Pokemon Rocket Edition Walkthrough Guide

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Callum Marshall

Callum is POK Universe's Managing Editor and a long-time-fan of the Pokémon series. He's a Gen-One kid at heart with a huge bias towards the first three generations. However, after reengaging with Pokémon XY, he has caught up with the pack and has absorbed all there is to know with regards to Pokémon, including some very interesting fan-made ROM Hacks!

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Pokemon ROM hacks have a wonderful way of turning the Pokemon universe on its head, offering new and exciting scenarios that Game Freak couldn’t even dream of putting together.

Whether that’s a Pokemon/zombie apocalypse in the form of Pokemon Snakewood, a devastatingly difficult re-imagining of an old classic like Pokemon Radical Red, or an all-out Pokemon epic like Pokemon Unbound, the fan-made entries out there have a certain charm and flair that is undeniable.

While a lot of these games stay true to the Pokemon Gym and Pokemon League formula, some of these titles offer a more narrative-driven approach, and often have darker undertones than the main series entries. Our game in the spotlight today, Pokemon Rocket Edition, falls right into the category.

This title puts you in the shoes of a Team Rocket Grunt during the events of the Original Pokemon titles, Pokemon Red, Pokemon Blue, and Pokemon yellow. You’ll meet all your old favorites like Red, Gary, Professor Oak, and more, but this time you’ll see behind the curtain, and you may find that those you blindly trusted in the original games are shadier than we once thought.

However, the question remains, will you be an upstanding citizen and do everything in your power to stop the corruption that is spreading around Kanto, or will you give into the dark side and be true to your Team Rocket roots?

Either way, you’ll be stealing Pokemon, completing criminal operations, and taking down helpless trainers with ease. This is one of the coolest concepts you will see within the Pokemon ROM community, and if you wanted some background on this title, or a full walkthrough, then today is your lucky day. Without further delay, here is our Pokemon Rocket Edition Guide! Enjoy!

Pokemon Rocket Edition Story Synopsis

Okay, so I don’t want to give away any huge spoilers, so I promise, I’ll keep this section spoiler-free! The central premise of Pokemon Rocket Edition is simple. You play the game in the shoes of a Team Rocket employee who has just been promoted to the rank of Grunt.

You get your customary Rattata, and you are sent o your way to cause mayhem within Kanto. This story takes place in tandem with the events of the original Pokemon games, and you will regularly run into Red, the protagonist of Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, on your travels. This is a fun enough concept in and of itself, but there is more intrigue and mystery to uncover here.

You see, the friendly NPCs of the original game, like Oak, Lance, Blaine, and a handful of others, all have a hidden past that was hidden from the player in the original game, and it turns out that all of these individuals played an important role in ‘Project Mewtwo.’

So your goal, alongside being an adept stealer of Pokemon and Team Rocket Professional, is to uncover the secrets hidden by Kanto’s elite, and discover the real truth. What happened during the Great Pokemon War? What is Project Mewtwo? This will all be revealed, and more.

Pokemon Rocket Edition Key Features

As you can imagine, from a game that completely flips the script on the original games in the series, the gameplay format had to be changed quite considerably too.

Now, to this game’s credit, it still feels like a traditional Pokemon outing in most ways, but there are a few cool new features that make it feel fresh and new. Here are the most notable features present in Pokemon Rocket Edition:

• A sinister storyline that will appeal to fans of the original titles
• Slightly tougher than mainline Pokemon games, with most main characters using potions
• In-game cut-scenes
• Players have the ability to steal one member of a trainers party when they beat them (Only, children, the elderly, and vulnerable trainers)
• Morality System with unique rewards
• Quality of life changes like access to HMs early, the ability to run anywhere, and more.
• Interesting side quests throughout the journey

Pokemon Rocket Edition Walkthrough

Welcome to Team Rocket!

Okay, so here we are in Celadon City for our initiation into the ranks of Team Rocket. Your journey begins with a brief before your first big mission from your boss, Petrel. You will be tasked with heading out to Mt Moon, as there are some rare fossils that you will need to take by force. Sound familiar?

However, you won’t get very far without a Pokemon, will you? Good thing Team Rocket has a basement packed to the brim with crates and crates of Rattatas. So before you head off, you’ll need to grab one for yourself and then make your way out of the Game Corner and into Celadon City.

How do you get to Mt Moon, I hear you ask. Well, before all that, you’ll need to complete the obligatory Pokemon battle tutorial, but in this game, this comes in the form of battling a defenseless child running around the fountain in town.

