1st Gen Which pokemon should I use?

So I have a problem where I can only enjoy playing the game if I only train up Pokemon one at a time. If I try to multitask training Pokemon I just lose all interest in playing. So I usually just end up using my starter through the entire main game. I'm currently playing through Yellow and am just about to enter Mt. Moon and I'm feeling like mixing it up by using another Pokemon for the rest of the main game.

So I am looking for any suggestions. Any Pokemon that I can catch before Lt. Surge should be fine.

Catch a Diglett or Dugtrio in Diglett's Cave. The Dig move is really helpful but Dugtrio doesn't learn it till it's lvl 31. There is a Dig TM move you can get in Cerulean City from that Rocket after defeating him in battle.

Before I enter mt.moon, I always try to get pidgey and pikachu even before hitting brock tbh. I always try to get them up to lvl 20, which indeed, takes some time :P.

You play like I play. Dugtrio or Clefairy might be good ones. I've seen a speedrun with Clefable and it was fun.

When I played Red, my go to was Primeape. I love that thing. Fast and strong, almost no one can stand against you.

I recommend Sandshrew. It learns Slash(high Crit), Swift(hits anything but Ghost), Sand Attack(underrated accuracy move) and can be taught Dig/Earthquake(which works against Ghosts in Generation 1). You can catch it relatively early too(at the base of Mount Moon on either side). If you catch one before Mount Moon, you can backtrack to Viridian Forest, grind to 17(where you learn Slash) and then own everything in front of you. You're only problem will be Misty, Erika and Lorelei(Water, Ground and Ice who own Ground).

Thanks for the suggestions! A Diglett run sounds fun and catching an early Sandshrew is what got me to thinking about changing my story Pokemon in the first place. However for my first run without my starter Pokemon I'm going to play it a little safe and am going to raise the Magikarp you can get before mt. moon and Gyarados through the story.

I also have a side run in blue version where I'm raising a Pidgey and going to go through the story with it.

rhei1 said:

Thanks for the suggestions! A Diglett run sounds fun and catching an early Sandshrew is what got me to thinking about changing my story Pokemon in the first place. However for my first run without my starter Pokemon I'm going to play it a little safe and am going to raise the Magikarp you can get before mt. moon and Gyarados through the story.

I also have a side run in blue version where I'm raising a Pidgey and going to go through the story with it.

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Good luck against Lt.Surge in both instances ;).

lol Was gonna recommend either Diglett, Sandshrew (with a bit of help from TM Dig) and Geodude. (Even if you can't trade, Graveler is pretty fair (Self-Destruct is a double-edged sword and maaaaybe a good last-resort, but it learns Earthquake.....much later in life.) But also how bout Abra? A well-trained Kadabra would be mighty against Agatha, maybe Hypno. (along with most trainers, the thing about Gen1, Psychics are broken.)

You may be thinking of E4 this early (or not), but it never hurts to think about how to deal w/ Lance's Dragonite. (A repeated dilemma in G/S/C, but I digress.) I'd recommend going out of your way to find an Ice type or a Water type that can learn, you guessed it, Ice Beam! Speaking of Erika.... >:D I think Blastoise would work in that department. (Though you said pre-Surge, so some of my advice might be contrary to your given parameters.)

I'd prolly go out of my way to interpret your question as "Help me with Surge and everyone afterwards.", and I might be wrong, but I certainly hope I've helped the best I could. Take it easy, and good luck on your mighty quest! Especially the Lightning American!