| Category | Vanilla Pokémon HeartGold | Pokémon Sacred Gold | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Only 256 Johto & Kanto Pokémon available before beating the Elite Four. | All 493 Pokémon from Generations I-IV are available. You can catch 'em all! | | National Pokédex | Obtained after beating the Elite Four. | Obtained as soon as you receive the Pokédex, helping you track your collection from the start | | Difficulty & AI | Generally easy; Gym Leaders use 3-5 Pokémon; standard Trainer AI. | Much harder. All boss trainers use full teams of 6 Pokémon with powerful moves, held items, and higher IVs. All trainers use boosted Elite Four-level AI | | Pokémon Changes | None. | Optional but extensive changes to over 100 Pokémon to boost their viability. Abilities, stats, types, and movepools are updated (e.g., Mightyena gets a stat boost; Flareon gets a better movepool) | | Trainer Rosters | Fixed, limited to Pokémon found in Johto/Kanto. | Every Trainer's team has been revamped to include Pokémon from the National Dex, offering huge variety and new strategic challenges | | Items & TMs | Many TMs and evolution items are single-use or hard to obtain. | TMs are reusable. Most TMs and all evolution items are obtainable at least once before the Elite Four | | Convenience | Requires trading for evolutions; certain Pokémon are version-exclusive. | All trade evolutions are removed. You can evolve via level-up or new in-game items. Many annoying HM obstacles are removed | | Scripted Events | Standard events; some legendaries have simple encounters. | Brand-new scripted events, including battles with characters like Ethan/Lyra, Steven, and Cynthia, and unique ways to obtain legendary Pokémon |

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