If you’re a 90s kid and an avid gaming fan, chances are you played Pokémon Gold or Silver—or even Crystal!—at some point during your childhood. As the highly anticipated follow-ups to Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, these were basically the hottest games out there when they dropped in 1999. We were given a whole new region to explore in the form of Johto, and could even go back to Kanto post-Elite Four if we needed some nostalgia in our lives! There were new moves available, new characters to meet, and—perhaps most excitingly—new Pokémon to catch.
In total, Gold and Silver introduced 100 new Pokémon. Some of these were created to evolve into or from Generation One Pokémon; some were totally new creations. All of them sent players into a frenzy when they were first announced—especially since there were two new Pokémon types, Dark and Steel, to consider! What would the new Legendary Pokémon be like? What changes did these new types bring to gameplay? Which “regular” Pokémon would be worth using, and which would be best to avoid?
Well, we may be a decade or two late, but we’ve come up with a conclusive answer to that final question! With Gold, Silver, and Crystal now available to play on the 3DS Virtual Console, what better time to reassess which Generation Two Pokémon are worth your time? Here are ten creatures introduced in PokémonGold and Silver that are criminally underrated—and ten that absolutely nobody should pick. Like, not even to add an extra level of challenge to the game. They’re just not worth it!
20 Underrated: Umbreon
Pokémon Gold and Silver saw the introduction of two more so-called “Eevee-lutions” into the already pretty satisfying fold. If you were a bit tired of using Jolteon, Flareon, or Vaporeon, you could give Espeon or Umbreon a try! These two new creatures showcased the game’s new internal clock mechanism, with Eevee evolving into each form during the day or at night respectively. On top of that, your buddy Eevee had to have a Friendship Value of 220 or higher before it could evolve. It seemed like a complicated process, especially compared to the comparatively straightforward Evolutionary Stone mechanism used with the previous Eevee-lutions!
However, the effort was definitely worth it.
Espeon quickly became a fan favorite, not only because it’s got a pretty beautiful design but because its Psychic-type moves are ridiculously strong! One Psychic from this Pokémon could quickly tip the balance of a battle in your favor. As for Umbreon… Well, it fell by the wayside a bit. That’s not to say players totally hated it or never used it at all—it’s always had its fans! However, Espeon tended to overshadow Umbreon a little bit. To us, this seems totally unfair! While its Dark-type STAB moves aren’t quite as powerful as Espeon’s Psychic counterparts, it still has many uses in battle. It’s great for stalling opponents, and its Special Defense is excellent. Give it a chance in your next Gold and Silver playthrough!
19 Avoid: Hoppip
To the uninitiated Pokémon Gold and Silver player, Hoppip may seem like a good option to use in the early game, if not all the way through. It’s a Grass Pokémon that’s not Chikorita (more on that later)! It comes super early in the game! It’s the first stage of a three-part evolutionary line! It can’t be that bad… Can it?
Well… Yes, actually, it can. Hoppip and its line are basically unusable for a number of reasons. For one, Hoppip itself starts life as the Magikarp of Gold and Silver. It learns nothing but Splash, Synthesis, and Tail Whip until level 10. After this point, at which it learns Tackle, it only learns one other offensive move—Mega Drain, at level 30. Like, why? Why would you want to use a Pokémon that only knows Tackle for much of its life, and even then doesn’t learn it until level 10?
This initial hardship would be worth it if Hoppip evolved into something impressive, like
Magikarp’s transformation into Gyarados at level 20. Unfortunately, neither Skiploom or Jumpluff is worth the wait. Just like its pre-evolution, the only offensive move Skiploom knows until level 30 is Tackle. By the time it’s a high enough level to get Mega Drain, it’s a Jumpluff, a Pokémon that looks cute but has appalling stats. It also ONLY LEARNS TACKLE AND MEGA DRAIN AS OFFENSIVE MOVES. I rest my case.
18 Underrated: Teddiursa
Teddiursa may come incredibly late in the main story of Gold, but it’s definitely worth picking up to take on your journey to Kanto. Just to make it known, we’re not just recommending that because it’s adorable (although to be fair, it is possibly the cutest Pokémon of Generation Two). In fact, Teddiursa is mainly worth catching due to its definitely not adorable final form, Ursaring.
That is one fearsome-looking bear.
