Pokémon Gold, Silver (1999)

Pokémon Gold, Silver is a 1999 rpg video game made by Game Freak.

The sequel that doubled the world. On the Game Boy Color, Gold and Silver carried players into the new Johto region with a hundred fresh Pokemon, then, near the end, reopened all of Kanto to explore. An internal clock brought day and night, with certain Pokemon and events tied to the hour. New Steel and Dark types reshaped every battle, and the legendary beasts Raikou, Entei, and Suicune roamed the map. You start with Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile and clash often with a thieving rival. Widely held as a high point of the whole series.

Similar games

A few thoughts on Pokémon Gold, Silver

For more of Johto, the Pokemon Adventures manga runs a Gold and Silver arc that is grittier and better plotted than the games let on. The animated Johto Journeys covers the same ground with Ash and company. Both deepen a region well worth revisiting.

Games to play after clearing Johto and Kanto

Gold and Silver hand you two regions on one Game Boy Color cartridge, so the natural next step is the games that build on that scale. HeartGold and SoulSilver rebuild Johto with a partner Pokemon walking behind you, Crystal adds animated sprites and a Suicune plot, and Red and Blue show Kanto before these games aged it three years.

Pokemon manga that follows the Gold and Silver story

The Gold and Silver arc of Pokemon Adventures runs across the same Johto map you play, with Gold, Silver and Crystal as three separate trainers chasing the roaming beasts and one thieving rival. The manga takes the story harder than the 1999 cartridge does. Volume 7 is the place to start, then read forward into Kanto.

Movies about chasing a legendary that never stands still

Raikou, Entei and Suicune bolt the moment you meet them in Gold and Silver, and these films run on the same pull of a legendary that will not hold still. The Legend of Thunder puts Raikou in Johto with a cast drawn from these games. Darkrai, Jirachi and Latios each get a chase that treats the creature as weather rather than a boss.

Anime about breeding a team and trading for the rest

Gold and Silver turned collecting into husbandry: a day care that breeds eggs, and an internal clock that decides which Pokemon show up at all. These shows run the same loop of raising a team, trading for the piece you lack, and facing a rival who keeps turning up. Digimon and Battle Spirits sit closest to that routine.