Pewter City: Brock, Boulder Badge and the Museum of Science

This is where you earn the region's very first Badge. Pewter City, home of Gym Leader Brock, pairs its Rock-type Gym with a Museum of Science devoted to fossils and space. The Johto games hide leads to several legendaries here, and the anime made it the place where Ash first meets Brock.

Contents

• Pewter City, between Route 2 and Mt. Moon
• The Pewter Gym and Brock's Boulder Badge
• The Museum of Science: fossils downstairs, space upstairs
• Legendary feathers, trades and fossils in the Johto games
• The Enigma Stone: Steven Stone and the Eon duo in Pewter City
• Pewter City on screen and in the manga
• Pewter City at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Pewter City, between Route 2 and Mt. Moon

Pewter City lies in the Kanto region, and two routes are all it takes to connect it to the rest of the map. To the east, Route 3 heads off toward Mt. Moon; to the south, Route 2 runs back down to Viridian City.

The city spans five generations of games: Red and Blue, Yellow, Gold and Silver, Crystal, FireRed and LeafGreen, HeartGold and SoulSilver and finally the two Let's Gogames, Pikachu and Eevee alike.

Its French name, Argenta, didn't come out of nowhere. In an interview, Julien Bardakoff, who handles the series' official French translation, revealed that it refers to Argentat, a French town since renamed Argentat-sur-Dordogne. Other languages went their own way: Pewter City in English, Marmoria City in German, Ciudad Plateada in Spanish and Plumbeopoli in Italian.

The Pewter Gym and Brock's Boulder Badge

No Kanto Gym comes before it: Pewter City's Gym opens the series and specializes in the Rock type. Brock, its Gym Leader, awards the Boulder Badge to those who beat him, from Red and Blue all the way to Let's Go. Our overview of the Gym Leaders puts this first battle in the context of the region's full progression.

In Red and Blue, Brock defends his title with just two Pokémon, Geodude and Onix. FireRed and LeafGreen follow up the win with a gift: the Running Shoes, handed over by an aide of Professor Oak stationed near Route 3, at the east exit.

The Museum of Science: fossils downstairs, space upstairs

Set in the north of the city, the Museum of Science devotes its ground floor to paleontology, with reconstructions of Kabutops and Aerodactyl. One room on this floor stays out of reach until you clear the small tree growing on the east side, using Cut or Chop Down. Visitors who make the effort leave with the Old Amber, a gift from a Scientist: this fossil will later let you bring an Aerodactyl back to life, as explained in our guide to fossil Pokémon.

Head up one floor and you go from fossils to the stars: space takes up the entire upper floor, around a model space shuttle. Red, Blue and Yellow named it Columbia; later versions left it unnamed, a change most likely explained by the real Columbia disaster in 2003. The first generation also places an old man in the museum who lumps together, in the same breath, July 20, 1969, the date of humanity's first steps on the Moon, and the day he bought his color TV.

The entry fee, ₽50, doesn't always apply. During the renovations in Gold, Silver and Crystal, the building simply doesn't open; HeartGold and SoulSilver make it free, but without its space exhibit. FireRed and LeafGreen put a move tutor in the room that Cut opens up: Seismic Toss can only be learned there once. Finally, Let's Go adds touches for the Pokémon following the player: a Kabutops stops in front of its species' reconstruction, and a Clefairy, like any Pokémon that evolves with a Moon Stone, stands in awe of the one upstairs.

Legendary feathers, trades and fossils in the Johto games

In the second-generation games and their remakes, an old man in Pewter City gives the player a feather linked to a legendary. Lugia is tied to the Silver Wing, which players of Gold, HeartGold and Crystal receive; those playing Silver and SoulSilver get the Rainbow Wing instead, the key to encountering Ho-Oh.

At the Pokémon Center, a man is looking to trade. For a Gloom, in Gold and Silver he hands over his Rapidash nicknamed Runny, which holds a Burnt Berry. Crystal and then the remakes change the deal: he now asks for a Haunter and offers a Xatu, nicknamed Paul, whose MysteryBerry gives way in the remakes to a Wacan Berry.

