Chapter 3: Cerulean City and the Cascade Badge
Cerulean City is where the story slows down. Misty’s sister Daisy hands out the Cascade Badge for free, Misty takes it back and sends you to the Cerulean Cape Battle Festival first, and only after the festival (and a computer-virus emergency at Bill’s cottage) does she give it to you properly.
Main quest in this chapter: reach Cerulean City, take part in the Battle Festival on Route 25, help Bill and Misty at the Sea Cottage (Bill thanks you with the S.S. Ticket), and win the Cascade Badge from Misty.
The Cascade Badge scene is a big door closing. It removes the “tasty treat” man on Route 25, makes the old painter on Route 3 pass away and takes the roadside Charmander and the Pewter Trainer who talks about it, so do those first.
Hidden items along the way
Optional stops in this chapter’s locations. Some spots may need a return visit; check the location notes for access limitations.
Open a location for item names, directions and available screenshots.
Walkthrough
Section titled “Walkthrough”Cerulean City. Blue meets you on the north side of town and wants a battle (“the festival is taking forever to start”). Pay attention to the robbed house north-east of the Pokémon Center: the police officer there starts a burglary case, and it has a deadline (see the quest).
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 756 (coord script 15 at 1325,106 var 0x4097 = 0: Blue L1987; burglary case scripts 5, 16-19, 23). Deadline: Sabrina’s laugh in Pokémon Tower (file 17 @12111/@12115 sets ‘case closed’ flag 1024).
The Gym, first visit. If you already walked into the Viridian Gym after the forest (Chapter 1), the Cerulean Gym is full of spectators for the final round of Misty’s Gym Leader assessment. Talk to Brock: Misty beats the challenger Curtis in a Water-type-only match and Brock appoints her Leader. The Gym then opens normally. Otherwise you start straight at the next part.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 758 (script 17 = Brock, shown while hide flag 1381 is clear; the assessment ends @2651-@2731 with ClearFlag 1003/1008/1307); 741 @2175-@2191 (the Viridian Gym scene sets 1307/1003 and clears 1381). UNVERIFIED: whether the assessment scene can also play after the festival; the order is read from the flags only.
Daisy’s free badge. Daisy is the Gym Leader on duty and hands you the Cascade Badge for nothing. Misty comes in, is furious, and takes it back: she is going to the Cerulean Cape (north of town) to enter the Battle Festival, and you should show what you can do there first.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 758 (script 4: Daisy gives the badge L433, Misty ‘give it back’ L876-L916, ‘show everyone what you can do at the Battle Festival first’; ends @4153 ClearFlag 597 for the Route 25 festival gate)
Nugget Bridge (Route 24) and Route 25. Beat the Trainers on the bridge. On Route 25, a man on the path north of the bridge offers you a “tasty treat”: say No. Yes gets you robbed; No gets you a one-time battle. He disappears when you win the Cascade Badge.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 216 (script 12: hide flag 1021 set before the battle, L1434; Cascade Badge scene 758 @3875 sets 1021); 756/215 (burglary grunt)
The Cape Battle Festival (Route 25). Walk on east along Route 25 and join the festival. Beat the Trainers in order, answer the quiz at the checkpoint (all five right heals you; otherwise you battle the examiner), and the awards ceremony places you 1st to 3rd depending on how the two festival battles went. You get Rare Candies for your placing.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 216 (scripts 1-8 along Route 25 x1351-1389; ceremony L11645-L11732; the road is closed (‘we’re getting ready’) until Misty has left the Gym, 758 @4153)
The Sea Cottage. After the awards a shout comes from the house on the Cape. Bill’s computer has a virus: go into cyberspace with Misty to clear it out. Bill thanks you with tickets for the S.S. Anne (you get the S.S. Ticket) and registers his number. Afterwards Bill’s grandfather will trade items for Pokémon you show him.
