Overall, doing these reviews have certainly gotten me a lot, lot more happy about the second generation in general -- a generation that certainly puts more emphasis on flavour than actual gameplay... which I found to definitely to be more to my liking. There are a fair amount of weak entries in the second generation, and it can't be helped considering that it treats itself more of an 'expansion pack' with a larger amount of down-to-Earth Pokemon and a whole slew of non-evolving ones, but at the same time... while probably not being the strongest generation in terms of design, it's still far more solid than I remembered it being.
Click here for the index.
__________________________________#236-237: Tyrogue & Hitmontop
- Types: Fighting [both]
- Japanese name: Baruki, Kapoera
- Category: Scuffle [Tyrogue], Handstand [Hitmontop]
After the first batch of babies early in the dex, the second generation tapers off with a bunch of babies to the later-game Pokemon from the first generation. And one of them, Tyrogue, is the pre-evolution of both Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, tying to previously unrelated 'rival' Pokemon into a single evolutionary family, making Tyrogue essentially the second Eevee -- able to evolve into one of three final forms at level 20 depending on its Attack and Defense stats, depending on which is higher or if they are equal. It's a neat concept that shows off that Tyrogue evolves depending on what training it's doing... which is a bit less practical and honestly pretty irritating to pull off in game.
And... Tyrogue doesn't look anything like any of the three final forms, to be honest, beyond being a humanoid Fighting-type. It's got head-ridges that somewhat makes it similar to Hitmonchan, I suppose, but I've always thought Tyrogue to perhaps be one of the worst baby designs introduced in the second generation, and it's not even particularly cute. It does end up looking pretty scrappy yet not particularly strong, which is... neat, but definitely one of the designs I don't particularly care much of.
1/6 for Tyrogue, bordering on 0. 
And Hitmontop is... is really, really weird. If it's a standalone Pokemon it's definitely a neat one, but its association with the Hitmons makes it really weird, because while Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan are based on specific martial arts with names of famous martial artists in both Japanese and English, Hitmontop is based... on a top. Or on the martial art of Capoeira, which is referenced to by its Japanese name. It's... it's weird. It looks less like a humanoid than Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan and Tyrogue, looking more like a toy brought to life. And its design isn't actually a real dance fighter like Capoeira is supposed to be, but just spinning really quickly, hitting people with its spiky feet and tail. And unlike Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, both of whom have access to multiple 'kick' and 'punch' moves, Hitmontop's only uniqueness is its signature move, Triple Kick... which isn't even particularly powerful. Hitmontop's honestly pretty uninteresting, and considering the execution I honestly would rather Hitmontop and Tyrogue never got associated to the neat 'rivalry' deal that 'Lee and 'Chan had. I probably wouldn't have disliked these guys so much if they didn't really fit in so oddly with the first-generation Hitmon duo? Easily two of my least favourite designs to come out of the second generation.
2/6 for Hitmontop. #238: Smoochum
- Types: Ice/Psychic
- Japanese name: Muchuru
- Category: Kiss
The trio of Jynx, Electabuzz and Magmar got pre-evolutions in the second generation, all three of which evolve by normal level-up as opposed to a friendship evolution like Pichu, Cleffa and Igglybuff. And Smoochum is... well, it's a cute little humanoid girl-baby, without the weirdly sexist and racist undertones that Jynx has. It shares Jynx's Ice/Psychic typing, and it focuses more on trying to use lips to examine anything, kinda like dogs using its tongue to examine anything, which is far more innocent-sounding than Jynx's seductive dances. I'm not a particularly big fan of humanoid Pokemon, but honestly Smoochum's... not horrible. I ultimately don't care for her, though.
