3rd Gen Fire Red Help

[PKMN Kyle]

Ok I messed last game by doing the regular thing that most beggingers do, they get there starter and train him all the way and have no other good back up pokemon.

So What I'm asking is, what are the best six Pokemon to get and also to keep throughout the whole journey to the ELITE FOUR?

Right now I started with Balbasaur and I was thinking of catching a Pikachu? any tips?

Also remember these are the pokemon that I will be using the whole time.

 

[t3hjolteon]

Mankey, available on the Route left of Viridian, is pretty reliable for the early game. Its Low Kick works wonders against Brock's Onix (a gigantic rock snake weighs quite a lot, and Low Kick does more damage against a heavier fighter).

Pikachu's Thunderbolt fries any Zubat that you'll encounter in Mt. Moon and most pokemon on the S.S. Anne. Plus, Thunder Wave and Thundershock are very helpful to get rid of Misty's Starmie. Later on in the game, I usually replace Pikachu with Jolteon. Just be sure to teach Jolteon Thunderbolt via TM.

I usually get a Diglett in Diglett's Cave. Its HP has a lot to be desired, but Diglett can hit hard. If you try to catch a high-leveled Diglett, make sure it has either Magnitude or Dig, preferably Dig. Don't waste pokeballs on Dugtrio; its catch rate is simply too low.

If you can snag an Abra, either train it or throw it in the Day Care until you can level it up to Kadabra. Kadabra's Special Attack is so high that it can level nearly any pokemon you face, especially the ones belonging to the Elite 4.

You need a water type. I like Staryu a lot because it can learn damaging moves of various types. If you're not up to training Staryu, Gyarados is another good option. Throw that black market Magikarp in the Day Care until it gains 14 levels or simply fish one up using the Old Rod. Gyarados will usually destroy an enemy and it has a type combination that resists a decent number of opponents. Just keep it away from electric types. Vaporeon, obtained by evolving the Eevee of Celadon City, is also worth a consideration.

I don't recommend you use a fire type, seeing that Fire is only good against Grass, Bug, Steel, and Ice (and you're not going to see Steel too often in Fire Red), but if you want one, I recommend Vulpix. Confuse Ray is nice, and Vulpix learns Flamethrower naturally at a fairly low level. Just make sure it has Flamethrower before you evolve it to Ninetales via Fire Stone.

It is important to have a flying pokemon so you can readily make use of the HM Fly. Spearow and Fearow are slightly stronger than the Pidgey line, so I usually go with them, but your flier is usually bound to be one of the weakest pokemon on the team.

Sometimes I pick up those silly Ghost types at Pokemon Tower, but usually I don't. Snorlax is a powerful normal type, and it has the endurance to stay in for a long time. If you're willing to use a few TMs, Snorlax can even cover a wide range of types. Just know that Snorlax isn't the fastest.

Whatever you wish to use is up to you; these are just a few suggestions of pokemon that helped my team beat the Elite Four with ease. A few pokemon that I usually avoid training include the following: Caterpie/Weedle (even when fully evolved, they're still obscenely weak), most poison types (poison has a lot of weaknesses and not a lot of uses; in competitive battling, there are niches for certain pokemon, but I prefer to ignore them in-game), Clefairy/Jigglypuff (they can learn a good variety of attacks, but their stats are too low to make use of them), and any legendaries (you can only get one of each per game, so make sure to EV train all of them).

Hope I helped. :)

 

[The Bringer!]

I didn't go with only my starter when I was a beginner T_T

Anyways, t3hjolteon has the best advice, besides the fact that pokemon can't evolve when in the daycare. So make sure that you don't have them reach the level they evolve in the daycare or abra/gyarados wont learn confusion/thrash. The best bet would be to level them up by having them in at the beginning of the battle then immediately switch out.

 

[Sounds]

well if u want an effective team for the E4,here are the pokemon u should get(none Legendary):

Blastoise:in the 3 starters,he is the most effective against the E4,with ice beam,surf,hydro cannon, and earthquake,he can take down bruno's onixs,peter's exept for Gyarados...

Electabuzz:the best electric pokemon u'll ever find in this game,he can learn thunderbolt by him self,in addition of psychic, ice punch and fire punch,he's one of the most(none legendary) perfect pokemon u cn get in the game(u need fire red though)

Alakazam:He's fast nd has lots of SP attack,perfect pokemon to beat, Agatha,teach himshock wave,shadow ball psychic and ur good to go

Snorlax:if u want a rare normal pokemon,u got it,with earthquake,mayb 2 SP attacks and body slam,he cn easily own any pokemon

Arcanine:for a fire type,its either him,charizard, or Magmar.He's fast,strong nd cn learn really good attacks like flame thrower(wen he's not evolved),extreme speed...(fire red as well though)

Fearow:he's the strongest flyin type in the game,he learns strong attacks,evolves fast too,against Bruno,he can do really good!,also if u get Blastoise as a starter,he'll be usefull against ur rival's starter

I know wat ur thinking,no leaf type,Y?bcuz leaf type are all useless against the E4 nd thats the truth,if really want one,i'd suggest execcutor cuz he's also psychic type,otherwise,dont bother for one

 

[Azonic]

Lapras or Gyarados works fantastic for a water type. Gyarados does have access to a massive attack stat with decent bulk and movepool. Electric moves will fry it, though. You can partner it up with a ground type or Jolteon. Lapras can take hits like no other, and heals HP through Water Absorb. In case you're in a threatening position with your Rock type, Lapras switches in and gets a good 25% HP restoration. Lapras gets a STAB'd Icebeam, which fries Lance and his Dragon types. They're both pretty good choices. Lapras is obtained through the Silph Co. and Gyarados is obtained through... practically any water region available.

