"I calculated all possible orders in which the player can challenge the gyms in gens 1 and 2"

I wanted to see how much freedom the first two generations gave the player, so I calculated all of the different orders you can challenge the gyms in.First, I abbreviated each leader's name into a letter. Since Brock must be challenged first and Misty must be challenged second, with Giovanni being last, I excluded their letters from the list for better readability. The only other constraint is that Koga must be challenged before Blaine, because Koga's badge allows the player to use surf. So with those in mind, the letters are u for Surge, e for Erika, k for Koga, s for Sabrina, and b for Blaine. The possible orders are:{u,e,k,s,b} {u,e,k,b,s} {u,e,s,k,b} {u,k,e,s,b} {u,k,e,b,s} {u,k,s,e,b} {u,k,s,b,e} {u,k,b,e,s} {u,k,b,s,e} {u,s,e,k,b} {u,s,k,e,b} {u,s,k,b,e}{e,u,k,s,b} {e,u,k,b,s} {e,u,s,k,b} {e,k,u,b,s} {e,k,s,u,b} {e,k,s,b,u} {e,k,b,u,s} {e,k,b,s,u} {e,s,u,k,b} {e,s,k,u,b} {e,s,k,b,u} {k,u,e,s,b} {k,u,e,b,s} {k,u,s,e,b} {k,u,s,b,e} {k,u,b,e,s} {k,u,b,s,e} {k,e,u,s,b} {k,e,u,b,s} {k,e,s,u,b} {k,e,s,b,u} {k,e,b,u,s} {k,e,b,s,u} {k,s,u,e,b} {k,s,u,b,e} {k,s,e,u,b} {k,s,e,b,u} {k,s,b,u,e} {k,s,b,e,u} {k,b,u,e,s} {k,b,u,s,e} {k,b,e,u,s} {k,b,e,s,u} {k,b,s,u,e} {k,b,s,e,u} {s,u,e,k,b} {s,u,k,e,b} {s,u,k,b,e} {s,e,u,k,b} {s,e,k,u,b} {s,e,k,b,u} {s,k,u,e,b} {s,k,u,b,e} {s,k,e,u,b} {s,k,e,b,u} {s,k,b,u,e} {s,k,b,e,u}That gives us 59 possible ways to challenge the gyms in gen 1.In gen 2, Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, and Morty must be challenged in order. This is because Whitney lets the player use strength and Morty allows surfing, and all gyms after them are locked behind one or both. However, once the player has surf and strength, the remaining gyms can be challenged in any order. This time we'll use c for Chuck, j for Jasmine, p for Pryce, and l for Clair:{c,j,p,l} {c,j,l,p} {c,p,j,l} {c,p,l,j} {c,l,j,p} {c,l,p,j} {j,c,p,l} {j,c,l,p} {j,p,c,l} {j,p,l,c} {j,l,c,p} {j,l,p,c} {p,c,j,l} {p,c,l,j} {p,j,c,l} {p,j,l,c} {p,l,c,j} {p,l,j,c} {l,c,j,p} {l,c,p,j} {l,j,c,p} {l,j,p,c} {l,p,c,j} {l,p,j,c}That gives us 24 ways to challenge the gyms in gen 2. The Kanto gyms can be done in any order you want, which gives 40,320 possible orders.I don't know if this has any significance really, but it goes to show how the design philosophy of the series has changed over time. Who knows, maybe Pokemon on Switch will return to a more "open" design like this.Edit: I was mistaken that Clair can be challenged at any time in gen 2. A man blocks the path in Mahogany Town until 7 badges are obtained by the player. With that accounted for, there are actually only 6 possible gym orders in gen 2. In gen 4, Clair may be challenged as soon as the radio tower is liberated.u/curbstomp45 pointed out that I missed one. The total for gen 1 is actually 60. via /r/pokemon http://ift.tt/2CtcpYL