I like this idea, the pallet town map and the route 1 look amazing. if you ever decide to continue this project, I have some ideas.
1. there are some sprites that some people have made that look EXACTLY like ash from the first season of the anime. you can possibly edit them to have the backpackachu on it, and use that instead of the original nintendo firered sprite... which i hate with a passion.
2. also, i was thinking about the Lt. Surge's Raichu storyline, where ash's pikachu is given the choice to evolve, and i got a briliant idea... event-based evolution! if you have a certain type of pokemon in your party during an event in the anime as it happens in the game, that pokémon will evolve right then... otherwise it will evolve normally.
3. can you PLEASE put some emphasis on the ash-misty relationship?
4. if you include the orange islands, bulbapedia says that shiny pokémon are more common in the islands, so is it possible to increast the chances of catching a shiny pokémon in this area from 1 of 8192 to about 1 of 100?