As t3hjolteon said, Mankey is a good choice for catching a Pokemon early on in the game. It's 105 Base Attack stat is a nice touch. You can get better though. Hitmonlee gets a Base 120 Attack stat, but you obtain it much later in the game after Saffron City's Dojo. So Mankey / Primeape if you want a good fighting Pokemon early on. If you have access to trading, definitely consider Machamp. It's speed has a lot to be desired, but it has the good bulk to withstand a good number of hits. Machamp's attack stat surpasses both Primeape and Hitmonlee's, having a good 130 Attack stat. You can get it through Rock Tunnel as a Machop.

Now we move on to Dragon Pokemon. Dragon Pokemon have a lot of good qualities. They're offenses and movepool is incredible. The only Dragon Pokemon you can obtain before the Elite 4 is Dragonite, which can be found in the Safari Zone as Dratini. Dragon Dance can boost Dragonite's attack up to enormous strength for a good clean sweep in the Elite 4. Earthquake is a good option for the last slot so they can share the Dragon Dance boosted power. As I said, their movepools are enormous. You can throw in some Special moves too. Icebeam and Earthquake are a combination that only a few Pokemon resist. It can also make use of the HM Fly, which also gets boosted by Dragon Dance and makes a useful tool in-game.

Psychic Pokemon are diverse and mysterious, and always up for consideration. Abra is arguably the most common choice, that is, if you can snag one. It's Psychic will fry any Poison Pokemon from Agatha. If you have the patience, you can breed a Thunderpunch and Icepunch onto it, which gives it a lot of more coverage. If you have access to trading, Alakazam will outspeed her Gengars. Kadabra does if you level it high enough. Trainers in this game always send out their weakest Pokemon first, so if you can set up a good amount of Calm Minds on their weakest Pokemon(assuming the weakest Pokemon doesn't do anything vital to Alakazam), you'll sweep with a definite OHKO on every Pokemon. Starmie and Slowbro can serve as Psychic types. Starmie is fast but fragile, but it's offenses and movepool says it's definitely worth considering. Slowbro is very defensive, and can use Calm Mind very effectively, making it a good dual wall. Also tying in with Psychic types are Ghost types. There is only 3 of them, and they're all part of the same evolutionary line. I'd go with Gengar if you have access to training, because a speedy Hypnosis can really come in handy.

Snorlax is always up for consideration. Fantastic Special Wall while being able to deal damage at the same time. It's HP stat is huge, and can withstand a LOT of hits.

Anyways, it's all up to you. Snorlax / Lapras / Machamp / Alakazam / Dragonite / Dugtrio covers a lot.

 

[t3hjolteon]

Anyways, t3hjolteon has the best advice, besides the fact that pokemon can't evolve when in the daycare.

I know that. I meant that it's easier to put a pokemon like Abra or Magikarp in the Day Care to level it up to the point where it can evolve than to actually go through the frustration of training these pokemon. Since Abra and Magikarp don't have any real attacks (unless you use a TM on Abra), training them would probably rely on a lot of switching, which I would rather not have to do.

 

[.]

You'll need a balanced team of sweepers, and something that can be used to stall while reviving something in battle. Since you start with Bulbasaur, try to build around it's weaknesses. He's weak to fire, so a fire or water type helps. Both are good, since grass resists water's weaknesses' (grass and electric) and one of fire's weaknesses (water) I'd go with both, a fire and water. There's not many good fire types I remember, so you're own your own there. I reccomend a Kadabra for sure. They're beastly and can sweep entire teams with complete and utter ease. I also suggest Gyarados, since one it learns Dragon Dance, you can sweep the entire Elite 4 after 2-3 DD's.

 

[RetreatCost]

Us an elete army of Pikachu.

That will get you past misty.

never got that much further tho...

 

[sirboulevard]

Well, the best starter for early on is bulbasaur, but it is going to become useless during the E4 and Sevii Islands quest. Normally a Charizard would be helpful (since your still early on feel free to start over if you're not overly attached yet) if not, then I recomend replacing it down the line.

Lapras is a good solid choice as your water-type. Like Raikazu said it can retrieve HP from it's ability and has a STAB Ice Beam you'll come to rely on. Evolve you Eevee later in the game into a Jolteon and teach it Shock Wave. This is because Lorelei of the Elite 4 (and a few others) are hyper-fond of using Double Team to evade attacks, Shock Wave is not affected. Fire Types like I said if you can get a Charizard somehow it would help. If not, a Ninetales or Moltres are good calls. If you are lucky enough to have a friend with a Typhlosion in another FR, you can trade it over before you're national dex for a stong starter Fire-Type. Dragon types are useful. They're resistance to most attacks is going to save you a lot. That being said, Dragonite has a major weakness: A double weakenss to Ice. If you don't mind the stat shortcomings, a dragonair will be your best friend. Pick up a Dratini at the Game Corner in Celadon City. Flyers? Pidgeot may not have as good attacking stats as Fearow, but it is more well-rounded and learns better moves. Fearow has a hard time fighting it's weaknesses, Pidgeot's speed can save it from them. Psychic types, a Kadabra or Alakazam would be very useful (but their defenses suck), if you don't like either of them, the Hypno you get very late in the game on 3 Island is a good companion (I myself prefer it).

My call: Dragonair/Jolteon/Ninetales/Pidgeot/Hypno (or Alakazam)/Lapras

 

[Shiny]

Well whatever team you use, make sure to teach all or at least some of them Double Team, it may be banned in competitive battling but not in game ;)

 

[groudonlover]

The Legendary Birds will own E4 completely :)
Zapdos can handle Loirei(i dont remember what it was) alone, and you could use Articuno and Moltres as backup.

Also, on Loirei, Venusaur with Frenzy Plant can finish off most of her Pokemon, due to their Water Subtype