Is Pokemon Crystal's post game actually good?

[@Zthewise]

Knowing that golbat only evolves through friendship your rival's finally evolving once he starts treating them better is a great bit of story telling.

[@heroldjaras9909]

Oh yes. I really liked that when i Was a kid and understood that

[@ld3534]

Absolutely

[@LightStreak567]

And the fact that your rival's father Giovanni of Team Rocket told him three years before Crystal Version that someday he will understand why Giovanni left Team Rocket to improve himself as a Pokemon Trainer. The reason why your rival in Gold/Silver/Crystal/HeartGold/SoulSilver started out as an angry kid who hated weak Trainers and Team Rocket is because he was mad that the man he admired, his father Giovanni, turned out to be a "weak" Pokemon Trainer after being defeated by Blue and Red at the Viridian City Gym.

[@mateoi.8681]

Also, he has a gengar of his own, so, he traded with another human being, trusting that he would get his pokemon back. And he didn't got scammed.

[@darnellhooks1033]

When I saw him in Kanto he didn't have a golbat. The way he talked made me see something was different with him so I was actually expecting a golbat

[@gowiththeflowbee8053]

Finding out there was a post game being a 10 year old playing this at the time and not knowing was and still is the best thing I've ever felt as a gamer

[@xanv8051]

Dude same i thought the game was over but then there was 8 more let's go we win these lol

[@xanv8051]

I still jam to champion theme lol

[@gowiththeflowbee8053]

@@xanv8051 yeah man was an amazing surprise lol then Red showed up

[@christiansather8438]

i know right! but then when the GBA versions game out (Ruby/Sapphire) I felt so let down with there only being 8 gyms again.

[@_timetravels4528]

With silver / gold I remember thinking how cool it would be if we could go back to kanto AND BOY WE COULD I will never forget that swim, and walk trough that cave only to revisit what was my childhood as a teen.

[@estabravo]

To truly understand the postgame’s impact, you had to either have been alive at the time, or understand Pokémon’s explosion as a cultural phenomenon during a time where internet access wasn’t within reach for most kids as the context. My older sister and I started the series on Gen 1 as kids (iirc 5th and 3rd grade respectively). When the franchise dropped with the anime, It. Was. EVERYWHERE. By the time Gen 2 dropped, we as kids were so doped up on Gen 1 (Kanto and such), that getting to relive Kanto through GSC's considerable improvements was already major on it’s own.. but also getting to experience it in a post-champion Red era was unfathomable. The game being massive had its effects too. Despite printed strategy guides being essential to knowing everything there was to know about the game, new myths, legends, and creepypastas were constantly birthed out of rumors circulating during recess or lunch breaks. So as a simple epilogue to RBY, as many stated, it’s aiight. As an epilogue to an entire era however, it was pretty epic.

[@edchampagne1806]

ya i miss those time this time period lame as fuck

[@DickieisSupaCool]

Half the fun of it back in the day was being able to sit at lunch with your friends and use the link cable to battle each other. The end game made leveling up easier to do that for when you fought your friends.

[@estabravo]

@@DickieisSupaCool Yeah i remember carrying it around in my backpack where ever i went lol You could also register your friend’s team at the trainer house in Veridian via IR Mystery Gift at their current level and grind with that battle too!

[@polocatfan]

to be fair they did say the video wasn't great

[@DrifterMW]

Sometimes I think how lucky were the kids in america in the 90s and their games and language. In my country if there was any gameboy, it would cost a yearly wages. Millions of kids played and beat games in english, without understanding it. That is an achievement to beat games as a kid in a foreign language, on a 3rd system . American kids got all spoiled , you guys could read and understand the story, we never had a chance.....

[@ElladanKenet]

Gen 2 Post-game in a nutshell: - SS Aqua. Can be grinded twice a week -Exploring original routes -Run into the first new gym and panic -Go back and grind in the Elite Four a few times -Come back and finish the original stuff -Fight Blue and panic -Go back and grind the Elite Four some more -Beat Blue -Discover and fight Red -Realize you're drastically underleveled -PANIC -Grind the Elite four another 50 times -Beat Red

[@numbrerotime6683]

I beat red at lv55 so i dont think grinding is really necessary

[@LemonMori]

I never needed to grind in the elite four

[@patrickzalatoris3206]

Yep, basically in a nutshell!

[@ivsper1441]

I beat them all with only starter lv 86. No grind at all, but if you want a full team...

[@Inaros404]

​@@numbrerotime6683 just because you did, doesn't mean everyone else will. So just chill a bit on that statement. Grinding is necessary.

[@theeyeplaylists]

To be one of us who thought it was incredible, you really did have to be there. Imagine: you’re 9 years old in 2000 and you get what will be effectively the one gameboy game you get for months, and as you near the end of it, you’re kinda bummed. It’s not like there were very many immersive, deep experiences like this one out there, especially not on the console you could take everywhere, so you recognize that you’re probably nearing the end of true, portable, in-depth fun for the foreseeable future. I really struggled playing games that I felt I had already “finished” afterwards. And then you learn that there’s basically a whole entire game added on to the one you just finished, and especially if you were like me and hadn’t played red/yellow yet, it was unbelievable. It meant another few weeks of drives/flights/whatever had entertainment solved again.

[@Capothekid]

Exactly. It was a complete surprise and a welcome one, especially after having not much to do in RBC. One of the most amazing experiences I had with a game

[@sgt.lincolnosiris4111]

Absolutely. I turned 10 October of 2000 and I got gold. Funny enough I had never owned a Gameboy and didn't get one until that Christmas. I never played gen1 games, so finding that out was literally playing an entirely new game with a lot more gen1 Pokemon to catch and train.

