How to Get to Saffron City in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Getting the Tea Drink

Go to Celadon City. To get to Saffron City, first, you'll need to go back to Celadon City. As a reminder, this is the city where the six-story department store is located and where Erica, the grass-type master, is the gym leader. It is located directly to the West of Saffron City, connected to it by Route Seven. If you have a Pokémon who knows the "Fly" move (HM02), you can simply fly to Celadon City. If not, reach it from Fuchsia City via the Bike Tunnel (Route 17) or from Lavender Town via the Underground Path.

Go into Celadon Mansion. Once you're in Celadon City, visit the Celadon Mansion. This building, located next to Celadon's Pokémon Center, is where you probably originally received an Eevee.

Talk to the Old Lady. On the first floor of the Celadon Mansion, you should find an old woman. She is sitting at a table above and to the left of the entrance. Talk to her.

Receive the tea drink. The old woman should give you a hot tea drink. Congratulations — you now have what you need to get into Saffron City! Since you're already at the Celadon Mansion, you may want to take the time to visit the second floor, where you can find information about Erika, the Saffron City Gym leader. This is a must if you're attempting the Fame Checker sidequest.

Reaching Saffron City

Head east to Route Seven. Once you have the tea, you'll want to leave Celadon, exiting the city to the east (which is the right side of the screen). You don't necessarily need to heal your Pokémon at the Celadon City Pokémon Center, though it won't hurt — there are no enemy trainers on Route Seven.

Enter the gatehouse to Saffron City. Route Seven is very short and safe compared to other routes — all you need to do to reach the Saffron City gate is walk south, then east (down, then right). Hop or walk down the ledge and enter the skinny, sideways facing building. The only way to get into a fight on Route Seven is to walk through the patch of tall grass above the path you need to take. This isn't necessary to get to Saffron City, however.

Talk to the police officer. Inside the gatehouse, you'll see a police officer. Originally, this officer would have kept you from entering Saffron City. Now, however, you'll want to approach him and talk to him — he should take the tea and drink it. After this, he will let you through the gate without any harm done. Congratulations! Exit the building to the right and you'll have made it to Saffron City!

Visiting Saffron City Later in the Game

Fly to Saffron City. Once you've visited Saffron City for the first time, the easiest way to get there in the future by far is to fly there. All you need is a Pokémon that knows the Fly move (HM02) and you can reach Saffron City basically instantly from most parts of Kanto. To fly to Saffron City, select a flying-type Pokémon in the Pokémon menu who knows Fly, then select "Fly" from the menu and select Saffron City on the map. Saffron is the city at the Center of the "cross" on the east side of the map.

Walk to Saffron City. If you don't have a Pokémon who knows Fly in your party or you're looking for a little extra experience, you may want to walk to Saffron City. There a number of different ways to do this since Saffron is centrally located between four different towns. Below are brief directions for reaching Saffron City from each direction: From the north: Starting in Cerulean City, head south through Route Five. Note that the northern end of the Underground Path exits into Route Five. From the south: Starting in Vermillion City, head north through the winding path of Route Six. Note that the southern end of the Underground Path exits into Route Six. From the east: Starting in Lavender Town, head west, following the road through Route Eight. Note that the end of the Underground Path exits into Route Eight. From the west: Use Route Seven as described in the section above.

Bike to Saffron City. If you don't have a Pokémon who knows Fly in your party and you just want to Get to Saffron City as quick as possible, using the Bike is probably your best bet. With the bike, you can use any of the land routes listed above — you'll just be able to move through them faster. To get the bike, you must take the Bike Voucher (obtained from the Pokémon Fan Club in Vermillion City) to the bicycle shop in Cerulean City. Normally, the bike is 1,000,000 Pokémon dollars — one more than you can ever obtain in the game.