Pokemon Fans Are Still Baffled By Weird Gold and Silver Decision 27 Years Later

Pokemon Gold and Silver made a number of smart changes from the first generation games, but one decision remains puzzling to fans 27 years after their release on Game Boy Color. From the second generation on, the Pokemon franchise has evolved just like its namesake creatures. The developers at Game Freak have continued to refine the formula over time, adding hundreds of new Pokemon, quality of life improvements, and more.

Following Pokemon Gold and Silver‘s release in 1999, the developers at Game Freak revisited the Johto region with Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver in 2009. Apparently, a Pokemon Legends game was nearly created based on Gold and Silver, before the developers decided to create Pokemon Legends: Z-A, instead. The Pokemon Legends games have become a way for Game Freak to flesh out the storylines of the franchise, with games acting as both prequels and sequels to existing generations.

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Pokemon Gold and Silver’s Strangest Decision

In a Reddit thread, Pokemon fans have been debating one of the strangest design decisions in Gold and Silver. As noted by user Hsiang7, the games allow players to obtain Pokemon from Red and Blue early on that can only evolve through the use of Evolution Stones. By the time players reach Pokemon Gold and Silver’s Ecruteak City, they can add favorites like Eevee, Bellsprout, and Staryu to their Pokedex. However, players might not want to enlist them for their team, at least not for a long while.

Pokemon Gold and Silver‘s post-game section takes players back to the Kanto region, and it’s not until they reach Cerulean City that they can get Evolution Stones. That prevents players from being able to use favorites like Exeggutor, Starmie, Jolteon, and Arcanine until much later. Gold and Silver players have to choose their early Pokemon wisely, as a result. It really is a strange decision, and it’s one that looks even stranger as the years have passed. If players can’t get Evolution Stones until that late in the game, it would have made more sense to keep those Pokemon in Kanto, rather than making them available so early.

It can be difficult to figure out why specific decisions were made in the creation of older games. The Pokemon franchise is no exception, and the developers at Game Freak tend to be secretive about that type of thing. It’s possible those working on the sequels underestimated the number of players that would want to use so many old favorites, or that Game Freak specifically wanted to push them towards using new Pokemon. After all, if you can’t get Jolteon until the post-game, it means you’ll have to try newcomers like Ampharos or Lanturn, instead.

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Whatever the case might be, Pokemon Gold and Silver remain a beloved part of the franchise. The games made several welcome changes, while also introducing lots of Pokemon that went on to become fan favorites. Nearly three decades after release, Pokemon like Entei continue to play a big role in the series. Not everything in the games has aged gracefully, but a big part of Pokemon‘s popularity boils down to the way these sequels were handled. Gold and Silver truly paved the way for future games like Scarlet and Violet, and will likely influence Pokemon Winds and Waves when they’re released on Nintendo Switch 2 next year.