Gyms are to Pokemon what fortresses are to Mario: a place to test the skills you've picked up on your journey through the overworld with a boss at the end. Spread out across eight cities, there are nine gyms and eight badges to be collected, with the other gym offering a rare Pokemon instead. Your goal is to beat all the gyms so you can move on to the Elite Four, the gang who will face you in the endgame before the final boss. Most gyms have puzzles you'll have to overcome as well; typically, they have to do with the type of Pokemon the gym specializes in and require a bit of brainpower to best. Good luck!

Gym #1 - Pewter City Gym

Location: Pewter City

Gym Leader: Brock

Specialty: Rock-type

Reward: Boulder Badge, TM34, Can use HM05 - Flash Puzzle:

This gym is fairly straightforward, with a direct walk to the leader. The only trainer in the gym uses two Ground-types, Sandshrew and Diglett, while the leader Brock uses Rock-types. Beware of his specialty move Bide, which absorbs damage for two to three turns then deals it back double to the enemy. Onix can be a bit of a pain since it's probably at a higher level than anything you have, and has decent defense. Bulbasaur and Squirtle can finish both Pokemon with a Bubble or Vine Whip, but Charmander may need to call in help from an ally like Butterfree. Naturally, the parting gift from Brock is TM34 Bide. You can now use Flash outside of battle. Gym Leader Brock Geodude Onix Battle Type

Single Battle

Items

Level 12 Level 14 Attacks:

Tackle

Defense Curl Attacks:

Tackle

Screech

Bide

Bind

Gym #2 - Cerulean City Gym

Location: Cerulean City

Gym Leader: Misty

Specialty: Water-type

Reward: Cascade Badge, TM31, Can use HM01 - Cut Puzzle:

Two trainers will challenge you on the way to Misty, one of whom you can skip. The other, who must be faced, has a Goldeen with the powerful Horn Attack move, so watch out. Again, we have a straightforward path to the Leader, along a pool filled with water. Later in the game you can come back and fish for Pokemon in the water if you so please. As for Misty herself, she uses two Pokemon from the same family - Staryu and Starmie. Staryu can be taken out no problem but Starmie will be a pain as Misty likes to use X Special on it in the beginning. It'll sometimes try to use harden to raise its Defense as well, so get it out of the way fast. Ivysaur or Pikachu both have awesome type coverage over it, Butterfree can use Stun Spore or Sleep Powder to dispatch it, and Clefairy or Jigglypuff can learn Thunder Wave by TM to paralyze it. Starmie likes to use Bubblebeam once it's set up, which can reduce Speed, so watch out. Though the move isn't terribly powerful it can be annoying when Starmie has +1 and already boasts incredible base Special as is. The secondary prize from her is TM11 Bubblebeam. You can now use Cut outside of battle. Gym Leader Misty Staryu Starmie Battle Type

Single Battle

Items

Level 18 Level 21 Attacks:

Tackle

Water Gun Attacks:

Tackle

Water Gun

Harden

Bubblebeam

Gym #3 - Vermillion City Gym

Location: Vermillion City

Gym Leader: Lt. Surge

Specialty: Electric-type

Reward: Thunder Badge, TM24, Can use HM02 - Fly Puzzle:

To get to the gym you first need to have acquired Cut from the S.S. Anne to knock down the bush blocking the path. This electrifying gym has an interesting novelty - you need to check for two switches hidden in the garbage cans to open the automatic doors. The second is always next to the first, be it the can north, south, east, or west, but will be difficult anyways to find as the locks reset if you click on the wrong can. The trainers are all fairly easy to beat, however you made need to heal a few times should your Pokemon become paralyzed. Lt. Surge himself isn't that hard with the right Pokemon. If you caught a Nidoran and it's now either Nidorino or Nidorina, you may wish to consider the final stage of evolution via Moon Stone to gain the Ground-type immunity to Electric. If not, Diglett's Cave is east of Vermilion and you can nab the elusive Diglett or its evolution Dugtrio to give you a hand. Surge's Voltorb has Sonicboom which will always deal 20 points of damage, so bring plenty of Super Potion. Pikachu isn't very tough but can paralyze. Raichu is extremely dangerous without a type immunity to Electric due to its Thunderbolt attack (which has the highest base power of any move yet in the game), so take incredible caution. The prize for this match is TM24 Thunderbolt. You can now use Fly outside of battle. Gym Leader Lt. Surge Voltorb Pikachu Raichu Battle Type

Single Battle

Items

Level 21 Level 18 Level 24 Attacks:

Tackle

Screech

Sonicboom Attacks:

Thundershock

Thunder Wave

Growl

Quick Attack Attacks:

Thunderbolt

Thundershock

Thunder Wave

Growl

Gym #4 - Celadon City Gym

Location: Celadon City

Gym Leader: Erika

Specialty: Grass-type

Reward: Rainbow Badge, TM21, Can use HM04 - Strength Puzzle:

Erika's gym requires Cut! The gimmick in this gym isn't actually that hard, just cut down trees to open the path to the leader. The gym trainers might force you to go back to the Pokemon Center a few times because of status conditions - stock up on healing items at the fabulous Celadon Department Store. Ultimately you don't need to fight all the trainers; 3 or 4 will do to be gain access to Erika depending on the path chosen. The battle with Erika might be tough but for once Charmander will prove to be a worthwhile choice in starter - attacks like Ember and Flamethrower will burn down her team. Be careful of Tangela's Bind: in this generation you won't be able to move while it's in use and if she's faster than you you're out of luck. Her Vileplume uses the self-healing move Mega Drain, which is also handed out via TM21. If you have Psychic-type moves on a Kadabra or Drowzee, I suggest breaking them out for Vileplume and Victreebel. After winning, you can use Strength outside of battle. Gym Leader Erika Victreebel Tangela Vileplume Battle Type

Single Battle

Items

Level 29 Level 24 Level 29 Attacks:

Wrap

Poisonpowder

Sleep Powder

Razor Leaf Attacks:

Bind

Constrict



Attacks:

Poisonpowder

Mega Drain

Sleep Powder

Petal Dance

Gym #5 - Fuchsia City Gym

Location: Fuchsia City

Gym Leader: Koga

Specialty: Poison-type

Reward: Soul Badge, TM06, Can use HM03 - Surf Puzzle:

Koga's gym is a maze of invisible walls. The floor that appears like dotted lines will always be solid so navigate through the floor where the lines are continued. The gym trainers are peculiar here, using a mix of Ground, Psychic, and Poison-types, despite only the former being used by Koga himself. Koga's team is fairly straight-forward - you've encountered most of this if you took the Cycling Road route and faced trainers there. Since Gen I doesn't have abilities, you can pelt Koffing and Weezing with Ground-type attacks, so if you brought along a Cubone or Sandslash it'll definitely be useful. Only Weezing uses Toxic (which badly poisons you), but everything can poison you so beware. The prize for this match is TM06 Toxic. If you have Venusaur, give it Leech Seed and Toxic as the effects of both in this generation will stack in a way that your enemies die much faster. After this match you can use Surf, the last of the HM moves which can be found at the back house of the Safari Zone. Gym Leader Koga Koffing Muk Koffing Weezing Battle Type

Single Battle

Items

Level 37 Level 39 Level 37 Level 43 Attacks:

Tackle

Smog

Sludge

Smokescreen Attacks:

Disable

Poison Gas

Minimize

Sludge Attacks:

Tackle

Smog

Sludge

Smokescreen Attacks:

Smog

Sludge

Toxic

Selfdestruct

Gym #6 - Saffron City Gym

Location: Saffron City

Gym Leader: Sabrina

Specialty: Psychic-type

Reward: Marsh Badge, TM46 Puzzle:

Only accessible after the Rockets have been defeated, Sabrina's gym is a network of, you guessed it, teleporters. Have fun trying to navigate through this mess. Here's a hint - you will need to battle a few of the trainers, who use a combination of Psychic-types and Ghost-types. Slowbro and Mr. Mime are both favourite choices amongst the trainers. Sabrina's team itself uses three pure Psychic-types and a Bug/Poison-type, Venomoth, which can confuse you with Psybeam or poison or paralyze with dual powder moves. Kadabra and Alakazam both have horrid defenses so try to use attacks that fall under the physical category of types, but watch out - Alakazam is very fast and will use Reflect for support to double its defense. The TM for this match is TM46 Psywave, a move that randomly multiplies the enemies level and damages it accordingly. Gym Leader Sabrina Kadabra Mr. Mime Venomoth Alakazam Battle Type

Single Battle

Items

Level 38 Level 37 Level 38 Level 43 Attacks:

Disable

Psybeam

Recover

Psychic Attacks:

Confusion

Barrier

Light Screen

Doubleslap Attacks:

Poisonpowder

Leech Life

Stun Spore

Psybeam Attacks:

Psybeam

Recover

Psywave

Reflect

Gym #7 - Cinnabar Island Gym