Pokemon Firered tips?

Well I just started pokemon FireRed and it's kinda cool so far. One question, there is like a billion pokemon and it seems kinda overwhelming. Are there any specific pokemon i should focus on or should I try to keep every single one i catch leveled up? So far I have Mankey(i know he's important), pidgie, charmander(i know metal claw is important) and rattata.

Well, what you need to aim for is a variety, so don't have two of the same types in your team, having a variety will allow to face nearly all problems seeing as you will probably have the pokemon that is super effective agaisn't your apponent. For example my team:

-Venasaur, grass/poison

-Gyarados, water

-Arcanine. fire

Snorlax, normal

Raichu, electric

Dodrio, flying

my way is to train all pokemon up to 10 levels between gyms. that way you will be able to beat your gym easier. my other training tip: go crazy and train 1 pokemon for a month straight before the first gym