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 216 @11930 (Misty: ‘someone’s shouting in the house on the Cape’), 217 (script 1: virus story L270-L1207, S.S. Ticket item 478 given @1249); S.S. Ticket is needed at the Vermilion Harbor (154 L946 HasItem 478), see chapter 6.
Back to the Gym: the Cascade Badge. Misty battles you as the acting Gym Leader and this time hands over the Cascade Badge and TM03. You can now use Cut. This closes: the Route 25 “tasty treat” man, the Pewter Trainer who brags about his Charmander (and the roadside Charmander), and the old painter’s Ralts on Route 3 (he passes away; his Ralts waits at his house with a letter).
Technical source (script files and flags)
script file 758 (script 1: GiveBadge 1 @293; scene @3875-@3903 sets hide flags 1021 (tasty-treat man), 1026 (Steven in the Cerulean Bike Shop), 1390 (painter dies), 1367 (roadside Charmander and the Pewter Pokémon Center Trainer) and var 0x4085 = 1). Field moves: guide/13 (Cut = Cascade Badge).
Quests in this chapter
Section titled “Quests in this chapter”Open the ones you want; tick Done to hide them. Filters at the top apply to this whole page.
Route 24 / Cerulean City: the burglary case → TM Case → TM28 Dig
Section titled “Route 24 / Cerulean City: the burglary case → TM Case → TM28 Dig”Finish the case (beat the Route 24 grunt) before Sabrina laughs in Pokémon Tower, later in the story, or the TM Case and TM28 are lost for good.
Where: Cerulean City. The police officer stands 3 steps west of the door of the robbed house, the house north-east of the Pokémon Center. The robbed man is inside that house (it’s the east room of the Cerulean north house).
How it works:
- Talk to the two suspects: the bald jogger up north (at the north edge of town, straight north of the police officer) and the fat man in stuffed clothes down south (a few steps south-west of the Poké Mart door). The witness about 13 steps east of the Gym door and Green give hints.
- Talk to the police officer and name a culprit: “The bald man up north” or “The shady fat man down south”. Neither is right. Go to the one you named. The officer follows and clears him. The fat man turns out to be a witness who saw “someone dressed in black”.
- Once you’ve cleared either suspect, talk to the dizzy man in the northeast corner of town, about 20 steps east of the jogger. He remembers a man in black running north, and a Team Rocket grunt appears on Route 24, about 8 steps east of the middle Trainer on Nugget Bridge.
- Beat the grunt. He hands back the loot: the TM Case.
- Back in Cerulean: the officer gives you 2 Cheri Berries. The robbed man in the north house (east room) takes the TM Case and gives you 5 × TM28 Dig.
Deadline: finish the case before Sabrina laughs in Pokémon Tower (Vermilion City to Celadon City). That scene closes the case: if you haven’t beaten the Route 24 grunt by then, the TM Case and TM28 are lost for good. If you beat him but didn’t go back to the officer, only the 2 Cheri Berries are lost (the robbed man still takes the TM Case).
Notes: you must talk to both suspects before the officer lets you name a culprit. Losing to the grunt whites you out; talk to him again to retry. The TM Case is taken from you in step 5.
Technical source (script files and flags)
file 756 (scripts 5, 16–19, 23; L3038, L3779, L3807, L2103, L1575), file 215 (script 7, L492), file 761 (script 8, L909). Grunt is trainer 961 (Shieldon 18, Elekid 17, Beedrill 18); loss = WhiteOut (215 L470). Officer L1606 needs both suspect flags 1028 (jogger) and 1029 (fat man). Deadline: the Sabrina scene (file 17 @12111/@12115) sets “case closed” 1024 and hides the grunt (1033); the dizzy man (script 16) checks 1039/1024 first, so his ClearFlag 1033 (756 @2131) is never reached again. Positions: officer ≈1316,123 (house door 1319,123, the north house’s east room); jogger ≈1316,106; fat man ≈1304,149; witness ≈1331,135; dizzy man ≈1337,110; Route 24 grunt ≈1336,79.
