Not really an update, but just some info I thought I should let you know:
1) Blue will have his own battle theme like every other rival in the Pokemon games does. I have composed a custom theme for him, and it will basically be a less epic version of Blue's Champion theme. That way when you do battle Blue as a Champion, you'll get this awesome feeling of "OMG I KNOW THIS SONG, BUT IT'S ALL EPIC NOW"
2) Speaking of music hacking, Jambo51 has told me how to extend the Direct Sound tracks available up to 12 (in the GBA Pokemon games, the limit is 5). You can expect to hear some pretty epic music, there are very few songs that I am keeping from the original FireRed game. (As with the Emerald incarnation of DarkViolet I was working on couple years ago, all songs will be in the same key that they were in the Generation I games, NOT FR/LG)
3) And lastly, after careful thought, I have finalized the TM list:
EDIT: One more thing, the first playable release of this game will be an Alpha. It will contain:
Pallet Town
Route 1
Viridian City
Route 22
Route 2
Viridian Forest
I hope to have it ready by Christmas, but there is no guarantees.