Summary
The Gen 2Pokemongames stepped things up from the original games by fixing a lot of the bugs present in Gen 1 and adding the new Steel and Dark types to help balance the series' type system. Even with these improvements, the JohtoPokemongames aren’t the most difficult, but they are quite long given that players can tackle both the Johto Region and Kanto Region in a single playthrough. As such, there are several mons players should be looking at to create the optimal team for beating this generation of games.
The criteria for what makes a critter a good candidate for a team member include how accessible they are, their stat total and overall strength, and how useful they will be in dealing with a game’s major battles.
Although the Gen 2 games allow players to visit both the Johto and Kanto Regions, players will want to strategize their team around the mons available in theJohto Regionitself since Kanto can’t be accessed until after beating the Elite Four and Champion. The critters included on this team also aren’t necessarily the strongest in the games, but represent solid party members to utilize at the point in the games where they can be found, and how accessible they are to players in the modern day.
Jynx
Ice/Psychic
Gen 2 is often criticized for its strange difficulty curve, putting some of its toughest battles fairly early in the game and making leveling up mons more difficult later in the game. There are also a lot ofGen 2 Pokemon without an evolution, which holds back their strength, while others are not accessible until too late in the game to be useful. Due to these limitations, players will want to obtain mons that are useful in the early game and can still cover a diverse range of type weaknesses in the late game.
Typhlosion
Thebest starter choice for Gen 2 is Cyndaquilsince it isn’t weak to Falkner’s Flying types in the first Gym like Chikorita, and is the only starter to have a type advantage against any of the first three gyms, being super effective against Bugsy’s Bug types. Not only is Cyndaquil a great option for these early-game Gyms, but having a Typhlosion to take on Jasmine’s Steel types and Pryce’s Ice types later in the game is hugely beneficial. Since most of the other strong Fire types in Gen 2, like Slugma and Houndour, aren’t available until players can access the Kanto Region, Cyndaquil is their best bet.
Ampharos
Although having Cyndaquil on the team means players won’t have a weakness against Falkner’s Flying types, grabbing a Mareep from Route 32 just south of Violet City can give them a great advantage in the first gym battle. OnceMareep evolves into Ampharos, it can also be a huge help in dealing with a lot of the Water types that players will encounter during their travels through the Whirl Islands to Cianwood City. However, this strategy only works forPokemon Gold and Silver, as Mareep weirdly can’t be found natively inPokemon Crystal.
Quagsire
Quagsire is another useful mon players can catch early in the Gen 2 games with Wooper being available on Route 32 as well. While there might be stronger Water types in these games,Quagsire has the advantage of the excellent Water/Ground typecombination that leaves it with an immunity to Electric types and only a weakness to Grass types, which aren’t much of a threat in Gen 2. This mon also has access to Earthquake and has a solid Physical Defense stat which makes it a great candidate for tanking hits from Whitney’s infamous Miltank in the third Gym.
Players struggling with Whitney can trade a Drowzee for a Machop in Goldenrod City. However, it might be difficult to evolve it all the way to Machamp since it’s a trade evolution, so it’s likely this Machop won’t be a permanent member of the team.
Crobat
Crobat is one of the fewGen 2 Flying types worth using, and it has the added bonus of evolving from the ubiquitous Zubat which can be found in caves all over the Johto Region. Not only is Crobat useful for learning Fly, but it’s a great mon to have for dealing with Chuck’s Fighting types in the Cianwood City Gym and Bruno’s Fighting types in the Elite Four. Crobat is also incredibly fast with a base Speed stat of 130, and it evolves from Golbat with high friendship, meaning players can potentially have a fast, powerful team member relatively early in the game.
Umbreon
With the introduction of Dark types in Gen 2, thePokemonseries took steps to nerf the Psychic type that was severely overpowered in Gen 1. As such, it’s a great idea to have a Dark type on any Gen 2 team, and Umbreon is the best candidate for the job. Eevee can be obtained after talking to Bill in Ecruteak City and then visiting him at his home in Goldenrod City where he will gift players this mon. This timing puts players in a great position toevolve Eevee with high friendship at nightto obtain an Umbreon right before Morty’s Ghost-type Gym, where it would have the type advantage.
While it may seem strange to recommend that players use such a bizarre creature like Jynx on a playthrough team, this mon can actually be quite useful in the Gen 2 games. Having an Ice type on the team is a must in Gen 2’s late game since players will have to face multipleDragon-type trainers like Claire and Lance. Luckily, Jynx can be caught in the Ice Path just before players reach Blackthorn City, and it has the powerful Psychic type as its secondary type along with the highest Special Attack of any Ice type in the game, meaning it can take full advantage of Ice being a Special type in Gen 2.
