ThePokemonfranchise has built itself up on an expanding list of hundreds of pocket monsters. From the most harmless Magikarp to godly beings such as Arceus, nearly a thousand creatures have been created overPokemon’s remarkable 25 year history. Players have spent just as many years trying to catch them all, a feat which has grown increasingly difficult to accomplish as the total amount of Pokemon has ballooned over the years. Nevertheless, the introduction of each new Generation has continuously motivated gamers across the globe to become the Pokemon Trainer of their dreams.
Pokemon RedandBluelaid a very good foundation for future installments with Generation 1, a foundation that Game Freak intended to build on very quickly with Generation 2. Featured inPokemon GoldandSilver, Generation 2 maintained many of the same game mechanics as Gen 1, while making a handful of tweaks and quality-of-life improvements. One of the biggest new features proved to be the addition of 100 new species of Pokemon that existed alongside many of the same creatures from Gen 1, which would begin the franchise tradition of an ever-expanding Pokedex over the next 25 years.
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How Generation 2 Builds On The Success Of Generation 1
With the very first Generation ofPokemon, the franchise had begun to feel out its visual aesthetic and overall design philosophy for the Pokemon themselves. Many of the design trends that were established inGeneration 1carried over into Generation 2, with many pocket monsters resembling real-life animals. There was a clear growth in creativity with Gen 2, however, and the Pokemon fromGoldandSilverhave managed to remain some of the most beloved and unique over the franchise’s long history as a result. The Pokemon belonging to Generation 2 are as follows:
While Generation 2 may be a distant memory in the overall history ofPokemon, it had a tremendous effect on the trajectory of the franchise as a whole.Pokemon GoldandSilverwere the first entries to introduce unique Legendaries to each game, and it also retroactively added new “baby” evolutions for Pokemon from Gen 1. Many of these Pokemon have been featured repeatedly in future Generations, with the Fire starter Cyndaquil being one of the available starters in the upcomingPokemon Legends: Arceus. As the Generation that kept the ball rolling for thePokemonfranchise, Generation 2 will remain one of the most important for years to come.
