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Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen (FRLG)

3rd Badge Walkthrough Guide

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Pokemon FRLG - 3rd Thunder Badge Vermilion City Walkthrough

This is a walkthrough guide for getting the 3rd badge in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen (FRLG). See a step-by-step guide on how to get to Vermilion City, beat the 3rd Gym and get the Thunder Badge, as well as important items and Pokemon to get here.

◀ Previous Guide Next Guide ▶
Getting the 2nd Badge Getting the 4th Badge

Getting the 3rd Badge Walkthrough

Jump to a Section
Cerulean City Route 5
Route 6 Vermilion City
S.S. Anne Diglett's Cave
Vermilion City Gym -

Cerulean City

1
After your battle with Misty in Cerulean City Gym, return to one of the houses with a police officer standing outside of it. You can now access this house!
2
Once inside, you will notice a hole on the north side of the house, go through this hole to exit from the other side and battle the Team Rocket Grunt to get TM28 Dig.
3
Follow the fenced area all the way south to quickly redirect to Route 5.

One point-of-interest in this route is the Pokemon Day Care where you can leave some Pokemon to level up as you progress through and retrieve them afterwards, amongst other functions.

Route 5

1
Head south and enter the small house near the gate.
2
Descend down the stairs to enter the Underground Path. Go through it until you reach the other set of stairs, which leads to Route 6. Note that there's a Nidoran trade that can happen with a kid on the Underground Lobby, with the more rarer Nidoran in your version to be transferred to you.

Route 6

1
Head south until you reach Vermilion City. Several kid Trainers can be found here for battles if you want more Pokemon EXP. Continue heading south until you reach Vermilion City.

Vermilion City

1
Once you arrive at Vermilion City, you'll want to take a few detours to pick up some items.

First, start by going to the Pokemon Fan Club, located north of the gym, to talk to the chairman and get a Bike Voucher. Then, talk to the girl by the counter in the Pokemon Center to get the VS Seeker. Lastly, talk to the Fishing Guru in the building left of the Pokemon Center to get the Old Rod.
How to Fish and Rods Guide
2
Head south to reach the harbor then talk to the Sailor to board the S.S. Anne.

S.S. Anne

1
Explore the SS Anne when you are on board. Should you need to heal your Pokemon, there is a female Healer located on the first floor rooms, allowing you to continue Trainer Battles without any issues.
2
Go up a level and head to the opposite side of the floor. Once you approach the stairs, your rival will appear and challenge you.

You will have to defeat him to proceed forward, so make sure to level up your Pokemon!
Pokemon Level Up Guide
3
Go up the stairs and assist the Captain with their problem to receive HM01, the Hidden Machine for Cut.

Remember that HMs are permanent and can't be forgotten by Pokemon without a Move Deleter. We recommend using a HM Pokemon to avoid ruining your main Pokemon moveset.
Best HM Pokemon
4
We advise clearing the entirety of S.S Anne before leaving the ship when it hits the dock as anything unexplored on the ship will be permanently missed in your run.

Do not communicate with the Captain until you are sure you have explored the ship as this is the trigger for the ship to reach the next location.
In-Game Missables

Diglett's Cave and Detour

1
Before challenging the Gym, it's recommended to go east from Vermilion City and enter the Diglett Cave as you enter Route 11. As the cave's name suggests, wild Diglett and Dugtrio are found here, and catching one can help you in the upcoming battles in the Vermilion Gym.
2
While you're here, go through to the otherside of the cave to reach Route 2. Head south to reach the gate where Professor Oak's Aide is, and you can get the HM for Flash if you've caught at least 10 different Pokemon.
List of All HMs (Hidden Machines)
3
From Route 2, you can then backtrack to Pewter City to go to the museum and get the Old Amber from the entrance blocked by a tree that can be cut down. This Fossil will be important later.

Vermilion Gym

1
Once you're done with the detours, head back to Vermilion City to take on the gym.
2
The gym has a simple layout of two rooms: one for the trainers and one for the gym leader, Lt. Surge. But Lt. Surge's room is blocked off by lightning and must be turned off by finding two switches in the cans in the first room.
3
The first switch's location is random. However, the second switch will always be beside the first switch. Finding both switches will grant you access to Lt. Surge's room.
Electric Door Puzzle Guide
4
Challenge Lt. Surge. His team consists of Voltorb, Pikachu, and Raichu, with their levels ranging from 18 to 24. It is recommended to use Ground-type Pokemon against his team due to its innate resistance and effectiveness against Electric-types.

