Since I missed a bunch of things in my Pokemon Yellow playthrough, I decided to do some research on Pokemon Crystal and the Johto part of the anime series, so I could develop a sort of plan about what I’ll be doing. I’m still going to make a bunch of mistakes, probably even more than before, but at least I’ll feel a bit better about it.
The first thing I did was to see which episodes the major game events happen in and which Pokemon Ash obtains. This is what I’ve figured out:
List of Pokemon Ash Obtains in the Johto Region
- Heracross
- Chikorita – evolves in Johto
- Totodile
- Cyndaquil – doesn’t evolve in Johto
- Noctowl – caught already evolved
- Beedril – given to a friend right away
- Phanpy – doesn’t evolve in Johto
- Larvitar – not really caught, leaves soon
The list isn’t exactly huge, that’s the first problem. The second problem is that there’s no version of the game which “follows the anime more closely” as Pokemon Yellow was in the first generation. Sadly, this means that I can only pick one out of the three starters. Overall, other than my Pikachu, by the end of the game, I’ll be using Heracross, Bayleef, Noctowl and Phanpy. It’s not exactly a huge team, but it can work. I might have to catch an HM slave, though.
In the anime, Ash obtains Heracross, Chikorita, Totodile and Cyndaquil before the first gym. Chikorita evolves into Bayleef after the fourth gym and kicks major ass in the fifth gym. Both Phanpy and Larvitar hatch from an egg, but I think I’ll be catching them around the time when they’re supposed to be hatched, since eggs are too unpredictable.
I’ll pick Chikorita as my starter, simply because that was the first starter Ash got. If I ever get a chance to catch the other two in later games, I’ll do it. As for Heracross, I’m supposed to catch him at the first route, Route 29, but I need Headbutt to encounter him, so I’ll get back to it after Ilex Forest.
Other than that, I’ll also need a navigation route.
Pokemon Crystal – Quick Walkthrough
- New Bark Town (Get starter)
- Route 29 into Cherrygrove City
- Routes 30, 31 into Violet City (Gym)
- Ruins of Alph into Route 32 into Azalea Town (Gym)
- Ilex Forest (get Headbutt)
- Back to route 31 and catch a Heracross (needs to be a mountain tree)
- Back to Ilex Forest, Day Care Center, Goldenrod City (Gym)
- Catch and release Beedril (Headbutt in a forest)
- After gym, find Sudowoodo and go back to flower shop for the watering can.
- Get rid of Sudowoodo (catch?)
- Routes 36 and 37, catch Noctowl
- Ecruteak City (Gym)
- Routes 38 and 39, evolve Bayleef
- into Olivine City (Gym)
- Routes 40 and 41 into Cyanwood City (Gym)
- Mt. Mortar, Lake of Rage (shiny Gyarados), Mahogany Town(Gym)
- Ice Path into Blackthorn City (Gym)
- Routes 45 and 46, catch a Phanpy, keep it for later
After this, it’s straight for the League. Once that’s over, I can go to Mt. Silver and possibly catch a Larvitar. Ash technically never caught one, but he did use it.