HeartGold and SoulSilver give the museum a new role: as long as you have a free spot in your team, a Scientist will revive the fossils the player brings in. On certain days of the week, the photographer Cameron also comes to the museum to snap the player surrounded by their Pokémon.

The Enigma Stone: Steven Stone and the Eon duo in Pewter City

The Enigma Stone couldn't be obtained through normal play: you had to receive it at a Nintendo distribution event. Those who had it then got a scene unique to Pewter City in HeartGold and SoulSilver. At the museum, Steven Stone hands the item to a Scientist, whose analysis reveals a sphere containing the Soul Dew, in which dwells the spirit of the Eon duo.

The encounter happens on your way out: Latias blocks your path in HeartGold, Latios in SoulSilver. This level 40 legendary sticks around until the end of the battle and never flees. Once it's caught, Steven Stone heads back to Hoenn and never sets foot in town again.

🌈 Lugia, Ho-Oh, Latias, Latios: keep the legendary hunt going with our Legendary Pokémon collection.

Pewter City on screen and in the manga

Ash Ketchum battles Brock there as early as the first season, in "Showdown in Pewter City" (EP005): the opponent of the day will become his friend. Flint, the Gym Leader's father, also runs a little stall selling rocks in town. Much later, the Battle Frontier season brings the group back in "Grating Spaces!" (AG177), this time to win the Gym back from Jessie and James. Pokémon Chronicles returns there in "A Family That Battles Together Stays Together!": back from Johto, Brock finds the Gym repainted pink by his mother, who wants to dedicate it to Water-type Pokémon. He challenges her, wins and preserves the Gym's reputation.

In JN038, an episode of Pokémon Journeys, it's the museum that serves as the backdrop. Goh, Chloe and Ash were hoping to see an exceptionally large Shieldon that had just been restored, but the hall isn't open that day. The three friends then head off to dig at an excavation site, where Goh ends up unearthing a fragment of Old Amber, which he then entrusts to the curator's Restoration Machine. Lying in wait, Team Rocket tries to rush the process: the machine explodes, and out comes an Aerodactyl revived ahead of schedule. While Ash stands up to the villains, Goh chases the fossil Pokémon through the halls with his Golurk and finally catches it.

Pokémon Origins stops here in its very first episode, "File 1: Red". While visiting the museum, Red overhears two girls talking about the local Gym Leader; once at the Gym, he recognizes Brock as the stranger he had run into right after losing to Blue. The Pokémon Adventures manga also stops in Pewter City, in chapters 4 and 5: its hero earns the first Badge of his journey there and catches his Pikachu.

Pewter City at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• What type of Pokémon does the Pewter City Gym use?
  Rock type. Its Gym Leader, Brock, awards the Boulder Badge, and it's the very first Gym in Kanto.
• How do you get the Old Amber in Pewter City?
  A Scientist gives it to you in a ground-floor room of the Museum of Science, which only opens once you've cut down the small tree on the east side (Cut or Chop Down). This fossil is later used to revive an Aerodactyl.
• How much does it cost to enter the Pewter Museum of Science?
  ₽50 in most games. HeartGold and SoulSilver make it free, while in Gold, Silver and Crystal the museum is closed for renovations.
• How do you encounter Latias or Latios in Pewter City?
  Only in HeartGold and SoulSilver, and with the Enigma Stone from a Nintendo distribution. Steven Stone has it examined at the museum, then Latias (HeartGold) or Latios (SoulSilver) waits for the player at the exit, at level 40.
• In which episode does Ash meet Brock?
  In "Showdown in Pewter City" (EP005), early in the first season: Ash fights the battle against Brock that marks the start of their friendship.

In short

Pewter City is the first step of any playthrough in Kanto: a Rock-type Gym Leader and his Badge, plus a museum where fossils lie sleeping. The Johto games and their remakes added encounters with Lugia, Ho-Oh, Latias or Latios, and the anime made it the starting point of Ash and Brock's friendship.