1/6.#239: Elekid
- Type: Electric
- Japanese name: Erekiddo
- Category: Electric
I've always loved Elekid. it looks just so different than Electabuzz while still sharing Electabuzz's colour scheme and sharing enough attributes like the face and the large lower arms to conceivably be its pre-evolution. I do love how toy-like and mechanical Elekid looks, and the tiger/oni-like stripes in Electabuzz is translated to far neater-looking electrical warning signs. And most striking would be those electrical plug-like horns on Elekid's head, which I've always thought looked pretty cool. It's a neat design, and one of the more strikingly different babies. I really wished more babies would actually do this -- look similar to its final form but different enough. Elekid is probably the only babies from this generation that I genuinely find to be pretty neat on its own merits, as opposed to the other babies I didn't mind (Pichu and Cleffa).
4/6.#240: Magby
- Type: Fire
- Japanese name: Bubi
- Category: Live Coal
Magby is the baby form of Magmar and... and, well, it basically eliminates Magmar's more intricate paint scheme for a simple shade of pale red, with a yellow bill and belly. I never cared much for Magby, mostly because I found its insanely lumpy head to look painful, like Magby fell down some stairs and hurt its head a lot. It looks more 'weird' than 'cute', and not in the good way. Still, Magmar taken as a set with Magmar it's not particularly bad, I just kinda wish that they used the same shade of red they used for Magmar and Magmortar for more blatant continuity. Nothing much to say about this one, or honestly, any of the other babies.
2/6.#241: Miltank
- Type: Normal
- Japanese name: Mirutanku
- Category: Milk Cow
Miltank's a weird one. It's a bipedal big pink milk cow, and it's a simply done one. A Normal-type and always female, it's ostensibly the female counterpart to the always-male Tauros... except the two, unlike other Pokemon with a similar gimmick (the Nidorans, Volbeat/Illumise) can't actually produce babies of Tauros. It's strange, and considering how many games associate Tauros and Miltank together, with Generation VII even making an area dedicated to being a ranch for Tauros and Miltank, I can't help but think that there's a pre-evolution or game mechanic that was nixed somewhere down the line.
Miltank's a pretty simple design, with udders hanging out (because milk!) and it likes to give other pokemon its healing milk. It is a bit hilariously disturbing when I grew older and realize what organs on a human body a cow's udders are analogous to, and while Miltank's definitely meant to be innocent, there's something that's just unfortunate about it all. Eh. Miltank's often remembered as being the final Pokemon of Whitney, the third gym leader in Gold/Silver, a monstrous tank of a Normal-Pokemon with its Rollouts able to demolish an unprepared party. I, personally, thought Whitney's Miltank to be a particularly fun battle when I first fought her, compared to the pushovers that are Falkner and Bugsy. I don't particularly like Miltank, but I don't mind her existence.
3/6.#242: Blissey
- Type: Normal
- Japanese name: Hapinasu
- Category: Happiness
Blissey is Chansey's evolution, and I've always felt that this final form added a bit way too much that kind of substracts from the neatness of Chansey's simple design. It has these weird wing-frills on the sides of its hands, and as a skirt? Its body is now half-pink and half-white? It has these extra blobs of hair? I've always thought that Blissey was one of the Pokemon that was a shade too over-designed, and I still maintain that viewpoint until now. Dropping one of the feathers, or the white underbelly, or the hair-blobs, would've made Blissey a less cluttered design. Throw in the fact that I've had some really bad experiences with Blissey while fighting people when I dabbled in competitive battling, which doesn't really endear the egg-thing to me either. And while Blissey drops all of Chansey's more animal-like qualities like Chansey's tail, it doesn't actually gain the Fairy-type when most other pink blobs gained them in Generation VI. Overall, not a particularly big fan of Blissey, but I don't hate her either, which is honestly what 2/6 would represent.
