>>58782047you get it before you get the old rod
If you keep it with you through mount moon and get it caught up with the rest of your team, you can have a Gyarados by Misty, and 540BST by gym 2 is nothing to sneeze at. That's 100-150 more than basically anything else you have access to by that point.
The purchase loses its effectiveness by Surge, as 1 it jobs to electric and 2. old rod is on the SS Anne Docks. 3. if you're playing Yellow you get Squirtle.
But even then, buying it early gets extra EV growth in, and it gets Dragon Rage at 25, which is guaranteed 40 damage, which is, again, nothing to sneeze at early game.
And then it's one of the only things to learn Hydro Pump and Hyper Beam by level up.
