Pokémon Red Version, Blue Version, and Yellow Version - Game Play Basics

Tags: pokemon-red-blue-and-yellow

In case you lost the instruction manual, I’ve compiled several important things you have to know to play Pokémon.

Controlling the character

You control the character by using the controls on your Game Boy. Here’s some more detail.

Walking

You move the character by pressing Down on the Cont, Left, Right, or Uprol Pad. If he moves too far, he may bump into a wall, sign, building or a person.

Jumping

There is no jumping in the game!

Picking up items

To pick up items, which look like Poké Balls, face the item and press A. A message appears telling you what item you pick up. You can also read signs, look at notes, and talk to people this way.

Accessing the menu

To open the menu screen, press START. Here’s a list of the options on the menu:
POKDEX - After you get your Pokédex from Professor Oak, you can use it. See the Pokédex section of this page for more.
POK��MON - Shows a list of the Pokémon currently in your party.
ITEM - Lists all the items you have in your pack.
[Character’s name] - Shows your current progress: your playing time, the money you have, and the badges you collected.
SAVE - Saves your game.
OPTION - Changes options of the game.
EXIT - Closes the menu. You can also press B.
Press Up/Down arrows to scroll through the choices, and press A to make your selection.

Your Pokédex

Your Pokédex keeps track of all the Pokémon you’ve seen or caught. Scroll down the list using the Up/Down arrows. A Poké Ball near the name indicates a Pokémon you own. No Poké Ball indicates a Pokémon you’ve only seen. No name indicates a Pokémon you haven’t yet seen. Select a Pokémon using the A button, and four options will appear:
DATA - Shows data of the Pokémon that the Pokédex has collected. When you’ve only seen the Pokémon you get a picture, the Pokémon number, and the type of Pokémon. When you own the Pokémon, you also get the Pokémon’s height, weight and description.
CRY - Hear the Pokémon’s "cry" sound.
AREA - Shows where the Pokémon can be found. If it reads AREA UNKNOWN, then it can’t be found anywhere in the wild.
PRNT - (Yellow only) Prints a description of the Pokémon. The Game Boy Printer should be installed on your Game Boy before you can print.
QUIT - Closes the Pokédex.

The Pokémon

Pokémon are special creatures that you can train to battle. This section details the characteristics of Pokémon.

Attacks

Pokémon have attacks and can learn new ones.

Hit Points

Hit Points, or HP, indicate how much damage a Pokémon can take. When a Pokémon takes too much damage, or runs out of HP, it faints. A fainted Pokémon can’t fight anymore. Use Potion to restore HP to a Pokémon that hasn’t fainted yet.

Power Points

Power Points, or PP, measure how much of an attack that the Pokémon can use. Strong attacks have less PP than weaker attacks. When a Pokémon runs out of PP for an attack, it can’t use that attack.

Experience Points

A Pokémon gains experience, or EXP, when it defeats an enemy or wild Pokémon, or when it participates in a battle, even briefly. When it earns enough EXP, it goes up a level, becomes stronger, and may learn a new attack.

Pokémon Centers

Visit a Pokémon Center to get your Pokémon healed again.

Pokémon Centers heal tired or fainted Pokémon.

A Pokémon Center is a special facility that you visit to nurse your Pokémon back to health. Pokémon Centers are found in every city except for Pallet Town (Mom provides this service instead). Healing stations are common in every RPG, and usually you have to pay money before you use its services. Pokémon Centers do not charge any money. To heal your Pokémon, just talk to the receptionist.

Pokémon Marts

Visit a Pokémon Mart to buy items you’ll need on your Pokémon journey. Talk to the clerk to access the mart menu. Then choose BUY to buy some items, SELL to sell the items you have for half the original price, and QUIT to exit the menu.

Pokémon Gyms

A Pokémon Gym is a special building where Pokémon battles are fought. The trainers in this gym use a certain kind of Pokémon. The Gym Leader leads the Pokémon Gym. A challenger who defeats the leader gets a badge. These badges are used to enter the Pokémon League, and make your Pokémon stronger.

Pokémon battles

Sometimes, when you’re on grassy areas, you’ll meet a Pokémon. This Pokémon is called "wild" because no one owns it. You can use your Pokémon to attack it, catch it with your Poké Balls, or run away.

Catching a Pokémon

To catch a Pokémon, first walk around until you see a Pokémon, select ITEM, and select Poké Ball. However, Poké Balls could miss or the Pokémon may break the Poké Ball. That’s why you should weaken it using your Pokémon’s attacks before attempting to use your Poké Balls. Be sure not to weaken it too much, as it will faint and you won’t be able to catch it since the battle would be over.

Trainer battles

When a trainer notices you when you’re walking (you can tell when there’s a "!" above your character), he/she may challenge you to a battle. In a trainer battle, you must defeat all of the Pokémon that a trainer has. You can’t run away from a trainer battle, and you can’t use your Poké Balls to take the trainer’s Pokémon. When you win, you get an amount of money (which is a good idea to battle trainers). If the trainer wins, he gets half of your money (regardless of how much you have or what trainer you fought).

Options

To set the options in the game, press START and select Options.
TEXT SPEED - This sets how fast the text in the game goes. You should set this to the fastest level.
BATTLE STYLE - When you select SHIFT, you’ll be allowed to have a chance to change Pokémon after you defeat a Pokémon in a trainer battle. Otherwise, choose SET.