[@theeyeplaylists]

@@Capothekid right? It was so awesome haha. I’ll always love that reveal

[@theeyeplaylists]

@@sgt.lincolnosiris4111 it was seriously the best

[@Epsilonsama]

For me as soon as I saw the map of Kanto cause the Hiker told you to check I saw Kanto and I was like wait a minute is this what I think it is?! Then after I got the ticket I was like cool but let me check Kanto first. I went to the gate and obviously there was a guard there so I was like okay do it later. Do the SS Aqua and then I end up in Vermilion and it was like reaching home. 😢

[@pantslesswrock]

This is kind of the Doki-Doki fact about Crystal at this point, but the team was having trouble making all of Johto fit onto the 8kb or whatever GB cart. It was such a problem that the brought it to their boss and not-yet CEO of Nintendo Saturo Iwata, who took a couple weeks off managing and wrote a map compression software that saved so much space there was suddenly a lot of empty room on the cart, which gave the team the idea to put Kanto in. It had to be abridged somewhat to fit in there, but still - badass moment from one of the GOATs of early gaming One of the things I miss most about Mr. Iwata was that he was one of the last CEOs in gaming with a programming background EDIT: TURNS OUT THAT'S NOT WHY HE MADE THE COMPRESSION DEALIE So, all the stuff about being a bad-ass programmer is true, he reprogrammed the battle system, helped with compression software, etc - WHILE HE WAS CEO (of GameFreak specifically, I believe). But the compression software wasn't to further compress the data - room wasn't actually a major issue on G/S carts, which were twice the size of American R/B carts. It was to SPEED UP the DEcompression, so battle sprites would load faster. Still awesomeness from Mr. Iwata, but not the reason for additional truncated Kanto, as is often repeated throughout the internet.

[@Cyzure]

That is absolutely legendary

[@storrow10]

Great story

[@insentience]

This isn't true.

[@pantslesswrock]

@@insentience thanks for the heads up!

[@willissudweeks1050]

I actually did not know that haha

[@sampanna6983]

You can easily go from Johto ko Kanto without the magnet train. Just fly off to Mt Silver (Accessible from the Johto map), walk a few steps to the right and boom, when you try to fly again, you're shown the Kanto map. It's much faster than the magnet train.

[@JohnkyTonkbadonkadonk]

Thank you.

[@JAMSice927]

You can't get to mt. Silver until you get all 16 badges 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@7GSC251]

@@JAMSice927 why would you not have al 16 to begin with

[@JAMSice927]

@@7GSC251 some of these people will take that face value

[@emperornine3210]

You can't get to mt silver until you've beaten the kanto gyms. The point of this side quest is to explore the game fully. You get the pass by talking to the copycat girl in one of the houses and finding her pokedoll.

[@uselessDM]

Not that it matters, but you get the ticket to the magnet train from the mimic girl. Her house was removed when they build the magnet train and she got the ticket as a compensation and she will give it to you if you bring her her poke doll which you can find at the poke fan club in Olivine City. It's almost like a quest or something.

[@funkmon]

I think it matters. While it's one of those things that would absolutely happen at the time for a kid playing the game, missing something like that, it also shows me that he didn't actually spend enough time with the game. He didn't go everywhere and do everything, so the criticisms of the primary gameplay loop are valid, but he missed out on things.

[@amesstarline5482]

I personally wish HGSS had the Espeon- it fits Blue and Red having their own gift Eevees.

[@HomeCookinMTG]

He originally had Espeon because Red actually has one in the Manga. Not 100% sure why they changed it. The story behind his espeon is actually pretty dope, It was a genetically modified eevee that used to be able to transform into Jolteon Vaporeon and Flareon at will, But once it was passed it’s emotional trauma it permanently evolved in to espeon.

[@CEDL0W]

@@HomeCookinMTG Going by what I’ve seen from other comments. GSC predates Red having a Espeon in the manga. I think he just has one because Eevee was a free gift Pokémon in the Gen 1 games.

[@silverwolfcat777]

@@HomeCookinMTG They changed it because barely anyone knows about the Manga stroyline, especially so early chapters, so the reference was understood by so few people that they probably just preferred another reference closer to Ash in the Anime.

[@HomeCookinMTG]

@@CEDL0W him being on top of mt silver and what not and Gold finding him there is part of the manga, I am 100% sure the final battle is meant to be an homage to that

[@tr4sh37]

@@HomeCookinMTG Pretty sure the games came first... then the manga... If anything the manga is paying homage to the games. The Espeon Red has is supposed to be the Eevee you get in Celadon free. But they changed it since they didnt want to confirm what Red evolved his Eevee to so they can leave it to the Player's choice.

[@TheEuropeanFox]

I always felt like a boss in the kanto region, steamrolling over all the trainers and eventually underestimating and losing to Blue.

[@johnmartinez7440]

The whole region felt a little empty and underdeveloped to me. Still very cool that you could go there, but you could fly from town to town and defeat every gym leader in a day. The only challenge was Red.

[@nick277]

I remember being told at school that after you beat the elite 4 in Gold/Silver you can got to Kanto and beat the gym leaders there. I didn't believe it. Id been burned before. But it was true and they are still in my opinion the best Pokemon games of the series because of this.

[@yaboidragonitehere1137]

Gen 2 is a good game. But it has a horrendous level curve and lack of access to fossil Pokemon, legendary birds, Mewtwo and Mew. And most pokemon from Johto are late game

[@blu3jaguar874]

Yeah its very fun playing through the first time and also for nuzlockes, since thank goodness they fixed most horrendous gen1 battle issues like status moves missing 1/4 of the time and the 256 glitch. However they Pokemon you are mentioning are obtainable in gen1 and ment to be transfered over via the "time machine". If you play it in a vacuum thats of course very sad, but Pokemon games were always ment to be played with other people or with the past generations in mind. It´s a cool feature but is kinda trash if you just want to play a singular game. And yes your last point is probably the worst after the level curve. The fact that you cannot encounter Houndour or Larvitar in Johto is pretty stupid considering that they introduced a new type. Got kinda fixed in the remakes, since you can catch Larvitar, Murkrow and houndour in the new safari zone.

[@gamingguru2k6]

I always thought of Kanto as being a kind of victory lap. It's also an opportunity to start a new team entirely.

[@dispentryporter8621]

Kanto is a pretty bad time to start a new team though. All the trainers have levels you'd expect for this part of the game but the wild Pokémon have the same levels that you'd expect them to have in an actual Kanto game, meaning a lot of stupidly low levels for the literal post-game.

[@ThatGuyThai]

If you're following level caps that's exactly why you train up a new team.

[@onedudethelegend]

I know feels like the shows. I use to create a new team as well with my original starter. Sometimes I’ll even bring an extra friend along like dragonite or my espeon/umbreon.

[@Necromitzu1]

I feel like they couldn't really make the Kanto gyms any stronger than they are. It wouldn't make sense for you to be the champion and then lose to a gym leader. It also wouldn't make sense for gym leaders to have stronger teams than the Elite 4.

