The second generation of Pokemon introduced 100 new creatures for trainers to collect and battle. This is a huge addition to the original 151 in the first generation, featuring both all-new species and new evolutions for older Pokemon. Even to this day, Gen 2 is still fondly remembered as the best Pokemon generation, having some of the best-designed members of the franchise.

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With a hundred new party members to choose from, it’s natural to feel like it's difficult to recognize who’s the very best, but this list has all the answers you’re looking for. We have gathered the best 30 Gen 2 Pokemon, all of which you can find over your playthrough of the various Johto games. Each has their own strengths that set them apart from each other, but every one of them is strong enough to become your best Pokemon in Crystal, Gold, Silver.

Updated April 26, 2021 by Gene Cole: Many of the best Gen 2 Pokemon are still just as powerful in Pokemon Sword & Shield as they were strong in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and many have remained all-time favorites among many Pokemon fans. If you plan on running through a new or remade Johto game, and wish to only use the strongest Gen 2 Pokemon you can find, these are absolutely the best Johto Pokemon you can find in your playthroughs and Nuzlocke runs.

30 Ampharos

The Electric-type Pokemon Ampharos from the Gen 2 anime

It's extremely easy to underrate just how powerful Ampharos is among its fellow strong Gen 2 Pokemon. It's a remarkably bulky Electric-type compared to nearly every other introduced to the series so far, with the only analogue being Magneton despite gaining more weaknesses through its Steel-type addition that came in this new generation.

Ampharos's single weakness of Ground-type moves makes it remarkably hard to defeat, and while it doesn't learn much besides Electric and Normal-type moves, it's still remarkable in how effective it is. It's exactly what you want out of an Electric-type, and is worth picking up as soon as you escape Violet City.

29 Crobat

Crobat from the Pokemon anime fluttering in a forest

Crobat did what few people ever thought could be done, and made Zubat relevant and worth catching. These pests are some of the worst Gen 1 Pokemon due to some poor offensive stats and a troublesome type combination, but Crobat gains enough Speed and Attack to be worth using as your primary Flying and Poison-type.

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Crobat only gets better in the remakes, where it ends up being one of the best Pokemon in HeartGold & SoulSilver. This is thanks to a ton more moves that Crobat couldn't learn in the original games like X-Scissor and Cross Poison, which take advantage of its stats far better. Evolving it from Golbat through friendship can be time-consuming, but it's very much worth the effort.

28 Strong: Miltank

Two Miltank walking through a romantic field in the Pokemon anime

Jokes about Whitney’s overpowered Miltank aside, this Pokemon is genuinely good in battle on your side as well. Miltank has great defensive stats, and by simply being a Normal-type, it only is only weak to Fighting-types. Having a single weakness is a great asset and rare to see, and much like Ampharos is gives it a surprising amount of resistance.

In terms of moves, Miltank also gets access to great hitters like Rollout and Body Slam, which deal absurd damage and can even cause occasional status ailments on foes. If it takes some damage, you can use Milk Drink to heal the wounds without needing to waste your healing items, making it a perfect Pokemon to frustrate your opponents.

27 Sudowoodo

Sudowoodo posing by a mountain cliff in the Pokemon anime

Sudowoodo is the first of many underrated Gen 2 Pokemon, as you encounter one shortly after Goldenrod City blocking your path. It might not seem as effective as other path-blocking Pokemon like Snorlax, but this Rock-type is actually surprisingly worthwhile when you consider your other Rock-type options.

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Unlike Geodude, you won't need to trade it for an evolution to get worthwhile stats, and it packs a far bigger punch than other Rock-types like Onix and Corsola. It's not the fastest Pokemon ever, but if you want a Rock-type attacker with some impressive physical defense, Sudowoodo will absolutely deliver.

26 Quagsire

Several Quagsire in the Bushes, in the Pokemon anime.

Quagsire is the first Pokemon most people think of when it comes to Ground and Water-type combinations, as it's a powerful grouping that results in Grass-type attacks being its only weakness. This typing has been included in many games and others certainly have better stats than Quagsire, but this goofy aquatic creature is still very much worth your time for its typing alone.

The original Gen 2 Quagsire manages to learn Earthquake as early as Level 35, meaning you can get one of the strongest moves in the game without wasting a TM. That, alongside making the best of your Water-type HMs like Surf and Waterfall, give it a huge amount of power that transcend its need for great stats.

25 Gligar

Gligar flying at high speeds in the Pokemon anime

Much like Quagsire, Gligar gets its power from a unique type combination, but being Ground and Flying-type gives it potentially more power despite having more weaknesses. This leads to a massive amount of Super Effective moves against Rock, Fire, Grass, and Bug-types with its Same Type Attack Bonus moves, but it also learns tons of Rock-type moves for even more coverage if you need.

