Old man (Kanto) - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokmon encyclopedia

From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.

Old man おじいさん Old man
The old man blocking the path
Gender	Male
Hometown	Viridian City
Region	Kanto
Relatives	Maximo (grandson), Primo (grandson), unnamed granddaughter
Trainer class	Trainer
Generation	I, II, III, IV
Games	Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, FireRed, LeafGreen, HeartGold, SoulSilver

The old man (Japanese: おじいさん old man) is an NPC that lives in Viridian City in the Kanto region.

Role

Generations I and III

When the player first visits Viridian City, an old man lying on the path blocks the player's way. In the original Japanese version, he is passed out drunk; in the American and European language versions, he is grumpy due to not having had his coffee for the day. Once the player has delivered Oak's Parcel to Professor Oak, the old man will no longer be in the way.

Once he has had his coffee (sobered up in the Japanese version), he helps the player by teaching them how to catch a Pokémon using a Poké Ball.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, the player can skip his tutorial by simply not talking with him. However, in Pokémon Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen, the tutorial is unskippable. In those later games, once the player tries to leave Viridian City in the direction of Route 2 for the first time (and the old man is not blocking the way anymore), the old man talks to the player and starts the tutorial.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, he carries a total of 50 Poké Balls in his Bag and uses one to catch a Weedle. In Pokémon Yellow, he has just one Poké Ball and fails to catch a Rattata; after failing to catch it, he goes to the Poké Mart to buy more and agrees to repeat the tutorial and successfully catch the Rattata after the player enters and leaves the Poké Mart. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, he only has one Poké Ball, which he uses to successfully catch a Weedle; additionally, in these games he gives the player a Teachy TV, which contains additional video tutorials provided by his grandson, Primo, in his Poké Dude Show.

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the old man does not appear. His function as a road block early in the game is replaced by Jessie, James, and Meowth. His function as a tutorial is replaced by Professor Oak, who helps the player catch their partner Pokémon.

• 

  Tutorial in Pokémon Red and Blue

• 

  Tutorial in Pokémon Yellow

• 

  Tutorial in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Generations II and IV

He reappears in the Generation II games and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver saying that he needs someone to talk with, then asks the player if they believe that he was once an expert at catching Pokémon.

In the Western versions, he starts by saying that he is wired from a double shot of espresso. In the Japanese versions, he instead starts by letting out a hiccup (Japanese: 「ひっく⋯⋯」) and requests the player to wait so that they listen to what he has to say.

Old man glitch

The old man glitch is one of the most widely known glitches in the English Generation I Pokémon games. It causes wild MissingNo., 'M (00), and various Pokémon over level 100 or at level 80 to appear.

Pokémon

Caught in tutorial

Gallery

Sprites

Quotes

Pokémon Red and Blue

• After delivering Oak's Parcel

• After the capture tutorial

Pokémon Yellow

• If tried to get past of before delivering Oak's Parcel

• After delivering Oak's Parcel

• After failed capture tutorial

• If talked to again

• After successful capture tutorial

Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

• If tried to get past of before delivering Oak's Parcel

• After delivering Oak's Parcel

• After the capture tutorial

• If talked to again

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Trivia

• In the Japanese Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue, if both the player's party and PC Box are full, the old man's tutorial will indefinitely issue the command to use a Poké Ball and return the "full Box" message due to a programming oversight. This was fixed in Pokémon Yellow and the localized releases.
• In the Generation I games, the old man's cheeks are blushed while he is passed out drunk. The blush is in all versions of the games, regardless as to the context.
• He, his grandson, and the Dude are the only NPCs to receive a back sprite, but not a front one.

In other languages

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