[@allenkeettikkal3149]

Or don’t use any team at all and solo the game with Feraligatr lol

[@Chronz]

I'm 37 now but I still remember the mew event we had in la. Great stuff

[@SiniAnimations]

3:00 funfact, if you restore the power plant generator before visiting this gym, the barrier will be back up

[@MysticGohanVegeta]

W H A T

[@Epsilonsama]

Okay gotta try this out next time I play

[@mycophil]

SERIOUSLY?

[@CarlYoungII]

Wow, that makes sense. Should've known this before my post-game playthrough.

[@JAN2MARS]

This is just flat out false lmfaoooooooooooooooooooo

[@Multifridgeman]

It seems so novel now, but hearing from the friend who got there before you that after you beat the Johto league you got to explore all of Kanto seemed like a "dude trust me" moment. So many things about this game were so much better as word of mouth before everyone had such widespread access to the internet, like which trainers gave you their phone numbers, how to get the magnet train running, how to get 1st place in the bug catching contest, every friend circle had different bits of knowledge.

[@Hollow_Tim]

I kinda have to disagree with that. Yeah that was great when you were a kid and you didn’t play many other games. But I have a never-ending list of other games I wanna play now, and I don’t have the patience anymore to just roam around without accomplishing anything.

[@RobbieRobertson120]

I'm convinced that Red was given Espeon on his team as a weaker alternative to Mewtwo, which he caught at the end of RBY. Same typing, similar stat distribution, similar movesets between Red's Espeon and Mewtwo when encountered in RBY, and Espeon being Red's lowest levelled Pokemon would make more sense if it was Mewtwo as it would've been Red's most recent catch and his naturally strongest Pokemon.

[@ThatGuyThai]

Sadly it was just his eevee from celadon

[@Alex_Barbosa]

It was just the Eevee gift Pokemon from celedon. The fact that it's an Espeon is just to show that he treats his pokemon well since Eevee only evolves into Espeon through friendship.

[@Wildstar5267]

Also in the manga red had an eevee that could temporarily evolve into its other evolutions at will, red then evolved vee into an espeon which it permanently stayed as.

[@kabusohikaru6187]

@@Wildstar5267 the manga was released way after the game was

[@zenopsy0149]

I think they gave him Espeon because in the show Gary had an Umbreon

[@gal2659]

In retrospect I get what you're saying bout the low levels and the lack of challenge, but I gotta tell you that as a kid who was not expecting this to come, it blew my mind. It was so exciting, that it became one of the reasons for Crystal to become my favorite. And when 3rd gen games came out, I was quite dissapointed that you cannot go back to other regions.. Having the Kanto region was like getting two games in one, it truly amazed me back in the day.

[@DoubleDrastik]

I agree with you . I had the same experience. It had different challenges i think the battling lacked compared to gen 1 i as a kid haven’t finished gen 1 i had it but couldn’t beat it till i beat gen 2 and went back to yellow and red to beat them . But like the puzzeing aspect with the unknown en legendary’s was a challenge in it self uncovering all the mysteries of the gme was a challenge since we disnt really had alot of info to go off on. That made the game fun in my experience

[@DickieisSupaCool]

honestly this is it... these are kids games, and were very much aimed at kids when they came out. Of course it's going to be easy for someone who knows pokemon now. It was so cool just being able to go back to fight Brock with my now awesome typhlosion when i was struggling to beat him with a charmander back in the day.

[@Rafael_Oiticica]

EXACTLY!

[@Clbull118]

18:56 "I think with Gen 1 there was only one event which gave you Mew and I don't think it happened outside Japan though." It was definitely in North America and Europe. It was actually the only way to obtain Mew outside of the later discovered Mew Glitch.

[@Fizius]

I love how he fought a wild Snorlax, lost a pokémon and THEN used the MasterBall 😂

[@krmiistudios2479]

The post game to me was never a Post game it always felt like it was part of the main story, especially that final Battle with the character you once played as and in someways Raised, this game was the only one to have such a Story line like this and I'm confused as to why it was never used again.

[@junejulyandaugust]

As far as I know, Gen 2 was supposed to be the last game of series back then, so I think they wanted to include post-Kanto since Gen 2 was the sequel and "end of everything", and that they didn't do that for other gens since there was no "last game" stuff. I may be completely wrong though, just my own theory or conclusion, take it with a pinch of salt.

[@___________0Z0X]

It felt like they were trying to do that with black 2 and white 2 but never did.

[@edchampagne1806]

@@junejulyandaugust i kinda wished it was

[@lloydirving6209]

"this game was the only one to have such a Story line like this and I'm confused as to why it was never used again" why would they use it again... they already did it.... I mean, every game since gen 3 has had the same plot revolving around the evil team and the legendary on the cover, so you would think they would constantly recycle other storylines, but I'm glad this is one less thing that isn't in every single new gen they make. things like that keep some of those older games unique and different, which is nice. they stand out more.

[@anthropomorphicmonster9113]

Heyy I agree with pretty much everything you are saying HOWEVER there is one big thing to consider that a lot of people (myself included) tend to overlook about pokemon gen 2 and that is POKEMON STADIUM. It was HUGE at the time of gen 2s release and I have a theory that Kanto is kinda helping you tune your team in a way for that game because you probably have at this point a couple awesome pokemon that are great for in game where you can use items and stuff but would probably get destroyed later on in stadium. Regardless to say, they still didnt get the leveling mechanic right. All things considered. Which is a shame. Post game still should've been harder, not easier. I'm currently doing a 100% "Cheatless" Gen 1&2 and pokemon stadium 1&2. WHich is honestly a lot of fun and adds quite a bit of depth and strategy to the game, granted you can trade and restart games like 20 times over.

[@spitefulcrow5026]

I dont care what anyone says, crystal was my favorite of all the pokemon titles post game and all. Nothing was as satisfying as finding out I could go back to kanto and take on all those gyms with my new team. If you haven't heard of it yet check out Crystal Clear by shockslayer. It turns crystal into an open world style game where you can catch every pokemon, gyms scale in difficulty, new areas added, character creation and so much more. It's pretty much the only way to play crystal version in 2022

[@Miss-Alexis]

I'm one of Crystal Clear's bug testers, and I approve this message! Almost all of GSC's issues with level scaling and difficulty are solved, and it's still compatible with official games, including Stadium 2!

[@___________0Z0X]

That’s awesome! I did not know that I could connect with stadium still.