Gligar gets even better in the remakes, where it's actually possible to evolve it into Gliscor if you manage to find a Razor Claw and are able to trade it to another player. That said, it definitely doesn't have to evolve to be good, as its stats go from great to fantastic, and its type combination grants it a similar amount of power in either form.

24 Hitmontop

Bea's Hitmontop from the Pokemon Anime

Getting a Hitmontop for your playthrough of Pokemon Gold & Silver is definitely a challenge, as it only appears as a gift Pokemon in the mountain near Mahogany Town. That said, if you're lucky enough to get it and evolve it with identical Attack and Defense stats, you'll have a Fighting-type Pokemon unlike any other.

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Its prime advantage, besides great stats, are a selection of multi-hit moves like Triple Kick and some Priority Moves in the remakes like Mach Punch and Bullet Punch. This lets it hit far faster than Tyrogue's other options like Hitmonchan, and gives it more move range than Hitmonlee, making it the superior option for most teams in need of a versatile Fighting-type.

23 Girafarig

Girafarig jumping into battle

Girafarig is another especially underrated Gen 2 Pokemon, with most people brushing it off as a weak Normal-type without an evolution. This is massively incorrect, as its combination of Normal and Psychic-type give it a wide variety of strong damage moves that are excellent at all levels of the game, especially since there aren't too many early Psychic-types in Johto overall.

Girafarig's type combination also helps it avoid a ton of damage, since its Normal-type saves it from Ghost-type moves while its Psychic-type saves it from Fighting-type moves. It's not a common combination compared to Pokemon like Quagsire, and is another Pokemon that's worth using for its uniqueness alone.

22 Magcargo

Magcargo optimistically looking at its trainer in the Pokemon anime

Magcargo is one of the strangest additions to the Pokedex. Its Rock and Fire-type combination lends it to have substantially more weaknesses than most other Pokemon in the game, and even though most players love Fire-types, they tend to sleep on Magcargo out of fear that it'll faint.

That said, Johto is home to surprisingly few trainers that are going to be weak to it. Gym Leaders like the Steel-type expert Jasmine, Ice-type expert Pryce, and even Elite 4 member Koga will all fall victim to this Fire and Rock-type combo with little defenses against both types. It's absolutely a silver bullet of a Pokemon, being poor in some matchups but invincible in others.

21 Mantine

Mantine circling a whirlpool underwater in the Pokémon anime

Gyarados had a few problems in the original games, as Water-type moves were all Special Attack moves despite it having a physical attack stat. This was a shame given how great its Water and Flying-type combination was, but Mantine managed to work with this grouping far better early on in the series.

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Flying-type Attacks aren't the most powerful since they rely on Mantine's poor physical stats, but its Water-type moves could excel far more than they could on Gyarados and it still could be super effective against all sorts of Pokemon with moves like Gust and Icy Wind at its disposal. It also has a remarkable Special Defense stat, making it much more resistant to heavy-impact Electric-type moves.

20 Jumpluff

Jumpluff happily playing in a snow storm in the Pokemon anime

Simply put, Jumpluff won't be destroying your opponents. It's hardly a menacing creature, but that doesn't mean it can't provide your team with a ton of utilities, as it's one of the few Grass-types you can find early on that can inflict nearly any status ailment on your opponents with moves like Sleep Powder and Poison Powder.

It can also do this with remarkable ease, since its Speed is one of the highest of any Grass-type in the game when it debuted. This meant you could throw on some Sleep or Paralysis before slowly chipping at their health with Mega Drain and Leech Seed for a slow-yet-certain victory.

19 Sneasel

A Sneasel sneaking and ready to steal in the Pokémon anime

For context, Sneasel was actually quite bad in the original Pokemon Gold & Silver. Dark-type moves didn't have nearly enough power at the time, and Sneasel's stats didn't lend itself well to either move types, but when it could finally learn physical Dark and Ice-type moves in the remakes of Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver, it jumped right into the highest tiers of the game.

Now, it could be another silver bullet like Magcargo, but with tons more Speed to hit Psychic and Flying-type foes with a rapid strike of Super Effective damage. Coupled with the addition of the Inner Focus ability to not flinch, Sneasel quickly rose from obscurity in the original games to one of the greatest choices for the late-game battles of the Johto region.

18 Blissey

The Pokemon blissey with a sparkly background

Blissey may not look powerful at first, but it’s an excellent Pokemon. Its main assets are high special defence and HP. Blissey can tank all sorts of special attackers and only has one weakness, the Fighting-type, which already would cause harm to it over its poor physical defense and hardly makes a difference to its bulk.

