I'm going through the various generations to find optimal methods of grinding. With modern save editing like pkheX, you can make full lv100 teams with maxed stats and ideal movesets in a matter of minutes, and I think that's really cool. But there's a different satisfaction to being able to achieve these things through the in-game mechanics. Each generation took a step forward to simplifying this process, but attempting this in gen 2 is quite literally returning to the dark ages.
Let's assume you've bred a perfect DV baby, 15 across each stat (minus whatever offense you don't need and assuming you don't want Hidden Power). Now you want to fully "EV train", but realize you're in a world where rather than there being the 510 total cap, it's now 65535 *per stat*. How to maximize? Well the ideal is to find pokemon with the highest base stats you can and mindlessly defeat them. Looking at old suggestions about this, people recommend defeating Unown since their base stats are "high" relative to how easy they are to beat up. But surely this isn't optimal, right? I think the reason this is favored is also because low level pokemon can do it without having to level up much first, making it easier to keep track of from the beginning. But I'd rather not defeat *1,366* Unown *per pokemon*. So let's put a pin in this for now, and talk about EXP grinding.
As this video shows, apparently the community-beloved Blissey Bases existed as far back as generation 2. By training up Blissey to Lv100 (either 6 times or once and cloning) and deleting all moves except Tail Whip, you can use mystery gift with another game, and that trainer can save and beat up your team as much as they'd like by manipulating the clock menu. Pairing this with the Lucky Egg to find of Thief-ing from Chansey, and you should be able to level up pretty solidly. But Blissey's horrendous ATK and DEF stats mean it's no candidate for maximizing your stats. So assuming you're okay with grinding levels before grinding stats, we need to pick another pokemon to follow this up.
So how do we level up the Blissey(s), and while we're at it what is the best way to get vitamins beforehand? Well, the Crystal exclusive Buena's Radio Show might solve both problems. By tuning in to her show and hearing the password, you can visit her live and repeat it for a Blue Card Point. In Gen 2, you can spend these points for prizes (unlike in Gen 4 where they're milestones). Doing this 3 times give you a Rare Candy, and doing it 5 times can get you a vitamin of your choice. By doing clock menu shenanigans, you *should* be able to repeat this with patience and it would be faster leveling than beating up Lance or Red repeatedly. Plus, since the Blisseys are supposed to be weak and easily defeated, this lets you level grind them without stat grinding! Admittedly, this does mean doing her show a little under 300 times (without cloning items) for a single pokemon, but that's why the Blissey method is better once you access it.
Okay, so what pokemon to train against for stat grinding? Well, here's the issue. Even if Mew or Celebi were an option (the most ideal), you would need to beat 656 of them. Vitamins lower it to 400. There's just not a fast way of doing it. So the next best thing will be to lessen the workload psychologically so it's easy to get through. The most obvious method is the Fighting the Elite Four + Lance over and over.
Below are the total team stats per fight (Will, Koga, Bruno, Karen, Lance) and the total you get assuming your pokemon defeated each member *solo*. Unlike later gens, the stat distribution is divided between each battling participant.
HP: 385, 405, 275, 245, 526 = 1836
Atk: 370, 440, 495, 255, 716 = 2276
Def: 370, 425, 467, 347, 507 = 2116
SpAtk: 530, 345, 200, 485, 529 = 2089
SpDef: 380, 375, 460, 417, 560 = 2192
Speed: 370, 350, 358, 411, 551 = 2040
While normally we'd use the lowest stat as our basis for how many times we repeat the fight, in this case it's HP. This is convenient to compensate for since we're already using Blissey bases, and Blissey has the highest base HP in the game (255). So our total grinding would look like one of these options:
1. 33 Elite Four runs + 5 Blissey Base runs = maxed stats
2. 66 Elite Four runs + 10 Blissey Base runs = maxed stats with EXP Share
3. 20 Elite Four runs + 3 Blissey Base runs = maxed stats after Vitamins
4. 40 Elite Four runs + 6 Blissey Base runs = maxed stats with EXP Share after Vitamins
Seeing this, I'm definitely most interested in options #3 and #4. So the next question is how to most effectively get vitamins for a pokemon? Well, you need 50 to max out each stat (Zinc doesn't exist yet). One run through the league nets you 22,900 pokedollars, and with an amulet coin it's 45,800. Vitamins cost 9,800 at the Celadon Dept Store, so one run gets you about 4 1/2. Assuming you grind for stats through Option #1 (maybe with the pokemon that will help train up the others?) you will end up with 1,511,400, which translates to 154 vitamins. That's enough to cover your next 3 team members, and at this point assuming you always use the Amulet Coin you will always be able to more than afford the vitamins for future pokemon. So ideally, Option #1 only needs to happen once.
Using everything laid out here, A fully stat trained team in gen 2 requires 133 runs through the pokemon league. Once you're able to do 20 run sessions, you're knocking out a total 520 pokemon. This isn't as low as the 400 Mew/Celebi, but doesn't require you to keep changing the Trainer House team or reset the clock, and lets you earn the money for more vitamins along the way.
I sincerely look forward to someone commenting that I've overlooked something obvious that circumvents this. But it's a no brainer why save editing and cloning became so popular 😂
Edit: Note that after you've made the initial Blissey Mystery Gift team, it's no longer Crystal exclusive! Buena's Password Show is the only Crystal part of this, and the rest should apply to all three Gen 2 games. And it's actually easier to get a Lucky Egg off of Chansey in Gold and Silver since the repel trick makes Chansey appear more than in Crystal. And yes, PokeRus would halve the amount of runs you need to do, but good luck getting it naturally.