You’ll come up against her Lv5 Pidgey and Spearow, and after you defeat them, you’ll be able to steal either of these flying-type Pokemon. This stealing mechanic will prove to be vital for progressing within the game, trust me!

After this, you will then be given access to HM02 Fly, which you can use right off the bat in this game to make traversal around Kanto a much more streamlined process. This takes care of the introductory section of the game, and now that you are off the leash, so to speak, let’s fly over to Mt Moon!

Grunt’s First Mission

You’ll land at the entrance to Mt Moon, and awaiting you will be a gang of fellow Rocket Goons and your leader, Petrel. Your goal is simple, navigate Mt Moon as you would have done in the original games, battling trainers as you go, as you try to find the rare fossils that are located deep within the cave.

This will be very simple if you have taken the time to train your Rattata, Pidgey/Spearow and manage to steal a few Pokemon on the way as well. I would also recommend you capture/steal a Clefairy or Jigglypuff, and use the Moon Stone found in the cave for quick access to a tougher Pokemon.

As you make your way through the cave, you will eventually encounter the Scientist who has identified the fossils for you, and alongside Ronnie, you will need to notify Archer and get those ancient relics back to base. Ronnie leaves you to get someone, and your job is to stand guard.

Nothing bad could happen, right? Wrong, because Red strolls right up to you and, without a word, engages in battle. His team is incredibly over-leveled, and you are meant to lose this fight, so when he pummels you, don’t feel too bad about it. His team is as follows, but you probably won’t get past Charmeleon anyway:

• Chameleon Lv.25
• Wartortle Lv.25
• Ivysaur Lv.25
• Pikachu Lv.25

From here, you need to make your way back to Celadon City, where you will need to return to HQ and speak to Giovanni for the first time.

You’ll barge in as Blaine and Giovanni are having a heated conversation over forging Porygons for the Game Corner, and after this discussion, you then be tasked with recruiting Bill, the Pokemon Collector, to create Porygons instead.

Which means you’ll be heading to Cerulean City. You can’t fly there, sadly, unless you want to work your way through Mt Moon again, so instead, head east of the city toward Saffron and bribe the guard with $200 to let you through.

From here, you’ll want to head north and out of Saffron city, which will take you on Route 5. Quickly head to the top of the route and then leap on down toward the Pokemon Daycare Centre.

This may have been a way to gradually raise Pokemon levels in the vanilla game, but in this title, this is the secret base for Team Rocket, where Pokemon are bred for profit. Take the secret ladder down to the Rocket Warehouse and speak to Archer. He will ask you to pick up the parcel in the room up top; just talk to the Rocket Grunt near the boxes to snag it. Then be on your way to Cerulean City.

Cerulean City & Bill’s House

You can get into Cerulean through a gap where a cut tree would have been in the vanilla game. This is a good time to refine your team, heal up, stock up in the mart, and then you can head straight up north across the Nugget Bridge.

You’ll have to battle the trainers as you would normally, but they won’t be any challenge to you, provided you have done a little leveling outside of mainline battles. The best Pokemon to steal on the bridge are Mankey and Sandshrew, so make sure to grab those.

After you endure the temper tantrum from the Rocket standing at the end of the bridge, you then need to make your way to the end of Route 25. Again, there are some fun Pokemon to take here, like Paras, so grab those too! Then head into Bill’s place and speak with him.

He will eventually accept the offer from Giovanni to make his Porygon army, and he’ll scoff at the offerings in the parcel, which include a Shiny Magikarp, Rare Candies, and a trip on the S.S. Anne. His terms were that you keep him up to date on Silph and their latest invention, and he also gives you a Cell Phone, so he can keep in contact with you.

From there, you’ll need to head back to Giovanni in Celadon and give him the news that Bill will work for him, provided he meets his demands.

Just a note, don’t fly back to Celadon; head back over the Nugget Bridge. Here you will encounter Gary/Blue for the first time, and as you would expect, he wants to battle. Here is the team you will face:

• Pidgey Lv13
• Rattata Lv14
• Abra Lv.15
• Wartortle Lv.16

The key to winning this battle is having a counter for his Wartortle; everything else is pretty boilerplate stuff. Something like Pikachu or Oddish would be good to use here.

After this, keep walking the bridge, and you’ll meet Ronnie; you’ll fill him in on your antics, and then after spotting the cops in Cerulean, you’ll have to high-tail it to the Daycare Warehouse.

You’ll debrief with Archer and the rest of the grunts, and after a few cut scenes detailing the Cerulean robbery and Lance’s new policing policy, Archer will fill you in on your next mission.

You’ll be sent off to Vermillion City to rendezvous with Gym leader Lt. Surge, who works as a smuggler for Team Rocket.