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This makes it a wonderful wall, particularly against dedicated Special Attackers like Lance's Dragonites, which each have elemental attacks that don't generally deal physical damage. With further healing from moves like Softboiled, it can be completely indestructible in most matchups.

17 Forretress

Foretress moving at high velocity in the Pokemon anime

Unlike Blissey, Forretress is resistant against nearly every type of move, making it much better for most teams. It has nine resistances in total alongside some great defensive stats, and with Fire-type moves being its only weakness it's hard for most foes to defeat it in less than three hits.

As for damage, Forretress has the ability to set traps like Spikes or annoy foes with Toxic, chipping away at health while you slowly heal it with potions. Once its HP gets low, then you can finish off an unsuspecting foe with a good old-fashioned Explosion for a remarkable degree of damage that will take your foe down right with you.

16 Heracross

Bug Type Move Megahorn Ash's Heracross Horn Attack Pokemon Anime

Heracross has an amazing attack stat and a unique Bug and Fighting-type combo that works surprisingly well in most matchups. It learns powerful moves like Megahorn and Earthquake which can easily one-hit KO many opponents, which also can deal with its vulnerable matchups against both Psychic and Fire-type Pokemon.

Heracross also has a lot of HP and okay defensive stats making it durable in battle, with the sole exception of Flying-type moves often being able to defeat it in one hit. So long as you're not up against a Charizard or Skarmory, though, Heracross should be capable of carrying you through nearly the entire Johto region.

15 Ho-oh

Anime Pokemon Ho-Oh Rainbow Flight
Pokemon Ho-Oh Rainbow Flight

The cover legendaries are always strong, there’s no way around it. Ho-Oh has excellent stats, powerful moves and can wipe out most Pokemon with ease. The Fire/Flying type makes it vulnerable to Rock-types, but that’s not a major issue. Ho-Oh can even learn Earthquake which counters said weakness with surprising ease.

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Ho-Oh’s best move is Sacred Fire which does damage and also has a 50% chance of inflicting a Burn effect to cause damage each turn and cut their physical Attack stat in half. This is one of the best percentages of any move that can inflict Burn, meaning it'll almost always leave a lasting impact even when knocked out in a single move.

14 Lugia

Lugia In The Sky, Pokemon Journeys

Lugia is the other legendary of Generation 2, and unless you'd prefer to not run a team with Legendaries, is a great tool to bring into the Elite 4. High HP, Attack, and Defense mean that it will take a small army to knock it out, and that's only if your attacks of Psychic and Aeroblast don't defeat your foes first.

There’s isn’t much else to say, as the famously powerful Lugia is simply a well-rounded and excellent Pokemon to use in battle and will never let you down. Few would want to face it in battle, and even fewer can hope to defeat it, making it an excellent addition if you manage to catch it on your detour to the Whirl Islands.

13 Espeon

Espeon ready for battle on a rocky cliff in the Pokemon anime

Eevee's evolutions have never been underrated as Pokemon choices, but the new ones introduced with the Johto region are astonishingly stronger than their Kanto counterparts. Espeon is the first of these, being an extremely fast Psychic-type that matches with overpowered Kanto Psychic-types like Alakazam and Starmie.

The main challenge involved with Espeon is evolving it through Friendship, which can take a long time compared to other evolutionary methods. Afterward, though, you'll have one of the strongest Pokemon you can find in the game, making it a stellar choice if you have some time to invest.

12 Umbreon

Umbreon ready to battle in the Pokemon anime

This is a less obvious entry to the list. Umbreon isn’t a clear powerhouse like Espeon, but also isn't as pushed in stats as Heracross and the cover legendaries are. Instead it's a much more powerful user of status moves like Toxic, Confuse Ray, and Charm to weaken their offenses and slowly let them faint by themselves.

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Once you’ve put some ailments on every one of your opponent's partners, it’s a just matter of waiting for them to lose their HP. While this is an annoying strategy, it’s not impossible to beat, but Umbreon's high defenses and unique pure Dark-type body makes it strong enough to easily pull of this unconventional plan.

11 Skarmory

Skarmory in the Pokemon anime flying into battle

Skarmory showcases what makes the Steel type so good. It’s Steel/Flying combination gives it nine whole resistances, and an equally impressive two full immunities to Poison and Ground-type moves. Adding Skarmory’s insanely high defense, and you have a great wall for your team that can also just hit them with hard and simple strikes.

Alongside the common HM move Fly, throwing Drill Peck and Steel Wing will give you a great opportunity to deal decent damage while resisting even more. Skarmory can resist some of the more stronger Pokemon like Snorlax or Tyranitar, making it a valuable team member for an alarmingly high number matchups.