2/6.#243-245: Raikou, Entei & Suicune
- Types: Electric [Raikou], Fire [Entei], Water [Suicune]
- Japanese name: Raikou, Entei, Suicune
- Category: Thunder [Raikou], Volcano [Entei], Aurora [Suicune]
Ah, we reach the legendaries now! Each generation would introduce a legendary 'trio' equivalent to Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres of the first generation, and for the second generation it's the legendary beasts -- Raikou, Entei and Suicune. They are pure Electric, Fire and Water types respectively, each being based on a mammal (Raikou on a saber-toothed tiger, Entei on a lion/dog thing and Suicune on a wolf) with aspects taken from various Eastern culture legends. And unlike the original legendary birds, I've always loved how the Johto games dealt with these three, tying them into one of the 'main' cover legendaries of the second generation, giving them a backstory. When the Brass Tower, one of the two giant towers created to worship the phoenix Ho-Oh (which we'll cover below) burned down in an accident, three nameless Pokemon died in the fire. Ho-Oh took pity on them and arrived, resurrecting the three into Raikou, Entei and Suicune, meant to represent the lightning that struck the tower, the flames that consumed the tower and the rain that extinguished the flames respectively.
The way that you encounter the legendary beasts in the games is also neat, the very first examples of the 'roaming Pokemon' which is sadly dropped by the sixth generation. There are only one of these legendary Pokemon, but they randomly run around the region, moving from one route to the next as you are doing, and you have to use your Pokedex's tracking feature to hunt them down, predicting where they'll move and appear next, at which point you have to try your best to put it to sleep or capture it before it escapes again, without killing them because you'll lose your chance to capture them if you knock them out.
The way that you encounter the legendary beasts in the games is also neat, the very first examples of the 'roaming Pokemon' which is sadly dropped by the sixth generation. There are only one of these legendary Pokemon, but they randomly run around the region, moving from one route to the next as you are doing, and you have to use your Pokedex's tracking feature to hunt them down, predicting where they'll move and appear next, at which point you have to try your best to put it to sleep or capture it before it escapes again, without killing them because you'll lose your chance to capture them if you knock them out.
And I'm honestly a bit torn about the legendary beasts. They were always somewhat over-designed in my books, Entei in particular, but their appearances in manga and anime have always done them justice, and they do look very, very oriental. Take Raikou, for example, the first of the three in the Pokedex. It's based on the mythological Raiju from Japanese mythology, a lightning beast that is able to take the form of various mammals, one of them being a tiger... and Raikou, being a tiger, is based on the popular extinct saber-toothed tiger, the Smilodon. And I always loved how it has got a mane that could, in the manga and dex entries, expand and trail behind Raikou and transform into a gigantic thundercloud that rains lightning bolts on fools below it.
Raikou does feel a bit too busy, mind you, with no less than five colours -- the main yellow, plus purple, blue, white and black. I've always thought that Raikou would look so much cooler with one or two ccolours eliminated, and maybe losing some of the extraneous designs on its face. It's got the black armour thing and the blue star thing and the weird dumpling-shaped white head... Just take a look at the shiny version of Raikou, which has a far more cohesive colour scheme, eliminating the blue and purple, and using the more palatable orange/yellow and black/gray colour gradients to produce a far sleeker design. Raikou is also somewhat notable for never starring in a movie, with its 'main' appearance relegated to a spinoff anime OVA. Poor Raikou.
4/6.
Raikou does feel a bit too busy, mind you, with no less than five colours -- the main yellow, plus purple, blue, white and black. I've always thought that Raikou would look so much cooler with one or two ccolours eliminated, and maybe losing some of the extraneous designs on its face. It's got the black armour thing and the blue star thing and the weird dumpling-shaped white head... Just take a look at the shiny version of Raikou, which has a far more cohesive colour scheme, eliminating the blue and purple, and using the more palatable orange/yellow and black/gray colour gradients to produce a far sleeker design. Raikou is also somewhat notable for never starring in a movie, with its 'main' appearance relegated to a spinoff anime OVA. Poor Raikou.
4/6.