Route 25: Nugget Bridge’s “tasty treat” (say No)
Section titled “Route 25: Nugget Bridge’s “tasty treat” (say No)”Only before you win the Cascade Badge.
Where: a man on the path north of Nugget Bridge, about 21 steps north of the bridge’s last Trainer, who congratulates you on beating the bridge Trainers.
Who gets it / when: only before you win the Cascade Badge. Beating Misty removes him, so meet him first if you want the battle.
How it works: “Accept the tasty treat?”
- Yes: you fall asleep and he robs you. He takes $60,000 if you have that much, otherwise $50,000, $40,000, $30,000, $20,000 or $10,000: the highest amount you can cover. With less than $10,000 he takes nothing. You get no battle.
- No: he’s a Team Rocket grunt (Waiter Akutsu: Luxio Lv. 17, Magby Lv. 17, Munchlax Lv. 18). It’s a one-time battle: if you lose, you white out and he’s gone anyway.
Either way he’s gone afterwards.
Technical source (script files and flags)
file 216 (script 12, L1434 sets hide flag 1021 before the battle, L4801 money checks; loss L5000 WhiteOut; trainer 962); file 758 L3875 (the Cascade Badge scene sets 1021). Position ≈1326,53; last bridge Trainer ≈1328,74.
Route 25: the Cerulean Cape Battle Festival (quiz and placing)
Section titled “Route 25: the Cerulean Cape Battle Festival (quiz and placing)”Where: Route 25 / Cerulean Cape, during the festival (story).
Quiz checkpoint: five questions. Get all five right and they heal your party. Otherwise the examiner battles you (Waitress Fifi: Happiny Lv. 17, Duskull Lv. 18); losing that battle whites you out.
| # | Question | Answer (position) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accuracy of Thunder Wave? | 90% (3rd) |
| 2 | Water move with no added effect? | Aqua Tail (3rd) |
| 3 | What does Choice Scarf do? | Raises Speed (1st) |
| 4 | Effect of a Sassy nature? | +Sp. Def, -Speed (4th) |
| 5 | Which ability can’t ignore Intimidate? | Mold Breaker (4th) |
Placing: you finish according to the two festival battles: the lady Trainer mid-course and the last opponent. Losing either one doesn’t white you out.
- Win both: 1st, 4 Rare Candies.
- Lose one: 2nd, 2 Rare Candies.
- Lose both: 3rd, 1 Rare Candy.
Cynthia and Misty fill the other places.
Technical source (script files and flags)
file 216 (script 5, L3909, L8330, L11442, L12244, L12348; quiz-fail battle trainer 641 at L12504, loss L5000 WhiteOut; scripts 6–7 use trainers 517/518 in no-whiteout mode, L4122, L4240, L4299; ceremony L4440/L11645; Rare Candy ×4 @4706, ×2 @8810, ×1 @11732).
Sea Cottage: Bill’s grandfather (show him five Pokémon)
Section titled “Sea Cottage: Bill’s grandfather (show him five Pokémon)”Only after the computer-virus story at Bill's cottage. Do first: Route 25: the Cerulean Cape Battle Festival (quiz and placing).
Where: Bill’s house on Cerulean Cape, after the computer-virus story.
How it works: he describes a Pokémon. Show it to him from your party to get an item. The requests come one at a time, in this order:
| # | Hint | Pokémon | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | round, dark, leaves on its head | Oddish | Leaf Stone |
| 2 | loyal Fire type that loves to bark | Growlithe | Fire Stone |
| 3 | big round eyes, sings lullabies | Jigglypuff | Everstone |
| 4 | yellow body, red cheeks, before it evolves | Pichu (not Pikachu) | Thunder Stone |
| 5 | blue, round, tail like a float (Johto) | Marill | Water Stone |
(This is the HeartGold list. The game also contains a separate SoulSilver list that this game never uses.)
Technical source (script files and flags)
file 217 (script 1, L1903, L2293, L2761).
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