Also, don’t forget to grab the drugs from the Rocket Scientists in the Warehouse. He’s in the room below, at the southernmost table.

Off To Vermillion & The S.S. Anne

Take the Underground Path, and this should bring you back up to Route 6. This is another area where you can pick up a few cool Pokemon. The most notable options are Psyduck, Pikachu, and Butterfree. After you steal these Pokemon, head into Vermillion and go straight to Surge’s Gym.

You’ll be blocked by a Cut Tree, but Ronnie will come along and assist you. You then head up to Surge and hand him his Steroids, and in return, he gives you the intel about his Johto beasts and where they are hidden on the S.S. Anne.

He has bribed the doormen to allow you access to the ship, so you can attend the party straight away. You can do the usual exploration of every room on the ship, building up XP and getting some new Pokemon in the process.

Take your time and explore, but when you finish up, you’ll want to head out to the main deck area. Here you will find Lance and Steven Stone all the way from Hoenn. Listen to their little exchange, and this will mean that the Chef blocking the way to the Captain’s Quarters will have cleared off.

Head up to the captain’s Quarters, and you’ll see a set of crates in the corner of the room. Interact with those, and this will aggro Captain Arab, and he’ll defend his ship in the form of a Pokemon battle. This is the team that you’ll have to take down:

• Tentacool lv23
• Scyther Lv20
• Krabby Lv23

A mix of Grass, Electric, and Fire-type Pokemon will make this battle a piece of cake, and be sure to steal that Scyther if you know what’s good for you. He will try to come at you again, threatening to go and get Lance, but Ronnie will come to your aid using a Koffing to Poison Gas the captain, giving you ample time to unload the crates.

With that all seen to, you can now finally fly back to Celadon City and inform him of your latest mission, Bill’s response, and you can take on your next task, which will see you head off to Lavender Town.

Lavender Town & Pokemon Tower

When you arrive in Celadon, you’ll find that Red has already been there, and he bodied everyone in the base, including Giovanni.

He rants about being humiliated, but eventually, he decides to send you out on another mission to deal with Mr. Fuji, who is held up in Pokemon Tower, and naturally, he hands you a Sliph Scope to deal with the Ghost Pokemon that lurk within. After you have had a discussion with Giovanni, you need to head out to Route 8. This is a great area to build up your Pokemon’s levels with lots of trainers, as Pokemon Tower is a little bit of a step up in difficulty.

After you make it to Lavender Town, you can head straight into Pokemon Tower and where you will encounter Blue/Gary again. He initially wants to battle, but after rethinking his options, he offers to tag along with you instead.

He reveals that Red killed his Raticate, and behind this rival/jerk persona, he is a responsible and caring trainer. You then need to ascend up the tower, battling channelers as you go. You might want to catch a Cubone/Gastly if that’s your thing. Then when you get to the stairs to the top floor, you’ll be blocked by Marowak.

Here’s a pro tip. If you catch the Marowak, you have to fight it again. So stock up on Pokeballs and maybe catch a couple of these if you want to make the next few stages of the game a little easier. At the very least, be sure to catch at least one Marowak before you beat it.

Once this angry Marowak mother is taken care of, head up to Mr. Fuji, and surprise, surprise, he won’t go quietly. So here is the team you’ll have to beat:

• Marowak Lv.28
• Pikachu Lv.30
• Lickitung Lv.30
• Ditto Lv.29

It’s a pretty strong team. You’ll want a water type to handle Marowak, a ground type to deal with Pikachu, and a fighting type to make short work of Lickitung. Then as long as you are first to act, you should one-shot Ditto no matter what Pokemon you lead with.

You’ll be able to steal any of these Pokemon. Considering the first two were already on offer, take either Lickitung or Ditto.

After the battle, Fuji will rant about the atrocities that Giovanni and those involved in Project Mewtwo were involved in, but this is cut short by Archer, who sends you on your way as he takes over proceedings, which leaves you free to head back to HQ and fill Giovanni in on your mission. Plus, we also say goodbye to Blue/Gary once again. I guess that guy isn’t so bad after all.

Confronting Oak In Pallet Town

After Giovanni fills you in on the events that occurred throughout the mysterious Mewtwo project, and shows some of Pokemon’s most beloved characters to be traitors and cowards, he makes some key decisions. He decides to man the Viridian City Gym once again, sending Ariana and Silver, who we meet later, to Viridian City.

Then he decides to send you on a mission to gather intel in Pallet Town on Red, and confront Professor Oak as well. There are two paths you can take, but one is much better for building XP, and it’s more convenient to boot.

