Pokémon Gold and Silver/Route 30-31

Route #30 and Route #31 are relatively uncomplicated roads—unfortunately, you'll have to wander off the path to climb uphill. You'll be wandering through tall grass again, but it will help your Pokémon become strong—if you win.

Route #31

Route #30

New Pokémon

Gold	Silver	Crystal
Caterpie Metapod Spinarak Bellsprout	Weedle Kakuna Ledyba Bellsprout	Caterpie Weedle Ledyba Spinarak Zubat Poliwag Bellsprout Gastly

New Pokémon to catch

Routes 30 and 31 contain a variety of new Pokémon (especially if you are playing Crystal) so bring many Poké Balls. Bug type Pokemon are plentiful here in all versions. Caterpie and Spinarak can be found on Gold while Weedle and Ledyba can be found on Silver. Unfortunately, the new families aren't that great, but you can still have some decent utility from Butterfree (can learn Sleep Powder and moves alike) and Beedrill (has a decent attack stat). Bellsprout may be weak at the first gym but it's decent and very useful if you didn't choose Chikorita as your starter. Also, try to catch an extra Bellsprout, not because they're that great, but because they can be used to trade for a very useful Onix in Violet City. Crystal players can get all of the previously mentioned Pokémon, plus three more! Gastly, Zubat and Poliwag can only be found at night and are somewhat rare but worth to catch. They can be found in other places more easily so don't worry if you don't find them here.

Trainer battles begin

When you return to Route #30 after completing your errand, trainers will attack you whenever you make eye contact. As you can see from their rosters below, their Pokémon are weak, but they can wear you down. You can try to avoid them, but it's better to fight when you can: they're the best source of money and EXP in the game.

One new twist is the ability to trade phone numbers with certain trainers once you've defeated them in battle (they will say phone next to their rewards). If you agree, they'll call you periodically to chat, challenge you to rematches, and most importantly, inform you of Pokémon "swarms." Without that info, it's hard to catch Pokémon like Dunsparce in the nearby Dark Cave.

Free berries from Wade

After you beat Wade along Route 31, give him your phone number. In Crystal, he'll call from time to time, and if you go visit him immediately afterward, he may give you one of a wide variety of Berries.

Run an errand and get TM 50

A little later in the game, a guard in the guard house that separates Goldenrod City and Route #35 will send you to deliver a message to the guy in front of the lake, so remember where he is! Finishing this errand is the only way to get TM 50, Nightmare.

Trainers and items

Route #30 Trainers	Route #31 Trainers
Youngster Joey: 64 (phone) Rattata (lvl. 4, 48 EXP) Youngster Mikey: 64 Pidgey (lvl. 2, 22 EXP) Rattata (lvl. 4, 48 EXP) Bug Catcher Don: 48 Caterpie (lvl. 3, 33 EXP) Caterpie (lvl. 3, 33 EXP)	Bug Catcher Wade: 32 (Phone) Caterpie (lvl. 2, 22 EXP) Weedle (lvl. 3, 33 EXP) Caterpie (lvl. 2, 22 EXP) Caterpie (lvl. 2, 22 EXP)
	Items
	Antidote (G/S only) Potion (Crystal only) Bitter Berry (tree) Poké Ball TM 50 (Nightmare)

Pokémon Found

Route #30 encounters

	Gold			Silver			Crystal
	Morn	Day	Night	Morn	Day	Night	Morn	Day	Night
Ledyba	N/A	N/A	N/A	30%	N/A	N/A	30%	N/A	N/A
Hoppip	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5%	5%	N/A
Pidgey	40%	50%	N/A	10%	50%	N/A	10%	40%	N/A
Caterpie	50%	35%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	50%	50%	N/A
Metapod	10%	15%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Weedle	N/A	N/A	N/A	50%	35%	N/A	5%	5%	N/A
Kakuna	N/A	N/A	N/A	10%	15%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hoothoot	N/A	N/A	30%	N/A	N/A	60%	N/A	N/A	45%
Rattata	N/A	N/A	40%	N/A	N/A	40%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Spinarak	N/A	N/A	30%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30%
Zubat	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5%
Poliwag	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20%

