Introdution

Pokemon Leaf Green Walkthrough

Unofficial Pokemon Leaf Green Guide by CM Boots-Faubert for SuperCheats.com

The word "Pokémon" is an abbreviation of the words "Pocket Monster," from the English translation of the original Japanese words Poketto Monsuta, and represents in just three syllables what has become one of the most successful (if not the most successful) media franchises ever created in Japan.  

The franchise includes video games, anime, cartoons, movies, theme parks, special retail stores, and a plethora of consumer goods form sheet and pillow case sets to toothbrushes, all emblazoned with the images, logo, and catch phrases made famous by four simple words: Gotta Catch 'em All!

The assignment to write the walkthrough for Pokémon LeafGreen is my second venture into the world of Pokémon, and it is no less an exciting challenge than my first, which was a walkthrough for the 4th generation game Pokemon HeartGold.  In fact LeafGreen turned out to be more of a challenge, because as I set out to write this guide I was faced with the existing body of work by a dozen other writers who have tread this path before me.  The result is that I am under the obligation to add something to this subject -- to make it better -- so that my contribution is just that: a contribution.

Pokemon LeafGreen was released as the companion game to Pokemon FireRed, which follows the tradition in the series to release two different color-coded games, each with certain Pokemon that are exclusive to them, so that gamers must find a partner who has the other game in order to trade Pokemon and complete their Pokedex.

Background

Pokemon LeafGreen is the remake of the original game that helped to launch the Pokemon Empire, Pocket Monsters Green, which was originally released in the Spring of 1996 with its companion game, Pocket Monsters Red, thus establishing the two-color complementary release combination in which certain monsters were exclusive to each version.  The reasoning behind that was simple: the games were designed -- were in fact intended -- to be played both as single-player and as multi-player games.  For that reason the incentive of needing to find a partner to trade with and battle who owned the other color was positioned as the primary element to promote the games, and it remains such to this day.

Much of Pocket Monsters Green was developed  separately from Red, and there were noted differences in not just the video display and graphics, but also in the sound and in some of the mechanics.  To be polite, Red was a more polished, nicer version with better looking graphics, in spite of the fact that these were black-and-white games.

When the decision was made to create a version of the games for the rest of the world, the code for Red was used rather than the less refined Green, and to differentiate between the two revisions, the color was changed from Green to Blue.  Versions were created for the regions of  North American, Europe, and Australasia, all based upon the engine and graphics of Pocket Monsters Red, but at the last minute the game title was renamed "Pokemon" because it was thought that it would be less confusing to gamers outside of Japan, who were largely unfamiliar with the sport of raising and fighting insects that the games are actually based on.

LeafGreen represents a complete overhaul of the game with respect to graphics and its graphical interface, and it has had its sound completely remastered and re-recorded as well, both to create a unique gaming experience and to bring it in line with the most recent generation of games.  Created for the Nintendo Game Boy Advanced (GBA), the game uses a different cartridge format, with larger memory and storage, and can only be used in GBA slots. 

This format limits play to Game Boy Advanced consoles, Nintendo DS and DS Lite consoles, and the Nintendo Game Cube Game Boy Player, an expansion device that is attached to the base of the Game Cube that allows GBA games to be played on the console, using your television in place of the smaller hand-held screen of the GBA.

One of the popular elements of the original (Game Boy) games was that they could be linked together, using a special cable that connects to of the original Game Boy consoles, so that gamers could battle each other, and trade items and Pokemon.  When the GBA generation of games was released the connecttivity was expanded to allow up to four consoles to be linked using the special cables, and the second generation of GBA games - of which LeafGreen is a part - moved to a proprietary wireless adapter that allows up to 28 consoles to link and interact with each other through the games.

Gone is that special cable, replaced by a wireless transmitter/receiver that snaps on to the console, and allows the gamers to link with each other as well as other gamers in an area, to trade, battle, and be social.  While the wireless device is not, strictly speaking, a Wi-Fi adapter, it provides  the same basic service -- radio based wireless connectivity -- and is included with every game, free in the box.

Changes

There have been significant changes in this new and re-invented version, and while there are too many to examine in a brief and efficient way, the major changes that you should be aware of include:

• Abilities (introduced in Ruby/Sapphire) have been applied to all Pokemon.
• Poke Berries have been added to the game.
• Junior Trainers have been removed from the game.
• The status display has been refined with color-coded listings to indicate condition and remaining resource levels.
• The locations of hidden and collectible items throughout the land have been changed.
• Completing major side-quests can have an effect on the level and abilities of the Pokemon that belong to NPC trainers and the Elite Four.
• Moves and base powers have been altered significantly for some Pokemon, as have starting levels.

You will get a better idea of the changes as you begin to play, but do not expect the world to work exactly the same way as it did in the original games, as it was necessary to change things a bit in order to incorporate the new fighting system.