Goldenrod City is the fifth town that trainers will encounter on their journey through the Johto region. This city shares many similarities with Celadon City from the Kanto region. Goldenrod City is the largest town in Johto, containing a whopping 62 buildings and a population in the low 100s. Most of the buildings are tiny structures that serve no purpose other than decoration however. This city has a bit of a maze-like structure, so it can be confusing to navigate at times. The city’s motto is “The Festive City of Opulent Charm.”
The Pokecenter is back again, and is located on the left as the trainer enters town.
The Pokemart in Goldenrod City is replaced by the Goldenrod Department Store. This building is a massive shopping mall with a wide variety of items for sale. This includes the items normally available at Pokemarts at this level (Great Balls, Super Potions, etc.). The items unique to this store include all the X battle items, a few TMs, vitamins to help train Pokemon, and drinks to heal Pokemon with. The drinks are actually very cost effective, as they heal for more HP at lower prices than Potions. However, they can only be purchased one at a time from vending machines, so stocking up can get tedious. This department store also has a basement, where some workers and a Machoke are moving around boxes of items. There are items here that the trainer can pick up, but the items may be blocked by boxes. Each time the trainer leaves and enters the room, the boxes are rearranged. So to get all the items the trainer simply needs to enter and exit until they can reach all the items.
To the northeast of the Department Store, but still on the south side of the railroad tracks, is a small house. There are three NPCs inside. The girl at the table will look at the first Pokemon in the trainer’s party and tell how happy it is. This is really helpful when working toward friendship evolutions (such as Chansey and Eevee’s two new evolutions). The other two NPCs in here will say that using items on Pokemon will make them happier, and allowing Pokemon to faint will make them unhappy.
Below this house and at the bottom of the maze of buildings is the Bike Shop. The owner says that business is very poor (probably because of his location) and will give the trainer a bicycle for free. He gives it in the hopes that the trainer will be able to advertise his shop while riding it. After riding it for a while he will call the trainer, saying that business is booming and will allow the trainer to keep the bicycle as thanks.
To the west of the Pokemon Center is Bill’s house. Inside, the trainer can receive an Eevee as a gift.
Below Bill’s house is the southern entrance to the Goldenrod Underground. Inside are a few shops, trainers and items. The shops include a Barber shop for making Pokemon happier, an herb shop that sells bitter herbs that make Pokemon unhappy (which is only open on Saturday and Sunday), and a shop that sells items like Nuggets for cheaper than their sell value (which is only open on Monday mornings). Most of the items on the ground here are pretty standard, but a noteworthy exception is the Coin Case, which holds coins for the Game Corner. It can be found south of the three shops.
The building just north of the Pokemon Center is the Game Corner. Inside, the trainer can gamble for coins that can be redeemed for prizes. There are slot machines and card flip games. The slot machines are the same as real slot machines, and require the trainer to line up the reels to win. The card flip game is similar to a roulette wheel. Trainers place bets on which type or number will be on the card that is flipped over and are paid out based on the odds of the bet. The prizes for coins include the Pokemon Abra, Ekans (Gold only), Sandshrew (Silver only), and Dratini. The other prizes are the TMs for Fire Blast, Thunder, and Blizzard.
Along the train tracks is the Goldenrod City Station. This station is the Johto train stop for the Magnet Train. During the trainer’s first visit to Goldenrod City, there isn’t much here. WARNING: There are spoilers ahead. After reaching Saffron City in the Kanto region, the trainer can use the train (after a bit of work). They need to give the Copycat girl in Saffron City her Lost Item to receive the Pass for the train. This item can be found at the Pokemon Fan Club in Vermilion City. It turns out the item is actually the Poke Doll that the trainer from Pokemon Red and Blue gave her 3 years before. Before the train will run though, the trainer must also retrieve the Machine Part. After entering the Power Plant east of Cerulean City, the trainer will learn the part was stolen. The part is located in Cerulean Gym, in the small pool of water in the center of the gym. The Team Rocket member that stole the part will bump into the trainer when they enter the gym, and he retreats to Nugget Bridge. There, the trainer can defeat him to learn the location of the part. After returning the part to the Power Plant, the Magnet Train will be working again and the trainer can quickly travel between Saffron City and Goldenrod City.
