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ianmrid · 7 years

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D-D-D-Doo-Doo-Doo, Pokémon Johto!

With my journey through Johto finally completed, it is time for me to count down the Top Ten favourite new pokémon from this generation. As with Gen1, I don't really dislike any Gen2 pokémon, so a lot of them were up for inclusion. Nine out of ten from the list either made it into one of my final teams (or one of their evolutions did) so it is clear to see that the pokémon you spend the most time with end up becoming your favourites. I've detailed my choices below and included the shiny sprite alongside the original Gen2 sprite - not that I managed to catch any shinies aside from Geodude!

10. Noctowl

I sometimes think the bird-based Flying-type pokémon are a little interchangeable, so one of the reaosns I like Noctowl so much is that it seems a bit different. Sure, it is stil Normal/Flying-type, when it really should be Psychic/Flying, but it feels a bit bulkier than most of the other bird pokémon that I've used, and is definitely capable of taking some hits with a base 96 Special Defence stat. Noctowl - which is not so much based on an owl, as it actually *is* just a big owl - also gets a lot of exposure in the anime as Ash catches a shiny one in Johto; the first shiny pokemon ever shown in the anime. The shiny is a kind of lime green but I definitely prefer the traditional brown of the original. YOLO, my Noctowl ended up on Gold final team after raising him from his pre-evolution, Hoothoot - a smaller cuter spherical owl. Maybe one day there will be a third stage added to this family to release all that Psychic/Flying potential!

09. Umbreon

Eevee and its 'eevee-lutions' always seem to be some of the most popular pokémon out there, but I've never been a huge fan and the Gen1 options, Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon, were all conspicuos by their absence from my Red/Blue/Yellow teams. God, I'm such a pokémon hipster. However the two new evolutions for Eevee introduced in Gen2 both caught my attention. As I've said previously, a good part of this because to evolve Eevee into Espeon/Umbreon you need to level them up at Day/Night respectively whilst they have a high friendship stat. And the only way to get the friendship stat up is to use them in battles, level them up, defeat gym leaders and not let them faint - giving you plenty of time to get a bit attached. I ended up using both on my final Silver team, but overall I prefer Umbreon. I love the sleek design and the shiny form looks equally fantastic, with the yellow trim replaced by a pale blue. If I ever get a shiny Eevee it will definitely grow up to be a shiny Umbreon. On top of this, it is a Dark-type, which was new and interesting and granted my team a measure of immunity to Psychic-type moves, ironically most useful against Reds Espeon.

08. Crobat

Crobat is a great example of how to bring interest to a previously unremarkable pokemon line. I doubt there were many people who loved Zubat and Golbat in Gen1. They were everywhere, making cave travel annoying, and there just wasn't anything much to recommend them. This all changed with when Crobat was introduced. I love the way the colours are inverted from its predesssors, going from blue with purple highlights to purple with blue highlights. This pays off even better in the shiny form as Crobat is now pink with green trim instead of the ugly green of Zubat/Golbat. Big improvement. Crobat is also the joint second fastest pokémon in Gen2, behind only Electrode. This means it nearly always goes first, which is incredibly helpful in battle. The Crobat on my Silver team was generally used for support, and its speed meant you could pretty much guarantee getting off a Toxic before the other team moved. Overall, although Crobat is another friendship-based evolution, I am pretty sure I would still have loved it, even if I hadnt had to spend all that time carefully levelling it up.

07. Swinub

Ah, the first pre-evolution on the list. Although I like the final form of Pilowine - one of them made it to my final Silver team - I really love its unevolved form: Swinub. Swinub seems to be based on a wild boar piglet and is completely adorable; definitely the cutest Gen2 pokemon, amongst some stiff competition. I absolutely want one of these in real life, although I will stick to the standard colouration as the blue shiny colour doesn't realy grab me. Swinub is found in the ice path route of Johto, has long striped fur to keep it warm, and always looks like it is dozing as its eyes seem permanently closed, even when awake. In the anime, it uses its snout to hunt for hidden items underground, much as pigs do with truffles in real life. These two features lead to its Ice- and Ground-typing, a type combination which I believe is still unique to this day. This isn't the most useful defensive typing with just one immunity and one resistance (Electric- and Poison-type respectively), but on the offensive side its dual STAB options can hit nine different types for super effective damage. That is pretty sweet.

06. Ampharos

I was really pleased to find an Electric-type that I really enjoyed using, as none from Gen1 made my Top Ten Kanto Pokémon list. Despite it being a strong offensive type with few weaknesses, I never really liked any of the options until Ampharos was introduced. I think both Ampharos and its initial stage, Mareep, are fantastic but it definitely goes through its awkward middle stage evolution; Flaaffy is both strange looking and annoying to correctly spell. I'm a big fan of weird evolutions lines and the combination of sheep shearing (Mareep is wooly, Flaaffy is partly shorn, and Ampharos is completely bald) and lighthouses (Ampharos is tall with stripes and in-game, an NPC Ampharos is literally used in a lighthouse as the light to guide ships) is a real winner for me. Ampharos is another pokémon where I prefer the original colouration to the shiny. Although its pale pink form makes it look a lot more like Flaaffy, and indeed more like a shorn sheep, the bright yellow is much more striking. Ha! Electric-type puns.

