Hi! Welcome to this page all about Generation II PCNY Pokémon. That’s Gold, Silver and Crystal. Here you’ll find a campaign list, chronology and preservation snapshot all in one. (Looking for Gen III instead? Try here!) While our documentation rate for Gen II is, and always has been, high, our preservation rate is heartbreakingly low, and set to stay that way.
How come, you ask? Mostly, it’s due to this unfortunate fact:
– When the internal battery of a Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed or LeafGreen game drains, clock-based events no longer occur.
– When the internal battery of a Gold, Silver or Crystal game drains, its save file is irrecoverably wiped.
To make matters worse, GSC cartridges use their internal battery not just to hold a save, but also to keep a real-time clock.1Which sees them drain 2-3x faster than Red, Blue and Yellow batteries – quite a few of those are still going strong! Most GSC batteries didn’t last 10 years (my Crystal ran dry in 2008),2 At 248/250 Pokémon caught, gah! That last Remoraid and Octillery will forever haunt me. and by now, in 2020, all are pretty much guaranteed depleted. As such, what Generation II PCNY aren’t already backed up – or in an act of prescience, were transferred to N64’s Pokémon Stadium – are gone forever.
It’s a sad reality that while Generation II PCNY distributions were more frequent, imaginative and by all accounts more popular than their Gen 3 counterparts, nearly all of these Pokémon have been lost to time. In fact, every single surviving PCNY listed on this page was preserved by a single individual: GoldUrsaring, whose Crystal battery lasted long enough for him to extract a treasure trove of self-obtained PCNY Pokémon from 2002-2003.3Inkydog26 has commented how he very much took an interest in the Gen 2 distributions as they were happening, but was unfortunately too young to travel to the PC New York alone. He more than made up for this loss during Gen 3, however! Even then, it certainly doesn’t benefit our preservation rate that GCEA stations were programmed to dispense but one Pokémon, per week, per distribution. Thankfully, this hardcoded restriction began to fail sometime in late 2002, and players were quick to take advantage.
You may find a couple of things unusual about GU’s PCNY Pokémon. None of them have any natures – that’s because natures didn’t exist back in Generation 2. Quite a few are Legendaries, and shiny ones at that. The Johto Dogs, Kanto Birds, and Celebi were all redistributed several times over the years. The Dogs and Birds were guaranteed shiny in their many campaigns. Celebi had several dedicated distributions, but its shiny odds were a mere 1%. HoOh and Lugia were Easter Eggs more than proper distros, having a shiny-only encounter rate of 0.5% in late 2002’s Johto doggo & starters events. Finally, many PCNY were given out as eggs with special moves. Upon hatching, these would take the Trainer’s OT, and can only be identified as originating from the Center thanks to our rather extensive documentation of Gen 2 events. It’s noteworthy that each of these eggs had a 12.5-15% chance to sparkle, which explains the relatively high number of shinies among them.
Precisely because so few Gen II PCNY survive, and all are GU’s, there isn’t much point in separating out a campaign chronology and an ownership list, so we’ll blend them into one. Pokémon handed out multiple times under different distributions (such as Swords Dance Goldeen or Petal Dance Chikorita) are listed grouped up, where possible. Chronology information is adapted from Rocket_Minion’s FAQ as hosted on GU’s archived personal website, Meowth346’s Geocities page (archived here), Pokemon.com archives (here and here) and Bulbapedia (here).
So without further ado, here’s a near-complete chronology of Gen II GCEA distributions, with embedded an overview of GoldUrsaring’s one-of-a-kind collection (TID/22905 OT/METS; all PCNYb, PCNYc, PCNYd also his).4 The curious case of “K MAN” Flail Zubat is detailed here.
—–
Legendary Dogs
November 22 – November 29, 2001
December 7 – December 20, 2001
June 22 – June 28, 2002
July 5 – July 11, 2002
November 15 – November 21, 2002
Note: Only the final distribution included ☆HoOh & ☆Lugia at odds of 0.5% each.