Entei, the 'volcano' Pokemon is... well, I've had a couple decades to get used to Entei, but since I'm going to complain about the fourth and fifth generation legendaries, I can't really excuse Entei and Raikou for being over-designed. Like Shiny Raikou, though, at least Entei's colours work better together, with the brown and two shades of gray working relatively neatly. I also still think that Entei is still over-designed, with the glaring bits being the weird jagged gray metal wing-like things on its side. I get that the flowing smoke-like mane from his head is supposed to be some sort of smoke to tie into the fire/volcano motif, but what are the spiky things supposed to be? Entei's face also seems somewhat bleh, with a weirdly metallic red star, a yellow crest and a gray plastic-like mustache. Entei (well, a fake Entei) did star in a pretty neat movie, though, and I've always loved how the pokedex keeps emphasizing that every time this Pokemon roars, a volcano erupts.
Entei is based on Chinese guardian lions, or Shi Shi, stone statues that are often erected as spiritual guardians of palaces and temples, with its shape being a highly distorted and stylized version of lions, often mistakenly called "Foo Dogs" in the West. Unfortunately, Entei ends up being a mixture of way too much design choices that I think could definitely been trimmed down somewhat. Entei still looks at least somewhat regal, which isn't something I could say with some of the later-design Pokemon. Definitely my least favourite of the legendary beasts by a huge margin, though.
3/6.
Entei is based on Chinese guardian lions, or Shi Shi, stone statues that are often erected as spiritual guardians of palaces and temples, with its shape being a highly distorted and stylized version of lions, often mistakenly called "Foo Dogs" in the West. Unfortunately, Entei ends up being a mixture of way too much design choices that I think could definitely been trimmed down somewhat. Entei still looks at least somewhat regal, which isn't something I could say with some of the later-design Pokemon. Definitely my least favourite of the legendary beasts by a huge margin, though.
3/6.
Suicune is the best looking of these tree, and it's perhaps because its design doesn't try to do as much as the over-designed Raikou and Entei. Add that to only having three colours -- blue (two shades, but pretty close), purple and white -- and both the mane, the crystal head and the two whip-like tails being honestly pretty cool-looking, and it's no surprise that Suicune was chosen as the mascot of the re-released update of the Generation II games, Pokemon Crystal. Suicune looks regal, and, yeah, he's got a pretty cool mini-storyline in the Crystal games and manga, as someone who took favour to a strong trainer and follows you throughout your journey until you became strong enough to tame it. I've always also thought that it's rather odd that Suicune is so associated with ice-moves with its giant crystal block and its portrayal in multiple media focusing more on it using ice moves, but it's pure-Water. It's got the ability to instantly purify polluted water, and it glides among the north wind, apparently. Suicune is a mixture of various legends, combining the Qilin with aspects of the Kelpie, and working with the same design elements as Raikou and Entei.
4/6.Overall, a trio of honestly over-designed Pokemon that still manages to look somewhat regal, and at least they have the excuse of being based on overdesigned real-life mythological creatures. Not my cup of tea as far as legendaries go, although I do recognize that there's definitely a market for that sort of thing.
#246-248: Larvitar, Pupitar & Tyranitar
- Types: Rock/Ground [Larvitar/Pupitar], Rock/Dark [Tyranitar]
- Japanese name: Yogirasu, Sanagirasu, Bangirasu
- Category: Rock Skin [Larvitar], Hard Shell [Pupitar], Armor [Tyranitar]
Now we come to the second generation's pseudo-legendary, and it's not a dragon! Larvitar is still rare as balls, though, only appearing as a rare encounter in the absolute final area of the Gold/Silver games, but at least as a pseudo-legendary the rarity is understandable. This time around, Larvitar is an angry baby-dinosaur-like creature that has the unenviable typing of Rock/Ground. Larvitar looks just so angry and scrappy, and I've always liked the rather oddness of this wacky monster, with its armoured red belly, random diamond-shaped markings, a splayed-out tail and a horn on its head. It also apparently eats mountains, and once it has done so, it'll hibernate to grow. Larvitar is, of course, a baby Kaiju, and I do like how unconventionally weird the lifestyle is -- as anyone who has watched kaiju or Ultraman movies can attest to... these damn giant rubber-suit monsters do have some weird lifestyles. I don't think I'd like Larvitar as much if he was standalone (though that face has a fun little expression), but as part of a set, he's pretty neat!
