Generation II

Generation II, also known as the metal generation, is the second set of Pokémon games to be released, and is best described as a sequel to Generation I. Generation II is the most acclaimed generation among older and more experienced Pokémon trainers and fans. It consists of Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal on the Game Boy Color and Pokémon Stadium 2 on the Nintendo 64. The games mostly take place in the Johto region, but also include the Kanto region and White City. In the handheld games, the main character starts in New Bark Town and moves onto Kanto once he or she defeated the Elite Four.

Advances in gameplay

Pokémon Gold and Silver brought with them many changes to the Pokémon world, as well as various advancements from the original games, most of which have now become a tradition. For example:

• Playing as a girl (Crystal only).
• Genders for Pokémon are introduced.
• Breeding
• Built-in clock, which allows for real-time events.
• DVs get more involved as breeding became available.
• Alternate colors for Pokémon, known as shininess among fans.
• Trading capabilities with Generation I via Time Capsule.
• 100 new Pokémon bringing the total to 251.
• 86 new moves, bringing the total to 251.
• Two more boxes in the Pokémon storage system, allowing for 280 Pokémon to be stored.
• Some Pokémon introduced in Generation I get new evolutions or pre-evolutions.
• Two new Pokémon types: Dark-type and Steel-type. Magnemite and Magneton are now Electric/Steel.
• Happiness becomes a quality of all Pokémon.
• Special stat split into Special Attack and Special Defense.
• Pokérus introduced.
• Pokémon can now hold items.
• Opponent Pokémon Trainers given individual names.
• Exp. All replaced with Exp. Share.
• PokéGear added, which has a built-in cellphone used to call and rematch some trainers. PokéGear can be upgraded with a World Map and a Radio via installable cards.
• Item pack now split into separate sections.
• An item can be put on the select button for easy use.

In addition, the Generation II games are said to be easier in comparison to the Generation I games, due to the different Gym types.

Starters

This time around, the Pokémon known as Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile are available to trainers at the beginning of the game. They too follow the Grass-Fire-Water (respectively) route of the previous generation. However, as opposed to the other three generations, where the Fire-type would be the most difficult to start with, due to Kanto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh's first Gym Leaders being of the Template:Type2 specialty, the Template:Type2 Chikorita is most difficult, followed by the Template:Type2 Totodile and leaving Cyndaquil as the easiest, as Johto's first Gym Leader specializes in Template:Type2s.

Gym Leaders

The Johto region's Gym Leaders had different gyms, all of different types than Kanto's, including one featuring one of the two new types introduced in these games. The leaders are:

#	Leader	Type
1	Falkner	Flying
2	Bugsy	Bug
3	Whitney	Normal
4	Morty	Ghost
5	Chuck	Fighting
6	Jasmine	Steel
7	Pryce	Ice
8	Clair	Dragon

Notes

Pokémon Crystal allows trainers to play as a female lead and has a slightly different storyline, as trainers focus on the Pokémon Suicune. Kanto became a different place than what trainers were accustomed to as changes were made, some of which are explained in the Kanto article. This generation is not compatible with Generation III and later, due to a number of internal mechanics changes, as well as the general incompatibility between Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance software.

The type chart is also changed slightly from Generation I:

Attacking	Defending	Old	New
Bug	Poison	2.0×	0.5×
Poison	Bug	2.0×	1.0×
Ice	Fire	1.0×	0.5×
Ghost	Psychic	0.0×	2.0×