"How badge boosts work in Gold and Silver, and why Normal-type Pokemon are ridiculously overpowered in Gen 2"

I already mentioned badge boosts in my big Gold&Silver guide, but since this mechanic is not that well-known, I'd like to explain it in greater detail.In G/S/C, receiving certain badges boosts the stats of your Pokemon permanently:Zephyr Badge (1st Gym) boosts AttackPlain Badge (3rd Gym) boosts SpeedMineral Badge (6th Gym) boosts defenseGlacier Badge (7th Gym) boosts Special Attack and Special DefenseStat or stats are increased by 12.5%, meaning the stats corresponding to those badges you do have will actually be 12.5% higher in battle than the stats you see on your Pokémon's summary screen. To be precise, the boosts don't really increase the stats but act as a stat modifier during battleFurthermore, there is a second type of badge boost: Type boosts.In Generation II, every Badge boosts the power of the moves of a certain type by 12.5%. The type strengthened matches the type theme of the Gym (for example, Zephyr Badge boosts the Flying-type). These boosts work similarly to the way same-type attack bonus (STAB) boosts work, and are calculated in-between weather modifiers and STAB. Since there is no Dark-type gym in Gold and Silver, Dark-type moves are the only moves that don't benefit from this boost.Here is a chart to illustrate which boosts you get permanently after defeating which gym leader.It should also be noted that these boosts are only applied in-game, not during link battles. Furthermore, due to a bug, if your attack is a critical hit and the attacker's used offensive stat stage is less than or equal to the opponent's defensive stat stage, all Badge boosts are ignored.So why is the Normal-type so overpowered in Gen2 and how is this related to badge boosts? For starters, you might have noticed that already after defeating Whitney, all of your Normal-type attacks receive a ~26% boost (1x1.125x1.125). That means Normal-type Pokemon receive a significant boost for a huge part of the game. What's more, in Gen2, all Normal-type attacks are physical, so you are guaranteed to get the full 26% boost, not just the 12.5% type-boost. To top it off, aside from Rock-, Ghost- and the uncommon Steel-type, nothing resists Normal-type attacks.How about the roster of Normal-type Pokemon you can choose from to abuse the badge boost+the normal 1.5 STAB? It's pretty amazing. You can get Spearow/Fearow (Normal/Flying dual-type) early in the game from a guard in Goldenrod. That Spearow has a different OT, so it also gains increased experience. Then you can choose between Stantler, Miltank and Tauros. Tauros has a great base 100 Attack stat, Miltank learns Shadow Ball (also physical in Gen2) for coverage and can heal itself with Milk Drink, and Stantler has almost as much base attack as Tauros (95) and can also abuse Hypnosis+Dream Eater. In Gold and Crystal, Ursaring poses another great option. Snorlax is overkill, but you only get him in Kanto.But hey, there has to be a downside to all of this, at least the Normal-type attacks all suck balls, right? Nope, in fact, Normal-type moves are among the best in the game. You've got Headbutt (70 power, 100 accuracy), Strength (80 power, 100% accuracy, reusable since it's a HM) and my favorite, Return (max power is 102, 100 accuracy, received every Sunday by a woman in Goldenrod department store if you show her a Pokemon with high friendship). 102 power+STAB+26% badge boost is 193 power! I rest my case.So regardless whether you have already started your Johto journey, consider adding a Normal-type to your team, cause normies are freaks in Gen2. via /r/pokemon http://ift.tt/2wN3Z7u