In Larvitar's case, it's evolving into a fucking pupa in between going from a tiny baby dinosaur-creature into a giant dinosaur-creature. Pupitar is completely gray, is full of spikes, and has weird little hollow holes for eyebrows. There's really not much to talk about -- it's a wacky, alien-looking cocoon, and while I'm not sure why Larvitar and Tyranitar needed a pupa to transform, I suppose it's playing with the alien-biology kaiju theme. I mean, Godzilla doesn't actually go through a pupa stage as far as I can remember, but would you be surprised if it did? It's still Rock/Ground, but it can apparently rocket itself at its enemies by venting pressurized gas, which is a cool thing to give to a spiky rock pupa monster.
I suppose having to go through a 'cocoon' stage explains the huge disparity in strength between the second and third stages of these 'pseudo-legendaries'? Attaining the final form of these pseudo-legendaries tend to take far more time and levels than normal Pokemon, and it's marked with an extremely dramatic increase in stats. I suppose that's why the likes of Pupitar and Generation III's Shelgon end up forming sort of a 'cocoon' stage to show the explosive metamorphosis in form and power. Pupitar's a neat rock pupa, and I really do like how he still looks pissed-off. That's the whole theme of this line, it seems. Larvitar, Pupitar and Tyranitar are just so fucking angry all the time.
Pupitar finally evolves from a pupa to the mighty Tyranitar, shedding its Ground-type and turning into a Rock/Dark creature, and it's perhaps one of the more recognizable designs of the second generation, instantly recognizable as a psychotically fierce Godzilla-esque monster, with spikes all over, weird vents on its chest and upper legs, a stomach that resembles Pupitar's lower body, and it's just built up as this indestructible rampaging monster that loves to fight others, destroying mountains to make its nest, with the cool description in the pokedex that "maps must be redrawn afterwards". Tyranitar is a straight-up awesome looking design. I've never found it as impressive as most of the fandom does, but as a giant roaring dinosaur-esque monsters do it's pretty all right. Pretty neat and imposing, although I've always found that there's something lacking. Might be just me, though.
4/6, most of the points go to Tyranitar. #248: Lugia
- Types: Psychic/Flying
- Japanese name: Rugia
- Category: Diving
Man, we're finally reached the end of the region, with only the two big 'cover' legendaries and the 'mythical' pokemon to deal with. First of the two cover legendaries is the mighty Lugia, making his debut in the second Pokemon movie, Pokemon 2000, and the mascot of Pokemon Silver, acting as the 'Guardian of the Seas', being found within the massive Whirl Islands, and being easier to approach if you're playing the Silver version. Lugia's always been a delightfully weird mixture of draconic and plesiosaurian features, being introduced in the movie notably as the 'master' that kept Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos at bay. In the games, however, Lugia is wholly independent from the Kanto bird trio, being simply a majestic creature that dwells at the bottom of the ocean... or rather, a bunch of islands associated with the stormiest parts of the ocean. It apparently used to live atop Brass Tower, but that thing burned down and Lugia just didn't really care.