Now, before we get into how cool this evolutionary line is, there are a couple of caveats to note. For one, you can only catch Teddiursa in Gold and Crystal—if you’re a Silver player, you’ll have to acquire it via trade. Secondly, despite coming late in the game, Teddiursa appears at level 20 in the wild. This is probably going to be considerably lower than the rest of your team’s levels.
Still, if you have the ability to get one and the patience to train it, Teddiursa will repay you in the end. At level 30, it evolves into Ursaring, a beastly Normal-type with a base Attack stat of 130. If that doesn’t justify it being a last-minute addition to your Elite Four-beating team, I don’t know what will. Likewise, the fact it comes so late is somewhat counterbalanced by the fact that Gold and Silver have such an extensive post-game. There’s still time to use this tardy but terrifying bear if you so wish.
17 Avoid: Dunsparce
Not to be rude, but what really is the point of Dunsparce? It’s a serious contender for the title of the worst Generation Two Pokémon, and that’s against some stiff competition. It’s the Trubbish of Gold and Silver. Nobody in their right mind would pick it up at level 2 in Dark Cave and think, hey, this is a Pokémon that I should invest time and effort into training!
Just in case you are considering committing a severe act of self-sabotage by training a Dunsparce, here are all of the reasons that you should avoid doing so. Firstly, there are its stats. They’re aggressively average at best, aside from some slightly boosted HP. This one positive point is basically useless considering Dunsparce doesn’t have the Speed, Attack, or Special Attack to do anything worthwhile.
In terms of its moves, it doesn’t have the worst range: it eventually learns Take Down, which isn’t terrible if you exclude the recoil damage. However, Dunsparce’s attacks aren’t exactly anything special, either. It falls into the trap of just being too dull and too mediocre to warrant being used in Gold and Silver. At least with Hoppip, you can laugh while it pathetically tries to Splash at things. Dunsparce doesn’t even have that entertainment value going for it.
16 Underrated: Sentret
Now, I know what you’re thinking: Sentret can’t possibly be underrated! It’s nothing but a filler Pokémon, used to populate the early routes of Gold and Silver! It’s Rattatta, but with a fluffier tail and smaller teeth! Well, true as this latter fact may be, Sentret actually does have more to it than your average “filler” creature. It may be one of the first Pokémon that you can actually catch, but that doesn’t mean it’s too weak and puny to make it through the rest of the game.
Now, Sentret is never going to be able to take down a Ho-oh in a single sweep.
It won’t send Lance’s multiple Dragonites straight to the Pokémon Center. However, especially once it’s evolved into Furret, it’s a surprisingly decent pick out of the early game’s Gold and Silver-exclusive Pokémon. For one, it’s a very handy HM slave. If you don’t want to waste one of your starter Pokémon’s move slots on Cut—because really, who does—Sentret is a viable option.
Plus, although Furret’s stats are pretty average, it learns A LOT of powerful STAB moves that can help to counteract this. If you teach it Headbutt, you’ve got a powerful hit followed by the chance of flinching. As long as you don’t use it in Cianwood City’s Fighting Gym, it can hold its own defensively too. It’s a solid slightly-above-average choice that is a bit more exciting than a Dunsparce.
15 Avoid: Togepi
This may be a slightly controversial opinion due to Togepi’s popularity amongst the Pokémon fandom, but in all honesty, it’s a creature to avoid in Gold and Silver. Yes, it comes early in the form of a Mysterious Egg. Yes, it basically became one of the mascots of the game thanks to Misty owning a Togepi in the Pokémon anime. Sure, it’s totally adorable. But cute does not equal usable in battle! While Togepi has become a more viable in-game choice following the introducing of its third evolutionary stage, Togekiss, in Generation Four, it was sadly a pretty poor option in Gold and Silver.
When you first hatch Togepi from its egg, it joins your party at the fairly low level of 5. The rest of your Pokémon will probably be stronger than that level-wise by the time Togepi joins the team, meaning you immediately have to grind in order to get your new addition up to speed. Sure, it’s not the end of the world, but it’s kinda annoying.
Also pretty irritating is Togepi’s really shallow move pool.
