First playthrough of gen 2 - words of advice?

[Shoegazer29]

As the title says, I'm about to play either gold or silver for the first time and am curious if anyone has any knowledge to pass along. I know about the addition of time and weather to the gameplay, and the addition of steel and dark types. Besides these concepts, is there anything else specific I should be aware of?

I'll definitely be using bulbapedia when making choices on party members/which moves to learn, but are there any favorite pokemon of gen 2 you think I should use? Which new pokemon are a waste of time to train? What new moves are essential to learn? You get the gist - whatever you think a first time player of this gen should know, tell me!

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

 

[Dovahgatr]

First off, you're lucky because Gen. 2 is what I began with this really excites me seeing someone taking the time and effort to play this game. My first word of advice, before you face Goldenrod's gym leader Whitney and her Devil Pokémon Miltank, there is a person somewhere in Goldenrod (I'm not telling because I want you to have fun with the game) who is willing to trade his Machop for a Drowzee (which can be caught in the route just before entering the city) and/or in Violet City where you trade a Bellsprout (Before and after Violet City) for a Onix (Which can also be caught in Union Cave. Or just find a Geodude early on in Dark Cave. I also would recommend getting Cyndaquil for a starter so you have an easy time in the Sprout Tower, or pick up a Pidgey/Spearow/Hoothoot and get a different one. I also recommend getting Totodile if you want a Pokémon to deal with the Ghost Gym or get another Drowzee or Abra (Which is caught in the same route as Drowzee). Also, pick up a fire type Pokémon because the Steel gym will give you trouble if you don't have one. If you still have Machop that's fine, but don't forget that for the fire Pokémon you need a fire stone for Growlithe and Vulpix (which are the ones you find in Route 37). Picking up a Psychic/Flying is a must for the Fighting gym, but a Electric type like Mareep (Route 32)/Magnemite (Route 38/39) for his Poliwrath. Above all, make sure you get a Ice type from the Ice Cave before fighting the Dragon lady. And a Ice type like Swinub would be great. The Pokémon League will not be much the challenge if you follow this guideline. But after that you will go to Kanto and fight their gym leaders, which you probably know of. At Pallet, you can choose one of the original 3 starters. Beat the league again, then go up Mt. Silver and fight................... POKEMON TRAINER -Blank- :3 Good luck and have fun man, reply to me how you like it man, and remember that the types are all considered either special or physical (Water=Special, Fighting=Physical) so make sure you want the moves on your Pokémon or not

 

[Thorne_Darkrose]

Headbutt is exceedingly useful in these games due to being able to knock pokemon out of certain trees, and this is the only way I know of to catch both Pineco and Heracross. Also, you can catch Tauros outside of Ecruteak City on the left, its the way to get to olivine city. Also the kanto Gym Leaders won't be pushovers, as they are at a much higher level than they would normally be, and in order to open up the cerulean cave you have to defeat them and the elite four again. This is also how you gain the option to fight the mysterious trainer at Mt. Silver. I don't remember being able to get a kanto starter but admittedly its been a long time. Also, make sure once you're in kanto to get the silver wing/rainbow wing in Pewter city, this will allow you to get a battle with either Lugia or Ho-Oh, depending on what game you're playing. It will be the Silver Wing in Gold, and the Rainbow Wing in Silver. Lugia will be in the whirl Islands, and Ho-Oh will be at the very top of the Tin Tower. The three legendary beasts are in the basement of the burned tower in Ecruteak City, once found they will wander the Johto Region map until you randomly encounter them and manage to catch them or knock them out, but if you do knock them out you lose your chance at catching them. Once spotted they will be able to be tracked via their pokedex map locator, but they will jump around the map, and they will run away from battle if they have a higher speed than your lead pokemon, so make sure to have a pokemon with mean look to keep them from running. Mewtwo should be in the cerulean cave as always, and the legendary birds are all pretty much where they have always been.There are also pokemon in Kanto you can't catch in Johto, so make sure to grab them while you can. The safari zone is closed this time around if I remember right. Kangaskhan can be found in the rock tunnel, but it's a bit of a pain to find. Chansey can be found on the route between Fuschia City and Lavender town in only one area, and they are EXTREMELY rare. There is a trainer in said location willing to trade an aerodactyl for one if I remember correctly on route 14 in kanto. If you need any other hints I am sure either I or someone else can do our best to help you out. Oh and watch out for Whitney's Miltank, that thing has made many a pokemon trainer rage quit.

 

[Shoegazer29]

Thanks for all the advice! I'll definitely refer back to this topic once I get my game started.

 

[Winterdaze]

Something to take note of is that the level curve of Gen II games is very screwy, particularly in the original GSC. Trainers in an area might have Pokemon 10-15 levels lower than expected, and the 6th Gym leader has higher level Pokemon than the 7th!

Also, if you're playing Gold or Silver I'd advise not using a Pokemon that evolves from a stone other than the Sun or Moon stones, as they won't be available until very late in the game.

 

[IceHippo95]

If you're still playing through the game, I highly recommend you catch a Lapras. Lapras can be found in the Union Cave on Fridays. Enter the cave through the Azalea entrance, and head west until you find the second body of water. Use Surf, go down the ladder, and go down the other ladder to the east. Lapras is in the furthermost body of water to the south. It's extremely useful against Lance, as it learns Ice Beam around level 36.

As for Whitney, I prefer to catch a Nidoran female in the route above Goldenrod and train it until it evolves and give it the Quick Claw(found in National Park). Sand Attack is also really useful in the fight as Miltank won't land Rollout as often. Paralysis is a must if you wish to outspeed her, as she'll outspeed anything you have up to that point.

Morty's Gengar can be a MASSIVE pain to take down. I recommend at least 5 Awakenings for Hypnosis. Almost any Fire type move(anything but Ember) will do a number on Jasmine's team(Ground types will also be immune to Magnemite's Thunder Wave). I usually bring a Flying type or Espeon to Chuck's gym. Pryce is an absolute joke(just use hard hitting moves for Seel/Dewgong and Surf for Piloswine). Paralyzing Clair's Kingdra is a good idea as she'll use a Full Heal(IIRC), then paralyze it again. A powerful Ice move is essential to taking her down before she takes you down, as her three Dragonair each have Thunder Wave and either Surf, Thunderbolt, or Ice Beam.

And of course, Always carry at least 30+ Pokéballs of varied kinds. You never know what you'll find in the tall grass.

Gen 2 was my bread and butter as a child. Feel free to ask about anything else.