You’ll want to fly out to Mt. Moon and then work your way to Pewter City through the group of trainers. This is a great area to steal a strong flying Pokemon like Pidgeotto or Fearow, and you can snag a Beedrill if you like too.

Once you reach Pewter, you can keep moving on to Viridian, but for you completionists in our ranks, you may want to visit the Poke Center to start a new side quest, or go to the research room in the Pewter Museum for a reunion with the Fossil Collector who stole both fossils in Mt. Moon.

However, for the sake of brevity, let’s say you moved straight on to Viridian Forest. This is a great area for you to get easy XP as all the trainers are Bug Collectors, so bring a fire-type or a flying type and go to town. I personally used this opportunity to spam Wing attacks and train up my Scyther.

When you reach Viridian, you will have a brief encounter with Silver and Ariana, showing Silver’s disdain for his father. After this, press on to Pallet Town, as there should be no trainers who stand in your way. Sadly when you arrive in Pallet Town, you won’t find Professor Oak, but you will encounter Elite Four member Agatha when you try to enter Red’s home. She reveals her family ties to Oak and sympathizes with the Rocket regime.

After she leaves, Ronnie comes busting in, revealing that you plan to interrogate Professor Oak, which Daisy doesn’t take too kindly to, leading to a fiery battle. Here is Gary’s big sister’s team:

• Chansey Lv.30
• Ponyta Lv.32
• Raichu Lv.32
• Nidorina Lv.33

The key to this battle is having a strong fighting type on hand to fend off Chansey and Nidorina, then also bring along a ground type who can fend off Raichu and Ponyta. A water-type also works in a pinch too. You can steal any of these Pokemon.

Since you don’t have access to evolution stones, Raichu is a great option, but those with an established Electric type may prefer Ponyta or Chansey. After the battle, Ronnie orders his Raticate to attack Daisy, and after an awkward exchange, it’s time to return to base.

Surfing to Cinnabar

As you would imagine, after the events of the last mission, Giovanni is pretty pissed. Not with you, though, with Ronnie. He exits after a dressing down, and Giovanni decides to postpone the interrogation of Oak, and instead, he orders you to head off to Cinnabar Island in search of Blaine, who seems to be laying low after the whole Porygon debacle.

You are granted the HM for Surf from a Rocket upstairs, and you then need to surf out there to Cinnabar. You can go the long way from Fushcia and the Seafoam Islands, but it’s much quicker to just go south from Pallet Town. This will also give you ample opportunity to get a strong new water type like Seadra or Starmie, for example.

As you must in the vanilla games, you’ll have to navigate the Pokemon Mansion to find Blaine, as that’s where he’s hiding. You’ll find a bunch of scientists lurking around, and those with a knack for exploring will find Carbos, Calcium, protein, and more items of this nature. To get through the puzzle, interact with the Mewtwo statues to get to the top floor, then go to the leftmost area, which allows the player to drop down, and hop off the edge.

From here, you will encounter a few more scientists as you navigate the lower areas of the Mansion, but before long, you’ll find Blaine and will have to face off against his arsenal of fiery Pokemon. Here is the team he will use to stop you:

• Growlithe Lv.34
• Ponyta Lv.34
• Rapidash Lv.36
• Arcanine Lv.36

This battle is a straight-up firefight, so just bring along a few water types, and you will breeze through the Cinnabar Gym Leader’s team. After that, exit the Pokemon Mansion, and you’ll get a message on your beeper to report to Celadon HQ.

Securing Silph Co

When you return to Celadon, you’ll be greeted by Proton, Archer, and Giovanni. They will fill you in on their next dastardly plan to usurp Lance and exact revenge. Their plan is to take over Sliph Co in Saffron City, because the company has finally completed the prototype for the first-ever Master Ball.

So head back to Saffron and head into Silph Co, which should now be overrun with Rocket Goons. Petral will be waiting to brief you on your mission, so go speak to him first in front of the fountain. He will instruct you to find all the Silph researchers and use the Key Card to lock them in their respective labs. Easy, right?

You’ll have to battle lots of Policemen, lab assistants, and researchers across the eleven floors of this building. So bring a strong and varied team. Go from floor to floor, finding all the NPCs in lab coats and battle them to lock them in their rooms.

There should be five scientists in total, and when you trap the last one, the Rocket Goons crowded around the teleporter on 3F will disperse, allowing you to head up to the President. Ronnie will then come and collect the key card from you to deliver to Petral. I sure hope he doesn’t drop it.

