Old man (Kanto)

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)
Trainer class	Trainer
Generation	I, II, III, IV
Games	Red, Blue, and Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen, HeartGold and SoulSilver

The old man (Japanese: おじいさん old man) is a small, grumpy old man that lives in Viridian City, Kanto. At first, he is very grumpy and will not let the player pass through to Route 2, until he has had his coffee for the day. This is just a barrier in the game, so the player will not wander past Viridian City until the player goes to the Viridian Poké Mart and delivers Oak's Parcel to Professor Oak.

After that, he starts to lighten up and help the player by teaching them how to catch a Pokémon using a Poké Ball. This is a guide for novice players in Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen. In Red, Blue, FireRed and LeafGreen, he catches a Weedle. In Yellow, he fails to catch a Rattata, then goes to the Poké Mart to get more Poké Balls; if the player talks to him again, he will successfully catch Rattata. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen he will also give the player a Teachy TV, which teaches the player a variety of things about battling and catching Pokémon. His grandson, Primo, is the host of the show.

He appears again in Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver saying that he had his cup of coffee, which is revealed to be a double shot of espresso, and also tells the player he was once an expert at catching Pokémon. This is a reference to the events that happened three years before Generation II. Because Kanto is not accessed until later in those games, the old man will not demonstrate how to catch Pokémon; this role is taken by Route 29's Dude in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and Ethan or Lyra in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

In the original Japanese games, the old man is not grumpy from lack of coffee, but rather passed out; drunk. This was changed in English for obvious reasons, as this could be deemed as "unsuitable".

Old man glitch

Main article: Old man glitch

The old man glitch is probably one of the most infamous glitches in the Generation I Pokémon games. It causes wild Missingno., 'M and various Pokémon over level 100 or at level 80 to appear.

Pokémon

Pokémon Red and Blue

	Types: Bug Poison
Weedle Lv.5
Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --

Pokémon Yellow

	Type: Normal Unknown
Rattata Lv.5
Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

	Types: Bug Poison Ability: Shield Dust Held item: None
Weedle♂ Lv.5
Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --       Struggle Normal   --

Appearance

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Generation IV overworld sprite

Overworld sprites

Overworld passed out sprite from Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow	Overworld sprite from Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow	Overworld sprite from Generation II	Overworld passed out sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen	Overworld sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen

Back sprites

Gallery

• 

  The old man in Red, Green and Blue

• 

  The old man in Yellow

• OldMan.png

  The old man in FireRed and LeafGreen.

Trivia

• The old man was the first non-player character to receive a back sprite.
  • The old man, Dude and Primo are the only Trainers to have back sprites but not front sprites.
• In Pokémon Red and Blue, he owns a total of 50 Poké Balls in his bag before he demonstrates how to catch Pokémon to the Trainer. This amount was changed to one in Pokémon Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen.

In other languages

Language Title French Viellard* Le vieil homme* Spanish Anciano

Capture tutors Old man • Primo • Professor Oak • Dude • Ethan/Lyra • Wally • Lucas/Dawn • Professor Juniper Bianca • Calem/Serena • Professor Kukui • Leon • Professor Laventon • Nemona

This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.