Saffron City - Assault on Silph Co. - Master Ball

With that out of the way, go on over to Silph Co.  If you visited Saffron
before beating Erika, you might've noticed the guard standing in front of the
entrance. Well, the lazy bum is asleep now, so go right in!

The first floor is empty of enemies, allies, or...well, anything but furniture.
In the interest of keeping my sanity, I'll be skipping listing every trainer
for every floor, primarily because there's a lot of them and you can get
through this entire 'dungeon' without fighting more than a few of them. So
I'll note important items and such for each floor, but first, we need the Card
Key.

From the first floor, take the elevator all the way up to the fifth.  Go left,
dodge the scientist (or battle him if you want) and go down till you find a
Rocket Grunt.  He'll send out an Arbok, easily defeated with Ground or Psychic
types.  If you can't get past the Grunt after fighting him, then enter the
teleporter and go back, then head right along the south wall till you pick up
the Card Key.  Simple, huh?  Now, as for what to expect in terms of trainer
opposition, the Rocket Grunts use all the types you've seen before: Koffing
and its evolutions, Ekans and its evolutions, Zubat and Golbat, all the regular
stuff.  The scientists who have been corrupted by Team Rocket will use
Magnemite and its evolution along with Voltorb and Electrode, so bring a Fire,
Fighting or Ground type to floor them.  The Rockets will also have the odd
Cubone here and there, possibly a tribute to their Ground-type-using boss.
Most of theirlevels range from 25-30, so if you beat the Fighting Dojo, you'll
have no
trouble with these jokers.  Okay, here's the floor-by-floor breakdown:

1st Floor - Entrance.  Nothing here.

2nd Floor - A woman behind a locked door will teach Thunder Wave.

3rd Floor - You can get a Hyper Potion behind a couple locked doors.  Also, the
teleporter between the first and second locked doors will lead to a battle with
your Rival.  The teleporter behind the second locked door will take you to a
rest area on the 9th Floor where you can heal your Pokemon.

4th Floor - South from the stairs is a Rocket Grunt and a TM41 - Torment.
Follow the path from the stairs down and left past another Grunt to find a
locked door.  Open it, and you'll have free access to an Escape Rope, Full
Heal, and Max Revive.

5th Floor - South of the stairs is a Juggler, sort of an oddball in this mess
of Grunts and Scientists.  Anyway, unlock the door left of the stairs to get a
Protein, and unlock the door south of there to get TM01 - Focus Punch.

6th Floor - In the lower left corner of this floor is a locked door protecting
a HP Up and an X Special.  Aside from the trainer battles, that's it.

7th Floor - In the lower left corner you'll find a Scientist protecting a
Calcium tab.  Slightly right and south of the stairs, past a locked door, will
be TM08 - Bulk Up.  The door past it just has another Rocket Grunt to fight.

8th Floor - The Rocket near the stairs can be avoided if you stand just north
of him and walk left till he's off the screen.  Otherwise, circle around to the
item visible from the stairs to snag an Iron.  The scientist nearby is a
friendly one, so don't worry.  You'll also find one of the four Rocket Brothers
on this floor.

9th Floor - Here's where you can get yourself healed.  The beds are in the
lower left corner of the floor, and they're being protected by another of the
Rocket Brothers.  Unfortunately, there's no items on this floor.

10th Floor - Nearly to the top!  South of the stairs are a Scientist and a
Rocket Grunt, the latter of which uses a level 33 Machoke.  The Grunt is
protecting a Carbos, Rare Candy, and Ultra Ball, which is worth the battle.

11th Floor - This floor has two parts: the first part is what you can access
from the elevator and stairs, which isn't much.  One Rocket Grunt guarding a
Zinc.  That's it.

