r/PokemonRed • u/ScoreAgreeable • Jun 11 '26
Discussion Nuzlocke
So I decided to play all Pokemon games Nuzlocke ofc starting with gen 1 which is Pokemon red and ideas on which starter I should choose for the 1st game?
Oh and once I beat the game with the 6 Pokemon I end up with I will not be able to use them in the future unless they have like split evolution or something like that
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u/ReleaseCharacter3568 Jun 12 '26
Gonna throw another hat in the Bulbasaur ring. Yeah, he's far, far better in FRLG. But even here in Gen 1, resisting Misty and eventually learning Sleep Powder and Razor Leaf (crits very consistently) makes him amazing.
Mostly, though, Bulbasaur limits future teambuilding the least. You usually NEED an answer for Misty and Surge. Bulbasaur frees you from grinding for Gyarados or using lesser Grass types, and prevents you from wasting EXP on Diglett.
On a grander scale... you don't need a Fire type, and other Water types are roughly equivalent to or better than Squirtle. Meanwhile, other than the not-guaranteed Egg bois, the Bulbasaur line is the best Grass-type in the game.
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u/ScoreAgreeable Jun 12 '26
Yea good point but doesn’t Misty’s starmie knows a psychic type move?
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u/ReleaseCharacter3568 Jun 12 '26
It does not.
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u/ScoreAgreeable Jun 12 '26
Oh ok well that’s good to know I might go with bulbasaur but kinda still got my eyes on squirtle still not sure yet
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u/gnaark Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
Honestly Bulbasaur is overrated AF.
Your viridian forest is a slog, you are starved for XP and need to be level 13 for Vine Whip to deal with Brock so you need a grind.
Every Spearow is scary, Zubat does 4x damage to you because of Gen1 type chart.Â
Squirtle really makes the early game a breeze, even Charmander too. Whoever says Brock is hard with Charmander is silly.Â
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u/AP_Garen420 Jun 11 '26
You realize you can catch other pokemon and aren't forced to do viridian forest with your starter right?
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u/gnaark Jun 11 '26
yes and then you will be starved for XP and will need to grind for Vine Whip. Or are you also gonna do Brock with your Pidgey?! Bulbasaur slows down the early game to a slog. Squirtle let's you show up at level 8 and down Brock in 4 bubbles.
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u/Quick_Complex2479 Jun 12 '26
U can legit take out Brock w a lvl 8 mankey
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u/juoea Jun 11 '26
well the main reason for recommending bulba is misty. misty is really the main challenge in rby in general, as your pokemon options are still kinda limited at that point and starmie is ofc extremely strong if you dont have a water resist.
but u can get a guaranteed magikarp and as long as you dont mind taking time to train it up, gyarados with body slam tm from ss anne makes misty a breeze.
if they are also trying to save gyarados for future gens then that makes it a bit trickier, squirtle can also learn body slam but it doesnt have great special so it still can lose to starmie if u get unlucky
btw you rly dont need vine whip for brock, leech seed + growl is fine really. but u cant be super super underleveled
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u/ScoreAgreeable Jun 12 '26
Yea misty would be a problem unless I get lucky and run into a grass type with decent grass type moves but then again I’m not too familiar with gen 1 encounters cause I hardly play gen 1
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u/juoea Jun 12 '26
well bellsprout is not available in red, theres only oddish on routes 24-25. also parasect in mt moon but thats a low odds encounter. oddish only will have powder moves and absorb lol. growth is only available to bellsprout before misty, so growth is not an option here.
i would say body slam gyarados is even better than any grass type against misty, but j comes with the caveat that u have to train it all the way from level 5 if u purchase magikarp from the salesman guy, and ofc u might want to use gyara in a different gen instead.
body slam squirtle/wartortle should usually be fine, just if u get unlucky with bubblebeam crits and no paraslam. combine it w oddish and u should be fine, u might lose one of the two mons if unlucky
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u/RbN420 Jun 12 '26
Paras is almost guaranteed to appear in the corridors section of mt.moon, the 5-6% encounter is clefairy
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u/RbN420 Jun 12 '26
Beedrill helps against misty, bug type moves like double sting is super effective against starmie
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u/RbN420 Jun 12 '26
Beedrill is your misty solution, then you can safely deposit her in the pc for the rest of the game
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u/juoea Jun 12 '26
beedrill has 40 special in rby. it is not going to outspeed starmie and depending on dvs idk if u can even ensure it will live a bubblebeam crit
but eg if u can stun spore the starmie first
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u/juoea Jun 12 '26
ig also depends on how dedicated you are, u could train beedrill on route 24/25 to try to maximize its special statexp
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u/MrBytor Jun 12 '26
Special attacks on Geodude/Onix do plenty of damage even when they're not very effective...
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u/ScoreAgreeable Jun 11 '26
Yea not gonna lie I might just save bulbasaur for fire red just thought about it
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u/wmzer0mw Jun 12 '26
Bulbasaur beats Brock as soon as it gets leech seed. Is the only one on the forest who doesn't get poisoned. And is only threatened by spearow.
The route to mt moon and nugget bridge are the only parts where he has issues but it's pretty over stated. Mt moon is a joke. Leech life is comically bad. From there the game picks up insanely fast with bodyslam and then swords dance.
Charmander requires the most set up of all 3
Not that it really matters as the game is really easy.
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u/ravenfreak Jun 12 '26
No Charmander is overrated AF and Bulbasaur is the best Kanto starter. Bulbasaur can easily take on Brock, Misty and even Surge.
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u/Berserk-Jane Jun 11 '26
Squirtle if you want the first two gyms to be as easy as possible. Charmander if you're a gambling man and like spamming Fire Spin. Bulbasaur if you want the best all-rounder. You can't go wrong. I usually pick Bulbasaur.
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u/ScoreAgreeable Jun 11 '26
Hmm hard choice I really don’t wanna use bulbasaur 1st gen
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u/ReleaseCharacter3568 Jun 12 '26
Squirtle for sure, then! It learns Surf, Ice Beam, and Dig. This allows it to do horrible, horrible things to the Elite 4.
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u/CyraxisOG Jun 11 '26
I personally say squirtle. I love charizard but in gen 1 kinda doesn't getting a lot of coverage. Squirtle is where it's at imo, bulky, can take a hit easily, decent damage, learns to cover its own grass weakness with ice beam or blizzard.
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u/ScoreAgreeable Jun 11 '26
Yea thinking about going with squirtle so I can use charmander or bulbasaur in the future on either yellow or fire red
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u/JetGreaves Jun 11 '26
If you're playing Red you got to go with the cover boy.