[@StatusQuonald]

Crystal Clear is the ultimate gen 2 experience ✌🏼

[@haaxxx9]

Is it possible to play Crystal Clear on a 3DS system via virtual console? I already soft modded my 2DSXL and did bought the $10.81 Crystal version on the eShop so it wouldn't be pirating right?

[@___________0Z0X]

@@haaxxx9 I think there’s no problem doing that ethically. But I’m not sure if you could do that. Maybe if you put a crystal clear mod on an SD card?

[@angrydood3322]

RED had an Espeon because he was given an Eevee on 1st Gen, so that makes a lot of sense... better than using another water type like Lapras. Also, as a single palyer, the ultimate post-game on Pokemon main series are catching all the Pokemon you 'possibly' can... and if you have real life friends (yeah right), train a team to battle with with them. Haha :D

[@accentillia8116]

Lapras Is a gift in silph co though

[@werewolfmoney6602]

I always assumed the reason for the low level wild Pokemon and weaker gyms in Kanto was so you could use a new party if you want to.

[@marksmiths4199]

Yeah but all the gym battles were higher levels though.

[@werewolfmoney6602]

@@marksmiths4199 Claire's Pokemon are higher level than Janine's Pokemon And I was comparing Kanto's gym leaders to the elite 4 anyway

[@sebastiankulche]

Well, it clearly didnt work.

[@bomblessdodongo3093]

Red’s team is for one: based off of Pokemon Yellow in G/S/C, and two, consists entirely of gift Pokémon or guaranteed encounters. It’s why he has a Pikachu (his Yellow starter that won’t evolve with a Thunderstone), the starters are received as gifts pretty early in Yellow, Snorlax is encountered twice, and the Espeon is Red’s Eevee he revived in Celadon. Speculation here: I think it’s implied he didn’t use his Eevee during the events Yellow, possibly because the original Eeveelutions would’ve been redundant considering his team layout by the time it can be obtained covered Electric, Water, and Fire types. I don’t know what his original 6th member was (HG/SS sorta implies it was Lapras) but it implied he went to Mt. Silver to train some time after he beat the Elite Four, possibly because he heard about the unique Pokémon in Johto. He took his Eevee with him to train, and while training it evolved into Espeon.

[@StarwayBunny]

Finally someone mentions it! I've always seemed to be the only one that realizes Yellow is probably (the most) canon.

[@StarwayBunny]

In fact when playing Pokémon Yellow, I always name myself Red and go the "canon" route.

[@MattayManiac]

I wish there was more hidden caves out the way to explore. Explains he didn’t explore seafoam islands in the first game and won’t in the second either

[@Yes_I_Would_Kent]

Imagine if once you beat the Elite Four it is revealed it had become the entrance exam for prospective trainers to gain access to Kanto - as the power levels of all pokemon & trainers had spiked after Red's encounters with legendary pokemon. That way you could justify the continued levelling of gyms and different Kanto areas.

[@ThatMakuta]

You make a good point about gen 4 having cool mythical events that are no longer accessible aside from cheating. I'd love for GF to continue doing these in future games. I think one way they could handle it is to tie the event triggering items to hours played. Like maybe after you get a fair bit of hours in the game, the next time you go to the Pokecenter you trigger a small cutscene where someone hands you something like the 'Oaks Letter'.

[@jacobmonks3722]

I'd rather the games just give you the relevant items after you meet certain points in the narrative and go to the right place. Tying it to the # of hours played feels needless and unsatisfying, unless the # required was low enough for it to barely make a difference, at which point why tie it to the # of hours played to begin with?

[@davidramirez414]

What if i told you you could get these event pokemon without A.R or any hacks? Just your phones hotspot wifi and some research? Cause u can

[@PitH0und]

The mew event did come to a few places in the US back in the 90's. I remember going to my local mall and plugging my cartridge into the machine to get my Mew. Too bad that cartridge is long lost.

[@AdisPlays]

I just find it fascinating that Gamefreak put in a whole region on a sequel game, like the post game is almost as big as the main quest. I know they had to skip some features because of game limitations but it’s still good. I agree that the trainers are under leveled and they are at the same level cap until you reach trainer blue and trainer red and that makes so you just sleep every battle and let your guard down until disaster struck. But overall the game is good even though it have it flaws, and that’s probably why Heartgold and soulsilver succeeded because they increased the trainer levels by around 4 levels in post game, (that wasn’t still enough btw because you overleveled quickly by battling everyone). And we shouldn’t forget about the EV system in gen 2 because you could increase every stat by getting 65535 points in the stat, and that’s stronger than the 510 EV system we use today but it requires more battles to max out a Pokémons potential but you could literally max out every 6 stats instead of 2.

[@MDrummKid2]

the nostalgia this game brings is so immense it could bring a tear to my eyes.

[@RolandKoller90]

Absolutely 😢 the memories are INTENSE

[@Mito383]

I think it depends on how you define good. Objectively, it’s not the best. But I can never forget how I felt re-experiencing Kanto after completing Johto. Yeah, it was a glorified boss rush, but man was it amazing to 10 year old me.

[@zwabTheRealOne]

Red's espeon may also be a reference to the manga. In the manga he has an eevee experimented on by team rocket that can eveolve and unevolve at will between the original 3 eeveelutions. Eventually in the manga it evolves properly into espeon via its friendship with red, and loses its ability to evolve and devolve at will.

[@xhale671]

I think the games GSC came before the GSC manga

[@Neathyr]

No. Red's Espeon is simply a reference to the fact he received an Eevee in Yellow (the actual canon game of the 1st generation). Which also explains how he owns the 3 Kanto starters.

[@patrick5871]

The joy I felt as a kid finding out there was a completely new region unlocked was unmatched

[@ajj403]

the best way to play Gen 2’s postgame is to not use any of your Elite 4 Champion team against Kanto’s gym leaders it makes the journey more difficult and it encourages you to use pokémon that never get runs in Gen 2 like Slugma, Qwilfish, Larvitar, Houndour etc

[@leargamma4912]

Ok but.... then why do they give you pokemon like vulpix and polywhirl back in johto, and then withhold evolution stones until kanto?

[@ajj403]

@@leargamma4912 I was more so referring to Crystal where the evolutionary stones were made obtainable in Johto it’s a fun way to make use of the notoriously low level curve

[@thattyguy3273]

You should check out Pokémon Polished Crystal, they bring back cinnabar and Veridian Forest and Pokémon Tower. They also rebalance the game so the E4 is 50s and 60s and the gyms in Kanto are higher level as well

[@Noobly533]

Does it also come with an accessible safari zone?

