Walkthrough
New Bark Town
This is where the game starts. Before you start
playing, you will be asked to set the time of day and then, after a little
speech from Professor Oak about all the Pokemon secrets yet to be revealed,
you will choose a name for your character (or make one up yourself). Downstairs
from your room, your mom has you set the day of the week and whether it's
Daylight Savings Time or not. She also gives you your Pokegear, which includes
a built-in phone and clock.
Now, go to the house all the way up and to the left. This is Professor Elm's lab. He will give you a choice of starting Pokemon: Chikorita, Cyndaquil or Totodile. Although it is the silliest-looking of the three, Chikorita may be your best bet as a starter since it quickly gets the powerful Razor Leaf attack and it can also learn the very useful Flash and Cut techniques. The other two have their strong points, though. In the long run, Cyndaquil may be the most powerful overall, but the choice is really up to you based on your own personal tastes. On your way out, the professor's assistant will give you a potion.
There isn't much to do around New Bark Town, so head west for your first destination: Cherrygrove City.
Later: Come back to your house and talk to your Mom to adjust the clock when the time changes for Daylight Savings Time.
Route 29
This is the way to get from New Bark Town to
Cherrygrove City. Don’t bother going north onto Route 46, just head
west. Although you don't have any Poke Balls yet, take the time here to battle
the plentiful Pidgeys and Sentrets to give your starting Pokemon some battle
experience (Hoothoot is also common here at night). Get your Pokemon up to
at least level ten before moving on past Cherrygrove City. If you need to
heal your Pokemon, go to back to Elm's lab and use his computer.
Along the way, there's an item ball that contains a potion off to the west, and just to the east of Cherrygrove City there's a tree where you can grab a Berry. The berries re-grow on trees like this every day, so stop by trees often to replenish your supplies.
Later: About half-way along this route, just to the south of the entrance to Route 46, is the place where you will encounter the first of the game's calendar-based characters. Tuscany will appear here, but only on Tuesdays, and only after you have earned your Zephyrbadge. Make sure to come back here to meet her, though, because if you talk to her she will give you a Pink Bow that powers up the normal attacks of the Pokemon holding it.
Cherrygrove City
Once you get to Cherrygrove there is an old
dude named Guide Gent at the entrance who will show you around town if you
like. Answer "yes" to his offer even if you're a Pokemon veteran, because
after his tour he gives you a handy Map Card for your Pokegear.
There is a Pokemon Center in town with a Communication Center upstairs (where you trade and battle with other players via Game Link) but it isn't working yet. You will also find Time Capsules in Pokemon Centers, which are used to trade with Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, but these don't start working until you have entered Ecruteak City. There is also a Poke Mart, but Poke Balls are unavailable until you return to Bark Town as described later. Both functions will be restored once you have completed Prof. Elm's errand and you begin catching Pokemon.
Later: There is water here you can't cross yet, so your only option is to head north towards Violet City. Once you teach one of your Pokemon the Surf technique, cross the water and get the Mystic Water from the dude on the island. This powers-up the Water-type attacks of the Pokemon holding it.
Route 30 and Mr. Pokemon
The north exit from Cherrygrove City is Route
30, which leads to Violet City. Stop in the house here and the man inside
will give you a Berry. Berries also grow on the tree outside his house.
Keep going north and you will reach Mr. Pokemon's House. He gives you the "Mystery Egg" which will eventually hatch into Togepi. Then, Professor Oak dashes out from behind a desk and gives you a brand-new Pokedex. As fast as he appeared, he rushes off to go to Goldenrod City. When you leave the house, Professor Elm calls, asking you back to New Bark Town immediately. Follow his instructions (he did give you a rare Pokemon, after all).
Later: Once you have collected some Pokemon, a guy near the entrance to the Dark Cave will give ask for your phone number if you talk to him. Talk to all the trainers you beat in the game, since many of them will also want to trade phone numbers. They will periodically call you to tell you about their adventures, but sometimes they will have useful information, particularly about when certain rare Pokemon are swarming.
Much later, when you get the Red Scale, come back to talk to Mr. Pokemon again. He will trade it for the handy EXP Share, and item that lets the Pokemon holding it share in the EXP of every battle, even if it doesn't fight.
Back to New Bark Town
When you try to leave Cherrygrove, you are
challenged by a boy (with the mysterious name ???) using one of the two Pokemon
you didn't choose at the start (the one your Pokemon is weak against). Have
no fear; provided you leveled-up your Pokemon, you should be able to beat
him with no problem. After the fight, head for Professor Elm's Lab where
the police will question you. Give them the boy's name. Elm is impressed
by the fact that Oak gave you a Pokedex, and invites you to take the "Pokemon
Challenge." On the way out, Elm's assistant hands you five Poke Balls.
Before you leave town, visit your mom. She will save some of all the money you earn aside for you so you don't lose all of it if you "white out" (this happens when all of your Pokemon faint). Occasionally she will call and let you know she bought something for you and stored it in your PC. Don't worry, she usually buys useful stuff, and sometimes it's not available in most of the early Poke Marts.
The first gym is in Violet City, which is where you're headed next.
Trainers
???: Cyndaquil/ Chikorita/ Totodile (5)
Route 31
When you leave the New Bark Town, a guy will
stop you and show you how to catch Pokemon using Poke Balls. Go ahead and
catch a few to expand your team. There are plenty of Sentrets and Pidgeys
around, so grab one of each. If you take a quick run up into Route 46 you
can catch a Geodude, too. (While you're at it, build his levels up a bit
before you try for your first badge; he's strong against bird-type Pokemon
you'll face there.) This is also the first place you will encounter Pokemon
unique to Gold or Silver: Spinarak is unique to Gold, and you can only catch
him at night, while Ledyba is unique to Silver, and only appears in the
morning.
Follow Route 30 to the left (rather than straight up to Mr. Pokemon's House) and it will eventually become Route 31. You will run across four junior trainers, all anxious to fight. By now they should be easy to beat, and you should have no problem getting to Violet City. Bypass the Dark Cave for now, but go ahead and pick up the Antidote near the entrance. There's also a Bitter Berry Tree and a Poke Ball nearby.
Trainers
Youngster Joey: Rattata (4)
Youngster Mikey: Pidgey (2), Rattata (4)
Bug Catcher Don: Caterpie (3), Caterpie (3)
Bug Catcher Wade: Caterpie (2), Weedle (2),
Caterpie (2), Caterpie (2)
Later: You will need to deliver a message from Goldenrod City to the guy next to the Bitter Berry tree in order to get TM50 (Nightmare).
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