Viridian City

Viridian City

On a Mission

Viridian City is a small town in Western Kanto that is famous for being the stepping-off point for Pokemon Trainers who are on their way to the Indigo Plateau.  Famous trainers and Pokemon Masters reside and shop in the area.

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- Area Pokemon -

(Key: Pokedex # - Name / Acquisition Method)

118 - Goldeen / Fishing (Good Rod)
130 - Gyrados / Fishing (Super Rod)
129 - Magikarp / Fishing (Good Rod) 
060 - Poliwag / Fishing (Good/Super Rod)
061 - Poliwhirl / Fishing (Super Rod)
079 - Slowpoke / Surf 

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After you heal your Pokemon at the Pokecenter and save your game, you will no doubt wish to explore the city -- and it is a city, not a town like where you grew up.  Here there is commerce, culture, the arts, and famous Pokemon Trainers, though you probably will not be able to recognize any as you are less than an amateur at this stage in your training!

Exit the Pokecenter and head east to talk to the Bug Expert near the Pokecenter, then head north and enter the building with the blue roof -- that is a Poke Mart, at which you can purchase all sorts of useful kit!  As you enter the clerk notices you and inquires if you are from Pallet Town -- man we must have country mouse written on our forehead!  You admit that you are, and they ask you to deliver his order to him, and of course you say you will!

Basically that is what we came to do -- and until we do they will not let us buy anything or even look at their inventory, so just say yes and then, if you like, talk to the people in the store before exiting.  Immediately west of the store is the Pokemon Academy, where you can learn about status ailments by reading the blackboard inside.  I strongly suggest that you do so if you are not familiar with that ailment and its cure!

We have pretty much done all that we can here for now, so go ahead and head south and back to Route 1 now.

-- Route One --

This time we have a choice in our path -- we can go through the tall grass in the reverse of the path we used to get to the city, or we can jump down the cliffs, thereby avoiding confrontation with any wild Pokemon.  I chose to jump down the cliffs, as I was in a hurry to get back to Pallet Town and deliver the package!

Do not be surprised if you get caught by a wild Pokemon in the last stretch before you enter town -- just fight or run, it is up to you...  though it is probably worth fighting this one of you did not do so on the way to the city, as that will get you enough XP to reach Level 7, and unlock your Pokemon's first special type move.  As I chose Charmander I unlocked Ember, which is a pretty nice Fire Type move.

-- Pallet Town --

You do not need to stop at home to heal, just head to the Lab now and deliver the package.  Once you do, Gary shows up again, as it turns out that Oak had summoned him.  The Prof gives you both one of his newest inventions -- the Pokedex -- and asks you to help him with his research by using it on all of the Pokemon that you encounter in your travels.

The Pokedex is basically a computerized encyclopedia of all things Pokemon.  As you encounter new types it will record data about them.  This is a good thing, and it has the added benefit of letting you easily tell which ones you have seen, and which you have caught! 

After he gives you the dex Gary leaves, and then the Prof gives you a small supply of Poke balls to start out with.  How cool is that?

Ignore what Gary said -- go to his house and talk to his sister Daisy, and she will give you a map of the Kanto Region as well.  Now  head home and talk to Mom for a minute, and she will heal you up!

-- The Pokedex --

The Pokedex

Now before we do anything else let us examine our new Pokedex!

Open the menu by hitting Start, then selecting the Pokedex -- as you can see it is organized in several different ways -- you can view the contents numerically, or by Pokemon Habitats (only the habitats for the ones you have actually encountered will be available), as well as access the data through its Search function, which is broken out by alphabet, type, and size of Pokemon.  For now though, just click the Numerical selection.

As you can see there are two slightly different entries available on the first page -- there is the one for the Pokemon you chose as your Starter, and it has a Poke ball symbol next to it and lists its type, and then there is the one that Gary chose, which lists only its name.  Move the pointer to yours and click A to see a detailed display of its data now.

As you can see, the details include its Regional Number, its name, its genus and its height and weight.  There is a representation of its footprint or track to help you in identifying any tracks you encounter in the wild, and a brief description.  If you hit the A button again you will see another page that includes a map showing the area that it can be found in (if the area is known) and a relative size comparison using you as the measure.

If you hit the Start button you can hear a recording sample of its cry -- A will take you back to the first page, and B will exit the record.  Go ahead and hit B twice to get back to the numerical listing page, then select Gary's Pokemon -- you see the difference in the listings?  There is a lot less information, because you have only seen this one, not caught it!

Right, that is enough of that!  Now tell your mother goodbye and hit the door mate, it is time to head back to Viridian City!