[@thattyguy3273]

@@Noobly533 The Safari Game itself is closed but you do have full access to the safari zone. You also have the ability to catch every single Pokémon in the Gen 2 dex including ones that weren’t originally added too it

[@Noobly533]

@@thattyguy3273 started playing couple of days ago and gotta say the game is quite unbalanced. Wild pokémon don't scale so what's the point in choosing a starting location? And I had to fight a lvl 14 chinchou with icebeam and surf...

[@thattyguy3273]

@@Noobly533 I think that’s the only thing that’s not balanced, the trainers are a lot harder and I noticed that as I played I wasn’t really relying on wild encounters to level. The higher level trainers took care of most of that

[@Noobly533]

@@thattyguy3273 think I'm gonna restart and give it another try. Nuzlocking this might be a fun challenge as long as I stick to tje regular path.

[@ArchetypeGotoh]

So, Magnet Train… talk to the girl in the upper level of the house in Saffron. She was the Mimic Girl in Gen 1 and they had to destroy her old house to make the train station, but she doesn’t leave her house so she gives you her ticket. Much faster way to return to Jotoh than other options

[@JD-xz1mx]

"I still think he's the best rival in the series" Blue, who just ended your Nuzlocke, says hello. "There was only one event that gives you Mew. I don't think it happened outside Japan though" No it did. At my local mall there was this whole big weekend event where kids brought their gameboys, got mew, played against each other competitively, "won badges" for winning (basically pogs) and they showed off the then upcoming Pokemon Yellow. I still have some pictures from me competing. Its funny in retrospect to see a giant table filled with original gameboy link cables.

[@charleseschmann7566]

You couldn't figure out the magnet train in 2020 with internet everywhere, yet we all figured it out 20 years earlier when internet required you to not get calls on your house phone, and there was hardly ANY information, and no bulbapedia. Just, try harder

[@Reazzurro90]

Crystal was great for those of us who grew up on the original Gen I, but the underwhelming return to Kanto with its weak pokemon was definitely a disappointment. Red was super hard for me though.

[@omarcazarez1102]

Red was hard when I was 6 it was so hard to beat idk how I did it

[@shadownexusxdoac8634]

It’s funny running into this video randomly. Pokémon Crystal was the first Pokémon game I ever played and have so many fun memories.

[@BobbyReborn]

Amazing footage, great narration, perfectly showed the best parts of the game, well done

[@meredead1392]

Red's Snorlax wasn't too difficult for me. Only because I used Misdreavus against it and she had a couple psychic type moves. Although it was kind of tedious...

[@dalanwanbdiska6542]

Is misdreavus weak?

[@M3rtyville]

Yeah, revisiting Kanto was great because we could see how the change after the timeskip affected the game, but I don't feel Kanto is the sole reason to enjoy Gen 2. The fact that you can explore 2 regions was a big highlight and I hoped it would return in the future. I would feel the same if we could revisit Johto in the Hoenn games but that never happened. Or Visit Johto in the Kanto remakes but that never happened. I love Varidian City in this game. With Mystery Gift between GBC you can battle the teams of your friends. We used to make up Gym Battles or something once per day and that was how we increased EXP. It was also the time where I noticed that Mewtwo can destroy all my legendary birbs with 1 attack despite being on the same level. In other words, not all legendaries are equal in power and that shocked me back then. Yeah, legendary Pokemon in this game don't respond. The first time Pokemon responded after defeat were in Pokemon Emerald if I recall. Tho even Diamond and Pearl don't have that feature except for the boxart legendary. So if you kill Mesprit or something... they won't come back even if you beat the elite 4. If you can't tell, I don't like Gen 4, but the glitches make the game a little more fun. They even faithfully adapted that for the remakes. Now you can catch Shaymin through some surf glitch. I think Gen 2 would be more exciting when played at the time. There was a certain excitement finding all the new Pokemon. Seeing how they evolve. Seeing the new moves they have. I personally think that is what the post game focused over reasonable scaling. They kept the power level of the Pokemon the same to the Gen 1 counterpart for lore reasons. While BW2 did the opposite where all the wild Pokemon hit the gym and fully evolved or something. The reason it won't work today is likely because that concept has already been explored with these games and the internet makes it all worthless. You can just look up and solve any issue. Everytime I encountered the Legendary Beasts, I got a heart attack. Good think I found out how to clone items in Gold and Silver. Otherwise I could never own any of them. And yes, I killed Suicune which is why I could never catch the Ho-Oh in my savefile. But I still had one from Pokemon Gold which I cloned and traded over. Regardless, these reasons are why I like the older games more than the remakes. They turned the Varidian City fight into a generic Battle Point farm place but worse. You can only battle once per day like always, but you don't get experience and no money. Just 1 Battle Point... you need at least 16 Battle Points to buy something worthwhile.

[@DoubleDrastik]

Good comment u said everything i wis thinking about the game 👌🏾

[@neuguy]

Jesus bro calm down

[@M3rtyville]

@@neuguy ?

[@Muninnnr]

Man, playing these games as a kid before the wide adoption of the internet was wild. Since you couldn't just look things up, the often vague nature of the early Pokémon games gave them an air of mystery and it always felt like there were still hidden things in them that you didn't know about. For me, two things in particular stand out about Pokémon Silver: 1. In Mt. Silver, there's a small valley with a house. If you visit this place at night on mondays, you see a bunch of clefairy's dancing. Randomly stumbling upon this as a kid blew my mind. 2. A friend once gifted me a Celebi and told me a story about how it could be found at the shrine in Ilex Forest. I tried to find it myself so many times, with no luck. This was a completely new Pokémon which I didn't even know about! In retrospect, I'm pretty sure my friend originally got Celebi through Game shark, or he himself traded with someone who had used the duplication glitch to get 2 Celebi's. This is not even mentioning things like Misingo and the school-yard lore around it, or how you would become a gym leader if you managed to catch all the pokémon.