Finishing the fight with Lt. Surge rewards you TM34 Shock Wave and the Thunder Badge, increasing all your active Pokemon's Speed and allowing Pokemon to use Fly.
Lt. Surge and Vermilion City Gym

3rd Gym Badge Trainers and Teams

Jump to a Trainer
Team Rocket Grunt Rival Sailor Dwayne
Engineer Baily Gentleman Tucker Lt. Surge

Team Rocket Grunt

Pokemon Type
Machop Machop (Lv. 17)
Pokemon FRLG - Fighting
Drowzee Drowzee (Lv. 17)
Pokemon FRLG - Psychic

Rival

Your Chosen Starter
Bulbasaur Charmander Squirtle

Rival's Team if You Chose Bulbasaur

Pokemon Type
Pidgeotto Pidgeotto (Lv. 19)
Pokemon FRLG - Flying Pokemon FRLG - Normal
Kadabra Kadabra (Lv. 18)
Pokemon FRLG - Psychic
Raticate Raticate (Lv. 16)
Pokemon FRLG - Normal
Charmeleon Charmeleon (Lv. 20)
Pokemon FRLG - Fire

Rival's Team if You Chose Charmander

Pokemon Type
Pidgeotto Pidgeotto (Lv. 19)
Pokemon FRLG - Flying Pokemon FRLG - Normal
Kadabra Kadabra (Lv. 18)
Pokemon FRLG - Psychic
Raticate Raticate (Lv. 16)
Pokemon FRLG - Normal
Wartortle Wartortle (Lv. 20)
Pokemon FRLG - Water

Rival's Team if You Chose Squirtle

Pokemon Type
Pidgeotto Pidgeotto (Lv. 19)
Pokemon FRLG - Flying Pokemon FRLG - Normal
Kadabra Kadabra (Lv. 18)
Pokemon FRLG - Psychic
Raticate Raticate (Lv. 16)
Pokemon FRLG - Normal
Ivysaur Ivysaur (Lv. 20)
Pokemon FRLG - Poison Pokemon FRLG - Grass

Sailor Dwayne

Pokemon Type
Pikachu Pikachu (Lv. 21)
Pokemon FRLG - Electric
Pikachu Pikachu (Lv. 21)
Pokemon FRLG - Electric

Engineer Baily

Pokemon Type
Voltorb Voltorb (Lv. 21)
Pokemon FRLG - Electric
Magnemite Magnemite (Lv. 21)
Pokemon FRLG - Electric Pokemon FRLG - Steel

Gentleman Tucker

Pokemon Type
Pikachu Pikachu (Lv. 23)
Pokemon FRLG - Electric

Lt. Surge

Pokemon Type
Voltorb Voltorb (Lv. 21)
Pokemon FRLG - Electric
Pikachu Pikachu (Lv. 18)
Pokemon FRLG - Electric
Raichu Raichu (Lv. 24)
Pokemon FRLG - Electric

Pokemon to Get Before the 3rd Gym

Notable Pokemon to Catch

Pokemon Explanation
Pokemon FRLG - Diglett Diglett
Pokemon FRLG - Dugtrio Dugtrio
It's recommended to catch a Ground-type so that you have a Pokemon that's immune to the Electric-type attacks from the 3rd gym.

Items to Get Before the 3rd Gym

Useful Items to Get

Item Location and Effect
Dig
(TM28)
Defeat the Rocket Grunt in the eastern house in Cerulean City.
Bike Voucher Obratined from the Pokemon Fan Club Chairman north of the Vermilion City Gym.
VS Seeker Obtained from the woman by the desk at the Vermilion City Pokemon Center.
Old Rod Obtained from the Fishing Guru in the house left of the Vermilion City Pokemon Center.
Cut
(HM01)
Obtained from the Captain of the S.S. Anne aboard the ship.
Flash
(HM05)
Obtained from Professor Oak's Aide on Route 2.
Old Amber Obtained from the man in Pewter City's Museum, past the cuttable tree.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen (FRLG) Related Guides

Pokemon FRLG - Walkthrough
100% Walkthrough Guide

Walkthrough Guides by Type

Gym Leader Guides Elite Four Guide

Main Story Walkthrough

1 Boulder Badge 2 Cascade Badge
3 Thunder Badge 4 Rainbow Badge
5 Soul Badge 6 Marsh Badge
7 Volcano Badge 8 Earth Badge
9 Victory Road 10 Pokemon League
11 Post-Game 12 -

All Gym Leader Guides

1 Brock 2 Misty
3 Lt. Surge 4 Erika
5 Koga 6 Sabrina
7 Blaine 8 Giovanni

Elite Four and Champion Guides

1 Lorelei 2 Bruno
3 Agatha 4 Lance
* Champion * -

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