Pokémon Blue

Region: Kanto
Main story: 26-30 hours
Completionist: 55-70 hours

Version siblings: Pokémon Red, Pokémon Yellow

Overview

The sibling to Red, identical in story but with its own version exclusives: Sandshrew and Sandslash, Vulpix and Ninetales, Meowth and Persian, and the Bellsprout line.

In the West, Red and Blue launched together as the mainline pair, so most players owned one and traded with a friend who had the other.

Trade to collect the other version's exclusives and to finish the trade evolutions, then you can register all 151 and complete the Pokédex.

Gyms & Elite Four

Gym Leaders

Gym Leaders with types and tips
Leader	Type	Tip
Brock	Rock	Water or Grass moves make this trivial. If you chose Charmander, a Mankey from Route 22 brings Low Kick to the party.
Misty	Water	Lean on an Electric type or a Grass type with Vine Whip; her Starmie is the real threat, so keep something sturdy in reserve.
Lt. Surge	Electric	A Ground type is immune to Electric. Diglett from Diglett's Cave can't be touched.
Erika	Grass	Fire, Flying, Bug or Psychic shred her team. Blue's Vulpix line is a handy Fire answer here.
Koga	Poison	Psychic dominates Gen 1. An Abra line or Nidoking's Earthquake both do the job.
Sabrina	Psychic	Gen 1 has barely any Psychic counters. Over-level her, or bring a strong Bug move and healing.
Blaine	Fire	Water and Rock crush Fire. Lapras or a Golem sweep him comfortably.
Giovanni	Ground	Grass and Water hit his Ground team double. Keep Electric on the bench.

Elite Four & Champion

Elite Four & Champion with types and tips
Leader	Type	Tip
Lorelei	Ice	Electric and Fighting work well; her Ice types fear strong physical hits.
Bruno	Fighting	Psychic and Flying moves dominate. His Onix pair are weak to Water and Grass.
Agatha	Ghost / Poison	Psychic handles the Poison side; pack status healing for Confusion.
Lance	Dragon	Ice is the answer. Lapras's Blizzard one-shots most of his team.
Rival (Champion)	Mixed	His team shifts to counter your starter. Stay balanced and carry a revive.

Recommended team

Your starter
Blastoise is the easiest run; Venusaur is great against the early Rock and Water gyms.
Nidoking
Huge movepool. Earthquake plus Thunderbolt or Ice Beam covers almost everything.
Lapras
Free inside Silph Co. Ice Beam and Surf make it the star of the Elite Four run.
Ninetales
A Blue exclusive via Vulpix plus a Fire Stone; a reliable answer to Erika and the Bug types.
Alakazam
Trade-evolved from Kadabra; one of the strongest Pokémon in the generation.
A flyer (Pidgeot / Fearow)
Carries Fly so you keep a full team of fighters.

Capture tips

Status first: sleep or paralysis dramatically raises catch rate and stops a Pokémon fleeing.
Drop HP into the red before throwing; in Gen 1 current HP weighs heavily on the catch.
Keep Great Balls early and Ultra Balls once you can afford them.
Articuno is in the Seafoam Islands, Zapdos at the Power Plant, Moltres on Victory Road, and Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave after you become Champion.
There are no shinies in Gen 1, so don't go hunting for one.

Save & hardware notes

Blue saves to an internal battery inside the cartridge, a soldered coin cell. When it dies, saves won't hold.
To check a cartridge: start a new game, save, power off for a minute, then power back on. If the save is gone, replace the battery.
Back up your save with a GBxCart RW before any battery swap.

Tips

Blue gets Vulpix and Ninetales; plan your Fire type around what you can actually catch.
Trade-evolution Pokémon (Alakazam, Machamp, Golem, Gengar) need a friend and two cartridges.
Stock Great Balls before Mt. Moon so you can grab the fossils' future owners early.

Trivia

The Western Blue is built on the Japanese Blue's improved sprites and code.
Red and Blue share the same soundtrack, including the famously tense Lavender Town theme.