As with the previous games, the player character (only a boy in Gold and Silver, the option to play as a girl player character was added in Crystal) receives their first Pokémon, a choice between Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile, from the region's local Pokémon scientist Professor Elm and then begins his journey to win the eight Gym Badges of the Johto region and then challenge the Elite Four and Champion to become the region's new Pokémon Master. Opposing them is their mysterious rival, a boy who stole one of the other Pokémon from Professor Elm and regularly challenges the player to test his strengths. The player also encounters the villainous Team Rocket, having reunited to seek out their previous leader Giovanni to return the group to their former glory. After the player defeats Team Rocket once and for all and defeats the Elite Four and Champion of the Pokémon League on Indigo Plateau, the player can then travel to the Kanto region from the previous games and challenge the Gym Leaders there, discovering how much has changed in the three years following the events of Red and Blue. After defeating the Kanto region's Gym Leaders, the player is allowed to enter the treacherous Mt. Silver area, home to very powerful Pokémon, and deep within Mt. Silver's caves is hidden Red, the protagonist of Red and Blue, who the player can challenge for the most difficult battle in the game.


