You’re standing there in Goldenrod City. You've got your badge, your bike, and a radio card that plays catchy tunes. But there's a problem. You really want a Bulbasaur. Or maybe you're itching to evolve that Eevee into something other than an Espeon or Umbreon.
The reality of the Game Boy Color era was actually pretty restrictive. Honestly, it was a bit of a mess if you were trying to "Catch 'Em All" without a link cable and a copy of the older games.
When we talk about pokemon not available in gen 2, we aren’t just talking about the missing 151. We are talking about a specific design choice by Game Freak that forced players to treat Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal as a sequel rather than a standalone experience. If you didn't have a friend with a copy of Red, Blue, or Yellow, your Pokedex was going to have some massive, permanent holes.
The Kanto Starters and the "Trade or Bust" Rule
It’s the most obvious omission. You start your journey with Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile. That’s standard. But unlike modern games where legacy starters often show up in the post-game or through special events, the original Kanto trio—Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle—were completely absent from the wild or gift encounters in Johto.
They simply didn't exist in the game code as catchable sprites.
If you wanted a Charizard to fly you around Kanto once you reached the second half of the game, you had to physically plug in a Link Cable and trade it over from a Gen 1 cartridge. This wasn't just a minor hurdle. In 1999 and 2000, this was a logistical nightmare for kids whose parents wouldn't buy them two versions of the same game.
The "Time Capsule" mechanic was the only bridge. It was a clever lore-friendly way to explain why you could trade with the past, but it confirmed one thing: the Johto ecosystem was strictly its own beast. You couldn't find a stray Squirtle in the Whirl Islands. You couldn't find a Bulbasaur in Ilex Forest. They were relics.
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Fossil Pokémon and the Extinction Event
Wait. You can go to the Pewter City Museum in Gen 2. You can talk to the scientists. But you can't give them a piece of Amber or a Dome Fossil.
Omanyte, Kabuto, and Aerodactyl are prominent examples of pokemon not available in gen 2 through any standard gameplay loop. In the original Red and Blue, these were your rewards for trekking through Mt. Moon and the Cinnabar Lab. In Gold and Silver, the Cinnabar Island volcano erupted, taking the lab—and the ability to revive fossils—with it.
It's actually kind of dark when you think about it.
The game world evolved in real-time, and part of that evolution meant the loss of specialized technology. While you can find the items in the game data or hold onto them from a trade, the actual "NPC service" to turn those items into living creatures was removed. This made the fossil lines some of the rarest mons in the entire Johto/Kanto landscape.
The Legendaries That Stayed Home
Mewtwo. The GOAT.
If you head to the Cerulean Cave in Gen 2, you’ll find... nothing. Well, not nothing, but you certainly won't find the psychic powerhouse waiting at the end. The cave has actually collapsed. You can stand near the entrance, but the path to the most powerful creature in the first generation is literally blocked by rocks.
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This was a massive shock to players at the time. We expected the Kanto post-game to be a 1:1 recreation of the first game, but Game Freak nerfed the region significantly to fit it all on a single cartridge. Mew and Mewtwo were completely scrubbed from the encounter tables.
The legendary birds—Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres—suffered a similar fate in Gold and Silver. They weren't in their respective homes (Seafoam Islands, Power Plant, and Victory Road). It wasn't until Pokémon Crystal that the developers started playing around with legendary availability again, but even then, the original birds remained elusive. They were effectively "locked" in the past.
The Safari Zone Catastrophe
The biggest chunk of pokemon not available in gen 2 can be traced back to one specific location: Fuchsia City.
In Gen 1, the Safari Zone was the hub for everything rare. Scyther, Pinsir, Kangaskhan, Chansey, and Tauros lived there. In Gen 2, the Warden went on vacation, and the Safari Zone closed down.
- Tauros and Miltank: Thankfully, these moved to the routes near Goldenrod.
- Scyther and Pinsir: These were moved to the National Park Bug Catching Contest (but only on specific days).
- Chansey: Became a hyper-rare 1% encounter on certain Kanto routes.
- Kangaskhan: Found in Rock Tunnel, but with a soul-crushingly low encounter rate.
But many others just vanished. If you were looking for a Dratini, you couldn't just buy one at the Game Corner easily or fish for it in the Safari Zone with the same reliability. The entire "rare" tier of Kanto Pokémon was redistributed, and in many cases, simply deleted from the wild encounter lists to make room for Sentret and Hoothoot.
Why This Matters for Modern Collectors
Why do we care about what wasn't in a game from 25 years ago?
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Because it defined how Pokémon handled "National Dex" issues long before that was a controversial term. It established that a new region didn't have to provide everything. It forced community interaction.
It’s also important to note the technical limitations. The Game Boy Color cartridges were tiny. Fitting two entire regions—Johto and Kanto—into one game was a programming miracle performed largely by Satoru Iwata. To make it work, they had to strip out "redundant" data. Why have a wild Bulbasaur when the player is "supposed" to trade for it?
The Evolution Problem
Then you have the "stone" issue.
Fire Stones, Water Stones, and Thunder Stones were incredibly hard to find in Johto. You couldn't just go to a department store and buy them like you could in Celadon City in Gen 1. In Johto, you had to wait for a random NPC to call you on the PokeGear and tell you they found a "gift."
This meant that even if you had a Pokémon that was available—like Eevee (given to you by Bill)—evolving it into its Gen 1 forms was nearly impossible for a casual player. This effectively made Vaporeon, Flareon, and Jolteon pokemon not available in gen 2 for a huge portion of the player base during their initial playthrough. You were stuck with the base forms or the new "friendship" evolutions.
Actionable Takeaways for Retro Players
If you are firing up a copy of Pokémon Gold, Silver, or Crystal today (perhaps on an original handheld or an emulator), here is how you handle these gaps:
- Prioritize the Bug Catching Contest: If you want any high-tier Gen 1 "creepy crawlies," Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are your only windows. Don't skip them.
- Phone Number Management: Register the numbers of Schoolboy Alan (Route 36) and Lass Dana (Route 38) immediately. They are your primary sources for Fire and Thunder stones. Without them, your Kanto favorites are staying in their unevolved forms.
- The Crystal Exception: If you have the choice, play Pokémon Crystal. It fixed several availability issues, including making the legendary beasts slightly more manageable and adding the ExtremeSpeed Dratini gift in the Dragon's Den.
- Hardware Requirements: Accept that you cannot complete the Dex solo. Unlike modern titles with "Mystery Gift" via the internet, Gen 2 requires a second device and a Link Cable to bridge the gap for the Kanto starters, fossils, and trade-evolutions like Machamp or Golem.
The gaps in the Johto Pokedex weren't bugs; they were features of an era that valued the "Link" in Link Cable above all else. Understanding what's missing is the first step to actually finishing the game.