From StrategyWiki, the video game walkthrough and strategy guide wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
New Pokémon
Gold Silver Crystal

Pokemon 043Oddish.pngOddish
Pokemon 046Paras.pngParas
Pokemon 060Poliwag.pngPoliwag
Pokemon 102Exeggcute.pngExeggute
Pokemon 204Pineco.pngPineco

Pokemon 043Oddish.pngOddish
Pokemon 046Paras.pngParas
Pokemon 048Venonat.pngVenonat
Pokemon 054Psyduck.pngPsyduck
Pokemon 204Pineco.pngPineco

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.

Navigating the forest[edit]

Ilex Forest

The Charcoal Maker's Apprentice[edit]

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 the apprentice's arms!

The charcoal maker will give you HM01 (Cut)

The charcoal maker will show up and 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 town and into the charcoal makers house, the apprentice will give you Charcoal. If you give it to a Pokémon to hold, it will power up all of its Fire-type techniques.

Get TM 02 (Headbutt)[edit]

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.

Alternatively, Headbutt can be learned through leveling up with the following Pokémon: Slowpoke, Slowbro, Seel, Dewgong, Drowzee, Hypno, Cubone, Marowak, Snorlax, Slowking.

Catching Pokémon with the art of the Headbutt[edit]

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!

Some trees are considered 'rare' and have a higher chance of encountering hard-to-find Pokémon such as Heracross and Aipom. Rare trees are determined by your Trainer Id, so use a tool like tshadowshight's headbutt grid to determine what trees are rare for your game.

Look at the headbutt tables for drop rates in various areas. Many nearby routes have the same encounter table so if you don't find a headbutt table in a specific area, you can assume that an earlier table is applicable unless otherwise specified.

In Ilex Forest, it will be a high chance that a member of the Caterpie or Weedle family falls out (depending on your version), or possibly a Exeggcute with a 15% chance in Gold and Silver or Pineco in Crystal.

Other Pokémon that you can catch in other areas of Johto include Noctowl, Heracross, Ledyba, Spinarak, Ekans, Exeggcute, and Hoothoot. Headbutting trees in Azalea town (Crystal Version only) is one way to get the extremely rare Aipom. In Gold/Silver, they can be found in the trees on Route 33 (east exit from Azalea/South exit from Union Cave). You can also get Aipom on Route 44 by headbutting trees. Aipom has a high attack stat, so it's good in battle.

Return later on, and surf for Psyduck[edit]

If you Surf in Ilex Forest until you're attacked, you'll encounter an elusive Psyduck (the evolved form Golduck may also appear). Crystal players dont have to rely on Surfing if they wait until night time to go Psyduck hunting as they appear in the tall grass 10% of the time. You can also catch these Water Pokémon by Surfing near Route 35.

On to Goldenrod[edit]

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[edit]

Trainer Item
Pokemon GSC Bug Catcher.png
Bug Catcher Wayne:
  • Ledyba (lvl. 8, 96 EXP)
  • Paras (lvl. 10, 150 EXP) and Pokebuck.png160
  • Revive
  • X Attack (Crystal only)
  • Antidote
  • Super Potion (G/S only, hidden in corner before green headed boy)
  • Ether (Crystal only)
  • Ether (G/S only, 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[edit]

