Pokémon Gold, Silver & Crystal 100% Guide: Johto & Kanto

Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal are the biggest Game Boy Pokémon games, and a lot of that size is the second half. Beat Johto's eight gyms and Lance and you get a second region, another eight badges, a final trainer far stronger than the Champion, and 251 Pokémon to fill. This guide covers what a full clear means, which version to pick, the first eight badges at a glance, and then the part most players run out of steam on: the whole Kanto endgame, from the first gym to Red at the top of Mt. Silver.

Want to track as you go? Our Pokémon Gold, Silver & Crystal Pokédex tracker and Johto and Kanto map lists where every Pokémon is found by time of day, and saves your caught marks, all 16 badges, the Elite Four and your Unown forms to your account.

What Counts as 100%

• 16 badges, the Elite Four and Lance. Eight badges from Johto and eight from Kanto, with Blue's Earth Badge last.
• Red. The optional trainer on the summit of Mt. Silver is the real final boss, and his team is far above Lance's.
• The Pokédex: 251 Pokémon. A normal playthrough with trades gets most of it. Ten Pokémon have no source at all in these games (Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Omanyte, Kabuto, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo and Mew), and neither do the evolutions of the starters and fossils. Celebi only comes from the Virtual Console release of Crystal. Plan on trading from Red, Blue or Yellow for those.
• All 26 Unown forms from the Ruins of Alph. They are not part of the 251, but they are the one part of the Pokédex that needs a puzzle solved, so our tracker lists them separately.
• The three roaming beasts. In Gold and Silver Raikou, Entei and Suicune wander the map after you wake them up and are hard to pin down. In Crystal only Raikou and Entei roam, and Suicune is a Lv. 40 encounter at the Bell Tower.

The 251 is also not completable on one cartridge. Several lines are version exclusive, and a number of evolutions (Kadabra, Machoke, Graveler and Haunter, plus Onix, Scyther, Seadra, Poliwhirl and Slowpoke with the right held item) only happen through a trade. Add a second cartridge, a link-cable emulator or the trading feature of whatever way you are playing.

Which Version to Start With

Gold and Silver are near-twins, and Crystal is a refreshed version of them with an extra story chapter built around Suicune. The Pokémon below are the ones each version is missing, taken from our tracker data (version exclusives only; baby Pokémon are bred in all three):

Best setup: Gold plus Silver covers most of the exclusives, and Crystal fills in the last pieces (Celebi aside). If you only own one cartridge, Crystal has the broadest list, and it is the only version where you can catch Suicune at the Bell Tower instead of chasing it across the map. Lugia and Ho-Oh are the other split: in Gold, Ho-Oh is Lv. 40 and Lugia is Lv. 70, Silver reverses them, and Crystal has both at Lv. 60.

Starter Strategies

Professor Elm gives you one of Chikorita, Cyndaquil or Totodile in New Bark Town. The other two can only be had by trading, so a full Pokédex needs a second save or a friend. Johto's first half is balanced around whichever you pick, and Kanto, where the gyms run from Lv. 33 to Lv. 58, is the real test.

Badges 1 to 8: Johto at a Glance

The first half follows the story, so you can mostly walk it in order. Falkner, Bugsy and Whitney are the early walls, and Clair is the tough finish. Every leader's team is the same in all three games.

Don't miss these in Johto

• Bug-Catching Contest (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the National Park): the only way to get Scyther and Pinsir. Pick the one you want.
• Ruins of Alph: solve all four chamber puzzles to unlock the full 26 Unown letters.
• Gifts: Togepi, Shuckle (Cianwood), Tyrogue (Mt. Mortar), Eevee and Dratini at various points. The tracker lists which version each gift belongs to.
• Whirl Islands and the Bell Tower: Lugia and Ho-Oh are one-offs, so save before you walk in.
• Lapras: it only appears in Union Cave on Fridays, so check the day before you go.
• Time of day: many Pokémon only appear in the morning, by day or at night, and the tracker has a time-of-day filter for exactly this. Eevee evolves by friendship into Espeon (daytime) or Umbreon (night), so check the clock before you level it.

Getting to Kanto

Beating Clair is the end of the first half. From here Kanto opens up, and there are a few ways in:

• Walking: the Victory Road Gate checks that you hold all eight Johto badges. Past it you are on Route 22, a short walk from Viridian City and Pallet Town. The same road also leads to Indigo Plateau and the Elite Four.
• The Magnet Train between Goldenrod and Saffron City needs the Power Plant's power restored, which is a side quest in Kanto's east.
• The ship from Olivine Port sails to Vermilion City.

Kanto does not scale to your level. The Elite Four and Lance sit at Lv. 40 to Lv. 50, and the Kanto gyms run from Lv. 33 to Lv. 58, so they overlap. Blue is the top of that range, and Red is far above everything, so a sensible sequence is Johto, the Elite Four, then Kanto, then Blue, then Mt. Silver.

Badges 9 to 16: Every Kanto Gym

This is the part of Gold, Silver and Crystal that most players run out of patience for, because the second eight badges are harder than the first. The table lists each leader's exact party in battle order, with the levels from the games.