[@jedphillips182]

I forgot about the schoolyard lore ❤️

[@mackclodfelter7220]

If only heartgold and soul silver didn’t cost nearly $200 a piece for a copy I wouldn’t be playing the original crystal version on my 3ds virtual console it was only $9.99 for crystal on the virtual console and I could actually afford that lol

[@guyonyoutube3850]

Honestly, I love the idea of the main game holding pokemon exclusive to that gen with the post game holding the other pokemon

[@ARandomMinecraftVillager]

If you are talking about the Larvitar and Houndour thing... the problem is they are Johto pokemon It doesn't make any fucking sense dude

[@guyonyoutube3850]

@@ARandomMinecraftVillager I'm not referring to anything, I'm just giving my two cents on post games in pokemon

[@PerivonYT]

I think the idea of withholding certain Pokemon until the post game is perfectly fine, actually. I just wished it didn't take so damn long to level them up to your team's level

[@Surgemaster2012]

@@ARandomMinecraftVillager Houndour I agree, shouldn't have been Kanto only, it should've been in Johto, Larvitar however I'm split on. It actually would make sense for it to be at the end game since it is the Pseudo Legendary of the Gen, thus its rarity would justify its late appearance. I mean you don't get Tyranitar until level 55 anyways and by that time you're fighting Red unless you do serious grinding beforehand. In Houndour and Murkrow's case it would add more Dark Types and Houndour being part fire means you'd have another Johto fire type not named Typhlosion. Slugma has it even worse than them though.

[@JennKittyCat]

I can't wait to watch you play Emerald. It and Platinum are some of the hardest games in the series in my opinion.

[@remote24]

One very overlooked things is the mystery gift.needing two gameboy colors You not only get a random item a day, but there's also the challenge guy with all three starters. But he changes to the trainer you last used the mystery thing with, meaning you could battle your friends over and over :D

[@KFava]

Since johto had a post game that you could go to the previous region, I tought in the first time playing saphire that someway you could go to johto and Kanto lol

[@alfredgomez3128]

My anime following ass thought the Orange Islands would be a post game for RSE, both areas being tropical regions. No, the Sevii Islands weren't a worthy substitute.

[@tolkienblack]

That’s when they realized they could really cash in on our nostalgia and started doing remakes. We’ve been in the same cycle ever since

[@doopness785]

You didn’t even mention the Battle Tower which is the main addition to Crystal over Gold&Silver

[@phz7107]

Someone should mod in the events, it could be fun to see how they work it in, if they dont just throw it in but thatd work too

[@phz7107]

Now that i think about it a modded remake made by a team of passionate fans would actually be amazing.... mhmmm

[@erik19borgnia]

Search for Pokemon Crystal Clear. That one has the event modded in, and is a great Pokemon crystal experience, better than the original.

[@EciruamreklaW]

@@erik19borgnia facts

[@silverwolfcat777]

Actually, in Red's team Espeon made much more sense because at that point of the story in the Manga (end of Jotho/GEN-II arc) Red did have an Espeon. If fact, his whole team in the original Gold/Silver/Crystal refers to that exact moment of the Manga storyline.

[@rikmcdik6662]

If Pokémon Crystal weren’t my first experience in Pokémon I’d probably hate Gen 2. However, the power of nostalgia is strong and I love it despite its glaring progression and leveling flaws.

[@Graves420]

Same here, gen 2 was my first introduction to the Pokémon games back in 2000 I didn’t really notice the level curve until I was way older and that is a problem gen 2 has but even then I can’t help but love it! Remember taking your game boy colour to school and battling and trading with your friends, man what a time to be alive 🤓👌🏻

[@rikmcdik6662]

@@Graves420 makes me wish I appreciated my childhood more instead of wanting to be a grown up the whole time 🥲. Now I’m reliving my childhood when I’m not too busy adulting.

[@Chocolatepain]

I liked this video! Your presentation style is chill, but some funny jokes too. I could watch gen 2 essays all day.

[@uselessDM]

I feel like they should have used some plot reason to make you start with a new team in the post game so lower levels make more sense. If they went through all the trouble of squeezing two regions into a tiny gameboy cartridge, they should have done a bit more with it I feel.

[@jordansmithchannel]

I remember Kanto feeling rather empty/soulless compared to Johto. I mean, don't get me wrong, having two entire regions to discover in one game was incredible, but I always felt like Kanto wasn't fully fleshed out or finished.

[@CameronHoug]

To board the magnet train you have to go to Copycat's house in Saffron and then go the Vermillion to get the pokedoll and you give it to her for the magnet pass, it's a bit obtuse but does make going between regions faster. That said, the Crystal post game is pretty garbage. I think going to Kanto is cool in some ways, things like Lavender Town changing, and a few other background story things like that are interesting but man is it incredibly boring and easy, I really don't see any justification for it. The level curves in the whole game are really garbage, but in Kanto it makes it an absolute slog, I usually just power through all the gyms in an hour or two so I can get to Red, which is the only interesting battle in the second half of the game.

[@cjbaker2480]

With all due respect, quit looking at it in hindsight. Off the wall to say you don’t know how they could justify anything in their own game when crystal was the best of the best at the time and gave us both Kanto and Johto. 😂 of course comparing it to todays games it won’t hold up

[@CameronHoug]

@@cjbaker2480 I'm genuinely confused if you intended to respond to me or not, I never made a comparison to today's games in my post? I just talked about the difficulty, and I feel most people would agree that after the Elite 4, spending the rest of the game fighting level 20 wild pokemon and level 30 trainers is pretty boring.

[@georgiosgiannoukas3319]

I loved the post game when I was a kid. I beat the elite 4 and thought I was done with the game and then the game tells me I can explore the entirety of Kanto and get even more badges. The post game made the whole experience feel absolutely massive in scope. It was pretty awesome.

[@RyanNash20]

I was in kindergarten, crystal was my first pokemon game. My friend at school and I used to play sometimes at recess. We both beat Claire around the same time, and just explored around johto finding new stuff. My friend came to school one day REALLY excited and couldnt wait to show me that you could surf east of newbark town and there was a still whole entire other half of the game to beat. It was amazing. I'm 28 now, and to this day I love gen 2 so much.

[@brendantoungate8287]

I really think Gen 2's post-game doesn't hit so hard if you weren't a kid at the time. I totally get all of the complaints, but that initial feeling of 'Whoa, I get to play through Kanto again" when the previous generation literally started the biggest worldwide craze in the last 40 years at least is just something that's locked to the time. It literally expanded my horizons of what was possible in gaming as a 10-11 year old. For that, it Gen 2 will always be my personal favorite.

[@renedavilarodriguez9569]

The post game is the Battle Tower, its good, the very first introduction to competitive gaming.

[@lilithhiddenvillain5086]

By the way, there's someone that shows up in Black and White who's implied to be that same foreign Rocket Grunt, returned to his home country and settled down with his family. I think he's in the big Lower Manhattan looking city.

