This is not Pokemon Yellow. I feel like this should be said. Pokemon Yellow is the only game in the Pokemon franchise that even remotely tries to follow the plot of the anime, so it’s the only game where you can even get close to being Ash from the anime. Even there, it’s not the same. That being said, there’s always the “as close as reasonably possible” goal you can go for, so this will be the guide on how to reach that goal in Pokemon Crystal.
How to Transfer Pokemon from Generation I
To put it shortly, you can’t, not really. There is no tool which can simply transfer Pokemon or any other data on the PC. If you have the hardware, you could do some trading, but with emulation on the PC, you can’t do it.
Another part of the challenge completed.
You can do two things, however. You can edit your saves and copy the data manually, which was buggy for me, or you can use cheats to catch the same Pokemon you had in generation I and then edit the saves to copy EV and IV data, moves and PP levels. This is what I did. I tried just editing the saves with PikaSav first, but this caused the game to behave strangely. Instead, I used some Gameshark cheats in Visual Boy Advance to make Pikachu appear in the wild, caught him, and then edited the save to change his stats to the levels from Pokemon Yellow. The tools I used for this were
- Pikasav 0.4 rc2 for Save File Editing
- Visual Boy Advance for Gameshark Cheats
- The List of Pokemon Crystal Gameshark Cheats on Supercheats
The important cheat here is
- The cheat to catch any Pokemon – 91xx04d2
You need to replace “xx” with the number from the list on Supercheats for the Pokemon you want to catch. When you enable this cheat, the Pokemon you chose will be the only Pokemon to appear in random battles. For Pikachu, the “xx” is “19”. Once I caught him, I saved my game and loaded up Pikasav. First, I opened up the Pokemon Yellow save to write down Pikachu’s stat and move information and then opened the Pokemon Crystal save to set the information for the newly caught Pikachu to those values.
I only bothered getting Pikachu. It takes to long to transfer everyone.
I did this only with Pikachu at first and simply used Pikasav to add all the other Pokemon I caught in Yellow to the Pokedex. The procedure was simply too tedious for me to do it with all my other Pokemon. Later on in the game, I also used this method to get Kingler back into my team.
Depending on how much patience, time and willpower you have, you can do as you please.
How to Follow Ash – Violet City, Flying Gym
Route
New Bark Town -> Route 29 .> Cherrygrove City -> Route 30 -> Route 31 -> Violet City
The Anime
In the anime, Ash Catches a Heracross and a Chikorita well before the first Gym. He also tries using Chikorita in the first gym and fails.
How to Follow
Chikorita was the starter I picked, though it sucked during the first few gyms.
You should probably pick Chikorita as your starter, though the other two are also valid choices, since Ash gets them later in the anime and you won’t be able to get them any other way. Sadly, this means that you’ll have to pick between one of three Pokemon Ash eventually catches. As for Heracross, you can’t get him yet. He only drops from trees in mountain areas, so you need to get Headbutt from Illex Forest first.
How to Follow Ash – Azalea City, Bug Gym
Route
Ruins of Alph -> Route 32 -> Azalea Town
The Anime
In the anime, Ash leaves Charizard, though he’s able to call back on him later. He also catches his Cindaquil.
How to Follow
You can’t do much, really. If you picked Chikorita, you can’t get Cyndaquil, and if you went with Cyndaquil, you already have it, so you can start using it now. If you transferred Charizard, it’s time to put him in the PC, probably.
How to Follow Ash – Goldenrod City, Normal Gym
Route
Ilex Forest -> Day Care Center -> Goldenrod City
The Anime
In the anime, Ash officially gets his Totodile. He also leaves his Squirtle with the Squirtle Squad. Finally, he gets a shiny Noctowl. He’s luckier than I ever was.
How to Follow
Simple. If you picked Totodile as your starter, you have it. If you have a Squirtle in your team, leave it. Not much else to do there. However, since you got Headbut from Ilex forest, it’s time to go get your Heracross. For that, you have to walk all the way to before Azalea Town, to Route 33. I believe this is the closest mountainous route you can get to at the point where you get Headbut. You won’t be able to get Noctowl, not yet. If you want, you could catch a Hoothoot in Illex Forest and evolve it instead.
Heracross will probably be one of your strongest for a long time.
How to Follow Ash – Ecruteak City, Ghost Gym
Route
National Park -> Route 36 -> Route 37 -> Ecruteak City
The Anime
Nothing of note happens. Ash encounters a large amount of Pokemon, but doesn’t officially expand his roster. He does catch a Beedril and immediately gives it to a friend, though.
How to Follow
Do nothing, basically. You’ll just spend a lot of time cancelling the evolution of your starter, since the first one to evolve in the anime is Chikorita and that’s only after Ecruteak Gym. If you want to follow the story, catch and release a Beedril using Headbut. It definitely drops from trees back in Illex forest. I never did this. Oh, and it’s finally time to get that Noctowl, if you haven’t gotten a Hoothoot in Illex forest. You can find it on Route 37 at night.
Noctowl will be extremely valuable and you get it just in time for Fly.
How to Follow Ash – Cianwood City, Fighting Gym
Route
Route 38 -> Route 39 -> Olvine City -> Route 40 -> Route 41 -> Cianwood City
The Anime
During this time, Chikorita evolves into Bayleef. That’s about it for the anime.
How to Follow
Simple. Just follow the story and finally let Chikorita evolve. If you’re like me, this doesn’t mean you can stop cancelling its evolution, since its level will be high enough to evolve to the final form, which doesn’t happen in the anime. Note that you’ll go through Olivine City, which also has a gym, but you’ll have to return to that later, since that’s how the game story goes.
You might not have a Pokemon able to use Surf at this point, so it’s time to bring in one from your old team. I picked Kingler, but if you want to also follow the Whirl Islands part, it might be time to get Lapras. I didn’t bother.
Since you don’t have a Surf capable Pokemon unless you got Totodile, you need to bring in Kingler or Lapras.
How to Follow Ash – Olivine City, Steel Gym
Route
Route 41 -> Olivine Gym (or just fly)
The Anime
At this point, the Whirl Islands part of the anime starts and ends with the Whirpool Cup
How to Follow
I didn’t. The whirl islands are just an area in the game, not a region like in the anime. I just went back to Olivine and beat the gym.
How to Follow Ash – Mahogany Town, Ice Gym
Route
Mt. Mortar -> Route 42 -> Mahogany Town -> Route 43 -> Lake of Rage -> Mahogany Town
The Anime
Some major events happen in the anime, just like in the game and the Phanpy Egg hatches.
How to Follow
You can’t get a Phanpy yet, so you can’t really do much, other than going with the story and beating the gym.
How to Follow Ash – Blackthorn City, Dragon Gym
Route
Route 44 -> Ice Path -> Blackthorn City
The Anime
Again, not much of note happens here regarding Ash’s roster.
How to Follow
Play through it and get to Blackthorn City. You might want to catch a Phanpy on Route 45, south of Blackthorn in the morning before tackling the Gym.
Phanpy wasn’t very useful for me, sadly.
How to Follow Ash – The League
Route
Go back to your home town and Surf to the east, then go through Victory Road to get to the League.
How to Follow
At this point, you can forget about the anime. All you have to do is beat the game. None of your Pokemon will evolve further, nor will you be able to expand your team. Technically, Ash uses Larvitar for a while in the anime, but he never really catches it and you can’t get it in the game yet anyway.
