this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025
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Yeah that’s fair, I just love that RBY is so janky and you can kind of just do whatever in those games. You don’t even need cheats if you want to mess around with the game. You can get a Mew after the first badge, you can walk through walls, duplicate items, all the standard Pokemon cheats you’d usually use a game shark or action replay for, you can just do in those first games with glitches. They definitely do have a lot of problems though. Limited, unorganized bag space is probably my least favourite part of that game. GSC are limited bags too but at least it’s organized.
If you thought BW were alright, B2W2 are basically just improved versions. There’s a different story line and all that but it’s the Emerald of Gen 5 if that makes sense. I’m intrigued you’d rank Crystal higher than GS though. I love all three but Ampharos is basically mandatory in a Johto playthrough for me and she isn’t available at all in Crystal for some reason. No idea why they did that. If we’re breaking up games within a group though Emerald would definitely be higher than RS. Same thing with Platinum above DP.
What makes Ampharos so mandatory? I used it on my first Gold run back in the day but haven't since I think. Crystal has a bunch of minor improvements that really add up, I think. Enhanced areas, sprites, addition of the move tutor, battle tower, earlier elemental stones, some Pokémon have new moves, overall more catchable Pokémon... It just is the definitive Gen 2 game. I like the story changes as well, bigger emphasis on Suicune and also female protagonist is cool.
Well objectively Ampharos is by far the best electric type in the game if you aren’t using legendaries. Between her stats, move pool, and how early you can get her. There’s also some subjective reasons for me too, she’s one of my favourite Pokémon they’ve ever released. I only usually play Crystal if I’m okay using legendaries for the playthrough and then I’ll hunt for Raiku as early as I can. There’s not many good electric types in Johto unfortunately. The other alternative is getting Kadabra and teaching him thunder punch, but you don’t get STAB and he’s not the most defensive out there. It works but it’s not ideal. You could skip having an electric type on the team altogether but it’s a very valuable type to have. I’m curious what you use instead of Ampharos, if anything.
I like Lanturn, but I've also used Electabuzz and Jolteon. Raichu is an option and of course early Raiku. Also used non-STAB electric coverage, in fact back in the day I used Gengar, but these days I don't have anyone to trade with.
I forgot that the thunder stone is actually attainable in the main game of crystal, that does make it better. Jolteon is post game in GS unfortunately. I haven’t tried Lanturn, maybe I’ll give it a try next time. I’m not a fan of Electabuzz, not really sure why. Maybe I need to give it more of a chance.
Elemental stone access is one of the many reasons Crystal is placed a notch above GS in my ranking!
Lanturn is cool, good typing and can learn water HMs. Move Tutor exists in Crystal and Lanturn learns both Thunderbolt and Ice Beam from it. Can of course teach it Thunder if doing Rain Dance. Never a blockbuster Pokémon but does what you want.
Good to know, I’ll give it a shot on my next playthrough. How early can you get it? I’ve always ignored them.
Uhm I'm pretty sure you can fish up a Chinchou from New Bark Town as soon as you get the Good Rod. If you're talking about Electabuzz or Raichu the Odd Egg you get from the daycare man can hatch into any of the baby Pokémon so you could get an Elekid or Pichu. Sadly we non-Japanese plebs only get a 14% chance of it being shiny instead of the Japanese 50%, so I don't tend to reset for a shiny.
Good to know. I think I’ll go for a full new team next time, I usually pull from the same ~10 Pokémon.
It's always fun to switch it up, I like going for less obvious picks. Especially ones you can pick up early and build a narrative with. I tend to be sentimental like that, it's fun to build little stories for yourself. I guess I watched too much of the Pokémon anime as a kid.
I should do that for all the games. Go for picks I’ve never done before. I’ve definitely fallen into a rut, going for the same ones every time. I do the same in Dark Souls and Skyrim, always going for the same builds. Gotta force myself to try something new.