☆Entei
> 00509 PCNYb
> 00594 PCNYb
> 00612 PCNYb
☆Raikou
> 00510 PCNYb (touched: lv47)
> 00598 PCNYb
☆Suicune
> 00599 PCNYb (touched: lv47)
> 00629 PCNYb
☆Lugia
> 00033 PCNYb (touched: lv49)
Legendary Birds
November 30 – December 6, 2001
December 7 – December 20, 2001
February 15 – February 21, 2002
☆Articuno
—
☆Zapdos
—
☆Moltres
—
Christmas Week
December 21 – December 27, 2001
Delibird (Pay Day)
—
Celebi
—
Starters Week / Month
December 28, 2001 – January 31, 2002
January 17-23, 2003
Bulbasaur (Ancientpower)
> 22905 OT/METS Bulbasaur
Charmander (Crunch)
—
Squirtle (Zap Cannon)
> 22905 OT/METS Squirtle
Chikorita (Petal Dance)
> 22905 OT/METS Chikorita
Cyndaquil (Double-Edge)
> 22905 OT/METS Cyndaquil
Totodile (Submission)
> 22905 OT/METS Totodile
Valentine’s Fortnight ’02
February 1 – February 14, 2002
NidoranF (Sweet Kiss)
> 22905 OT/METS NidoranF
NidoranM (Sweet Kiss)
—
Bellsprout (Sweet Kiss)
—
NidoranF (Lovely Kiss)
—
NidoranM (Lovely Kiss)
—
Bellsprout (Lovely Kiss)
—
Swarm Fortnight
February 22 – March 14, 2002
Marill (Hydro Pump)
—
Yanma (Steel Wing)
—
Dunsparce (Horn Drill)
—
Snubbull (Lovely Kiss)
—
Qwilfish (Double-Edge)
—
Remoraid (Amnesia)
—
☆Kanto Three
March 15 – March 21, 2002
September 27 – October 3, 2002
February 14 – February 20, 2002
Note: Mewtwo was made available after the first distribution.
☆Venusaur
—
☆Charizard
—
☆Blastoise
—
☆Mewtwo
—
Babies Fortnight
March 22 – April 11, 2002
Pichu (Sing)
—
Cleffa (Swift)
—
Igglybuff (Mimic)
—
Smoochum (Metronome)
—
Elekid (Pursuit)
—
Magby (Faint Attack)
—
Spring Into Spring
April 12 – May 4, 2002
Pichu (Petal Dance)
—
Cleffa (Petal Dance)
—
Igglybuff (Petal Dance)
—
Chikorita (Petal Dance)
—
Psyduck (Petal Dance)
—
Mystery Repeat Weeks (?)
May 5 – June 7, 2002
Smoochum (Metronome)
—
Chikorita (Petal Dance)
—
Wooper (Belly Drum)
—
Tropical Promotion #1
June 8 – June 21, 2002
Poliwag (Growth)
—
Horsea (Haze)
—
Goldeen (Swords Dance)
—
Magikarp (Reversal)
—
Marill (Dizzy Punch)
—
Wooper (Belly Drum)
—
Celebi
June 29 – July 4, 2002
October 11 – October 17, 2002
November 22 – November 28, 2002
March 7 – March 13, 2003
NOTE: The November 2002 distribution had a 0.5% chance of Shiny Mew. Celebi had shiny odds of 1% throughout.
Celebi
> 00652 PCNYb (touched: lv16)
> 01011 PCNYb
> 01012 PCNYb
> 01041 PCNYb
> 01043 PCNYb
> 01044 PCNYb
> 01045 PCNYb
> 01051 PCNYb (touched: lv52)
> 01053 PCNYb
> 00182 PCNYc
> 00421 PCNYd
> 00422 PCNYd
> 00655 PCNYd
Tropical Promotion #2
July 12 – August 8, 2002
Psyduck (Tri Attack)
—
Tentacool (Confuse Ray)
—
Lapras (Bite)
—
Chinchou (Light Screen)
—
Remoraid (Mist)
—
Mantine (Gust)
—
Safari Month
August 9 – August 29, 2002
NidoranF (Moonlight)
—
NidoranM (Morning Sun)
—
Chansey (Sweet Scent)
—
Kangaskhan (Faint Attack)
—
Tauros (Quick Attack)
—
Dratini (Hydro Pump)
—
Sky Month
August 30 – September 27, 2002
Spearow (Sonicboom)
—
Farfetch’d (Fury Cutter)
—
Doduo (Low Kick)
—
Natu (Safeguard)
—
Murkrow (Beat Up)
—
Skarmory (Fury Cutter)
—
Power Plant Week
October 4 – October 10, 2002
Pichu (Dizzy Punch)
—
Elekid (Dizzy Punch)
—
Magnemite (Agility)
—
Voltorb (Agility)
—
Suicune
October 18 – October 24, 2002
Note: This Suicune was distributed non-shiny.