Ilex Forest (Land) encounters
Gold Silver Crystal
Morn Day Night Morn Day Night Morn Day Night
Pokemon 041Zubat.pngZubat 5% 5% 25% 5% 5% 25% N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 010Caterpie.pngCaterpie 50% 60% N/A N/A N/A N/A 30% 30% N/A
Pokemon 011Metapod.pngMetapod 30% 30% N/A N/A N/A N/A 20% 20% N/A
Pokemon 013Weedle.pngWeedle N/A N/A N/A 50% 60% N/A 30% 30% N/A
Pokemon 014Kakuna.pngKakuna N/A N/A N/A 30% 30% N/A 10% 10% N/A
Pokemon 046Paras.pngParas 15% 5% 15% 15% 5% 15% 5% 5% 5%
Pokemon 043Oddish.pngOddish N/A N/A 60% N/A N/A 60% N/A N/A 50%
Pokemon 016Pidgey.pngPidgey N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 5% 5% N/A
Pokemon 054Psyduck.pngPsyduck N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 10%
Pokemon 048Venonat.pngVenonat N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 30%
Pokemon 163Hoothoot.pngHoothoot N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 5%
Ilex Forest (Surfing) encounters
Gold Silver Crystal
Morn Day Night Morn Day Night Morn Day Night
Pokemon 054Psyduck.pngPsyduck 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90%
Pokemon 055Golduck.pngGolduck 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%
Ilex Forest (Headbutting-Moderate Chance) encounters
Gold Silver Crystal
Morn Day Night Morn Day Night Morn Day Night
Pokemon 010Caterpie.pngCaterpie 65% 65% 65% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 011Metapod.pngMetapod 15% 15% 15% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 012Butterfree.pngButterfree 5% 5% 5% N/A N/A N/A 5% 5% 5%
Pokemon 013Weedle.pngWeedle N/A N/A N/A 65% 65% 65% N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 014Kakuna.pngKakuna N/A N/A N/A 15% 15% 15% N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 015Beedrill.pngBeedrill N/A N/A N/A 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%
Pokemon 102Exeggcute.pngExeggcute 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 163Hoothoot.pngHoothoot N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 50% 50% 50%
Pokemon 164Noctowl.pngNoctowl N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 10% 10% 10%
Pokemon 204Pineco.pngPineco N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 30% 30% 30%
Ilex Forest (Headbutting-Low Chance) encounters
Gold Silver Crystal
Morn Day Night Morn Day Night Morn Day Night
Pokemon 010Caterpie.pngCaterpie 50% 50% 50% N/A N/A N/A 15% 15% 15%
Pokemon 011Metapod.pngMetapod N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 5% 5% 5%
Pokemon 012Butterfree.pngButterfree 5% 5% 5% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 013Weedle.pngWeedle N/A N/A N/A 50% 50% 50% 15% 15% 15%
Pokemon 014Kakuna.pngKakuna N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 5% 5% 5%
Pokemon 015Beedrill.pngBeedrill N/A N/A N/A 5% 5% 5% N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 102Exeggcute.pngExeggcute 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% N/A N/A N/A
Pokemon 163Hoothoot.pngHoothoot N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 60% 60% 60%
Pokemon 204Pineco.pngPineco 30% 30% 30% 30% 30% 30% N/A N/A N/A
Ilex Forest Fishing
Old Rod Good Rod Super Rod
Pokemon 129Magikarp.pngMagikarp 85% 35% 20%
Pokemon 060Poliwag.pngPoliwag 15% 65% 80%
#43 Oddish #46 Paras
Pokemon 043Oddish.png
Grass and Poison-type Pokémon, that only has one Grass type attack, Absorb as an offensive move and learns all the powder attacks too. It learns Acid at level 23 if prevented from evolving. Oddish has a new move. Moonlight, a high-level move which recovers HP, but the amount changes based on the time of day.

Another good utility Pokémon, Oddish can be taught HMs Flash and Cut along with Sleep Powder, it can be useful while only taking up 1 slot.

New addition Bellossom is a Pokémon that uses a Sun Stone to evolve. (It's 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.

Pokemon 046Paras.png
Bug and Grass-type Pokémon, 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 coming in at level 43.

This Pokémon is one of the few that has a unique attack which for Paras is Spore that "puts the opponent to sleep 100% of the time"

It has a higher physical Attack stat compared to Special Attack and uses Slash to good effect. Too bad that Paras is still one of the slowest Pokémon in the game though.

Can Learn cut and Flash

#48 Venonat #54 Psyduck
Pokemon 048Venonat.png
Bug and Poison-type Pokémon, Venonat was always an awkward mix that got mostly Psychic attacks and wasn't powerful enough to use them effectively. And, well, that's all still true.

Its Attack and Special Attack are around the same but are both low. Evolves at level 31.

It does have a large move pool and learns Supersonic at level 9 then Confusion at level 17, a few of the Powder moves as well as Psybeam and Psychic later on.

Once it reaches evolved form Venomoth it can learn Gust now at level 31 and does have an ok Special Attack stat as well as some Speed.

Pokemon 054Psyduck.png
Water-type Pokémon who gets a few new moves in Gen 2 which aren't worth much but this Pokémon is actually great! Not immediately useful but once you get up to Ecruteak City you can start to consider its value.

Early is a slow level up but now gets Confusion at level 16 for some good damage. Once it finally evolves into Golduck, its Special Attack becomes one of the best among the multi HM Water type Pokémon as well as having good Speed.

It is almost mandatory to catch one due to the fact Water-type Psyduck and Golduck can learn 5 HM techniques! Surf, Waterfall, Whirlpool as well as Strength and Flash!

#102 Exeggcute #204 Pineco
Pokemon 102Exeggcute.png
Grass and Psychic type Pokémon with a high Defense stat. Its only early Grass type move is Leech Seed. Now more than ever, evolution timing is the key for Exeggcute and Exeggutor.

Stick with Exeggcute if you want to learn Confusion at level 19, a few of the Powder moves and Solar Beam at level 43 which is its last learnt move. Evolve into Exeggutor early to instead learn Normal type Stomp at level 19 and Normal type Egg Bomb at level 31 which is its last learnt move. Exeggutor has a very high Special Attack stat and can be given plenty of good TMs such as Sunny Day, Solar Beam and Psychic.

Can be taught HMs Strength and Flash

Pokemon 204Pineco.png
This is one enraged pine cone! Pure Bug type that has very low Speed stat while its main stat is Defense. Pineco and its evolved form Forretress specialize in moves that do major suicide damage to opponents...and themselves!

Self Destruct at level 8 for 200 damage, Take Down at level 15, Explosion at level 36 for 250 damage, Double Edge at level 50, that sort of thing, a lot of Normal type moves. Picks up a Ground type move at level 43 called Spikes which is not a direct damage move. Also learns Rapid Spin the move that Staryu also uses.

It can dish out the beatings, but it won't last long. It evolves at level 31