05. Blissey

Blissey is the new evolution for Chansey, but I like it so much more from a design point of view, even though it isn't dramatically different. Maybe my attachment comes from the fact that Blissey, like Crobat and Umbreon before her, is yet another friendship-based evolution that I got pretty attached to when training her up in my Silver run. Blissey is unique in as much as she is the only pokémon on this list where neither she, nor any member of her evolution line, made it on to one of my final teams. I really did want to use Blissey in my Silver team, but it came down to a direct choice between her and Espeon, as I trained them up side by side. Despite prefring Bliseey as a pokémon, I though that Espeons Psychic-typing would be more useful, but I hope to use Blissey in a team in the future. When it comes down to use within the team, Blissey is a Special Defense wall, with 255(!) base HP and 135 base Special Defense which are the highest and second highest stats in the game in their respective categories, making her a wall to reckoned with. Blissey is another pokémon on this list where I am not too bothered about the shiny version - it's just a different shade of pink: so lazy!

04. Cyndaquil

I will be very interested to see if there is ever a generation where I don't inlcude any starter pokémon in my top ten. These pokémon always get the most attention in the anime and other media, and you get the most chance to spend time with them as you have them right from the first portion of the game. You are also made to consider them more carefull than other pokémon, since you have to pick between them and you only get one per game. However, there was never a chance of Cyndaquil missing this list as it is my favourite Johto starter - although Pokémon Go is doing its best to make me love the Feraligatr line - and it might actually be my favourite of all six starters so far (sorry Bulbasaur!). All three stages of the evolution line are excellent, but I had to pick Cyndaquil over Quilava and Typholsian due to it's sheer adorable-ness. In the anime it is one of the few pokémon that has a kind of character arc, where it is sleepy all the time and gets very tired battling - sometimes unable to ignite its powerful Flamethrower attack - until Ash trains it to be stronger. It also has a decent sort-of-purple shiny, which looks pretty nice, but once again the original dark green colouration wins out.

03. Miltank

A lovely, lovely cow, with great big lovely udders! Swinging around going 'Moooooo!'. I definitely should have named my Gold team Miltank after Nursie from Blackadder II. As you might have guessed, Miltank is a cow-based pokémon, which happens to be bright pink and built like a tank. Miltank works so well as a bulky support pokémon due to it being a Normal-type and only really having to worry about a weakness to Fighting-types. Aside from this, she could take hits for days and also possessed the ability to clear the rest of the team of annoying status conditions via the move Heal Bell. On top of that, her signature move in the form of Milk Drink provided some reliable recovery, even if Miltank drinking her own milk to recover HP is delightfully creepy. Miltank might be one of my favourite pokémon designs and I would definitely stick with the pink original over the kind of baby blue shiny. A lot of people seem to hate Mitank based on the fact the one owned by Whitney, the Normal-type gym leader of Goldenrod City, is massively over-powered for you to face at the stage in the game, and can easily wipe out your whole team. I have to admit this happened to me a couple of times, but all this did was make me want a Miltank of my own as soon as possible!

02. Heracross

The first Bug- and first Fighting-type to get anywhere near my top 10 lists, this is also a unique type combination that and although it is not the best defensively, it can hit a lot of pokémon for STAB super effective damage due to the ubiquitous Normal-type and its Fighting-type weakness. Heracross represents the only member of my Crystal final team to make it to this list - although Kingdra was a very close 11th place - but is absolutely one of my favourites overall, despite an underwhelming pink shiny. None of the pokémon that I like seem to have very good shiny forms. This is another fantasic design - Heracross is based on the Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle, which explains the part Fighting-type - and in the anime it is portrayed as a kind of friendly badass. I wasn't expecting Ash to actually catch one - he is still awful at catching 'em all - but was very glad when he did. It is also interesting how it is positioned as a new counterpoint to Pinsir: a non-evolving Bug-type based on a beetle. Pokémon games love having these pairs of unofficially related pokémon, and when the original Pinsir counterpoint, Scyther, moved on this generation by getting a new evolved form, Heracross was a more than worthy replacement.

01. Quagsire

Well, it seems I really love pokémon that are both bulky and derpy as hell. Like Slowbro before it - number nine in my Kanto top ten - Quagsire is a very vacant boy. His design is great and really simple, seemingly bassed on a salamander of some sort, but his typing of Water- and Ground- is even better. You do have to make sure to avoid any Grass-type attacks, to which he will be four times weak, however since Grass- is not one of the most common offensive typings, the Electric-type immunity gained is more than worth that risk. Even in the number one slot, I still prefer the original light blue to Quagsires purple shiny form - it just makes much more sense for a Water-type. Quagsire was my first choice for a pokémon to be on my Gold team in my first Johto run. I knew I had to catch a Wooper as soon as possible and evolve it - not easy as Wooper is kinda useless - but it was well worth the perseverence. Now just don't make me pick between Quagsire and Wigglytuff - that would be very tricky indeed! Maybe some sort of overall pokémon top ten will be needed when I eventually get to Generation Seven...

I can't believe that Generation Two is now finished, but I am very excited to continue my steps into the unknown with Generation Three. As previously, the last order of business is to show the fantastic artwork I had commissioned for each of my Gold, Silver, and Crystal final teams. Once those have been posted it is Gen3 time! Bring on Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald!

#pokemon #pokemon playthrough #e plays pokemon #nintendo #game freak #generation 2 #top ten #johto

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