Location Analysis- Viridian Forest

Since the sixth generation of Pokemon games is being released very soon, I thought it'd be a good idea to look back at the game that started it all, Pokemon Red and Blue (Red and Green in Japan). The Pokemon games are world famous for popularizing (though not inventing) the monster collection genre, combining it with the strategy of an RPG with the exploration aspects of the Adventure genre, mixing in a little puzzle solving. Every generation of games has quite a few variations of dungeons, though they can be classified in these classic variations: forests, caves, or metropolitan dungeons. Though nothing new, the Pokemon games incorporate these themes to expand their world, to give the player a sense that they are exploring more than just 'the forest level'. Today, I want to take a look at the very first dungeon in the entire history of the franchise: the Viridian Forest.

This is what the Viridian Forest looked like in Pokemon Red and Blue. The little squares you see are tall grasses, where Pokemon reside.

The Viridian Forest is located right between Viridian City, its namesake, and Pewter City, home to the game's very first Gym battle. Here, a gamer can find a small variety of Pokemon, none of which would actually help against the first Gym, and only one which would help against the second. The Pokemon you can catch in this forest include:

Caterpie

Weedle

and Pikachu.

Caterpie and Weedle are weak, worm-like Pokemon. Specifically, Caterpie represents a caterpillar while Weedle represents a bee larva. Pikachu is a little field mouse that shoots electricity. Of these three, Caterpie is the weakest, as his attacks are weak and have no bonuses. Weedle can poison the enemy, so that makes it stronger than Caterpie, and Pikachu has a paralyzing attack that gains Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB), which makes it the strongest Pokemon to find in the forest. That's why Pikachu's encounter rate is...5%. In other words, when you walk around the grass in Viridian Forest, you have a 5% chance to find a Pikachu. When you combine all other Pokemon encounter rates in all the other games that Viridian Forest appears in, Pikachu is the second rarest Pokemon found here, with only Pidgeotto being rarer.

This little bird is the strongest, rarest Pokemon in the Viridian Forest. Encounter rate: 1%, and only appears in Pokemon Yellow, HeartGold and SoulSilver. Pikachu appears in Pokemon Red, Blue, FireRed, LeafGreen, Heart Gold, and SoulSilver.

The Viridian Forest, in game, is a popular spot for the locals of Viridian and Pewter cities. 99% of all trainers found inside the forest are bug enthusiasts, representatives of bug collectors from real life. (The other 1% is a school girl found only in Pokemon Yellow). These trainers present the player with their first chance to battle a trainer other than the rival. These battles are, thankfully, very easy, and require very little strategy, especially if the player started with Charmander.

"Charmander char char! Mander char, Charmander!" (Translation: Viridian Forest is where I go from level 6 to level 11 in one trip!)

Viridian Forest is unique among all first dungeons from the other games, on the account that it offers not one Pokemon that the first gym is weak against. In fact, quite the opposite: Every Pokemon in this forest is weak against the first Gym.

"Oh, you stacked up on Pokemon from the Viridian Forest to challenge me? That's cute."

Pokemon are divided by Types, and each type is strong against, and weak against other types. In this case, the Pewter Gym specializes in Rock types, which are strong against Bug and Normal types, which also happens to be what the grand majority of your Pokemon team would be composed of. Rock types are weak against Water (unless you picked Squirtle, you won't have any Water type pokemon) Grass (again, only this time it's Bulbasaur), Fighting (in Red and Blue, you would not have had any Fighting type moves at all.) and Steel (this type didn't even exist in Red and Blue). Brock, the Gym Leader, was a tough boss in Red and Blue that required a very concise, very effective strategy that made good use of every resource available to you. The Pokemon available in Viridian are Bug type (weak against Rock), Electric (just Pikachu), Poison (Weedle and Kakuna, and ineffective against Rock) and Normal/Flying (Ineffective against Rock). Unlike future first dungeons in the series, Viridian offers no resources to fight against the first gym. 

Why? Because Viridian Forest is more for working with what you already have. The game has given you plenty to beat Brock with. Your starter is plenty strong, but if it's Charmander in Red and Blue, it won't win single handed. The game is giving you, instead of the resources to beat Brock easily, the resources to beat Brock, period. Bulbasaur and Squirtle may give you the edge, but you don't need them to beat Brock. You just need patience, skill, and strategy.

The few trainers in Viridian Forest are weak and easy to beat. You beat them to increase your Pokemon's level, and to gain a little pocket money. From that money you buy some Potions to help you survive Brock. The few Pokemon found in the forest itself? Let's take a good look. You get Caterpie, Weedle, and Pikachu. Caterpie and Weedle evolve to Metapod and Kakuna, respectively, at level 7, the earliest for any Pokemon. Metapod and Kakuna themselves are, well, weak. They are also found in the wild in the Viridian Forest, where beating them nets you a fair bit of experience, nearly as much as a trainer battle. The best part? Metapod and Kakuna don't fight back. They can't fight back.

It is quite easy to enter the Viridian Forest with a team of Pokemon whose average level is 4, and to leave it with an average team level of 9 or even 10. At level 10, Metapod and Kakuna evolve into Butterfree and Beedrill, which are among the strongest Pokemon you'll have by the time you reach the second Gym...in which case you will no longer need them.

Bzzzz, Beedrill. For the first three hours of the game, one of your best Pokemon. After that... No.

Same with this little butterfly, Butterfree.

Viridian Forest is not easy to traverse without a fully healed, well prepared Pokemon team. Weedles can poison you. Pikachu can stun you. You can be beaten here if you're not prepared. Just because they are tiny bugs and a mouse, does not mean the Pokemon in Viridian Forest are not dangerous on their own. Like all locations in the Pokemon world, the Viridian Forest is one that requires prior preparation in order to traverse safely.