Now then, when you're ready to assault the board room and rescue Silph Co.,
return to the third floor and enter the teleporter in between the first and
second locked door.  Go to the ninth floor and heal first if you've been
fighting.  The teleporter from the third floor will lead to the seventh floor,
and a battle with your Rival!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rival (Payoff: $1440)

Starter - Bulbasaur

Pokemon (Level)   Type             Weakness(es)                            EXP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pidgeot   (37)    Flying           Electric, Rock, Ice                     1363
Gyarados  (35)    Flying/Water     Electric 4x, Rock, Grass, Ice           1605
Growlithe (38)    Fire             Water, Rock, Ground                     741
Alakazam  (35)    Psychic          Bug, Dark, Ghost                        1395
Charizard (40)    Fire/Flying      Electric, Water, Rock 4x, Ground, Ice   1800

Starter - Squirtle

Pokemon (Level)   Type             Weakness(es)                            EXP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pidgeot   (37)    Flying           Electric, Rock, Ice                     1363
Exeggcute (35)    Grass/Psychic    Bug, Dark, Fire, Flying, Ghost,         735
                                  Ice, Poison
Growlithe (38)    Fire             Water, Rock, Ground                     741
Alakazam  (35)    Psychic          Bug, Dark, Ghost                        1395
Venusaur  (40)    Grass/Poison     Bug, Fire, Flying, Psychic, Poison,     1800
                                  Ground, Ice

Starter - Charmander

Pokemon (Level)   Type             Weakness(es)                            EXP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pidgeot   (37)    Flying           Electric, Rock, Ice                     1363
Growlithe (38)    Fire             Water, Rock, Ground                     741
Exeggcute (35)    Grass/Psychic    Bug, Dark, Fire, Flying, Ghost,         735
                                  Ice, Poison
Alakazam  (35)    Psychic          Bug, Dark, Ghost                        1395
Blastoise (40)    Water            Electric, Grass                         1800

As you can see, he's not pulling any punches this time.  His Pidgey's fully
evolved, as well as his Kadabra.  Both can be a real pain in the ass if you
don't take care of them quickly, but fortunately Pidgeot's still very weak
against Electric types and Alakazam's low defense makes it vulnerable to a
heavy-hitting Pokemon.  Growlithe can use Roar and screw with your line-up, and
while Exeggcute is no trouble, if you chose Bulbasaur as your starter you'll
have to go against Gyarados.  It's terribly vulnerable to Electric types, so
if you can hit it with a Thunderbolt straight-away, you won't have to worry
about it.  Your Rival's starter is a real pain, though.  No matter what it is,
it'll be big, strong and tough to beat without comparable Pokemon of your own.
Still, it's nothing compared to what's up ahead, so take it down quick and
move on.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Once your Rival's been toasted, he'll wander off, leaving you to free Silph Co.
But first, talk to the guy standing nearby to receive a free Lapras!  Since
they're rare as all get-out, be thankful he's such a generous soul.  Take the
southern teleporter up to the second half of the 11th Floor.  You'll have to
battle another Rocket Grunt to reach the board room.  This one holds a Cubone,
Drowzee and Marowak combo, but they're not that tough after having triumphed
over your Rival.  Unlock the door to the board room and head in to face...!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Boss Giovanni (Payoff: $4100)

Pokemon (Level)   Type             Weakness(es)                            EXP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nidorino   (37)   Poison           Psychic, Ground                         934
Rhyhorn    (37)   Rock/Ground      Fight, Steel, Grass 4x, Water 4x,       1069
                                  Ice, Ground
Kangaskhan (35)   Normal           Fighting                                1312
Nidoqueen  (41)   Poison/Ground    Psychic, Ground, Grass, Water, Ice      1704

Guess who's back?  Back again...anyway, the Nidorino is a pushover, even
without a Ground or Psychic type.  The Rhyhorn remains extremely vulnerable to
Grass and Water, and Kangaskhan has lost a little of its punch now that you're
stronger as well.  Use Fighting moves to take it down quick, because its Mega
Punch move can still do a truckload of damage.  Nidoqueen is like Nidorino and
Rhyhorn combined: looks strong, but has a lot of weaknesses.  It's still got
enough moves to bring you to your knees should you take too long defeating it,
so bring out the heavy guns and waste her majesty.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After defeating Giovanni, he'll disappear once again and you'll be able to
speak to the president of Silph Co., who will deliver unto you the Master Ball.
Score 10x! Now make your way out of the building and into the light of day
once more.