Let's assume you've bred a perfect DV baby, 15 across each stat (minus whatever offense you don't need and assuming you don't want Hidden Power). Now you want to fully "EV train", but realize you're in a world where rather than there being the 510 total cap, it's now 65535 *per stat*. How to maximize? Well the ideal is to find pokemon with the highest base stats you can and mindlessly defeat them. Looking at old suggestions about this, people recommend defeating Unown since their base stats are "high" relative to how easy they are to beat up. But surely this isn't optimal, right? I think the reason this is favored is also because low level pokemon can do it without having to level up much first, making it easier to keep track of from the beginning. But I'd rather not defeat *1,366* Unown *per pokemon*. So let's put a pin in this for now, and talk about EXP grinding.
As this video shows, apparently the community-beloved Blissey Bases existed as far back as generation 2. By training up Blissey to Lv100 (either 6 times or once and cloning) and deleting all moves except Tail Whip, you can use mystery gift with another game, and that trainer can save and beat up your team as much as they'd like by manipulating the clock menu. Pairing this with the Lucky Egg to find of Thief-ing from Chansey, and you should be able to level up pretty solidly. But Blissey's horrendous ATK and DEF stats mean it's no candidate for maximizing your stats. So assuming you're okay with grinding levels before grinding stats, we need to pick another pokemon to follow this up.
So how do we level up the Blissey(s), and while we're at it what is the best way to get vitamins beforehand? Well, the Crystal exclusive Buena's Radio Show might solve both problems. By tuning in to her show and hearing the password, you can visit her live and repeat it for a Blue Card Point. In Gen 2, you can spend these points for prizes (unlike in Gen 4 where they're milestones). Doing this 3 times give you a Rare Candy, and doing it 5 times can get you a vitamin of your choice. By doing clock menu shenanigans, you *should* be able to repeat this with patience and it would be faster leveling than beating up Lance or Red repeatedly. Plus, since the Blisseys are supposed to be weak and easily defeated, this lets you level grind them without stat grinding! Admittedly, this does mean doing her show a little under 300 times (without cloning items) for a single pokemon, but that's why the Blissey method is better once you access it.
Okay, so what pokemon to train against for stat grinding? Well, here's the issue. Even if Mew or Celebi were an option (the most ideal), you would need to beat 656 of them. Vitamins lower it to 400. There's just not a fast way of doing it. So the next best thing will be to lessen the workload psychologically so it's easy to get through. The most obvious method is the Fighting the Elite Four + Lance over and over.
Below are the total team stats per fight (Will, Koga, Bruno, Karen, Lance) and the total you get assuming your pokemon defeated each member *solo*. Unlike later gens, the stat distribution is divided between each battling participant.
HP: 385, 405, 275, 245, 526 = 1836
Atk: 370, 440, 495, 255, 716 = 2276
Def: 370, 425, 467, 347, 507 = 2116
SpAtk: 530, 345, 200, 485, 529 = 2089
SpDef: 380, 375, 460, 417, 560 = 2192
Speed: 370, 350, 358, 411, 551 = 2040
While normally we'd use the lowest stat as our basis for how many times we repeat the fight, in this case it's HP. This is convenient to compensate for since we're already using Blissey bases, and Blissey has the highest base HP in the game (255). So our total grinding would look like one of these options:
1. 33 Elite Four runs + 5 Blissey Base runs = maxed stats
2. 66 Elite Four runs + 10 Blissey Base runs = maxed stats with EXP Share
3. 20 Elite Four runs + 3 Blissey Base runs = maxed stats after Vitamins
4. 40 Elite Four runs + 6 Blissey Base runs = maxed stats with EXP Share after Vitamins
Seeing this, I'm definitely most interested in options #3 and #4. So the next question is how to most effectively get vitamins for a pokemon? Well, you need 50 to max out each stat (Zinc doesn't exist yet). One run through the league nets you 22,900 pokedollars, and with an amulet coin it's 45,800. Vitamins cost 9,800 at the Celadon Dept Store, so one run gets you about 4 1/2. Assuming you grind for stats through Option #1 (maybe with the pokemon that will help train up the others?) you will end up with 1,511,400, which translates to 154 vitamins. That's enough to cover your next 3 team members, and at this point assuming you always use the Amulet Coin you will always be able to more than afford the vitamins for future pokemon. So ideally, Option #1 only needs to happen once.
Using everything laid out here, A fully stat trained team in gen 2 requires 133 runs through the pokemon league. Once you're able to do 20 run sessions, you're knocking out a total 520 pokemon. This isn't as low as the 400 Mew/Celebi, but doesn't require you to keep changing the Trainer House team or reset the clock, and lets you earn the money for more vitamins along the way.
I sincerely look forward to someone commenting that I've overlooked something obvious that circumvents this. But it's a no brainer why save editing and cloning became so popular 😂
Edit: Note that after you've made the initial Blissey Mystery Gift team, it's no longer Crystal exclusive! Buena's Password Show is the only Crystal part of this, and the rest should apply to all three Gen 2 games. And it's actually easier to get a Lucky Egg off of Chansey in Gold and Silver since the repel trick makes Chansey appear more than in Crystal. And yes, PokeRus would halve the amount of runs you need to do, but good luck getting it naturally.
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