A good order through Kanto

You can take the gyms in any order, with one exception: Blue is the last one, and he only shows up in Viridian Gym after you meet him on Cinnabar Island. Gym levels run from 33 up to 58, so the easiest way to avoid walls is to go by level:

1. Fuchsia City (Janine, Lv. 33 to 39). The weakest team in Kanto. A good first stop to pick up TM06 Toxic and check how strong your team is.
2. Vermilion City (Lt. Surge, Lv. 40 to 46). Bring a Ground-type. Vermilion also has a one-off Snorlax (Lv. 50) to catch.
3. Celadon City (Erika, Lv. 41 to 46). Pick up Fire and Flying coverage first. Celadon's Game Corner and department store are where a lot of the prize and gift Pokémon live, so budget some time here.
4. Pewter City (Brock, Lv. 41 to 44) and Cerulean City (Misty, Lv. 42 to 47). A Grass-type is excellent against both, since the fossil Pokémon and Quagsire take 4x.
5. Saffron City (Sabrina, Lv. 46 to 48). Reachable on foot or by the Magnet Train. Her team is only three Pokémon, but they hit hard, so bring a Dark-type.
6. Seafoam Islands (Blaine, Lv. 45 to 50). The volcano destroyed the Cinnabar gym, so Blaine has moved into the Seafoam Islands. Surf there from Cinnabar Island or Route 20.
7. Cinnabar Island, then Viridian City (Blue, Lv. 54 to 58). Talk to Blue on Cinnabar and he returns to his gym in Viridian City. This is the hardest gym fight in the game, so level up before you go in.

Don't miss these in Kanto

• Power Plant and the Magnet Train: return the Machine Part to restore the power for the Goldenrod to Saffron train.
• Snorlax at Vermilion City (Lv. 50) is a one-off, so save before you throw a ball.
• Celadon City prizes: Eevee, Porygon and Mr. Mime (Gold and Silver), and in Crystal Pikachu, Porygon and Larvitar, all bought with coins. Our tracker lists the price of each.
• In-game trades hand you Rapidash and Xatu in Pewter City and Aerodactyl on Route 14, if you carry the right Pokémon (a Gloom, Haunter or Chansey). Which ones you get depends on the version, and the tracker shows what each trade asks for.
• Trade evolutions: Kadabra, Machoke, Graveler and Haunter need a trade. Onix, Scyther, Seadra, Poliwhirl and Slowpoke evolve into Steelix, Scizor, Kingdra, Politoed and Slowking when traded while holding the right item.

Elite Four and Lance

The Elite Four are in Indigo Plateau and the teams are the same in Gold, Silver and Crystal. Their levels (40 to 50) are lower than Blue's, so many players clear Kanto first and find them easy. Either way, bring Full Restores and Revives.

Lance is the Champion, and his team of Dragon and Flying types is the same trick as in the Kanto gyms: a handful of 4x weaknesses decide the whole fight. An Ice move and an Electric move do most of the work.

Mt. Silver and Red

Red is the most famous optional boss in Pokémon, the player character from Red and Blue, waiting at the top of Mt. Silver in complete silence. Treat the climb as a dungeon in its own right: stock up on Full Restores, Max Revives and Hyper Potions, and bring a team at Lv. 70 or higher.

His team is identical in Gold, Silver and Crystal (checked against pret/pokegold and pret/pokecrystal):

• Pikachu is first and fast. A Ground-type is immune to both Thunderbolt and Thunder, so only Quick Attack gets through.
• Snorlax is the stall. Rest and Snore combos waste turns, so use a strong physical Fighting move rather than chip damage.
• The three starters are last. Bring a Fire or Flying answer for Venusaur, Rock or Water for Charizard, and Grass or Electric for Blastoise.
• Red's levels run from 73 to 81, well above Blue (Lv. 54 to 58) and Lance (Lv. 44 to 50), so level up before you climb.

Ideal Teams

Gen 2 introduced Dark and Steel, split Special into Special Attack and Special Defense, and made held items and friendship matter. Typing coverage is still the main way to win, and Kanto's endgame is the first time you really need a plan for each fight.

• A starter's final form (Typhlosion, Feraligatr or Meganium) for your first-half badges, then rotate it out of the weakest matchups in Kanto.
• Ground-type: Dugtrio, Donphan or Gligar's line for Surge, Janine's Weezing, Gengar and Pikachu. This is the highest-value slot on the team.
• Electric attacker: Ampharos or Raikou for Lance's and Blue's Gyarados and Blue's Pidgeot.
• Ice coverage: a Pokémon that knows Ice Beam or Blizzard for Lance's Dragonites and Blue's Exeggutor.
• A Dark Pokémon: Umbreon, Tyranitar or Houndoom, all immune to Psychic, for Sabrina, Will and Red's Espeon.
• A bulky Normal or Psychic type: Snorlax or Blissey to soak up what is left.

Track Your Run

Playing on RetroAchievements? Our Pokémon trackers integrate with RetroAchievements. Link your account from the RetroAchievements tab on the Gold, Silver & Crystal tracker and it will show your achievement progress for these games next to your Pokédex and badges.

Open the Pokémon Gold, Silver & Crystal tracker to see where every Pokémon is found, which version and time of day it appears in, and tick off your Pokédex, all 16 badges, Unown and the Elite Four as you go. Starting from the beginning? Our Red, Blue & Yellow 100% guide covers Kanto the way it was first played, and the Red, Blue & Yellow tracker is the one to use for the ten Pokémon that never made it into Johto.