Pokémon Gold and Silver/Ilex Forest

The dark, gloomy forest is very large and confusing. After you help the Apprentice, you can explore the forest to find TM 02, Headbutt, which can shake Pokémon out of trees. The girl in the guard house will give you TM 12, Sweet Scent, which can attract more Pokémon to you.

Ilex Forest

Navigating the forest

The Charcoal Maker's Apprentice

The charcoal maker, who lives in Azalea Town's south-east, hasn't seen his apprentice since he went into the forest. You'll find him safe, but his Farfetch'd is lost. Farfetch'd is in the middle of the forest, but when you approach it, it runs away. So you'll need to loop around and come at it from behind, chasing it right into its master's arms!

The charcoal maker will give you HM01 (Cut)

He'll reward you with HM 01, Cut, which when learned by a Pokémon in your party, allows you to cut trees like the tree at the top of the path that is blocking your way up to Route #34. If you go back to Azalea, the apprentice will give you Charcoal. If you have a Pokémon hold this, it will power up all of its Fire-type moves.

Get TM 02 (Headbutt)

You have to go a bit out of your way to get to a man who waits east of the forest pond, but it's an opportunity you won't want to miss. He gives you TM 02, Headbutt. This is a useful attack, and it's also the key to getting four Pokémon you wouldn't be able to get any other way! Keep reading for details.

Catching Pokémon with the art of the Headbutt

In battle, Headbutt has a power of 70 and makes opponents Flinch 30% of the time. That's a great attack, but Headbutt is even better on the field! Whenever you see one of the smaller trees, you can use Headbutt to hit it, possibly knocking out a Pokémon! In forested areas like these, it will always be a member of the Caterpie or Weedle family (depending on your version), or possibly a Pineco or Exeggcute. Other Pokémon that you can catch in other areas of Johto include Noctowl, Heracross, Ledyba, Spinarak, Ekans, Exxegcute, and Hoothoot. Headbutting trees in Azalea town is one way to get the extremely rare Aipom. You can also get Aipom on route 44 by headbutting trees. Aipom has a high attack stat, so it's good in battle.

On to Goldenrod

Goldenrod is the biggest city in Johto, and there's a ton of things to do there. You can breed Pokémon at the nearby Day-Care, gamble for prizes at the Game Corner, shop at the Department Store, get a bike, visit the Radio Station… And, of course, challenge Whitney for the Plain Badge. You must travel across one route to reach it, Route #34.

Trainers & Items

Trainer			Item
	Bug Catcher Wayne: Ledyba (lvl. 8, 136 boosted EXP) Paras (lvl. 10, 150 EXP) and 160		Revive X Attack Antidote Super Potion (hidden in corner before green headed boy) Ether Ether (hidden in corner near water by Wayne) HM 01 (Cut) TM 02 (Headbutt) from green-haired boy Full Heal (hidden in corner under the water)

Pokémon Found

Ilex Forest encounters

	Gold			Silver			Crystal
	Morn	Day	Night	Morn	Day	Night	Morn	Day	Night
Zubat	15%	N/A	20%	20%	N/A	20%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Caterpie	30%	50%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20%	20%	N/A
Metapod	20%	10%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20%	20%	N/A
Weedle	N/A	N/A	N/A	20%	20%	N/A	36%	36%	N/A
Kakuna	N/A	N/A	N/A	12%	15%	N/A	12%	12%	N/A
Paras	10%	15%	30%	24%	25%	30%	8%	8%	8%
Oddish	25%	25%	50%	24%	40%	50%	N/A	N/A	44%
Pidgey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4%	4%	N/A
Psyduck	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	16%
Venonat	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	28%
Hoothoot	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4%

Ilex Forest Fishing

	Old Rod	Gold Rod	Super Rod
Magikarp	80%	50%	20%
Poliwag	20%	50%	80%

#43 Oddish	#46 Paras
The Oddish family has a few new tricks. One is Moonlight, a high-level move which recovers HP, but the amount changes based on the time of day. The other is Bellossom, a new evolution (It's not a fourth form, but an alternative to Vileplume). Some of its stats are weaker than Vileplume's, but Bellossom is now the only Oddish relative that can learn Solarbeam.	Paras doesn't have any new forms, but it does have a couple of new moves, including Poison Powder, and Grass-type's new power move, Giga Drain. These round out a decent move set that includes Para's trademark "puts them to sleep 100% of the time" Spore move. Too bad that Paras is still one of the slowest Pokémon in the game.
#48 Venonat	#54 Psyduck
Venonat was always an awkward mix of Bug and Poison types that got mostly Psychic attacks and wasn't powerful enough to use them effectively. And, well, that's all still true. At least evolved form Venomoth can learn Gust now.	You can get Psyduck much earlier in Crystal than you could in Red/Blue/Yellow. Psyduck's few new moves aren't worth much, but it learns the old moves up to 20 levels earlier. Unfortunately, Water-type Psyduck can learn Surf, but not the Waterfall and Whirlpool HM's.
#102 Exeggcute	#204 Pineco
Now more than ever, evolution timing is the key for Exeggcute and Exeggutor. Stick with Exeggcute if you want to learn Solar Beam, evolve into Exeggutor early if you want to learn Stomp and Egg Bomb.	This is one enraged pine cone! Pineco and its evolved form Forretress specialize in moves that do major damage to opponents…and themselves! Selfdestruct, Explosion, Take Down, Double Edge, that sort of thing. It can dish out the beatings, but it won't last long.