4th Gen Ho-Oh and Lugia

[Hiatus]

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, we were able to capture Ho-Oh and Lugia; two of the most well-known legendaries out there. In HG, you were able to encounter Ho-Oh first, and Lugia later on. In SS, though, it was the other way around. Before running into them, you first had to take down all eight gym leaders of Johto, and defeat Kimono girls over at Dance Studio. If you win against these girls, they will give you either Rainbow or Silver Wing, depending on the version of your game.

Lugia was in Whirl Islands, and you had to go deep inside in order to find it. As for HO-Oh, you were required to go through Bell Tower. Once you're done, Kimono girls would approach you and do some dancing to summon these Pokémon. Anyway, so, what's your opinion on this experience? Did you enjoy going through all this, or did you not? Before defeating Pokémon League, which of these did you wind up capturing--Lugia or Ho-Oh? How difficult was it? :o

 

[Sheep]

Going through the Bell Tower was a roooyal pain and I don't want to do it again. :( I'm a collector so I had to go back and get each item there, too, which only slowed the process down aaaa. The paths were very forgettable to me so I always ended up taking at least one wrong turn along the way.

..but being able to fight Ho-Oh and listen to its amazing battle music was worth it in the end.

 

[mangamusicfan]

Ho-Oh Whas the first one for me.
I didn't find it that hard, If you grind much and take some good items with you it's possible.

 

[Dark Charizard X]

I'm good with Lugia. I preferred the Whirl Islands over the Bell Tower. Mainly due to Lugia entrance before the battle.

 

[Hikamaru]

I caught Lugia, because I was playing SoulSilver obviously. It did take me ages to try and find the entrance of Whirl Islands that led to it though, so confused I had to consult to a guide, but I was proud for capturing it in the end.

 

[serpenter]

I loved the build up to ho-oh. It just seems so grand and majestic - I love it. The ritual, the constant lore drip-fed to you as you advance through the game, the tower and the mythology between it and the legendary dogs, and that awe-inspiring battle theme to top it all off. Its just so well done! The only legend that comes close would be giratina in platinum.

I mean, of all event pokemon, Ho-oh just seems like the one who is most deserving to be called "Legendary".

 

[Judge Mandolore Shepard]

Since I was playing Soulsilver, Lugia was the first of the two for me. I recall it was somewhat ok or anti-climatic. Mainly because I just threw my Master Ball.

 

[Aeroblast]

It was refreshing to go through the puzzles again to get to the mascot legendaries.

 

[Pokemon_Fangirl]

I prefer Lugia, but story wise I consider Ho-Oh to be the "main" legendary of the game; it's connected to legendary cats, has the most myths about it, and Morty was practically obsessed with seeing it.

I just find it so annoying how the games force you to meet them instead of being optional in like in the original games. I don't use the "banned" legendaries on my teams and prefer to capture them after I've beaten the story mode.

 

[Gulpin]

I really enjoyed the detail put into the legendary capturing experience in these games. I personally prefer going through the Bell Tower just because it is more straightforward, but I like Lugia and the scenery when catching it better. One complaint I do have is that you are required to go through the process.. It can be kind of frustrating when playing through a challenge.

 

[Evening]

I played Gold, and you can see which of the two was my first.
Climbing the Bell Tower and capturing Ho-oh, there's only one word to describe it: NOSTALGIC.

 

[Zorogami]

I enjoyed going through the "mini-quests" to capture these legends.
My first one was Ho-Oh, who i love for his typing and especially its design. That little animation where he comes down flying: simply awesome!!

 

[Elements1]

Caught Lugia as I was playing SoulSilver but it was awesome!! The animations, and the music are simply amazing and can't be described any other way! Loved it!

 

[shyheim]

I believe Lugia is better. It can take out ho-oh with water and even electric attacks it can learn. Plus Lugia looks cooler and has its own movie, basically.

 

[LavenderTownGhost]

I like Ho-oh. The 3D scene where it flies down is so beautiful, and the Kimono Girls' ritual fits really well with that scene. The amazing battle music is just the cherry on top. I captured Ho-oh with almost no problems.

 

[LetsPlayALoveGame]

I picked up HG, and I told myself repeatedly that I wasn't gonna use the Master Ball on Ho-oh. I was really sick that week and tired af by the time I reached him, so I ended up breaking that promise.

 

[Pepperton]

Playing SoulSilver, I had an intention to capture Lugia at the beginning of the game, but I had various lapses of time where I didn't play the game at all, resulting in it taking at least a month before I eventually defeated the Champion of Johto. At that point, I lost any motivation I previously had in catching Lugia, and forgot about the whole thing. Later on, though, I decided to go through what it took to tame the beast, and although the Whirl Islands proved to be an annoyance, I finally captured him, and proceeded to never use him in battle afterwards. :]

 

[Universe]

I can't remember much about my Whirl Islands experience but I do remember having an easy time sweeping the Kimono Girls. Eeveelutions aren't exactly the hardest thing in the world to defeat, and I'm pretty sure I out-leveled them anyway.

But I do have a nice story involving the Lugia capture.

A friend of mine was over at my house hanging out with me while I was goofing around in the cave with Lugia. I decided it might be fun to soft reset in front of Lugia a few times just for fun, having gotten a strange feeling that told me to do it once I finished the animation of Lugia's encounter. So at about the 9th reset (I was gonna stop at 10), I was looking over at my friend and busy talking with her as I went to talk to Lugia, not expecting anything whatsoever.

Next thing I know I hear that ever so familiar tingle sound upon encounter. Turn to look and there's a pink Lugia staring me in the face.

I almost screamed. The disbelief was like no other. I seriously thought my game glitched or something. I have never ever in all my years of shiny hunting had a shiny Pokemon come up that quickly and it was completely unexpected. You bet I caught that sucker, too!

What a great moment that was for me. <3

Never did catch Ho-Oh I don't think. Wasn't very interested.
Perhaps I'll go back and shiny hunt for that one too so I can have a matching duo. :D

 

[giradialkia]

I bought Heart Gold, so Ho-oh was my first encounter (and even though I originally played Silver, he was still my first encounter there, too). To this day, the Whirl Islands remain an annoying mystery to me; compared to pretty much every other Pokémon game, at least, where I just know all areas like the back of my hand, the Whirl Islands remain the one place that's new to me in every playthrough.

Ho-oh was cool to fight the first time. I knew I had a problem when I was a few levels below it, though, when it came to eventually reaching the League.

So I caught it, as per tradition, in an Ultra Ball (and it took a stupid long time, too), and used it in my party. I like Ho-Oh over Lugia, to be honest - Lugia is deceptively not-Water type, and that's always irritated me a bit. Granted, I like the fact that they don't have any advantages over one another, but considering its counterpart (Ho-Oh) is part Fire type, and also the fact that it lives in a cave, far below sea level, it might've been cool for Lugia to be Water-Flying, rather than Psychic-Flying.

 

[Scotash!]

I bought heartgold as Ho-Oh is my number 2 behind Mewtwo, but I have to say I prefer the Lugia encounter/entrance a lot better. The way it came out of the waterfall is amazingly well animated. Although Ho-Oh coming from the sky to sit a top the bell tower is cool, I hated the going through the bell tower part of it. It was frustrating to say the least.

Both at great, but Ho-Ohs my guy. lol!