[@Daikon_Micucci]

It makes way more sense for Red to have an Espeon than a Lapras. He already has a water-type, and Blue had an Eevee in Pokémon Yellow, which Red either adopted, or used as inspiration to train up an Eevee of his own, which he probably did a lot of during the day time. It's also good to have type coverage.

[@Turnus995]

What i did in these games. I went through Johto with one team, and ditched that team when i went into kanto. Leveling as i go through with this new team, get the badges, then go to the elite 4 with this entirely new team of only pokemon caught in kanto. Which made the experience, for me at least, way more enjoyable

[@Georghiou2D]

The trainer's pokemon being in the 30s is not a problem at all. Your core team is already in the hall of fame, youve been using them for a long time, surely there are other pokemon you'd like to play with. Kanto is the perfect opportunity to switch up your party. Even I realised that when I was 8 years old. On top of that, complaints that the wild pokemon are too weak to use in your party its just odd. You have the perfect opportunity right there to start using a vast array of new pokemon, who you can easily train up by integrating them into your team. Edit: You died........ after all the claims that kanto is too easy you died

[@Turbosipuli]

This was mind blowing back in 2001 and nothing has come even close the feelings this game gave me with it and it's post game. Expect maybe Cynthia in Gen 5.

[@masoudshairzadeh6820]

The hardest part of the post game was... Getting to the post game

[@michael_betts]

The reason red is so easy compared to what his level would have you believe is due to a bunch of hidden or semi-hidden mechanics that buff the player and not the AI. You have an ~25% offence buff and 12.5% defence buff by the time you fight red even if you use freshly caught pokemon, and a trained pokemon like your dragonite effectively has a 50-70% offensive buff and a 55-80% defensive buff over an AI pokemon. First off, in gens 1-3 obtaining certain badges gives the player a 12.5% boost to a certain base stat permanently. specifically zephyr, mineral, glacier, and plain boost attack, defence, both specials and speed respectively. Secondly, in gen 2 specifically there is a second buff from badges which buffs moves the type of which you have a badge for by 12.5% again. For example, after beating misty surf goes from 95 to 106 power, and then your special attack is buffed by 12.5% by the glacier badge for 25% more damage than would happen in a link battle or for an AI pokemon. Finally AI pokemon have 0 stat exp outside of the battle tower. This is a mechanic that buffs pokemon's stats as you defeat other pokemon with them (or use vitamins like calcium). Unlike Evs in later gens which can only fully effect 2 stats, stat exp can fully effect all stats, and you get huge boosts, especially if you grind against wild pokemon. Your Dragonite appears to have around 30-40 bonus hp, and im assuming other stats as well, from all the grinding you did with it. this is a 20-30% boost to all of your stats and isnt even maxed out yet. edit: typo

[@michael_betts]

@J.D. IVs replace DVs, and EVs replace stat exp. I mistakenly said IV instead of EV once. red has high DVs (all 13 to 15, equivalent to 26-30 IVS), but has 0 stat exp. Unlike EVs which max at 252 (255 in early gens but the last 3 dont matter) for a +63 boost, but you can only have 510, allowing a +63 boost in 2 stats, stat exp will give a +63 to all stats pokemon after enough training (killing over 650 mews, stat exp is a bitch to train).

[@michael_betts]

@J.D. Also AI trainers in gen 3 and 4 never have EVs outside of the battle frontier/equivalents

[@fukiishiofficial]

pokémon polished crystal is the way to go with these old games, nobody wants to play these boring games with the same mechanics but with new takes on them entirely highly recommend playing rom hacks vs playing the same old game you already beat before. nostalgia wears off quickly!

[@Xpwnxage]

Crystal Clear is great too

[@bewd4310]

@@Xpwnxage i got to the 3rd member of elite 4 with just a smeargle and no cheats. It wasn’t possible to get past the guy with the stalling team including snorlax without cheating. But completed very difficult gym leaders and proper level ups with just a crappy drawing puppy so I’m happy with that 😆. 🎨

[@OfficialBugBoi]

Ivon, congrats on this video being your “algorithm” success and hopefully drawing you more views.

[@Greedman456]

I have to say something as a crystal diehard fan. Pokémon crystal postgame isnt kanto and red. It's battle tower. Battle tower offers battles with 3 Pokémon of a set ten lvl group, 10,20 etc. Trainers have Pokémon with maxed EVs and IVs and you need selective and careful breeding to accomplish good 3 man squads that can beat 7 trainers in a row and without using items or swapping Pokémon after battle. 1. How can you not even mention it. 2. It's the only reason crystal is hyped. There is no other Pokémon game with that much of a pve competitive aspect. Black and white 2 tried and had some good competitions but in no way as hard as crystal's battle tower. Especially trying to win the lvl 20 and lvl 30 needs you to spend a lot of time in breeding, farming money and maxing EVs of you 3 man squad.

[@rmw904]

Yes! I watched the Pokémon Red and then the Crystal video and was hoping you'd play the postgame! I gladly subscribed :D Your videos motivated me on another level to produce content! Thank you a lot Ivon and greetings from Germany!

[@jude_illusion]

I always found the Johto post-game to be all quantity over quality. Yeah there's not much to do in X and Y's post-game but I'll take one good epilogue quest over a hundred easy, pointless battles

[@kirbyfazendoummoonwalk9214]

And thats why i still think Emerald has the best Post-Game, It has Both Quantity and Quality

[@jude_illusion]

@@kirbyfazendoummoonwalk9214 My personal pick is Black and White 2, plenty of post-game areas and then all of the PWT, but Emerald is definitely one of the better ones

[@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo]

A post game of that magnitude was very new and advante garde, especially for a gameboy game of that era...... The post game was added at last minute, and from what I remember it was added solely by the main programmer after the original game was done. I understand you want some deep philosophical Pixar movie plot at the end, but the games weren't meant to be that deep. When Satoshi did Want them deep(when gamefreak was creating red/green) Nintendo told them the story was to mature for kids. The original demographic was for late teen early 20s. The main ethos was was to revisit where you've been before as a player. And let's not forget the the data limitations of the cartridge.

[@alfredgomez3128]

@@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo tell Gen 2 fans to slow their roll bragging about an empty post game. I get the rushed limitation that these games were under, and that more polish could give us a critically great generation. These additions always had flaws, I knew these flaws even as a kid, yet Gen 2 hype kept that criticism down until online playthroughs proved otherwise.