Next to the train station is the Radio Tower. Trainers may notice the Team Rocket member standing outside. He comes into play much later on. On the first floor, the trainer can enter a raffle. This raffle looks at the ID numbers of the trainer’s Pokemon (including those in the box) and gives them a prize if any numbers match. If all 5 numbers match, the trainer is given a Master Ball! This is the only way to legally get multiple Master Balls, but the odds of winning are astronomical. If two numbers match, the trainer gets a PP Up, and if three numbers match, the trainer gets an EXP Share. Also on the first floor is a quiz game. The trainer is asked five questions, all of which are pretty easy. After getting all the questions right, the trainer receives the Radio upgrade for their PokeGear. This becomes very useful later on, but for now it mainly has some simple radio shows. On the second floor, trainers can respond to Buena’s Password, which is one of the radio shows. Stocking up points will allow the trainer to trade them in for items, which consist of vitamins, Ultra Balls, Nuggets, and Rare Candies. There isn’t much else to do here yet.
WARNING: There are more spoilers in this paragraph. After defeating Pryce, who is the seventh Gym leader, the tower will be taken over by Team Rocket. The trainer must free the tower to continue their journey. After defeating Team Rocket, the trainer can receive three items. One is TM 11 which contains Sunny Day. To learn more about Sunny Day, click here. Note that most of the information in that article is for Generation V, but some of it is relevant in Pokemon Gold and Silver. Next, the trainer can get a Pink Bow, which is an item that Pokemon can hold to increase the damage of Normal-type moves by 10%. Finally, the trainer will receive the Wing that corresponds to the version of game they are playing. In Pokemon Gold, they get the Rainbow Wing, which lets them capture Ho-oh on top of Bell Tower in Ecruteak City. In Pokemon Silver, the trainer gets the Silver Wing, which allows them to capture Lugia, who resides deep in the Whirl Islands near Cianwood City. After defeating Team Rocket, the trainer may use the east exit of Mahogany Town to continue their journey.
Above the train tracks are more buildings that may be entered. The one on the left right after the tracks is the Name Rater. He can change the nickname of a Pokemon, as long as it was not traded from another trainer’s game.
To the left of the Name Rater is the top entrance to the Goldenrod Underground.
To the far right above the tracks is a house with two characters inside. The two of them explain how Power Points work and how to recover them.
Above this house is the Flower Shop. Inside, trainers can receive the SquirtBottle, which will remove that odd looking tree on Route 36. They can only receive the item after defeating the Goldenrod City gym however.
The final building on this side of the tracks is the gym. This gym is led by Whitney, and she specializes in Normal-type Pokemon. The gym’s layout is a bit of a maze, but it’s not too complicated. At the center is Whitney, and she is honestly one of the hardest gym leaders in the entire Pokemon franchise. She only has two Pokemon: a Clefairy and a Miltank. The Miltank can be a nightmare to defeat. It has the move Rollout which will double its damage on each turn that it is used consecutively. The Miltank is also a very tough Pokemon to hurt, and it can heal itself! Something that resists Rollout, such as an Onix or Graveler is highly recommended in order to have any chance of beating Whitney. One interesting thing to note about this gym is that the maze is actually in the shape of a Clefairy. This can only be seen by viewing the whole gym at once though, which can’t be done in game.
Goldenrod City has two exits, one to the north and one to the south. The south exit leads to Route 34 and the Day Care Center. The north exit leads to Route 35 and the National Park, where the Bug Catching Contest is held every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The north exit also leads to Ecruteak City and the rest of the Johto region.
Goldenrod City is a massive town with a lot going on in it. It is a bustling metropolis where trainers from all around the region can shop, gamble, and travel to a whole other region. Goldenrod City is the center of commerce for the Johto region, and gives trainers many reasons to return to it well after their first visit.
This article focuses primarily on the aspects of Goldenrod City in Pokemon Gold and Silver. To learn more about Goldenrod City, visit the following website:
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