Pokémon Yellow

Region: Kanto
Main story: 25-30 hours
Completionist: 55-70 hours

Version siblings: Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue

Overview

Yellow is the 'Special Pikachu Edition', a Gen 1 remaster that follows the anime. You start with a Pikachu that refuses to go in its ball and instead walks behind you, turning to face you with a different mood depending on how much it likes you.

Unlike Red and Blue, where you choose one starter, Yellow lets you collect all three of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle over the course of the game, a big draw for a single-cartridge playthrough.

It was also the first Game Boy game with special support for the Game Boy Color, giving it a fixed colour palette. The main story runs about 25 to 30 hours.

Gyms & Elite Four

Gym Leaders

Gym Leaders with types and tips
Leader	Type	Tip
Brock	Rock	Pikachu is useless here. Bring a Grass or Water Pokémon, Mankey's Low Kick also tears through rock.
Misty	Water	Grab a Grass type or lean on Pikachu's Electric moves; her Starmie hits hard, so keep something sturdy in reserve.
Lt. Surge	Electric	A Ground type is immune to Electric. Diglett from Diglett's Cave walks right over him.
Erika	Grass	Fire, Flying or Bug moves shred her team. A Charmander line or any flyer makes this quick.
Koga	Poison	Psychic is king in Gen 1. An Abra line or Nidoking's Earthquake both do the job.
Sabrina	Psychic	Gen 1 has almost no good Psychic counters. Bring a high-level team and a strong Bug move, or just out-level her.
Blaine	Fire	Water and Rock crush Fire. Lapras or a Golem-type sweep him comfortably.
Giovanni	Ground	Grass and Water hit his Ground team for double. Keep anything 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; watch for Confusion and bring plenty of status healing.
Lance	Dragon	Ice is the answer, Lapras's Blizzard one-shots most of his team, Gyarados included.
Rival (Champion)	Mixed	His team shifts to counter your starter. Keep a balanced squad and a revive or two in your bag.

Recommended team

Pikachu
Your story partner. Thunderbolt carries it most of the way; don't try to evolve it, it won't.
Venusaur
From the free Bulbasaur in Cerulean City. Great against the early Rock and Water gyms.
Nidoking
Huge movepool, Earthquake plus Thunderbolt or Ice Beam covers almost everything.
Lapras
Free in Silph Co. in Saffron City. Ice Beam and Surf make it an MVP against Lance.
Vaporeon
Evolve the Eevee gifted in Celadon with a Water Stone for a tanky Surfer.
A flyer (Pidgeot / Fearow)
Carries the Fly HM so you aren't wasting a team slot on an HM mule.

Capture tips

Status first: putting a Pokémon to sleep or paralysing it dramatically raises catch rate and stops it fleeing.
Whittle HP down to the red before throwing a ball, in Gen 1 current HP matters a lot.
Carry a stack of Great Balls early and Ultra Balls once you can afford them; the humble Poké Ball struggles on tougher catches.
For the legendary birds (Articuno in the Seafoam Islands, Zapdos at the Power Plant, Moltres on Victory Road) and Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave: save first, bring sleep/paralysis, loads of Ultra Balls, and be patient.
There is no shiny mechanic in Gen 1, don't waste time hunting one.

Save & hardware notes

Yellow saves to an internal battery inside the cartridge (a soldered CR-type cell). When it dies, saves won't hold and the clock-based event glitches appear.
To check a cartridge: start a new game, save, power off for a minute, then power back on. If the save is gone, the battery needs replacing.
Back up your save with a GBxCart RW before attempting a battery swap, see the gear list for the tool I use.

Tips

Talk to the Pikachu often and keep it happy, at maximum friendship it shows unique animations.
You can get all three Kanto starters: Bulbasaur in Cerulean, Charmander on Route 24/25, Squirtle from Officer Jenny in Vermilion.
Pick up the free Eevee in Celadon and choose its evolution stone to match a gap in your team.

Trivia

Yellow was built to ride the anime's popularity and is the only Gen 1 game where your starter walks beside you.
It introduced Pikachu's voice clip, sampled from the anime, instead of the usual synthesised cry.
Team Rocket's Jessie and James appear as trainers, a nod straight to the show.