When you do head up to 11F , you’ll be greeted by Bill, who has arrived ahead of you and intends to take the Master Ball for himself. However, since you are a loyal Rocket, you won’t let that happen. This means you’ll need to fend off his team, which looks like this:

• Porygon Lv.42
• Lapras Lv.43
• Dragonair Lv.45
• Kangaskan Lv.44
• Pinsir Lv.44

This is a tough battle, and you will need to have a team with decent type coverage. Porygon is a weakling, but you will need an Electric type, a Fighting-type, A fire type, and a Dragon/Ice type to take out Bill in a fair fight. Failing that, just over level as I did.

Scyther will conquer all! After Bill scurries off, Giovanni will come from behind and take over proceedings, promoting you to a Rocket Executive, and allowing you to leave the building. However, when you do, Red will meet you at the door and head inside. I think we all know what happens after that.

Bill’s Big Plan

Despite the fact that you just laid a smackdown on Bill, he immediately rings you on your Cell Phone and asks you to head to the lab in Cinnabar Island, as he has the plan to fix everything.

You’ll find Blaine and Fuji in the lab with him, and although they are reluctant to work with you, they decide that the project is bigger than personal grudges. He doesn’t have a Master Ball, but he has committed the blueprint to memory and needs your help you grab the components needed.

He tells the player to head to Viridian Forest and grab an Apricorn he planted earlier, and then the player needs to head to Celedon HQ and ransack the place for a special Pokeball Processing Chip. So off we go.

First, head to Viridian Forest, and in the northern area of the forest, you will find the strange plant, and also Silver standing there too. Silver once again rants about his father’s ineptitude and then informs you that things have gone wrong at Sliph Co. He implores you to head to Celadon and see for yourself, and that we shall.

When you arrive in Celadon HQ, everyone is gathered in the main area, and Giovanni is furious. He’s livid that Red beat everyone at Silph, found a keycard, and beat Giovanni in the president’s office to secure the Master Ball for himself. He then takes this anger out on Ronnie, who was the reason Red was able to get a keycard in the first place. He releases his Nidoking and attacks Ronnie, forcing him out of HQ, and tells him never to return.

Giovanni has decided to open up the Viridian Gym and begin preparing for Red’s imminent arrival. He clears out the HQ and relocates operations to Viridian, leaving the place clear for you to ransack. Head down to the second floor and head to the southernmost rooms.

You will see a Rocket Scientist standing over an item. Try and grab it, and naturally, he will attack you. His team is actually pretty tough, so here is a rundown to make sure you are prepared:

• Ninetales Lv.34
• Magmar Lv.35
• Rapidash Lv.36
• Persian Lv.36
• Tentacruel Lv.37

A mix of water and electric type pokemon should serve you well in this fight, and you are able to steal one of these Pokemon too. I personally chose Magmar, but they are all decent choices if you have a preference.

Now that you have all the components, you need to head back to Cinnabar so that you can build a Master Ball. After this, you are told that the plan isn’t to catch Mewtwo, but instead, The Catastrophe. However, only one man knows where this abomination is, and that is Shigeki, who has been missing for the best part of a decade.

The good news is that there is a way to find out where Shigeki is, as the almighty Pokemon Mewtwo has a psychic connection with all those that provided DNA for his creation during Project Mewtwo. You can take the Master Ball, but it won’t do any good; you’ll have to go to Mewtwo in Cerulean and fight him to earn his respect. You guessed it; we are off to Cerulean Cave.

Entering Mewtwo’s Lair

After the discussion with Bill and the gang, fly over to Cerulean City, go across the Nugget Bridge, and then loop back down toward the Cerulean Cave entrance, surfing over to the door. The way will be blocked by a guard who has been stationed at the door. It’s not a super tough battle, but here is what you are up against:

• Pinsir Lv.36
• Arbok Lv.37
• Parasect Lv.39
• Arcanine Lv.39

To win this fight easily, bring along a fire type, a water-type, and a ground type. This should give you ample coverage, and feel free to steal one of his Pokemon when you have wrapped up this fight. This clears the way to Mewtwo, so head into the cave.

The cave is the exact same layout as the original games, so simply surf around, pick up some nice items along the way, and you’ll come face to face with the genetic force of nature himself. He will inform you that he does indeed still have a psychic link to all the researchers and that he also knows the whereabouts of Shigeki, but to get that info, you’ll have to fight him. 

This is a battle against a level seventy Pokemon, and a powerful Psychic type as well, so be sure to stack your team with Ghost and Dark-type Pokemon to make short work of him. It also doesn’t hurt to have some revives and potions on hand if things go south.

