LogFAQs > #966964420

Something I was thinking about recently. Assuming no glitches are performed, Brock MUST be the first leader that the player faces because the player cannot proceed past Pewter City until he is defeated, and Misty must be second because the player needs to be able to use Cut to get to any other gyms past hers. But after that it kind of muddles a bit and I'm wondering what the wackiest order could be? If you trade for a Pokemon with Cut, is there anything preventing the player from just going east of Cerulean after beating Misty and heading straight for Rock Tunnel to get to the central-Kanto towns? Yes you could head to Vermillion first to get Flash but it's not absolutely necessary (literally on my first playthrough as a dumb kid I muscled through Rock Tunnel in the dark). Even if you did head to Vermillion to get Flash, I don't think there's any reason you NEED to beat Surge at this point, because all his badge does is let you use Fly, right? Is there anything else locked until post-Surge? If not, I think he can be as late as the 7th leader you face. Erika/Koga/Sabrina can be challenged in any order, and I believe Blaine only requires Koga being beaten to use Surf. Giovanni requires all 7 prior badges so he HAS to be last, so unless I'm overlooking something, I think the wackiest order you could beat these guys and gals in is something like:

Brock -> Misty -> Koga -> Blaine -> Sabrina -> Erika -> Surge -> Giovanni