Route #31 encounters

	Gold			Silver			Crystal
	Morn	Day	Night	Morn	Day	Night	Morn	Day	Night
Ledyba	N/A	N/A	N/A	30%	N/A	N/A	30%	N/A	N/A
Hoppip	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5%	5%	N/A
Pidgey	30%	30%	N/A	10%	30%	N/A	10%	40%	N/A
Caterpie	35%	35%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30%	30%	N/A
Metapod	15%	15%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Weedle	N/A	N/A	N/A	30%	35%	N/A	5%	5%	N/A
Kakuna	N/A	N/A	N/A	10%	15%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bellsprout	20%	20%	20%	20%	20%	20%	20%	20%	20%
Hoothoot	N/A	N/A	10%	N/A	N/A	40%	N/A	N/A	10%
Rattata	N/A	N/A	40%	N/A	N/A	40%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Spinarak	N/A	N/A	30%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30%
Zubat	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5%
Poliwag	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30%
Gastly	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5%

#60 Poliwag	#10 Caterpie
Poliwag are very common in Crystal, appearing at night in several overworld routes. Poliwag isn't too impressive by itself, but if you evolve it into a Poliwhirl you can then use a Water Stone or trade it with a King's Rock to get a powerful Poliwrath or Politoed. But don't evolve it too early: Each of those forms can learn two exclusive moves, but none of them are anywhere near as good as the Hydro Pump that Poliwag and Poliwhirl would learn if you didn't evolve them until much later. Still, if you want a Fighting-type move for your Poliwrath, you will need to evolve it at least before level 35. Poliwag is very helpful in the fact that it can learn HMs: Surf, Whirlpool, Waterfall and evolutions Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, Politoed can learn Strength.	This Bug Pokémon reaches its highest form, Bug/Flying Butterfree, at level 10. The speedy evolution is nice, and Butterfree is useful for a while after it learns Confusion at level 10. Early on it's still good since it has a mix of status moves and Confusion as a good dealing damage move, but after you find more Pokémon that can use status inducing moves it becomes mediocre.
#13 Weedle	#167 Spinarak
Like Caterpie, Weedle evolves into its final form at level 10. That Pokémon, Beedril, actually gets a handful of strong moves: Fury Attack at level 10, and Twineedle, Pursuit, and Pin Missile later on. Beedrill is hardly the game's best Bug Pokémon, but it will hold you over until you get a Scyther.	Spinarak is a nocturnal Pokémon with a good variety of Poison, Normal, Bug, Ghost, and Psychic attacks. One move exclusive to this Pokémon and its evolved form (Ariados at level 22) is Spider Web, a useful technique that prevents a Pokémon from running away. Unfortunately, it's still a mediocre Pokémon with poor stats in almost every category.
#41 Zubat	#165 Ledyba
Big news for Zubat fans: Gold/Silver/Crystal introduces a third evolution for this under-appreciated Poison/Flying-type. Crobat, who evolves from a very "tamed" Golbat, doesn't have any new moves, but it can learn Fly and is much quicker than Golbat. Crobat is actually the fastest Pokémon that can learn Mean Look, so if you're having trouble trying to catch some annoying Pokémon that likes to run, Crobat is your best choice.	You'll have to wake up early to catch a Ledyba. Bug/Flying type Ledyba and its evolved form Ledian are primarily defensive Pokémon, learning moves like Reflect, Safeguard, and Light Screen. They do learn a few early attacks like Comet Punch, but their Attack is too low to put them to good use.
#69 Bellsprout	#92 Gastly
Bellsprout and its evolved forms, Weepinbell, and Victreebel are still among the least useful Grass Pokémon, and their one new move (Sweet Scent) isn't worth much. But if you didn't pick a Chikorita as a starter, you may find Bellsprout to be temporarily useful. They start with Vine Whip, which is great against Rock and Ground-type Pokémon in the upcoming Union Cave. Bellsprout and its evolved forms can learn HMs: Cut and Flash which will soon be encountered.	Gastly is a very useful Pokémon in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. It now starts with Hypnosis, and can learn four all new moves. One of the first is Mean Look, which prevents opponents from running away. Between that, Hypnosis and its Ghost-type resistance to Normal attacks, Gastly is the perfect Pokémon for catching other wild Pokémon. But you'll have to stay up late to catch one since they only come out at night.