Kanto Route 1

**Route 1** (Japanese: **１ばんどうろ** *Route 1*) is a route in western Kanto, connecting Pallet Town and Viridian City.

## Route description

Heading north from Pallet Town, Trainers must make their way around a large but very primitive route, that will become their very first route they will explore on their journey. The route is riddled with large patches of tall grass, and ledges that contour from far east to all to the far west, blocking off most of the route making it hard to travel north, only to have small gaps by which the road has been broken into it.

 File:Poké Mart assistant Route 1 FRLG.png
From the narrow "gateway" into Route 1, the route will make its way west as a ledge will block the road, however patches of tall grass be found by traveling east. After traveling north past the gap in the ledge, there will be a small clearing, where a man working for a Poké Mart can be found giving out a free Potion to Trainers. Heading away from the small clearing, the route makes its way eastern, and creates an "S" shapes as it winds around tall ground, as well as long ledges. Route 1 then travels northerly through two consecutive patches of tall grass, one larger than the other. It then finishes off by curving westerly, and then north as it enters Viridian City.

Heading south from Viridian City, Trainers can either hop down ledges to completely avoid any contact with wild Pokémon on their way to Pallet Town or they can travel through the grass patches, the required path for northbound travel. Following the grass-lined path, the route turns east then south as it enters the first patch. After a small break, the path of the route enters another patch of grass as the route turns west. Route 1 then makes an "S", turning to the south, then to the east before returning south and west, passing through the third grassy area. The path then juts south, entering another patch before curving to the east then to the south as it enters Pallet.

There are no opponent Trainers on this route in Generations I and III. However, a man who works at the Poké Mart in Viridian City will give out a free sample of Potion to Trainers who talk to him. In Generation II, the Poké Mart employee has left and two Trainers appear instead, while in Generation IV four Trainers are on the route. A Bitter Berry grows here in Generation II, while a Blk Apricorn does so in Generation IV.

## Differences among generations

### Generation I and III

The route layout in Generations I and III are identical except for the fact that the Generation I version has grassy patches to both the east and the west of the route itself. The grass beyond the barrier was removed since in Generation I, Trainers could enter the grass using the walk anywhere glitch and, upon doing this, the game would freeze. This was because the grassy area contained no data for cities, routes, or even wild Pokémon, and the game would crash upon trying to retrieve the missing data.

Apart from this, most aesthetic features have been enhanced. Trees have become bigger, flowers are more visible, and most other sprites have been upgraded to Generation III standards.

### Generation II

The route remains mostly the same apart from a few minor changes to the gameplay. Heading south from Viridian City, Trainers can either hop down ledges to completely avoid any contact with wild Pokémon (which now include Sentret, Furret and Hoothoot) on their way to Pallet Town, or alternatively travel through the patches of grass.

On their way down, there are two other Trainers waiting for battle. One can found near the northern side of the route, while the other can be found in the near the middle in the clearing. He has replaced the Viridian Poké Mart employee who gives away Potions, however there is a Bitter Berry tree that sprouted along the northwest portion of the route. Lastly, the grass patches outside of the route have been removed but the spacing between the route and the surrounding forest still remains.

### Generation IV

Other than graphical updates, the basic layout remains the same as previous generations, but the route is no longer flat, due to hills being added to give feeling of depth to the route. Heading south from Viridian City, a gate has been added between the route and Viridian City, in order for the game to load the different tilesets used between the areas.

The Bitter Berry tree has been changed into a Blk Apricorn tree, which can be found between the two ledges located on the northwestern side of the route. By traveling east, Trainers are able to battle a Schoolboy, and by jumping off the ledge and heading east, another Schoolboy can be challenged, with Pokémon similar to the other Schoolboy in Generation II.

By jumping down the ledge and going through the tall grass, the route soon turns into the clearing. Like in Generation II, the Viridian Poké Mart employee is no longer present and is replaced by a Trainer. However, a photographer is present on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays who will take a picture of the player and his or her party.