Bizarrely, Lugia isn't a Water-type, nor is he a Dragon-type. Instead, Lugia is Psychic/Flying, which... which I guess still sort of makes sense if you squint really hard, especially with the dex entries trying to explain it away as its underwater habitat being its attempt to keep its powerful psychic powers in check. Lugia is some sort of giant underwater draconic creature that isn't quite a dragon, and I do find that its gigantic arm-like wings to both be weird and cool, and I've always loved how the little spikes on its back can fold down when it's diving into the water. It's also got those spikes on its head that taper off as horns. They are trying somewhat too hard to make Lugia look weird and cool at the same time, and while Lugia doesn't rank high among my favourite legendaries, it's still very much a pretty cool-looking monster, and I do love the fact that it lives in the deepest part of the sea because its psychic powers are too strong, and that said psychic powers are the cause of the whirlpools and storms that come alongside it. It's a bit of a shame that Lugia doesn't really have much of a story associated with it in-game, and it has a fair bit too many appearances in the anime which undersells the whole 'legendary' status behind it. There's also a bizarre episode in the Johto era where there are a pair of parent Lugias and a child Lugias? Legendaries don't breed, anime staff! Lugia and Ho-Oh also start the trend of legendaries having their own exclusive super-powerful move. Lugia's is Aeroblast, which is, well, a gigantic blast of compressed air, which emphasizes its Flying-type moves, and in the movie Lugia keeps creating these giant water-tornadoes with its psychic powers. Overall, a neat design and a neat legendary, and Lugia's role as a sneak-peek legendary into the second season has always been particularly memorable. He's not my thing as far as legendaries go, but he's neat.
3/6.
Bizarrely, Lugia isn't a Water-type, nor is he a Dragon-type. Instead, Lugia is Psychic/Flying, which... which I guess still sort of makes sense if you squint really hard, especially with the dex entries trying to explain it away as its underwater habitat being its attempt to keep its powerful psychic powers in check. Lugia is some sort of giant underwater draconic creature that isn't quite a dragon, and I do find that its gigantic arm-like wings to both be weird and cool, and I've always loved how the little spikes on its back can fold down when it's diving into the water. It's also got those spikes on its head that taper off as horns. They are trying somewhat too hard to make Lugia look weird and cool at the same time, and while Lugia doesn't rank high among my favourite legendaries, it's still very much a pretty cool-looking monster, and I do love the fact that it lives in the deepest part of the sea because its psychic powers are too strong, and that said psychic powers are the cause of the whirlpools and storms that come alongside it. It's a bit of a shame that Lugia doesn't really have much of a story associated with it in-game, and it has a fair bit too many appearances in the anime which undersells the whole 'legendary' status behind it. There's also a bizarre episode in the Johto era where there are a pair of parent Lugias and a child Lugias? Legendaries don't breed, anime staff! Lugia and Ho-Oh also start the trend of legendaries having their own exclusive super-powerful move. Lugia's is Aeroblast, which is, well, a gigantic blast of compressed air, which emphasizes its Flying-type moves, and in the movie Lugia keeps creating these giant water-tornadoes with its psychic powers. Overall, a neat design and a neat legendary, and Lugia's role as a sneak-peek legendary into the second season has always been particularly memorable. He's not my thing as far as legendaries go, but he's neat.
3/6.#250: Ho-Oh
- Types: Fire/Flying
- Japanese name: Ho'o
- Category: Rainbow
Ho-Oh, the mascot of Pokemon Gold, always felt to be far more tied into the Pokemon lore than Lugia did. The two never felt like counterparts or rivals in the same way that future 'duos' would, with their only connection in the lore being that they used to live on Ecruteak's two towers, but that disconnect never really bothered me. Ho-Oh's story is far more keenly felt with that of the legendary beasts, and the two towers of Ecruteak City, as well as being the mysterious bird iconicaly seen at the end of the first episode of the anime, a mysterious never-before-seen Pokemon that hinted at a larger world beyond the original 150 Pokemon.
