say that Old Rod only hooks Magikarp and the places I don't mention for Surfing and there's water means that there's only Tentacool.

PLACES OF INTEREST:

1. Blah
2. Blah

Just a quick reference for those who don't really want to get spoiled about the area or don't want commentary.

Now, that should be about all you need to know. Let's get on with the walkthrough!

{3.1} Pallet Town

Begin your game. Watch the cool new opening video and then start a new game. Scroll through the help menus and listen to Professor Oak, the man who appears on your screen, talk and talk and talk until he is finally finished. There, you'll name your character. After choosing a name, he will ask if you are sure that's your name like you have a mental problem. Choose the top option(Yes) and be on your way. Next, you have to name your rival who you have known for a long time, but remained nameless until now. Name him too and say that you're sure once again(top option). I named my rival Cloud because he looks so much like the Cloud from FFVII. OK, let's begin our adventure now.

After you minimize and appear in your room, go to the top left and press A on the PC. Choose the top option, Withdraw, and press A again on the item (Potion). Close the menu and walk downstairs. Talk to you mom and leave your house through the rectangular mat. Outside, talk to as many people as you please. Visit houses and get used to controls. Now, since there's nothing to do, exit the town by walking to the top above.

Wait, as you exit, Professor Oak stops you! He says some stuff about Pokemon, and then asks you to follow him. Do so and he will lead you