Pokémon Gold, Silver & Crystal came out in North America nearly 20 years ago, and with their re-release on the virtual console a couple of years back they’re once again accessible to fans of all ages. Following the immense success of the Gen I games, the Gen IIﷺ ones kept things rolling and added in several key features and mechanics – such as breeding, Shiny Pokémon, and separate bag compartments – that have become franchise staples. It’s safe to say that among the early generations, Gen II stands as the one that most benefited the franchise going forwar🔯d with what it added to the mix.

So then why bring up some nearly two-decade-old games now? Well as previously mentioned, the virtual console releases have made the games available to fans both old and new once more. So in the spirit of revisiting the franchises second generation why not cover some of the tips and tricks to getting around Johto? Pokémon games aren’t really all that difficult, but there are ways to make things easier 🃏on yourself as well as some general knowledge that can benefit you in other games in the franchise as well. With that in mind, we’ll take a look at some of the most useful strategies you might not have come across yo🦂urself.

Here are 25 tricks from Gold, Silver & Crystal that casual fans have no idea about.

25 The Importance of Status Effects

Status effects have changed plenty over the years and while moves like burn and poison aren’t the flashiest in your moveset, they’re incredibly useful. Take burn for examp🌸le; it does a whopping 1/8 Max HP damage which can really decimate your opponent.

Poison is an incredibly pesky ailment that actually hurts the player more than NPC trainers as it lingers on in 💜the overworld. Paralysis can be great when facing speedy opponents and cuts their speed stat to ¼ its initial value. If you can make the most out of these then you’ll have a much easier time during battles.

24 A Natural Repellent

All Pokémon players know abou♍t repel and when to use it. While it’s generally a good idea to engage in battle as often as possible, there are times when you just need to g🍸et somewhere undisturbed. Its usage is pretty straight forward, but there’s something you can do that makes it even more effective.

It might seem like common sense to put your strongest Pokémo𓂃n at the front of your party, and most trainers will. But those wanting to get the most out of repel will find that this is a great way to scare off those pesky low-level encounters.

23 Don’t Use These Moves Too Early

There are some moves that while useful, can actually be detrimental to your Pokémon when applied early on in battle. Waiting on a move is a good strategy in many battles and can actually help seal thꦓe deal in some cases.

Moves that cause your Pokémon to wait a turn before using such as Dig, Fly and Hyper Beam are best used to finish off an opponent later onও in the match. Rather than open with these moves it would be smarter to𒁃 lower an opponent’s HP first, and then go for the final blow.

22 A Last Ditch Effort

You might’ve had battles where things just haven’t been going your way. Losing isn’t great and most of the time we can’t do all that much about it. T💞here are some moves – some pretty petty ones – that can turn the tables in this scenario though.

Explosion and Selfdestruct really stink when you’re on the receiving end, so why not turn the tables every 😼so often? While they do take out whatever Pokémon uses them, they’re also incredibly powerful and will most likely take down your opponent as well. Just be sure to have a conscious Pokémon in your party.

21 Catch And Compare

There are plenty of trainers that keep 🀅whichever Pokémon they catch and just train them throughout their journey. That’s a fine way to go about it, but someone wanting to be a little more strategic will need a discerning eye.

It🦩 might be useful to catch a whole bunch of the same Pokémon at a fairly low level, then compare their stats and train the one with the most potential. It seems a little cold-hearted sure, but you’ll probably have a really strong bunch of fighters going forward.

20 Know When To Evolve Your Pokémon

For most trainers, evolution is the ultimate payoff and is something they strive for during training. Most trainers will let their Pokémon evolve🅰 when they do, but it could be beneficial to wait it out. You can can🐷cel a Pokémon’s evolution at any time and make it so that it carries over to the next level.

Many non-evolved Pokémon learn certain powerful moves a goo🀅d deal earlier than their evolved forms. However, in order to pull this off, you’d 🦄need to circumvent the evolution process. It’s always best for trainers to educate themselves on which level their Pokémon learn certain desirable moves and work from there.

19 Find This Old Face For A Prize

While traveling through Mt. Mort✃ar it would be beneficial for players to take a small detour and seek out a familiar face from the Gen I games. Kiyo, the leader of Saffron’s fighting Dojo trains there and it’s possible to fight him. The fight isn’t the focus here so much as the prize for winning.

Defeating Kiyo should be easy as he uses Hitmonl🃏ee and Hitmonchan respectively. So a Psychic or Flying-type would be best suited here. Winning gets you a level 10 Tyrogue which you can evolve into one of its 3 evolved forms just 10 levels after obtaining it.

18 Moon Balls Are Useless

Gen II introduced a wide variety of different Pok🎶é Balls, with each serving various purposes that aid in catching different kinds of Pokémon. Thanks to a glitch in the games, Gen II Moon Balls don’t work as they were designed to.

Moon Balls were su🐓pposed to increase the catch rate of Pokémon that evolve with the Moon Stone by 4. But this was somehow messed up and instead increases the catch rate of Pokémon that u🦋se burn heal instead. The Moon Balls in Gen II are essentially useless because of this.

17 Some Indoor Fishing

If you look around the internet you can find some pretty interesting glitches from older games you’d have never found – despite all the hours you puꦅt in. This seems to be one of those. It may surprise some fans, but you can actu🃏ally go fishing in the Cerulean Gym.

The glitch originated in Red & Blue and was fixed in Yellow. But for some reason, it reappeared in Gold & Silver only to once again be fixed in Crystal. In order to pull this off simply🧸 head into the gym, walk up to the water 🃏tiles and get out your fishing rod. It’s that easy.

16 Spice-Up Your Party

We all have a favorite Pokémon or even a favorite type of Pokémon. However, it wouldn’t really make sense for you to compose your party o🗹f entirely one type of Pokémon. A good party needs a little bit🀅 of variety.

Trainers are better off finding various types of Pokémon that cover a wide arrange of weaknesses and strengths. Having a ওparty💜 of only Grass-types, for example, can leave you vulnerable to so many enemies. So if you’re having trouble winning with your party, you might want to diversify your line-up a bit.