This small hint of Route 4 features a Pokémon Center for you to heal up in. Talk to the portly man inside the Center for a unique opportunity. He is willing to sell you a Magikarp for P500. Magikarp and Gyarados - Recommended Magikarp sucks. It's stats are poor, with the exception of its 90 base Speed. It might be worth your money to get it this early, because for a while it only knows the move Splash, which does absolutely nothing. Magikarp is a pure Water-type. You get it at level 5 and it is not until level 15 that it learns Tackle, which it does not have the Attack stat to get much use out of. However, if you raise your Magikarp all the way to level 20, it evolves into the almighty Gyarados, a fearsome (not-actually-a-)dragon with an Attack stat to match and great Special too. With this great power comes the responsibility of having a Flying subtype, which brings a 4x weakness to Electricity to the table; however, Gyarados can make good use of everything from Blizzard to Thunderbolt to Hydro Pump to Hyper Beam. It even learns the latter two by level up! Competitively, it is checked by it's Electric weakness, but in single player, a Gyarados is a scarcely stoppable destructive force that will make your game much easier.
After you've made your decision, exit the center and enter Mt. Moon.
Now that you are equipped with Poké Balls, you can catch Pidgey and Rattata on this route. Pidgey, Pidgeotto and Pidgeot - Acceptable Pidgey is a sturdyFlying-type. It has an advantage against the third gym; however, it does not learn a Flying-type move until level 31. If you're playing with a full team of six, this can be very late. Likely well past the third gym; however, it becomes all the sturdier when it evolves into Pidgeotto at level 18 and again into Pidgeot at level 36. As discussed on Route 22, it learns Sand-Attack very early at level 5. This makes the opponents moves much less likely to hit, which is such a handicap that similar moves have been banned from the competitive scene. It is also noteworthy that it gains STAB from Normal-type moves like Quick Attack, Take Down and Double-Edge. Like most Flying-types, it can also learn Fly, a two turn Flying-type move that can be had before the third gym. It can be outclassed by other Flying-types, including Spearow, who learn a move called Drill Peck, which is the most powerful single-turn Flying-type attack in this generation. Sky Attack is a two turn move with 140 base power, giving it an effective power of 70 per turn, although on the first turn it is completely vulnerable. Fly is a two turn move with 70 base power, on the first turn it can only be hit by Swift; however, it has an effective power of only 35 per turn. Drill Peck is 80 power, every turn, no strings attached, and Pidgey does not get it. To be fair, like most Normal-types, Hyper Beam can be devastating, and, in the first generation, it does not have to recharge if it defeats the opposing Pokémon. Pidgeot also gets the versatile Mirror Move (at the excessive level of 54, mind you) which reiterates the opponents last Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Psychic or Dragon move.
Rattata and Raticate - Recommended Rattata and Raticate have not aged well, but in these games, they are very well rounded Pokémon. The Normal-type was bested only by the all-powerful Psychic type in generation 1. Rattata is a strong attacker and becomes more so when it evolves into Raticate at the early level of 20. Also, at the one badge level of 14, Rattata learns a move called Hyper Fang. With 80 base power, Hyper Fang can sweep through the beginning of the game. The other move that makes these Pokémon unique is Super Fang. Super Fang cuts the opponent's HP in half. This is powerful, because it disregards Attack and Defense entirely. This allows Raticate to devastate competitive staples like Starmie. Super Fang also almost guarantees getting double the value out of Hyper Beam by negating the recharge. Also, in a single player game, Raticate can get good use out of other essentials like Body Slam and Double-Edge.
After catching Pokémon, continue on to Viridian City again.
After you get back to Pallet Town, head into the lab again. Talk to Professor Oak. You deliver the Parcel, which Oak identifies as a custom Poké Ball, and your rival bursts in. Oak explains that it was his life's dream to collect data on every Pokémon in the world, but that he has grown too old to accomplish it. So, he asks you and Blue to do it for him. He gives you each a Pokédex, which contains images of Pokémon you've seen, what they sound like and where to find them in the region, if possible. If you've owned the Pokémon for any length of time, the Pokémon's height and weight, as well as a short description are added. He wants you to do this for all 151 Pokémon. Blue boasts that he can accomplish the feat without your help, and that he will borrow a map from his sister to do so. You may now exit the lab once more. You may, if you choose, visit Blue's house (the house to the east) and talk to his sister to obtain a Town Map from her. However, this is NOT recommended, because you can only hold seventy different types of items between your bag and the PC, and they do fill up quickly. Furthermore, if you catch a Flying-type Pokémon, it will eventually learn a move that can be used outside of battle as a map and more. You will have room in your inventory to collect redundant items like this at the end of the game. Feel free to stop by your own house. If you talk to your mom from this point forward, she will heal your Pokémon. Finish up in Pallet Town and go back to Viridian City. If you want to fight for some extra goodies including some Pokémon for your new Pokédex, head west onto Route 22. Otherwise, head north onto Route 2.
Magikarp sucks. It's stats are poor, with the exception of its 90 base Speed. It might be worth your money to get it this early, because for a while it only knows the move Splash, which does absolutely nothing. Magikarp is a pure Water-type. You get it at level 5 and it is not until level 15 that it learns Tackle, which it does not have the Attack stat to get much use out of.
However, if you raise your Magikarp all the way to level 20, it evolves into the almighty Gyarados, a fearsome (not-actually-a-)dragon with an Attack stat to match and great Special too. With this great power comes the responsibility of having a Flying subtype, which brings a 4x weakness to Electricity to the table; however, Gyarados can make good use of everything from Blizzard to Thunderbolt to Hydro Pump to Hyper Beam. It even learns the latter two by level up!
