It’s the end of the month, which means another round of Pokémon Top 5! This week, we go to the Johto region to visit the second generation of Pokémon games. Gen 2 wasn’t a generation I ever got to play as a kid, and my first real exposure to it was the remakes in Gen 4. HeartGold/SoulSilver are not my favorite Pokémon games, I found them a little too difficult for my usual method of play (only catching Pokémon you intend to use all the way to the Elite Four…somehow, the Pokémon distribution and the gym difficulty don’t really let you do that unless you trade over stronger Pokémon you can’t get until later), but there are still five Pokémon in the Gen 2 dex worth celebrating.
Totodile, the Water-type starter, came out of left field. My first playthrough of SoulSilver, I picked Totodile because I never go for the Water starters and I wanted a change, and I fell in love with it. It has a chomping-based move set that’s frankly adorable, and a fun gator design (fun fact: when Gold/Silver/Crystal first came out, Totodile’s final evolution, Feraligatr, had too many letters for the character limit of the games, so it’s the only Pokémon with an abbreviated name that stuck). I nearly managed to make it through my first playthrough with just Totodile and an Onix, but I suppose I had to get more Pokémon sooner or later to balance out the team. The grind can get a little too much with just two Pokémon, after all.
Crobat is a stroke of genius, a surprisingly strong and fast heavy-hitter that evolves through friendship from the single most annoying encounter in the early Pokémon games. Zubat, the first iteration in the line, is famous for swarming in the caves of Gen 1 and Gen 2; I personally remember being unable to go more than three steps without encountering one, and being absolutely furious about it. I love the cosmic balancing of the scales Crobat serves to Zubat, and it helps that it’s purple and looks cool.
Larvitar is the first evolution in the Tyranitar line, one of what would come to be known in the Pokémon games as “pseudo-Legendaries”, Pokémon that weren’t in the Mythical/Legendary categorization (meaning there’s only one of them and they serve a purpose in Pokémon lore), but were still on the same power level as Legendaries, usually available late-game or difficult to find early on. Tyranitar is based on Godzilla, but the first evolution, Larvitar, is my favorite in the line. It’s ridiculously cute and still tough-looking, and like most pseudo-Legendaries can be a challenge to raise but is well worth the effort. The Rock typing makes it pretty durable and the Ground typing is always a useful type to have in a combination (it’s a shame it changes from Rock/Ground to Rock/Dark when it becomes Tyranitar, but it’s thematically appropriate, anyway).
Speaking of the usefulness of the Ground type, Quagsire doesn’t look like much but as the first Water/Ground dual type Pokémon, it was a game-changer for me. Water-type Pokémon are vulnerable to Electric-type Pokémon, and Electric-type Pokémon are weak to Ground types, since Electric-type moves don’t affect Ground types at all. Having a Water-type Pokémon that can stop Electric-type moves in their tracks is a power trip I am more than happy to embark on, especially if it’s wrapped up in Quagsire’s dopy blank smile. Its pre-evolution, Wooper, is pretty dang cute, too.
Heracross is a Bug/Fighting dual-type that I didn’t expect to like nearly as much as I do. I enjoy unique dual typing combinations, and a punchy beetle is pretty unique, in my book. I love its stag beetle design, and the edge Heracross has over Fighting type’s major weakness, Psychic-type moves, if the Heracross is fast enough with the Bug-type move. When gender dimorphism was introduced in Gen 4 (which I will talk more about when we get there), one of my favorite little details was that the female Heracross horn became tipped in a heart instead of the prongs of the original design. Cute and tough is my true favorite dual-type combo, after all.
Next month we’re diving into Gen 3, so keep an eye out for that!