10 Best Pokémon To Beat Generation 1

Type(s): Normal/Flying.

Location(s): Routes 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 22, and 23 (Spearow), Routes 17, 18, and 23 (Fearow).

A Flying type Pokémon is necessary for any team due to their ability to use the HM move ‘Fly’. The two early options for Flying types in Pokémon Red & Blue are Pidgey and Spearow. While Pidgey is available straight from Route 1, having the ‘Tiny Bird’ Pokémon on your team won’t help you in your battle with Brock. While Spearow can be caught as early as Route 22, which confusingly is the second Route the player has access to, it can also be encountered on Route 3.

It’s always nice to be able to have access to your Pokémon earlier, but Spearow won’t help against Brock anymore than Pidgey would. The main difference is level. While you can catch Spearow on Route 22 before going to Pewter City and facing Brock, the highest level you can encounter it at is level 5. However, if you choose to wait until Route 3, the Spearow you catch could be as high as level 8, making training your new feathered friend much easier.

The benefits of Fearow over Pidgeot are numerous. Spearow evolves much earlier, allowing you access to Fearow long before Pidgeot. Fearow also has a higher Attack stat (90 to Pidgeot’s 80) and Speed star (100 to Pidgeot’s 91). The trade off is that Pidgeot has a higher Special stat (70 to Fearow’s 61), but those extra nine points won’t help Pidgeot against a ‘Thunderbolt’.