There is a male Ace Trainer just south of the photographer, as well as another female Ace Trainer, with Pokémon similar to the other Cooltrainer in Generation II. Route 1 makes the "S", turning to the south, then to the east before returning south and west, passing through the third grassy area. The path then juts south, entering another patch before curving to the east then to the south as it enters Pallet Town.

## In the anime

### In the main series

 File:Kanto Route 1 anime.png
Route 1 is introduced in the first episode of the Pokémon anime, *Pokémon - I Choose You!*. Ash who has just received his Pikachu and is still trying to get a handle on the rebellious Pokémon, sets off on his journey beginning with Route 1. He first finds a Pidgey and is eager to catch it, but Pikachu doesn't want to help him and instead, runs up a tree. Frustrated, Ash decides to try to catch the Pidgey without Pikachu's help. He throws a Poké Ball at it, but the Pidgey breaks out easily and runs away. Ash turns and sees that a Rattata is digging through his bag.

Ash turns and saw a group of Pidgey in the field, and throws a rock at them, which only scares them away. However, he sees another bird Pokémon in the field and throws another rock at it, which hits it in the back of its head. When it turns to look at him, however, he realized that he didn't hit a Pidgey and learns that this is a Spearow. The Spearow swoops several times to attack him and Pikachu.

As the Spearow chase Ash and Pikachu, the camera focuses on two herds of Pokémon that do not appear on this route in the games: Mankey and Sandshrew.

After jumping in the river, narrowly evading an attack from a Magikarp and Gyarados, they meet Misty, fishing for water Pokémon. He steals the girl's bike, putting the injured Pikachu in its basket, and rides away, promising that he would bring it back someday. They are attacked, once again by the Spearow, however Pikachu uses a massive electrical attack to take out the entire flock. Once the storm has cleared, Ash and Pikachu both rise from where they were knocked back on the ground, exhausted but victorious. Ash looks up and sees an unknown Pokémon majestically flying through the sky, over the rainbow that had been left after the storm, but his Pokédex could not identify the species.

Route 1 was also briefly seen in *The Dream Continues!* while Ash and Alexa passed it on their way to Pallet Town.

### In Pokémon Origins

 File:Kanto Route 1 PO.png
Route 1 made an appearance in the Pokémon Origins episode *File 1: Red*, where Red was seen traveling through it on his way to Viridian City. Soon after entering the Route, he encountered a wild Pidgey, and tried to catch it, but it got away. After a short while, he got the hang of catching Pokémon, and caught multiple different species, including a Spearow, Caterpie, and Pidgey. Along the way, he encountered a Youngster, who challenged him to a battle with his Nidoran♀. Not knowing other Trainer's Pokémon couldn't be caught, Red tried to throw a Poké Ball at Nidoran♀, only to have it bounce off. The Youngster, however, agreed to tell Red where he could find a Nidoran of his own. Shortly before arriving in Viridian City, Red encountered Blue, who challenged him to a battle. Due to Blue's Squirtle having a type advantage over Red's Charmander, Blue easily won the battle. Afterwards, Red met Brock, who, having watched the battle, suggested Red that he should start challenging the Gym Leaders in order to learn how to battle.

### In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Route 1 made a brief appearance in *Bulbasaur, Come Home!*, when most of Professor Oak's Pokémon from Professor Oak's Lab had been set free accidentally by Red. Oak went out across this route on his bicycle searching for the Pokémon, and Red tagged along.

## Trivia

* A remix of the theme on this route was used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
* In Generations II and IV, the remixed music track for this Route starts from the notes at the last few seconds of the original track's music.
* The *Poké Dude Show* that airs on the Template:Key is filmed here.
* In Pokémon Yellow, Pidgey can be found on this Route at level 7, higher than any wild Pokémon accessible during the first visit to the first route.