Kanto Route 17

Route 17 (Japanese: １７ばんどうろ Route 17) is a route in central Kanto, connecting and. The route is also known as Cycling Road (Japanese: サイクリングロード Cycling Road), where only people with Bicycles or Motorcycles are permitted to travel on the road, making the route a favorite hangout for motorcyclists and bicyclists alike.

Route description

 * This is a description of the route as it is shown in Generations, , and . For a description of the Generation IV version of Route 17, see Differences among generations.

From Route 16 south, two stone paths in the grass provide bikers with a guide on where to travel. Just south of the northern terminus is a grassy area containing wild Pokémon east of the eastern path. South of the grass, a third stone path begins, paralleling a narrow channel of water along its entire length.

Several paces south of the north bank of the channel, the middle stone path ends, becoming a dirt path as it runs between the aforementioned water body and a second channel that begins at this point. The west stone path runs along the west bank of the new channel, meeting the dirt path at the southern end of the channel.

About 20 paces south of the junction between the western and central paths, a small strip of land connects the western and eastern paths and separates a small body of water from the long channel to the north. The two paths merge into a single Route 17 just south of this point.

Two more stone paths form at this point, lining the western and eastern edges of the route. They come to an end at a ledge that also marks the end of Route 17.

Though the water is not blocked off from the route, ing along Route 17 is prohibited. If attempted, the game will say "Cycling is fun! Forget SURFing!"

Generations I and III
Besides graphical updates, few noticeable changes are present between the original games and their remakes. In Generation III, the flowers are removed and lampposts are added on both sides of the route. Fishing is also prohibited along the route in the remakes.

Generation II
In Generation II, the southern portion of Route 17 was substantially reduced in length. Also, the number of Trainers along the route was reduced from 10 in other generations to four. Every signpost is removed and a portion of is moved to this route as well.

Generation IV
In Generation IV, the layout of the route is completely changed. Route 17 is finally depicted as a metal bridge, matching the Midori Harada artwork more closely. At the north of the route, the bridge now attaches to elevated land, so that the bridge is explicitly inclining down as the player travels south. The water ponds in the center of the route are removed. The bridge has a unique design this time, with textures not found in other places. From both the south and north, the route starts as a single path but later divides into two segments. While the west path is wide, with lampposts designed similarly to that of Generation III, the east path is narrower with lights above the road. Like Generation II, the signposts are removed. Traveling north on the route also no longer incurs a penalty to speed.

In Pokémon Pinball
In, Cycling Road appears on the Red table; catchable include , , , and.

In the anime
A Cycling Road first appeared in The Bridge Bike Gang, although is was notably different than in the games, connecting to Sunnytown instead of Fuchsia City. At first, and  were unable to cross it due their lack of bicycles, but to their luck, the local Nurse Joy allowed them to use loaned bicycles to deliver a medicine to the Sunnytown Pokémon Center. On the way, they were attacked by the local bike gang, led by Chopper. However, once the bike gang learned of the group's delivery mission, they let them pass and accompanied them all the way to Sunnytown.

A Cycling Road also appeared in The Green Guardian, this time connecting to Fuchsia City, like in the games. Ash and his friends intended to travel through it on their way to the, but found out that it was closed, forcing them to take a detour. It turned out that the road had been closed due to a group of huge vines having grown out of nowhere, blocking it off. With the help of the Solana, Ash and his friends found out that the cause of the vines was an injured, who had grown them in order to protect itself. After the group had helped Celebi recover, the Time Travel Pokémon made the vines disappear, opening the Cycling Road up once again and allowing Ash and his friends to use it to continue their journey.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
The Cycling Road debuted in Blame It on Eevee, where Erika's caused  to crash his bike. About to complain to the owner, Red was stopped by some of her minions, telling him that Erika is from the richest family in Celadon City and the local Gym Leader as well. After hearing that she was the Gym Leader of Celadon City, Red wanted to challenge her, but she said that she would only challenge him if he found an Eevee. Red tried to contact at the Route 17 Pokémon Center to find out what an  is, but he was out. Suddenly, Red got a call from his old friend, who helped him find an Eevee, which turned out to be capable of changing between its three evolutions at will due to an experiment of Team Rocket.

In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga
Cycling Road appeared in Get the Flying Machine!!.

Trivia

 * One of the signs along the route says "Don't throw the game, throw Poké Balls instead", probably referring to the fact the player may get frustrated with the fact that they're losing a battle, and also it is common for someone to throw a game controller, or a hand-held console, if they get frustrated at a game, thus breaking the fourth wall.
 * A exists in Generation I that allows the player to get on to Cycling Road without a Bicycle. If the player exploits this glitch without ever obtaining the item and gets on Cycling Road, the player will still be riding a bike. This is because the game assumes that the player has a Bicycle if they can get past the guard in the checkpoint.
 * In, the hidden Rare Candy is found exactly one tile lower than in the other Generation I games.

In other languages
Route 17 (Kanto) Ruta 17 (Kanto) Route 17 (Kanto) Percorso 17 (Kanto) 17ばんどうろ (カントー地方) １７号道路（关都）