The Kanto region is the first region in the pokémon franchise and is rather linear until you get to lavendar town, upon which you get free roam over the rest of the region, save for cinnabar until you get the HM for Surf. This guide will show the important events that happen through the Kanto region and will give detailed information about the choices you will have to make.
Pallet Town is a rather boring, quaint town, with only three houses. The house to the west is yours, the one to the east is your rival's house, and the big building to the south is Professor Oak's Lab. You can walk all around town and talk to everyone, but Oak is nowhere to be found. Looks like there's nothing else to do but leave town, so walk into the tall grass north of the town...
From out of nowhere, Oak appears! He yells at you for trying to leave by yourself, without a Pokémon of your own for defense against the wild Pokémon roaming around. He drags you back to the lab, and lets you choose your very first Pokémon. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages, and some are more challenging to raise than the others.
. Bulbasaur can easily defeat the Pokémon in the Pewter, Cerulean, and Viridian Gyms, and resists the Pokémon in the Vermilion and Celadon Gyms. It is also unaffected by the Poison status ailment. It may have trouble with the Saffron and Cinnabar Gyms, though. Being strong against the first two gyms, particularly Misty's, and access to the powerful Razor Leaf and Sleep Powder, makes it a strong choice, although it is limited in power until it learns Razor Leaf and struggles mightily against your rival's starter.
. Charmander will be at a disadvantage in the first two Gyms and its only advantage is against the Celadon Gym. Its final evolution, Charizard, is the most versatile fire type and has great stats, but a poor typing and a plethora of weaknesses makes it difficult to use. Thus, it will not usually have a type advantage in battle, and despite its Flying type, it cannot learn any Flying-type moves.
. Squirtle can defeat the Pewter, Cinnabar, and Viridian Gyms without much effort. It is a solid starter, probably as good of a choice as Venusaur, with only two weaknesses. Unfortunately, a limited movepool doesn't give Squirtle much type coverage, and it faces competition from the 15 other Water-type Pokémon, some which are far more versatile and powerful.
Once you have chosen a Pokémon, it's your rival's turn; he will always choose the Pokémon with an advantage against yours. When you turn to leave, he will challenge you to your first battle!
When battling, you'll each send out your Pokémon; they are Level 5, which is shown by the :L5 aside each Pokémon. Under that is the health bar, showing each Pokémon's remaining HP. You win a battle when you take all of your opponents Pokémon down to 0 HP; you will lose the battle if all of your Pokémon reach 0 HP.
Choosing Fight will allow you to choose an attack to use against your opponent. Your Pokémon will have two attacks regardless of who you chose. The first will damage the opponent, and the other one will lower one of the opponent's stats. Lower your opponent's Defense or Attack with the status move first, then keep using the attacking one, either Tackle or Scratch.
If your Pokémon starts to lose a lot of HP, you could use that Potion we got out of the PC earlier; go to Item and it will bring up a list of the items you are holding. You only have a Potion, so select it and then select your Pokémon. This is the same way you use the Item menu outside of battle. Once you have defeated your rival, your Pokémon will gain enough experience to grow to level 6.
Leave Oak's lab and head north to reach Route 1.
Route 1.Viridian City.Back to Pallet Town.Route 2