The only offensive move it learns until level 38 is Metronome, which is an erratic option at best. You never really know what you’re going to get when you use it, making battling with Togepi a constant risk. Even when it evolves into Togetic—with friendship, of course—it’s still only got mediocre stats, and still has terrible moves. It’s really not worth the effort of raising a Togepi.
14 Underrated: Crobat
Crobat is an incredibly quick and nifty Pokémon that was largely ignored in Gold and Silver due to its origins. Getting this Poison-Flying bat required raising a Zubat, and that’s no easy feat. It may come early in the game, but Zubat doesn’t exactly have the strength to make it an inviting early option. Things get better when it evolves into Golbat, but most players have already given up on it by then.
If you do manage to raise your Zubat—and then your Golbat—to the point where you achieve a high Friendship Level, you’re rewarded with a Crobat! Not only does it look incredibly cool, it also has quite a few strong points that make it worth a try. As we previously mentioned, it’s insanely fast, having a base Speed stat of 130. You can swoop in there and deal your opponent some damage before they even know what’s hit them. Its Wing Attack can deal a fair bit of damage, and Mean Look can come in handy when you’re trying to catch the roaming Legendary Dogs late on in the game. Crobat may not be the most powerful Pokémon out there, but it’s definitely cool enough to get a bit more love than it currently does.
13 Avoid: Chikorita
Just like its Generation One predecessor Bulbasaur, Chikorita is known as the Grass-type starter whose power is limited compared to that of its Water and Fire counterparts. Yes, it’s cute. Sure, there’s often something fun about challenging yourself to pick an under-used starter. However, if you’re going to do that in any Pokémon games, don’t choose Gold and Silver. Chikorita is super underwhelming compared to Totodile and Cyndaquil, and it makes us incredibly sad.
For one, Gold and Silver does the exact opposite to Red and Blue and makes the first two Gyms very difficult for Grass-type Pokémon. Chikorita has no hope whatsoever in Violet City’s Flying-type Gym and equally struggles against Bugsy and his Scyther. You can’t really begin to use it in earnest until you’ve reached Goldenrod City, and even then, Chikorita and Bayleef’s awful Attack and Special Attack stats mean Whitney’s Miltank will flatten them.
Ultimately, Chikorita, Bayleef, and Meganium are nice ideas for starter Pokémon that are ruined by sub-par stats. Their move pools are shockingly limited, they specialize in neither Attack nor Special Attack, and they’re slow to boot. Sorry, Professor Elm, but it’s Totodile or Cyndaquil for us any day. Well, probably Cyndaquil, let’s be real. Typhlosion is such a boss.
12 Underrated: Wooper
Upon first glance, Wooper looks like your classic cute Pokémon that has plenty of style but no substance. It entices you in with that adorable style, then reveals after you’ve caught it that it’s terrible in battle. Well, not this time, actually! Wooper and its evolved form Quagsire are pretty solid choices in Gold and Silver, even if the former is a pain to catch sometimes. Why does it only appear at night or while you’re Surfing in caves?
One of Wooper’s strengths is the fact that it did the whole Water-Ground dual typing thing before Swampert made it cool in Generation Three. It’s a neat little twist that nullifies both Water’s weakness to Electric types and Ground’s weakness to Water. This helps to make Wooper’s evolution, Quagsire, a pretty bulky and defensively strong Pokémon. Sure, its base stats are only slightly above average at best, but cutting out so many weaknesses kinda makes up for that.
Of course, another benefit to Wooper is the fact that you can get it so early on in Gold, Silver, and Crystal—just after Violet City, in fact! As we mentioned, it does only come out at night, but this isn’t the biggest inconvenience in the world. If you didn’t choose Totodile as your starter, Wooper can give you some Water-type coverage fairly swiftly. This is especially useful considering it appears just before a cave full of Rock and Ground types. Way to go, Wooper—you’re a real lifesaver!
11 Avoid: Gligar
Just like Togepi, Gligar is a Pokémon that needed to gain an evolution in Generation Four to make it viable enough to use. In the pre-Gliscor days, it was sadly a Pokémon that just didn’t have enough positive aspects to warrant its use in-game. For one, it was introduced as a Gold-exclusive Pokémon, with Skarmory being its Silver counterpart. Faced with that choice, Silver is definitely the better option.
