Do you want to be the very best? Like no one ever was?

With the re-release of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, there are a ton of trainers embarking on the epic adventure to catch ’em all. And obviously it’s strange to replay a 20-year-old game, especially when the series has evolved so much over the past two decades. But, we’re here to help. We have compiled a few tips to help make your adventure in Kanto a bit smoother.

Defeating Brock in Pokémon Yellow.

If you’ve taken my advice and purchased Pokémon Yellow over the other two options, then you know that as adorable as Pikachu is, he’s no match for Brock’s (first gym leader in the game) rock types. Don’t worry though, Game Freak made sure to make Mankey–a fighting type–catchable early on. It just so happens that rock-types are weak to fighting moves. All you need to do is make your way over to the patches of tall-grass located on Route 22 next to Viridian City. Catch the monster, and train it to level nine when it’ll learn the fighting-type move, Low Kick. This move is learned early on specifically in Yellow. Game Freak thinks of everything.

The Select button is not useless.

Alright, one of my biggest complaints about the original RPGs (and therefore the re-releases) is the clunky item menu. Unlike the newer installments in the series, there’s no order to the items your carrying, they’re all just lumped together in the same tab. It’s an awful mess. Want to use a Poké Ball? Well, you have to scroll through your Potions, Escape Ropes, and Moon Stones just to get to the bottom of the list. Not ideal, right? Well, if you go into the messy tab, you can click select on whichever item you’d like and it actually allows you to move it up on the list. It’s not a perfect solution, but you can move your Super Rod to the top if you’re fishing, or move the Poké Balls if you’re trying to catch some pocket monsters.

The same can be done with your Pokémon’s attacks. When in battle, hit select on a move, and move it to whichever position you’d like. You use Thunderbolt excessively, place it as the first move. Simple, right?

Manage your Pokémon Storage System.

Here’s a lesson I had to learn the hard way. You need to manually switch your Pokémon Storage System box when they get filled with pocket monsters. Each box only holds 20. Why does this matter? Well, if you run out of space in the box you’re currently using, you won’t be able to catch any more monsters until you switch to a new one. After hunting down and finding Dratini, I was met with a message that I couldn’t catch the little bugger. Yeah, don’t let that happen to you.

Have a couple of HM-only Pokémon.

Needing an HM to move around Kanto is a smart way of making sure a trainer doesn’t stumble into a location he or she isn’t ready for. But, not being able to delete moves like Cut and Flash means you have to be careful with deciding which one of your monsters learns the moves. It’s less of a worry with powerful moves like Surf and Fly, but it’s still best that you have a couple of Pokémon that can learn a few of the five HMs so that you can be prepared for any situation.

A Krabby or Lickitung can learn three of the moves: Cut, Surf, and Strength. Since Flash is the most unnecessary of the five, you can teach Fly to your Charizard or even Mew and not feel bad about it, since it’ll come in handy in a battle.

You can search for the best combination of monsters that’ll suit your team.

Make use of the Safari Zone.

Alright, the Safari Zone is useful for several reasons. First, this is where you find the HM Surf which, like I mentioned above, is necessary to travel around Kanto, but it’s also where you can find some rare monsters. No, you won’t be finding any mythical creatures here. However, for a small fee you get to roam around a secluded area that holds some exclusive and harder to find Pokémon like Scyther, Tauros, and the ever elusive, Chansey. It’s a quick way of filling up the dex.

Catch as many monsters as you can early on.

Speaking of filling up your Pokédex, Prof. Oak’s assistants are scattered throughout Kanto, just waiting around to give you free gifts. Whenever you find one of his assistants, they’ll check how many critters you’ve caught, and you’ll be rewarded for hitting a certain threshold. One of the items you’ll receive from one of the lab coat grunts is Exp. All, which will spread your earned experience points to your team of six Pokémon. It’s an incredibly useful item that’ll make level grinding much easier. So, the quicker you have access to Exp. All, the better.

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I hope these tips come in handy during your new adventure. Are you trying to catch ’em all? Which of the three RPGs did you download? Let us know in the comments below! And feel free to share any other tips you’d think would be handy to your fellow trainers.

Featured Image: Nintendo

Image credits in order: Kuitsuku/Nintendo/clarkeybaby