Red & Blue Rock Tunnel
A pitch-black cave you cannot cross without Flash, where Onix and Machop lurk on the winding way to Lavender Town.
Rock Tunnel is in Kanto, with Route 9 to the west. In the story you arrive from Route 10 to the south and it comes before Lavender Town.
ROCK TUNNEL MAP
No light reaches inside, so without Flash you inch along blind through two floors of switchback passages toward the Lavender side.
Rock Tunnel Walkthrough
1F
- From the entrance, bear east and south until a PokéManiacPokéManiac₱1,150
CuboneLv 23
SlowpokeLv 23Weak toWaterGrassIceElectricBug challenges you with Cubone and Slowpoke. - Keep east along the corridor, then head north to the corner ladder down to B1F.
B1F
- Head south off the landing, then west along the bottom, where a PokéManiac challenges you with his lone Slowpoke.
- At the west end, swing north, where a Jr. Trainer fights you with Oddish and Bulbasaur.
- Snake east and north through the middle, where a Hiker spots you with a lone Geodude, then climb the north ladder.
- On 1F, head down and east, where a Hiker battles you with Machop and three Geodude, then go south, east and north to the next ladder.
- Down on B1F, head west, where a Jr. Trainer challenges you with Jigglypuff, Pidgey and Meowth, then a Hiker fights you with two Geodude and a Graveler.
Highest-level fight · fight 1PokéManiacSlowpokeLv 25₱1,250SlowpokeLv 251F
- Head south along the east wall; a Jr. Trainer battles you with Bellsprout and Clefairy, and another spots you with Pidgey, two Rattata and Bellsprout.
- Follow the lower passage west until a Jr. Trainer fights you with Meowth, Oddish and Pidgey, then exit south onto Route 10.
Pokemon Encounters
Onix, Machop, Geodude, and Zubat make up the dark crawl through the tunnel. Machop is the catch to prioritize, an early Fighting-type that grows all the way into Machamp.
Zubat
Also found in 3 other locations
TRAINERS
This pitch-black tunnel is packed end to end with Hikers fielding Rock and Ground teams up to level 25, a long haul that wears your PP down more than any one fight.
Hiker
Rock Tunnel Guide
Strongly recommended. Rock Tunnel is the only cave the games leave unlit, so without Flash you stumble around a black screen, walking into trainers and Zubat you never saw coming. Grab the Flash HM from Oak's Aide at the Route 2 gate beforehand and teach it to any spare party member.
Manageable, just slow going in the dark. The trainers cap out in the low twenties while the wild Zubat and Machop sit down in the teens, so a lead near level 22 carries you through. The real snag is no Pokemon Center until Lavender Town, so stock Potions and an Antidote first.
Rock Tunnel is the only one you can't see inside. Mt. Moon, the Seafoam Islands, Victory Road, and the Unknown Dungeon all light themselves, so Flash is just a convenience there. Claim HM05 Flash from Oak's Aide in the Route 2 gatehouse once you've caught ten different species.
Victory Road and the Seafoam Islands both gate progress behind it. Victory Road uses boulder-on-switch puzzles to open doors, while Seafoam needs you to shove boulders into holes to kill the water current. You earn HM04 Strength from the Safari Zone Warden after returning his Gold Teeth.
Worth it when you're only passing through. Repels turn off any encounter weaker than your lead Pokemon, which makes a high-level run through Golbat-infested Victory Road far quieter. Just pull the Repel back off when you actually want a rarity like Chansey or Clefairy to appear.