On top of that, when it does finally show up in Gold, Gligar is way too late to the party to make much of a difference. It’s only available after you’ve defeated the final Johto Gym Leader—in the same route as Teddiursa, in fact! While Teddiursa has a super-cool evolution to make it worth the wait, Gligar has… Well, nothing, really. Sure, it’s dual Flying-Ground typing was a new and interesting combination, but it simply didn’t have the power or move pool to back this up.
Offensively, Gligar is mediocre, to say the least. With an Attack value of 85 and a Special Attack of 35, it really doesn’t have much going for it. While it does at least have a defense value of 105, it’s not enough to rescue it. Gligar learns no STAB moves whatsoever—not even through the use of TMs—and is really just disappointing in the extreme. Save it for your Generation Four playthrough—it’s not worth the effort in Gold and Silver!
10 Underrated: Hitmontop
Have you ever wanted to use a Fighting-type Pokémon in-battle that’s capable of spinning around on its head like a breakdancer? If so, Hitmontop is the creature for you! Admittedly, it fills a pretty unique niche in Gold and Silver and probably isn’t the first Pokémon you’d go for if you need Fighting-type coverage. The Machop/Machoke/Machamp line has always seemed to be more popular! However, what Hitmontop lacks in popularity it makes up for in uniqueness.
Its design is kinda cool, and it has a signature move—Rolling Kick.
Hitmontop is also worth a try in Gold and Silver due to the brand new evolutionary method that the game introduced for the Hitmon line. Generation Two brought in a lot of “baby” Pokémon—Pichu, for example—that evolved into pre-existing Pokémon from Red, Blue, and Yellow. The Hitmons got Tyrogue, which evolves into either Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, or Hitmontop depending on its stat distribution at Level 20. If its Attack and Defense values are equal, you get a Hitmontop! Sure, it’s a pretty complex evolutionary method compared to your standard leveling-up procedure, but it’s a bit better than Machoke’s trade-to-evolve mechanic. Just don’t, whatever you do, try to make this Pokémon a special attacker—it won’t end well for you. Let Hitmontop spin-kick its way through battles, as it was created to do!
9 Avoid: Hoothoot
Hoothoot is one of those Pokémon in Gold and Silver that’s attractive because it comes super early in the game. You can catch one basically from the word go, as long as it’s nighttime, of course! It’s an alternative to Pidgey and Spearow—birds you probably used in Red and Blue at some point—and it’s also kinda cute. However, none of these reasons provide a good enough justification to use this Pokémon. Good things come to those who wait—or to those who just bite the bullet and use a Generation One Flying-Type in a Generation Two game.
Here’s why Hoothoot is an adorable little owl that you should avoid at all costs. Firstly, there are its stats. Even when it evolves into Noctowl, its physical and Special Attack values are mediocre at best. Like, an Attack value of 50 and Special Attack of 76 just isn’t good enough. This disappointing lack of potential is made even worse by the fact that neither Hoothoot nor Noctowl learns any decent Flying-type moves! You get Peck, and that’s it. Sure, there’s Take Down, which gives it a Normal-type STAB boost… But where’s Wing Attack at? Even Gust has more power than Peck! Noctowl inexplicably learns Psychic-type moves instead of any useful Flying attacks, which isn’t particularly helpful in battle. Sure, it fits with its “hypnotic bird” design, but designs don’t win you the Pokémon League. Sorry, Hoothoot, but it’s a no from me.
8 Underrated: Octillery
Although it may have one of the strangest evolutionary lines in Gold and Silver, Octillery is a Water-type Pokémon that deserves a little bit more love. Evolving from Remoraid at Level 25—yep, a fish somehow transforms into an octopus—it provides a slightly kooky alternative to your Totodiles, your Goldeen, and even your Magikarps. Now, while this obviously isn’t the most important factor in the world, you’ve gotta admit that one attraction of this Pokémon is its awesome design. Who doesn’t want to defeat their foes using a red, eight-legged suction-fish? It’s a bit cooler than shooting Bubble from a Poliwag and hoping for the best.
More importantly, Octillery has good stats to back up this strong design.