[@lmaolol7702]

@@alfredgomez3128 i love how gen 2 makes nerds angry just by existing. rent free + stay mad + gen 2 is the GOAT

[@Terrados1337]

imagine stumbling upon Red in a time before the internet

[@theeverydaythinker6310]

I know the post game gyms are easy, but it does make sense that someone who beat the elite four would cruise through their gyms without much effort.

[@CheckUnderYou]

Honestly, yeah. If you think about it, everyone in Kanto is trying to fight the same Elite Four you just got done beating. It would be internally inconsistent for the Kanto gyms to be stronger than them. Fair play to Gamefreak.

[@arvindshastri4572]

you need to fix the power plant issue to use the magnet train

[@notmyrealname5268]

You also need a pass to ride it, which you get from a sidequest from copycat.

[@6xCamox9]

I love when children try to pass judgment on things that were relevant long before they existed as if they have any clue of what they're talking about.

[@Dbzmaster159]

Honestly one thing the Johto games did best that really should've been made a thing from the Gameboy Advance to now is regional traveling. Gives more gyms to fight, more places to explore, and makes it feel a little close to the anime. Imagine in Sword and Shield being able to leave that region and even traveling to Alola, Sinnoh, Kanto, Hoen, taking on their challenges. Truthfully since Alola was mentioned in Legends Arceus, I hope if they do a sequel they can allow us to explore the other regions from that era as well.

[@napkinx4341]

the fact you feel like cheating so much is kinda proof enough that crystal isn’t that wonderful imo

[@lukeandrews715]

I think for 2001 it was a great post game experience. You shouldnt forget this game was meant to be for kids, which 99% of us were at that time, and for that i was really good. As an adult, of course it lacks some story, difficulty, etc. So its more a matter of age and perspective. Personally, crystal is still my favorite, just the nostalgia alone is awesome while playing it to this day!

[@peach_total]

8:03 my FAVOURITE part about kanto in gen 2 is getting off the ss aqua and hearing the new vermillion city theme. it’s so nostalgic sounding

[@pentagonyx]

I am now crediting you for initiating my love for the Gen 2 Amorphous Pokemon Sprite

[@EnhancedNightmare]

Dude i was 13 without internet and barely knowing English and I figured out the magnet train thing xD

[@ariasakajayantara]

Lavender town gen 2 music is likely the feeling of being free at last from the long-running nightmare

[@lainwired3946]

I've not worked my way thru all your videos yet bit after watching the nuzlocor before this 8 stayed watching some older videos and working my way newer and your editing at this point is getting rly good. Thumbs up. Lookin forward to seeing hoe your newest vida have progressed.

[@animorph17]

The volcano on Cinnarbar island was in the anime. You'll notice a recurring theme across all the generations, in which "Improvements in the game" just equate to "Make the game more like the anime"

[@jamesdrake4271]

I remember as a kid I came across red without even knowing that he was there obviously I knew it was him at first glance but I was so stoked that this was in the game I thought it was a GREAT feature that later games should used to some extent. They should have made it more difficult as well. Great feature and was a great cherry on top to the game.

[@DaDankStrafe]

Idk if the Magnet Train confusion is a meme I'm not aware of, but the train is available once you get the part from the cerulean gym and take it to the power plant.

[@nngnnadas]

BTW the gameboy color did have a better sound capabilities. Crystal was GBC exclusive while gen 1 were really late original Gamboy games with forward compatibility to the GBC (palletes).

[@TheCrankyTechnician]

Unlocking Kanto will always be one of my absolute favourite moments ever. Mw introduction to the franchise was the Animé but I didn't have a GameBoy, so I used to watch my friends play Gen 1 and envied them. I got the GameBoy Color in 1999 and my mom bought me Gold when I was 9 in 2000. I'll never forget making my first steps in Johto with Totodile while playing in the train at night; what a magical moment it was and I'll never forget it. Love you mama ❤

[@LittleBlueJug]

The underleveled overworld pokemon was actually helpful in that there were a couple evolved pokemon could be found at levels before they would normally evolve. I remember doing that with a Hypno (at lvl17 iirc) east of vermillian city, then traded it back to red/blue to use in Pokemon Stadium 1's cup that had a 15-20 level cap.

[@ozzypuff8957]

Does anyone know what game is the one at the beginning of the video? with the pink hair and beautiful pixel art.

[@deismaccountant]

And I’ll be looking forward to your take on emerald! Was always my favorite playthrough!

[@DrakodanSRL]

The thing is, I don't think it's FAIR to say that the Gen II postgame is lackluster considering the cartridge is entirely full. What exactly were they supposed to add when there was literally no memory left??

[@rickyflores9091]

It's fair to say they could've utilized the space much more efficiently rather than throwing a half finished afterthought into a game.

[@yamirpoke2616]

Crystal in that time was the amazing thing in Pokémon , first colors , first breeding, first shiny pokemons , first kanto returns, more legendary pokemons with different patrons. We are talking about 90’s game. You can not compare heart gold or soul silver with that game those game are remake from the originals that they made it years later. You should be there in the 90’s to understand that. Good video

[@Jotari]

Espeon kind of makes sense for Red if you consider the fact that an Eeeve is the rival's starter Pokemon in Yellow (and he's clearly not using it in this game). It also naturally evolves into Espeon because obviously there's no night system in Red and Blue.

[@RagnamanEXE]

Just a little note on mew. They actually did distribute mew for gen 1in the Pokemon League Summer Training Tour 1999 in the US which I actually participated. There were others but just a side note.

[@RexZShadow]

That Snorlax was definitely the final boss. I best red first try without any preparation as a kid but only by abusing potion and revived until Snorlax ran out of moves LOL.

[@shawesomest]

I know this video is a month old, but the Espeon in Red’s team is a reference to the Pokémon Adventures manga. In it, Red obtains an Eevee that can change between its evolutions at will, due to Team Rocket experimentation or a mutation. When it finally sticks to an evolution, it’s Espeon.

[@critaquil5011]

reds eevee evolving into an espeon was directly BECAUSE of the games, you see him swap out members of his team for other peoples pokemon throughout gold and silver, and by the time he shows up to stop the megnet train from crashing, he's got reds team from the games with him.

[@ThatGuyThai]

Games came out in 1999 which released before Red showed off his Espeon in the manga. The manga has an Espeon because Red's gifted Eevee became Espeon in GSC.