The Great Regional FRIENDLY Debate: Kanto vs. Johto

Codraroll

This question is a little like asking which act of a play you liked the best. Team Rocket is central to the plot of both games, and the plots really complement each other. In Kanto, the player overthrows the powerful organization, and in Johto you battle an uprising, preventing the fallen admins from resurrecting it. The games tell a different story than their successors, in that Team Rocket doesn't bother with taking over or destroying the world, nor do they include legendary Pokémon in their plans. They aren't the omnicidal maniacs that have filled the villain role since the days of RSE, they are simply Pokémon mafia, in it only for the money, which makes them a lot more believable and threatening than any of the other villainous teams. A Team Plasma grunt comes across as a brainwashed idiot. A Team Rocket grunt would happily break your kneecaps, steal your wallet, and brag about how the police is powerless to stop them.

That being said, they act and behave a little differently between the two (six?) games. Kanto has you prying open Team Rocket's grip on the region. From burglaries in Cerulean and graverobbing in Lavender to money laundering in Celadon, Team Rocket is comfortably settled in the region at the outset of the game. Town by town, city by city you drive them back and foil their plans, until you finally confront their leader and convince him to disband the organization. You're actively shifting the power in the region, ending the era of crime and bringing the mighty Team Rocket down. In broad terms, it's a more intriguing story than Johto's, where you simply quash the scattered remains of the once-great mafia.

Then again, Johto certainly has more memorable plot moments. While your struggle against Team Rocket isn't as grandiose as in Kanto, it certainly brings you into more interesting situations. In their attempts to resurrect Team Rocket, the cells in Johto turn to desperate measures, such as selling Slowpoke tails, stirring up the Lake of Rage or taking over the Radio Tower. The latter is an interesting counterpart to the Silph Co. takeover, and in my eyes a much more effective plot device since you visit the Radio Tower before the takeover and see the daily routine before it is taken hostage. Silph Co. is only seen during the takeover, so you never get to know its inhabitants as anything but terrified hostages. In Johto, you see familiar characters such as Buena or DJ Mary cower in fear, and the familiarity gives the situation a much bigger impact.

Conclusion: I'd say it's a draw. Kanto's grand tale is more engaging, but Johto has better scenes.

Codraroll

It's natural to start with the rivals here. These were the days before rivals in Pokémon were your best friends. Blue is an asshole (and often ended up named exactly that), and Silver is a thug.

I'd say Blue is a more fleshed-out character than Silver, though. Silver's one personality trait is that he "hates weakness", and he trails around the region trying to be the world's greatest trainer. He's whiny and bitter, and the realization that he needs to take care of his Pokémon is the only development he gets. I like the subtlety of his Golbat evolving at the end of the game, though. It shows that he finally managed to bond with his Pokémon, without stating it outright.

Blue, on the other hand, is always ahead of you. Whenever you get to a Gym, he has beaten it already. You enter a route, he has cleared it. He shows up at the least appropriate moments to show you how great he is doing, brag about how many Pokémon he has captured, and still gives the impression he's got everything under control whenever he loses. Losing to you is just amusing to him, he still knows he's better than you, and he becomes the Pokémon Champion before you do. No matter how well you play the game, Blue AKA Gary Oak is always better than you. He even outdoes every player character ever and gets his own Gym. Plus, "Smell ya later!" is a much better catchphrase than "Humph!".

Beyond your rival, though, there are a handful of interesting NPCs in both regions. Kanto has its share of colorful inhabitants such as Bill, Copycat, the Fishing Guru, and Mr. Fuji. In Johto, memorable characters include Mary on the radio, Kurt with his Apricorn Balls, the Kimono Girls, Eusine chasing Suicune, Earl at the Pokémon Academy, and that shifty guy in the Goldenrod Tunnel who sold Nuggets under the table. The Gym Leaders of Johto are also a little more fleshed out than those of Kanto; although I like Blaine's riddles and Giovanni leading a Gym, most of Kanto's gym leaders only showed personality through indirect quotes by other people or other media. As an example: if not for the anime, neither Brock nor Misty would be memorable in any way. In Johto, you met Jasmine nursing an Ampharos in the lighthouse, Claire refused to give up her badge, and Whitney started bawling after you beat her. As a final note, with the exception of Lance, the Elite Four is a rather bland group of people in both games.

So, overall: sorry, Blue, you might be one of the most memorable characters in all of Pokémon, but Kanto doesn't have very much else to offer.

Conclusion: Johto.

Codraroll

I tend to agree with the people who say that the Gen II games are like an expansion pack to the Gen I games. The Pokémon selection of Johto has a hefty mix of Kanto Pokémon in it, and I dare say there aren't enough Johto Pokémon to make an interesting roster by themselves. The Johto Pokémon do complement and expand Kanto's Pokémon selection quite well, but on their own, they don't stand out particularly well in my book. The starters are good enough, but they haven't aged very well, and their quality has been exceeded in every subsequent generation (with the possible exception of Gen V). The early bugs, birds, and rodents rank among the most forgettable Pokémon ever made. While there certainly are unique, interesting, and powerful Johto Pokémon out there, there are also the likes of Stantler, Sunflora, Girafarig, Qwilfish, and Magcargo. Pokémon that might be somewhat interesting design-wise but don't stand out in any other way. I'd say Johto's best Pokémon are those with evolutionary relatives from other generations; again keeping with the "expansion pack" theme, Johto managed to expand several Gen I Pokémon families quite well, and Gen IV managed to breathe new life into many otherwise forgettable Gen II designs. Without Johto, there would be no Scizor, no Umbreon, no Gliscor, and no Weavile. And of course, Johto's legendary Pokémon selection deserves standing ovations. Few enough legendaries that we remember them all, perhaps the best legendary trio out there, and solid cover legendaries in Lugia and Ho-Oh.

Regarding the Kanto Pokémon, I... am not sure whether I can say anything with objectivity. I must admit I regard them all with quite heavily rose-tinted glasses of my childhood, and it's hard for me to judge them accurately. Gen I introduced a lot of classic designs—that can be said for certain. It's the generation that brought us Charizard, Pikachu, and Mewtwo. Kanto Pokémon keep getting attention for every new generation, a steady stream of new additions and homages to keep them in fresh memory, and I think Game Freak does a good job maintaining that heritage (although other generations could probably have deserved this level of attention too). Some negatives could be noted, though: there are bad apples among the Kanto designs, I can't remember the last time I heard anything about Seaking, Venomoth, Persian, or Dewgong, never mind anything positive. Also, very many Kanto designs also share the same body shape, the vaguely dinosaur-like monster with small legs and a tail (see: Charmander, Nidoking, Rhydon, Kangaskhan, Sandshrew, Dragonite...). But overall, Kanto Pokémon have had a very notable impact on every aspect of the Pokémon franchise and probably will continue to do so for a very long time.

All in all, I can conclude that Johto had its ups and downs, perhaps more of the latter, and its Pokémon need to be seen in context with the other generations, but I feel I'm too biased to say anything about Kanto with objectivity. In my personal opinion, the Kanto designs are more memorable than most of the Johto ones, but I'm not sure if my personal opinion can be trusted. Of course, it also complicates the matter that many Johto Pokémon were designed before the Gen I games were published but not implemented in those games. Had some choices of Game Freak swung the other way, many of the Pokémon we now regard as Gen II Pokémon would have been in Gen I and vice versa.

Conclusion: No conclusion. At least no conclusion I'd put in boldface.