It’s a decent mixed attacker, boasting Attack and Special Attack values of over 100. Sure, it’s slow as heck, but it’s bulky enough to take a hit while you wait to strike back with its octopus-specific power. Speaking of which, that’s another cool thing about Octillery—it has a signature move! It’s the only Pokémon to learn Octozooka through leveling up, a Water move that plays on an octopus’ ability to shoot ink when it feels threatened. Incredibly, Octillery is also able to learn Hyper Beam, which was undeniably one of the best moves in the entirety of Generation Two. All in all, it’s got a fair bit to recommend it to adventurous Trainers everywhere—give it a try in your next playthrough!
7 Avoid: Marill
Now, it’s time for a disclaimer: Marill isn’t a Pokémon to be avoided in every single Pokémon game. In later Generations, its evolved form, Azumarill, becomes a more viable choice for an in-game team—especially from X and Y onwards, when it gains the Fairy Type! As Marill and Azumarill have been granted a wider move set with each passing Pokémon game, they’ve got stronger and stronger (as is the case with a lot of Pokémon, to be fair). Sadly, though, in Gold and Silver, this brand new blue mouse just wasn’t that impressive.
When they were pure Water-types, Marill and Azumarill were totally outclassed by plenty of stronger Pokémon with the same typing. Like, why would you choose to use this evolutionary line over a Gyarados, a Feraligatr, or our new favorite octopus, Octillery? Marill only had very mediocre moves—Water Gun and Bubblebeam were its only STAB options—and sub-par stats. Even in its final evolutionary stage, its Special Attack and Attack both only reach 50. That’s right—FIFTY. What can you even do with that? Having good Defensive stats is by no means a terrible thing, but you need at least some attacking power to back that up! Marill has approximately none in Generation Two, which is a real shame. Azumarill is so cute, for goodness’ sake—why couldn’t its evolved forms have been a bit less dreadful?
6 Underrated: Forretress
In many ways, Forretress is a Pokémon that does exactly what it does on the tin. It’s as defensively strong as a real-life fortress and is incredibly useful in battle because of it. A base Defense stat of 140 is nothing to sneer at! Its Attack is also passable, falling just short of the 100 mark, meaning it can both deal and take damage. You’d think that it’d be more popular amongst players of Pokémon Gold and Silver, especially since its pre-evolution, Pineco, becomes available just after the second Gym Badge. However, since it’s a bit trickier to catch than your average Bug-type—you have to headbutt trees and hope for the best—it tends to get passed over a bit.
This is a crying shame for a number of reasons.
Not only does Forretress have some pretty great stats, it’s also made up of a pretty interesting type combination: Bug and Steel. Of course, Steel was actually a totally new type back in Gold and Silver, meaning Forretress was pretty revolutionary at the time! While it doesn’t learn any STAB moves due to Generation Two’s limited move pool, it does learn two of the most powerful moves in the game: SelfDestruct, and Explosion. Yes, it means sacrificing Forretress in the process of attacking, but hey—it’s worth it if you take down an opponent too. All in all, this Pokémon isn’t one to be trifled with, and certainly shouldn’t be dismissed outright by players!
5 Avoid: Sunkern
Oh, Sunkern. If only you were as powerful as you are cute. This adorable yet inept Grass-type is available fairly early on in Gold and Silver, appearing in the National Park just north of Goldenrod City. While it may seem like an inviting choice of Pokémon upon first glance—it was brand new in Generation Two, and is, as we’ve established, super-cute—it’s honestly not worth the effort training it. Its evolution, Sunflora, is nice to look at but is hugely outclassed by many of the other Grass-types in the game. It’s even inferior to Chikorita and its evolutionary line who, as we’ve already established, should also generally be avoided.
Where do Sunflora’s problems lie, I hear you ask? Well, in two strands: its stats, and its moves. While it does have a decent Special Attack value—105, for the record—it’s too slow to be able to do anything with it. It doesn’t have the defensive capabilities to take a hit, and it doesn’t have the speed to strike first. It’s basically a sitting duck for any remotely decent Pokémon that comes along. On top of this, if you do on the off chance manage to attack with Sunflora, your choice of moves is pretty poor. It does get Solar Beam, but not until level 46, by which point you’ll probably have got sick of it. Just do yourself a favor and catch an Oddish instead.
4 Underrated: Granbull
The pretty formidable-looking Granbull is a Pokémon that’s gone through some considerable changes over the years. For one, it’s now become a Fairy type, as of Pokémon X and Y! This has certainly given it a huge amount of potential and more appeal to many players—who didn’t go Fairy-mad when we realized that taking down Dragon-types was now so much easier? However, Granbull actually deserves a lot of love even when it’s in its original, Normal-type form—especially in Pokémon Gold and Silver, its first outing in the Pokémon franchise.