Ho-Oh is Fire/Flying, which as a kid always struck me as somewhat underwhelming because we already had a firebird in Moltres. But Ho-Oh takes different aspects of the Chinese (or, well, Asian) Phoenix, the Fenghuang, with the 'fire' part being just a small bit of it. Hell, the Phoenix itself is actually straight-up called Ho-Oh in Japanese. Ho-Oh is stated to fly and never rest, moving continuously on its rainbow-like seven-coloured wings, which... well, the actual official art and sprites only ever show Ho-Oh's wings to have red, white and green (plus yellow on its giant tail) but apparently its feathers grow in different colours and create rainbows when struck from different angles? This confused me a bit, I have to admit, until I discovered that Ho-Oh's actual colouration, in fact, is actually made up of the five colours that the traditional Chinese Phoenix is coloured in -- the five colours black, white, red, green and yellow. That is an amazing bit of research, and it answered me so much about why they didn't make this 'rainbow bird' actually look like a rainbow.
I've always thought that Ho-Oh looked a bit too... mundane at times, though, removed from all the glorious backstory, which I've always found a little unfortunate. It does look majestic, but in Ho-Oh's case I've always felt that there is just some slight lack of that extra oomph to make it feel like a proper counterpart to the bizarre 'god-level' beings like Lugia and Xerneas and Rayquaza and Mewtwo... although I guess considering how much I'll complain about the newer legendaries, I should take some solace in Ho-Oh's simplicity? I guess I just miss Ho-Oh's older sprites that show it screeching with its tail and wing feathers splayed out wildly around it, whereas modern art and sprites just reduce them to more realistic proportions. Ho-Oh's signature move is Sacred Fire, which tend to be depicted as a blast of white or blue flame. Overall, pretty neat -- I do like Ho-Oh a fair bit, even though it's never going to be one of my favourites.
4/6.
4/6.#251: Celebi
- Types: Grass/Psychic
- Japanese name: Serebii
- Category: Time Travel
Celebi, on the other hand, is one of my favourites. I'm not sure what enamoured me to Celebi that much. Was it the movie? Was it the little 'Dark Celebi' trading card I got and loved as a kid since that was the only legendary Pokemon card I had? Was it because I was just so simply enamoured by its unique pixie design and its ability to time travel? Celebi is the 'mythical' legendary of the second generation, essentially taking the place of Mew. There are references to its existence in the game, in the Ilex Forest's shrine -- which is like one of the earliest areas in the game, too -- but Celebi herself is not available without cheating, and can only be obtained via events.
I do like it, though. Its role as a guardian of the forest, able to rejuvenate dead trees, and continues to just flit through time to seek peaceful times, is pretty neat, and I've always liked the fact that it's a weird bug fairy thing with an onion-esque hair. It's a neat little design, and its role as guardian of the forest and a time-traveler always felt legendary yet subdued without being the insanely overblown "true manifestation of time itself!" bullshittery that plagued so much of the fourth generation. Celebi is just kind of chill, just this little happy dude with bug wings, an onion-head, antennae and cute eyes that flits around shrines and blesses people. It's a bit of a shame that Nintendo/GameFreak is so opposed to retconning anything already established, because Celebi as a Grass/Fairy (shiny Celebi is even pink!) would've probably worked a lot better, but eh.
Apparently the mysterious GS Ball plot that took up so much plot time in the Johto arc of the anime (and actually doesn't lead anywhere) is supposed to lead to having a Celebi within it, but the plan was scrapped because Celebi gets to have a movie all to herself... despite... other movie Pokemon appearing in regular anime? Yeah. The manga was somewhat more successful in its Celebi storyline, but sadly reduced the onion pixie to just a deus ex machina. Through multiple arcs. Poor Celebi. Still, I like her a fair bit, and perhaps might be one of my favourite mythical Pokemon. Subjectivity is definitely in full force here.
5/6.
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Overall? A far, far more solid generation than I remembered, it's just that unlike other generations, I feel that Johto plays things a lot more safely, with a lot less outliers that are super-bad or super-good, but as a whole I feel the generation is pretty dang solid overall. A lot of the Pokemon here that I realized I do like are thanks to how cute they look or how neat their execution are, and I do recognize that a significant amount are pretty crappy on competitive, but if you define everything by competitive terms I think you're missing the whole point of the franchise.
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