After you defeat him and he is satisfied with your battle, he will inform you that Shigeki has been hiding right under the noses of Team Rocket, masquerading as the old man in Viridian that teaches new trainers how to catch Pokemon. So now you need to head off to Viridian to confront him, and we promise, you won’t need to take a Teachy TV off him. 

Shigeki and MissingNo

When you confront the old man in his usual spot, he immediately realizes that there is something up, and when he clocks it, he invites you into his home, away from watchers on. He informs the player that he does know where The catastrophe is hidden, as he is the one that hid it from the other researchers.

He told them that the failed Pokemon escaped, but in truth, he managed to freeze the Pokemon below the surface of Cinnabar island with the use of some clever software. In return for your secrecy on his location, he agrees to unfreeze this Pokemon and asks you to race over to Cinnabar and tame this freak of nature. 

Next, fly to Cinnabar, and upon your arrival, you will see that Cinnabar is in a bit of a state. The place is all glitched out. We assure you, this is part of the script; the game hasn’t bugged out. You can explore the island as there are a few fun gags to be found, but if you want to get straight to the task at hand, surf in the dark patch of water to the east of the island, and before long, MissingNo will appear.

If you have a few Ultra Balls, you can try your luck at catching this Pokemon legitimately, but if that plan falls apart, you always have your Master Ball as a backup. Make sure you do catch this Pokemon, though, as it’s a great Pokemon to have in your team moving forward. 

After you solve the MissingNo issue, Cinnabar returns to normal, and Bill lands in Cinnabar. He congratulates you on this feat, and before long, Gary/Blue pops out of Cinnabar Gym after besting Blaine in battle. He asks to see the new Pokemon, and according to him, he has seen this Pokemon before.

It seems impossible, but then he explains that he had seen this Catastrophe in Oak’s Secret Lab, which is only accessible by fiddling with some books in his main lab. So naturally, you need to rush over to Pallet Town and check things out. 

Oak’s Secret Lab 

Important Note: There is a well-known bug during this portion of the game. If you surf over to Pallet Town from Cinnabar, the door to Oak’s Lab doesn’t lock, and as a result, the player cannot progress the story. So make sure that you fly over to Pallet Town to avoid any softlock issues. 

From Cinnabar, hop on a trusty flying Pokemon and fly over to Pallet Town. When you arrive, you will find that Oak’s Lab is locked. Good thing Giovanni gave you that Crowbar earlier for times like this. Go into your key items while standing before the door, and use the Crowbar to break in. When you bust in there, you will have to face all three of the present Aides, here are their respective teams: 

Aide #1 – 

• Kadabra Lv.38
• Magneton Lv.38
• Hypno lv.39
• Electrode Lv.40

Aide #2 – 

• Porygon Lv.40
• Magneton Lv.39
• Muk Lv.39
• Kadabra Lv.40

Aide #3 – 

• Muk Lv.39
• Porygon Lv.41
• Magneton Lv.41
• Weezing Lv.39

After you defeat these three (and steal their Pokemon), you need to head over to the bookshelves in the top right of the room, and this will reveal a secret ladder down to Oak’s Secret Lab. When you get down there, you will be funneled through as the game throws flashbacks at you in the form of diary entries.

This section’s big reveal boils down to the fact that Oak decided to use a human body to create a weapon to take down Lance, and that weapon is none other than the insane, near-invincible trainer, Red. Along the way, you’ll have to battle some security robots, and a few Dittos will attack you as you explore, but after the big reveal, you will pop out the same ladder you descended, and at that moment, your pager will beep, calling you back to the Viridian Gym. 

Becoming The Boss

When you arrive back at Viridian, Red has already seen off Giovanni’s defense and shoves past you on his way to the Indigo Plateau.

Go check out what happened up ahead, and Giovanni will come up to you. He’s packed his bags and has decided that this will be the last humiliation that he can endure. He disbands Team Rocket, or at least decides he will no longer be running the organization.

Then he departs, leaving behind a briefcase with a parting gift of $10,000 and the new promotion to Rocket Boss. His last request for the player is to cause chaos in his absence and take on the Elite Four in an attempt to stop Red in his tracks. So stock up on supplies, because it’s Pokemon League time! 

Head west of Viridian, and you’ll arrive at the door to the Indigo Plateau. However, before you enter, none other than Lance will burst out and reveal that he is no longer Pokemon Champion, and, having been defeated, that he will be taking on a new role as an Elite Four Member. However, he doesn’t like the smug look on your face, so he decides to take you on and teach you a lesson. Prepare for a tough battle against his stacked Dragon team: 

• Gyarados Lv.48
• Aerodactyl Lv.49
• Dragonair Lv.51
• Kingdra Lv.48
• Dragonite Lv.48

The key to success here, unless you are grinding levels, is to make use of MissingNo’s Super Glitch and Confuse Ray to freeze and confuse his Pokemon, allowing you to whittle down his team.