Granbull evolves from the part-adorable, part-scary pink puppy Snubbul, a Normal-type that’s available just before Goldenrod City—so fairly early on in the game! Once it evolves into Granbull at level 23, again fairly early on, it becomes a formidable attacker that’s an asset to any team. It can hit hard, isn’t terrible defensively, and has a couple of moves that can really make a difference in battle. Headbutt, learnable via a TM, gets a STAB bonus on Granbull, and it also learns Roar—a handy move if you don’t want to deal with wild Pokémon, but can’t be bothered to spend your money on Repels. While Granbull won’t be much help when you’re battling Ecruteak City’s Ghost-type Gym, it’s a solid choice throughout the rest of the game.
3 Avoid: Unown
Why anyone would ever consider using an Unown in their Gold and Silver team is beyond me. Yes, you can catch one for every letter of the alphabet. Yes, it’s a cool gimmick, and the Ruins of Alph are fun to explore. You can get it fairly early on in the game, and it’s a bit more exciting than a Rattata. However, none of this really matters. Unown is fundamentally one of the most useless Pokémon ever created, and that includes Trubbish.
For one, Unown can only learn one move: Hidden Power.
It’s not even that good of a move. Sure, it changes type depending on the Pokémon in question’s IVs, but that’s a blessing and a curse. It may give you an advantage against some opponents, but it totally limits Unown’s usability in other situations. Plus, it’s a move with base power 60. It’s not exactly a hard-hitter. It’d be different if Unown had absolutely incredible stats that suddenly made all of its Hidden Power attacks ten times stronger, but sadly, that’s simply not the case. It’s got a Special Attack of 72, which is decidedly average. Unown has basically nothing going for it in the field of battle. Why would you put yourself through the torture of trying to use it?
2 Underrated: Lanturn
If there’s one Pokémon in Gold and Silver that totally nails the whole dual-typing thing, it’s Lanturn. (Well, apart from Skarmory… BUT ANYWAY.) This Water-Electric type has a grand total of five resistances, compared to just two weaknesses. You’ve gotta admit, those are pretty good odds heading into a battle. It evolves from Chinchou, fairly early on—at level 27—although this pre-evolution does require the Good Rod in order to be caught. It’s worth the wait, though.
Not only is Lanturn’s typing excellent, it also has pretty decent overall stats. It’s bulky as heck, having an HP value of 125, and its Defense and Special Defense stats are pretty good too. Move-wise, it has a good range of both Water and Electric-type moves to get you that STAB bonus. You can douse your foes with a Hydro Pump, shock them with a Spark or two, or just Confuse them into submission with Supersonic or Confuse Ray. Even if you decide that Lanturn isn’t your cup of tea in battle, it’s still a handy HM slave—it gets Surf, Whirlpool, and Waterfall out of the way! It’s versatile, really well-designed, and unique in its typing (at least in Gold and Silver). What more could you want from a Pokémon?
1 Avoid: Delibird
Where do I even start with the absolute hot mess—well, cold mess—that is Delibird? Like, it just has too many flaws to count. It’s probably the most obvious candidate to avoid on this list, and many Pokéfans will already be well aware of its weaknesses… But we’re going to address them all anyway!
Number one: Delibird’s stats. Its highest value comes with its Speed, which reaches the dizzying heights of 75. It’s got three 45s to be ashamed of, a 55, and even a cheeky 65 thrown in there. It really can’t do anything with that utter shambles of a stat distribution. It can’t attack, can’t defend, and while it’s a little bit fast, that’s totally useless if you can’t do anything about it. It’s hardly going to win battles by flailing aimlessly, but speedily.
Then again, it’s not like it even has the moves to win a battle in the first place. Just like Unown, it’s only got one move at its disposal: Present. There’s only a 50/50 chance of this move harming your opponent: otherwise, it’ll just heal them. Sure, Delibird can learn some TM moves to replace Present, but why would you waste them on this flapping heap of garbage? Sorry, Delibird, but you’re just the worst. You can stay in the Ice Cave where you belong.