Suicine
—
Halloween Week
October 25 – October 31, 2002
Cleffa (Scary Face)
—
Igglybuff (Scary Face)
—
Marill (Scary Face)
—
Pichu (Scary Face)
—
Wooper (Scary Face)
—
Silver Cave
November 1 – November 7, 2002
Tangela (Synthesis)
—
Misdreavus (Hypnosis)
—
Ponyta (Low Kick)
—
Doduo (Low Kick)
—
Larvitar (Rage)
—
Union Cave
November 8 – November 14, 2002
Staryu (Twister)
—
Goldeen (Swords Dance)
—
Krabby (Metal Claw)
—
Onix (Sharpen)
—
Lapras (Future Sight)
—
Psychic Week
November 25 – December 5, 2002
Abra (Foresight)
—
Drowzee (Amnesia)
—
Exeggcute (Sweet Scent)
—
Natu (Safeguard)
—
Mr. Mime (Mind Reader)
—
☆Johto Three
December 6 – December 12, 2002
Note: Like the Legendary Dogs distribution, ☆HoOh & ☆Lugia were programmed at odds of 0.5% each.
☆Meganium
> 00137 PCNYb ☆Meganium
> 00138 PCNYb ☆Meganium
☆Typhlosion
> 00135 PCNYb ☆Typhlosion
> 00136 PCNYb ☆Typhlosion
> 00252 PCNYd ☆Typhlosion
☆Feraligatr
> 00032 PCNYb ☆Feraligatr
Rock Tunnel
December 13 – December 19, 2002
Geodude (Rapid Spin)
—
Zubat (Flail)
> 41890 OT/K MAN Zubat
Onix (Sharpen)
> 22905 OT/METS Onix
Machop (Thrash)
—
Cubone (Fury Attack)
> 22905 OT/METS Cubone
Kangaskhan (Faint Attack)
> 22905 OT/METS Kangaskhan
Ice Week
December 20 – December 26, 2002
Seel (Flail)
> 22905 OT/METS ☆Seel
> 22905 OT/METS Seel
Delibird (Spikes)
> 22905 OT/METS ☆Delibird
Lapras (Future Sight)
> 22905 OT/METS ☆Lapras
Swinub (Whirlwind)
—
Nocturnal Week
December 27 – January 2, 2003
Hoothoot (Night Shade)
—
Sneasel (Moonlight)
—
Murkrow (Beat Up)
—
Misdreavus (Hypnosis)
> 22905 OT/METS Misdreavus
Staryu (Twister)
—
Grass Week
January 3 – January 9, 2003
Hoppip (Agility)
> 22905 OT/METS Hoppip
Sunkern (Splash)
> 22905 OT/METS Sunkern
Oddish (Leech Seed)
> 22905 OT/METS Oddish
Paras (Synthesis)
> 22905 OT/METS ☆Paras
Tangela (Synthesis)
> 22905 OT/METS Tangela
The famous SplashLax!
Normal Week
January 10 – January 16, 2003
Sentret (Dizzy Punch)
—
Stantler (Safeguard)
> 22905 OT/METS Stantler
Aipom (Mimic)
> 22905 OT/METS Aipom
Miltank (Mega Kick)
> 22905 OT/METS Miltank
Snorlax (Splash)
> 22905 OT/METS Snorlax
Lickitung (Doubleslap)
> 22905 OT/METS Lickitung
Mt. Mortar
January 24 – January 30, 2003
Marill (Dizzy Punch)
—
Machop (False Swipe)
> 22905 OT/METS Machop
Goldeen (Swords Dance)
> 22905 OT/METS Goldeen
Magikarp (Bubble)
—
Tyrogue (Rage)
—
Dark Cave
January 31 – February 6, 2003
Geodude (Rapid Spin)
—
Dunsparce (Fury Attack)
—
Phanpy (Absorb)
> 22905 OT/METS Phanpy
Wobbuffet (Mimic)
—
Teddiursa (Sweet Scent)
—
Valentine’s Week ’03
February 7 – February 13, 2003
Bellsprout (Sweet Kiss)
—
Bellsprout (Lovely Kiss)
—
Poliwag (Sweet Kiss)
—
Poliwag (Lovely Kiss)
—
Snorlax (Sweet Kiss)
—
Snorlax (Lovely Kiss)
—
“Rare” Week
February 21 – February 27, 2003
Kabuto (Rock Throw)
—
Omanyte (Rock Throw)
—
Aerodactyl (Rock Throw)
—
Porygon (Barrier)
—
Snorlax (Sweet Kiss)
—
Sudowoodo (Substitute)
—
Bug Week
February 28 – March 6, 2003
Scyther (Sonicboom)
—
Pinsir (Rock Throw)
—
Heracross (Seismic Toss)
—
Ledyba (Barrier)
—
Spinarak (Growth)
—
Pineco (Substitute)
—
Yanma (Sweet Kiss)
—
So you’re thinking you’d very much like these Pokémon for yourself? Well, you’re in luck! GoldUrsaring has generously made his Crystal save available for all to download. Find it here.