Previous Episodes:
Episode 4| Episode 5| Episode 6| Episode 7| Episode 8| Episode 9|
Episode 10:Cinnabar Island-Sevii Islands
(Lv. 47 Cap)
After a strong run through Saffron — rival, Giovanni and Sabrina all dealt with — things are looking… comfortable.
Maybe a little too comfortable.
With only two badges left before the Elite Four, I’m trying not to get ahead of myself. Sabrina and her Alakazam were a reminder that things can turn quickly!
Homecoming
Beating Koga means Surf is finally usable outside of battle, which opens up the route to Cinnabar.
That means a quick return to Pallet Town — and, briefly, home.
Mum doesn’t seem too concerned about the missing life savings from episode 1.
Convenient.
Encounter
Route 21 doesn’t offer much I’m desperate for. There’s grass south of Pallet with Tangela, but I’m already covered on Grass types.
Instead, I encounter a Lv. 6 Tentacool — not impressive now, but Tentacruel is always solid.
Sleep Powder, one Great Ball, and it’s caught. Jelly gets boxed for now. A good option to have if anything were to happen with Calypso.
The rest of the route is uneventful.
A few trainers, nothing threatening — mostly just an excuse to get King and Calypso some Exp before Cinnabar.
I reach Cinnabar and head straight for the Gym.
Locked, of course.
Presumably the key is in the completely unrelated, not at all suspicious mansion that takes up a quarter of the island.
The mansion is… exactly what you’d expect.
Burned-out rooms, broken furniture, and just enough trainers to stop it feeling completely abandoned.
It’s less dangerous than it looks — but still not somewhere to switch off completely.
I will say the Music in this place is great!
Encounter
Wild encounters are mostly the usual mix of Rattata and Raticate, until a Grimer shows up.
Grimer/Muk would be a solid pickup, but at this point I’m already leaning heavily into Poison types.
Still, passing on an encounter this late isn’t really an option.
It’s an easy catch, and straight to the box.
The rest of the mansion is a slow push forward — clearing trainers, hitting switches, and trying to keep track of which doors I’ve already opened.
At the very least I do find some useful TMs and Items laying around.
Nothing here is especially threatening, but it’s the kind of place where a bad turn or a mistimed switch could still cost something.
Calypso ends up doing most of the work, picking up a few levels along the way. With Blaine coming up, it’s time well spent.
I finally get access to Blaine’s Gym after pulling the key out of the burnt-out mansion.
The trainers inside raise a separate question — whether they’re here voluntarily is unclear.
The Gym itself has the usual quiz gimmick — answer correctly and you can skip trainers.
I don’t.
The extra experience is more useful, especially for Calypso, who’s going to be doing most of the work here.
Blaine
I eventually reach Blaine.
Calypso’s up to level 43 and looking more than ready.
I mentioned before that Celadon was probably the last of the “easy” gyms — but with a strong Water type, this shouldn’t be too complicated.
The plan is straightforward.
Use Calypso.
Use Surf.
And, more or less, that’s exactly how it plays out.
Blaine doesn’t really get going — everything drops in a few turns, and the fight never feels like it gets out of control.
Five turns later, it’s over.
Probably the easiest Gym so far, which feels slightly wrong this late in the run.
Arcanine does manage to knock itself out with Take Down, which is helpful.
Always nice when the opponent contributes even Blaine finds it funny.
I leave the Gym feeling about as good as I have all run.
This team looks like it can go the distance.
Either I’ve been playing well, or FireRed is being unusually kind.
Outside, Bill is waiting.
Last time I saw him, he was doing some weird experiments on a Clefairy in his house.
He invites me on a trip to the Sevii Islands.
I agree, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.
I arrive on One Island — a name that feels like it wasn’t workshopped for very long.
Bill immediately gets distracted talking to his friend and hands me an errand instead: deliver a meteorite.
At this point I’m less travelling companion, more delivery service.
I try to drop off the meteorite, which quickly turns into another request — go find someone’s missing daughter.
It’s not the kind of task you’d usually give to a ten-year-old, but here we are.
I sail over to Three Island and get into a fight with Bikers and Cue balls on their holidays from Kanto.
After clearing them out, I head towards the forest to track down the missing girl.
Along the way, I take the chance to pick up some extra exp, there’s still a decent grind ahead before the final Gym.
Encounter
I reach the forest and realise I’ve completely neglected my encounters here I know I haven’t come across anything new along the way so I can always go back if needed.
Hypno … this is actually a great encounter.
It’s slightly ridiculous that it’s taken this long to find a Psychic type, but I’ll take it.
At level 37, it’s already close to being usable.
A couple of hits, an Ultra Ball, and it’s caught. Zak joins the team.
With King in the team, Kaa has started to feel a bit redundant.
Zak likely takes that slot for now — though I’m not ruling out a return later.
I carry on through Berry Forest and eventually find Lostelle
(Lost Elle? I never noticed that), hiding further in than expected.
She’s not alone — a Hypno is terrorising her, which explains why she hasn’t moved.
Hotdog deals with it without much trouble, and that’s more or less the situation resolved.
With that out of the way, she’s suddenly very keen to leave.
I’m still not entirely sure why her father thought sending her into the forest alone was a good idea.
Or why I was the solution to that problem.
Back at the house, everything is resolved without much fuss.
He’s grateful, I deliver the meteorite, and the whole situation wraps up about as neatly as it started.
I head back to One Island picking up 47 bottles of fresh water along the way, this Team are a thirsty bunch.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Bill is ready to leave.
We head back to Cinnabar, he thanks me for the help, and hands over a Tri-Pass.
Summary
Blaine ends up being far easier than expected — Calypso does exactly what she’s supposed to, and the whole fight is over before it really gets going.
The Sevii detour doesn’t offer much resistance either, but picking up Zak is a definite upgrade and gives the team a bit more flexibility going forward.
With one Gym left, the end of the challenge is starting to come into view.
There’s still a fair amount of grinding to get through before Victory Road, but for now, things are looking… comfortable.
- Level Grind
- Viridian Gym
Continue the Journey
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