In terms of type coverage, if you have an Ice-Type, an Electric-Type, and a Water-type, this will help you see off Lance’s arsenal. Plus, you’ll be happy to know that when you beat him, you can steal a Pokemon. There is only one real option here, steal that Dragonite! 

After he departs, you can make your way through the badge checkpoints. You don’t have any badges, though, so you will have to battle all eight of the guards. I won’t go through each battle for the sake of brevity, but there are a few powerful pokemon that you might want to swap into your team after stealing them, the best examples being Machamp, Rapidash, Rhydon, Pigeot, Crobat, Magmar, Skarmory, and Gyarados. So if you want a whole new team, you can have it! 

Victory Road

As is customary before your Elite Four challenge, you have to weather the challenge of Victory Road. This place can be a bit of a labyrinth, so be sure to pack some repels to save some time, and remember that you can heal via the channeller at the entrance, so Escape Ropes can be helpful in a pinch.

There are also some cool Pokemon options here to steal. Pokemon like Ampharos, Togetic, Jynx, and Dewgong are just a few examples. Make your way through, and when you arrive at the Pokemon League, you’ll be greeted by an old friend.

Over by the Pokemon center, Ronnie will be standing around out of his usual Rocket get-up. Speak to him, and this will trigger a cut scene that showcases Blue/Gary as the new Pokemon League Champ, but Red is already on his way to take on the challenge.

After this scene, Professor Oak barges from the concession of fans and demands to be let through to the champion’s quarters to speak to Blue/Gary. After that, it’s your time to shine. Only the Elite Four stand in your way of becoming a Pokemon Champion. 

Bill will arrive on the scene before you head in, and will help you get through the guards on the door. However, before all that, make use of the shop to the left and sell all your Nuggets, Stardust, and other useless items, and stock up on Full Restores and Revives. Believe me; you will need them. Also, use any spare Rare Candies you have; if there was a time to use them, it’s now!

Bill won’t be able to get you in the door, but thankfully if you speak to Ronnie, he will help you pass through with the help of Raticate’s Hyper Fang. This frees you up to take on the Elite Four. Also, you won’t be able to challenge without MissingNo in your party, so slot them in if you opted to take them out earlier. 

The Kanto Elite Four

We begin proceedings with Lorelai, the ice-type trainer, but since her Pokemon are KO’ed, she won’t put up any resistance. Nor will Bruno, Agatha, or Lance. So that begs the question, who will stand in your way and prove to be a challenge? Well, that comes a little later.

When you arrive at the Champion’s Arena, you will watch the end scene from the original game play out, and Oak will escort Red to the Hall of Fame, leaving Gary/Blue to question what he did wrong. Before long, Red and Oak return to deliver an inaugural speech, Oak delivers this on his behalf due to his ‘Social shortcomings.’ 

Blaine and Mr.Fuji eventually cut this dictatorial speech short by bursting in, revealing that Red isn’t a human trainer, but more of a grotesque science experiment. However, Oak calls a wrap on the speech and hides with Red in the Hall of Fame room.

Upon hearing the pan, Agatha arrives and fends off the crowd of journalists with her ghosts, but she doesn’t plan for you to have a Silph Scope to hand. Use this via the key items menu and then confront Agatha. She sees that Oak can give her the Kanto she wants, and she intends to defend it. Here is the team you will face: 

• Gengar Lv.49
• Crobat Lv.50
• Arbok Lv.52
• Misdreavus Lv.52
• Gengar Lv.49

The key to winning this battle is leading with MissingNo. With the use of Psychic, you can one-shot the vast majority of her team, provided you have leveled this Pokemon accordingly. However, it never hurts to have another Psychic-type or a Ghost-type Pokemon for backup.

You can steal her Pokemon too, and I would urge players to nab one of the two Gengars. After this, approach the door, use the Crowbar, and you’ll be granted access. 

Oak and Red await you, and Oak begins to admit to the plot that you have already unraveled, revealing that he has been guiding Red every step of the way, and that he intends to use him as a puppet to control Kanto once again and exact revenge on all those that dubbed him a traitor all those years ago.

However, before he can do that, he has to take care of all the loose ends, and one of those is you. So Red steps forward, and the rematch you have been waiting for all game begins! Here is what you are up against: 

• Charizard Lv.53
• Snorlax Lv.49
• Lapras Lv.51
• Pikachu Lv.54
• Dragonite Lv.53
• Alakazam Lv.53 

This is a very varied team, so you will want to make use of MissingNo as much as you can in this fight. The Super Glitch and Confuse Ray combo from before works wonders here, but if you can also have a Ground-type, a Fighting-Type, a Water-type, A Dragon/Ice Type, and a Dark-type Pokemon, you should make short work of Red’s tough team.

Then naturally, steal his signature Charizard as a mark of disrespect. Oak, furious with Red’s fall from grace, steps in and intends to finish things off himself, going against his Pokemon battle ban. However, before he does, Agatha steps in, and showers praise on him, speaking of a new era of Kanto she has always dreamed of with Oak at the helm.

However, this praise falls on deaf ears as Oak casts her aside, stating that she had done the same to him when he was at his lowest. Then to drive the point home, releases a Tauros and attacks the frail old woman, then returns to you. Thankfully Bill and Ronnie bust in at that moment, and Bill heals your Pokemon. However, the battle with Oak will still take place, and he’s no slouch. This is what you are up against: 

• Tauros Lv.54
• Jolteon Lv.54
• Gyarados Lv.57
• Venusaur Lv.57
• Exeggutor Lv.55
• Arcanine Lv.54 

In truth, this battle isn’t too much tougher than the one you had with Red. MissingNo will do some of the heavy lifting, but you will also want a Pokemon that has Ground-type moves, a flying-type pokemon, an electric-type, and a Water-type, plus a fighting-type and fire-type if you have it.

Steal a Venasur, or any other Pokemon you fancy from the Professor, and then Lance and the police force will come along and take him away, wrapping things up on your rather alternative Elite Four Challenge. 

Wrapping Things Up

That ends all the gameplay, but I would be remiss not to wrap up the story, as there is still a little more to tell. After you defeat Oak, he decides to use Red’s Pokemon as a shield so that he can use the Hall of Fame terminal and, in his own words, ‘Control Kanto from this room.’

However, MissingNo breaks free from their Pokeball and goes over to the Professor, using Super Glitch to corrupt the machine and render it useless. Then the cops take away Red, Oak, and you, despite the protests from Ronnie. The scene fades to black, and after an end-game save-screen, you are treated to a scene in court. 

It is decided by the courts that due to Red’s lack of human emotion and the fact that he is not an official citizen of Kanto-Johto, he cannot be regarded as the New Champion, and that this honor will be granted to the former holder, Gary/Blue. However, he decides to decline this option, stating he has better things to do. So this means that Lance is reinstated as Pokemon Champion.

Next, Oak stands trial, and he is charged with genetically engineering a human-Pokemon hybrid to take over Kanto. However, due to no credible eyewitnesses, and no evidence available due to the Secret Lab being cleared out, this charge is thrown out. Oak does get charged with violating his Pokemon battle ban, and he is banished from the Kanto region. He’s someone else’s problem now, I guess. 

Then as for you, the player, this depends on how you approach the game. If you have a huge bounty on your head, you will owe the state this amount, and you will be charged a certain amount of years in a penitentiary based on how bad you were. 

Then the game sets itself up for a sequel with a final scene where Bill is found in the Secret Lab in Pallet Town, where he is gathering up all the blueprints and other supplies left behind by Oak.

He explains that he had to make sure that Oak wasn’t ratted out so he could retain all of the stuff in the lab, and reveals that he was scheming behind everyone’s back with none other than Professor Elm. Looks like Team Rocket will be heading to Johto in the future. Watch this space!

End Game Content?

Oh, one last thing, there is end-game content if the player wishes to keep playing and become a Pokemon Champion legitimately. There is a cutscene when you load your save once again.

You are bailed out of jail by old man Shigeki, and from there, you can continue to steal Pokemon, cause havoc, complete side-quests, and rack up a huge bounty on your head. Oh, and you can even visit each gym and earn your badges the right and honorable way. It’s a little bit underwhelming as there is no story tieing things together anymore, but it’s nice to have the option, nonetheless. 

FAQs

Pokemon Rocket Edition Guide: Conclusion

Well, there you have it, a Pokemon ROM hack that allows you to live out your dream of being the bad guy in the story.

Who knew that Team Rocket had a competent Grunt in their ranks? I guess Jessie and James were busy during this adventure.

I hope that this guide has helped sell this ROM to fans on the fence, and I also hope that this walkthrough helps you become the best damn Rocket that there ever was.

Red may be tough, but with this guide, you’ll be able to take them down! As always, thanks for reading POK Universe!