My opinion on what they are
Well, Raikou is a tiger. No one is going to argue with me on that, right? It's yellow with stripes, has whiskers, and... well, it's just a pretty obivous stylized version of a tiger. I hope I won't have to argue with anyone on that...
Entei is a bit more of an arguement. I think it looks like a lion, it has a mane and all... but it is also a possibility that it is that kind of a dog I can't remember the name of. I think Entei looks more like a lion, but that's my opinion...
Now, Suicune, where everyone disagrees with me... okay, don't kill me, but I think it looks NOTHING like a wolf... for one thing, wolves travel in packs... Suicune is alone... well, it's one of a kind, bad arguement... *throws it in the trash* Well, Suicune's got spots (or diamonds...), for another thing. Wolves don't have spots. And I just can't imagine Suicune howling at the moon... what I DO think it is, however, is... a cheetah. Really. A cheetah's got spots. And the pokédex entries keep talking about Suicune's speed (although its Speed is actually the lowest of the legendary beasts). It's got the thin body and legs cheetahs have. And if Raikou is a tiger and Entei a lion, a cheetah fits in much better than a wolf... BUT, remember this is all my opinion, please don't kill me, then I won't be able to update this site... plus I'm well protected... *sends out pokémon*
The weird thing is, however, that I've always called them the legendary dogs. Even though I think they're cats. And I still call them the legendary dogs. But I'm weird, so that may not be a surprise...
Their stats
Well, each of them has two "speciality" stats (115 base), one "plan B" stat (100), one "plan C" stat (90 base), one "plan D" stat (85 base) and one "emergency" stat (75 base) (ignore those names, I make up names for everything that doesn't have names already, I'm weird, remember?). So...
| Raikou: | |
| Specialities: | Speed, Special attack |
| Plan B: | Special defense |
| Plan C: | HP |
| Plan D: | Attack |
| Emergency: | Defense |
| Entei: | |
| Specialities: | Attack, HP |
| Plan B: | Speed |
| Plan C: | Special attack |
| Plan D: | Defense |
| Emergency: | Special defense |
| Suicune: | |
| Specialities: | Defense, Special defense |
| Plan B: | HP |
| Plan C: | Special attack |
| Plan D: | Speed |
| Emergency: | Attack |
How to unlock them
Now, what you are most likely here for... how to catch them. Unlocking them is the first step. Go to the Burned tower in Ectruteak and get to the basement. It's really easy. Then go up to the three statues, which are (surprise, surprise) the legendary dogs/cats/beasts/whatever you want to call them. Then it's time to find them.
How to find them for the first time
In Crystal, "them" is just Raikou and Entei, of course, since catching Suicune is just as easy as catching Ho-oh or Lugia... yawn. So boring. But Raikou and Entei will always be the same entertainment. At least, here are the two ways to find them:
1: Play through the game as normal, then suddenly you are attacked by a big level 40 pokémon (in Crystal, you hear the best music in the game first), panic because you've got a Magikarp first in your lineup, and watch the level 40 pokémon run away from your Magikarp. What I always do because of my weird luck.
2: Spend all of your money on Max repels, go into a grass and use the Max repel, then walk around and waste all your Max repels finding not even a hair of them. Beat the Elite four to get more money, then repeat. Maybe somewhere in the progress, one of them will appear, just so you can discover that you still have a Magikarp first in your lineup.
How to find them for the second, third, fourth, fifth, etc. time
Put a level 40 pokémon that knows a Sleep attack first in your lineup. Put a pokémon at any level with False swipe anywhere in your lineup. Buy some Repels. Fly to Cherrygrove. Check your pokédex for the one you've seen. Go to Area. If it is nowhere near you, Fly to Cherrygrove again and repeat. If it is at Route 46 or Route 30, walk to Route 29. If it is at Route 29 or Route 31, walk to Route 30. Either way, check your pokédex again. If moved away from you, Fly to Cherrygrove and repeat. If it is at the same route as you, save and use your Repel. Then just walk in the grass until a wild pokémon attacks you, and it will be the beast. If the Repel's effect wears off, use another one. Eventually, you should be in a battle with the beast. Now it's just to catch it.
How to catch them
Well, maybe I should've told you before, but there are three ways to catch them. They are:
1: Clone three Master balls (two for Crystal) and catch them with them. This is the cheap, easy and boring way. I don't recommend it, catching the legendary beasts is half of the fun in the game and you don't want all the fun to be over as soon as it starts, do you?
2: Take out your Master ball and catch one of them with it and the other one(s) with Ultra balls. If you're doing this, I suggest that you use the Master ball on Raikou. Raikou is fast and if it has decent Speed DV, it will run away before you can put it to sleep. And if it doesn't have decent Speed DV... well, then you don't want it, do you? So Raikou is definetly the one that's most worthy of the Master ball.
3: Catch all of them the hard but fun way, with Ultra balls. That's what I do, although I know I could save myself a lot of trouble by using method 2...
Well, I hope I won't have to tell you how to catch them with a Master ball, so I'll be taking the Ultra ball method here.
The Ultra ball method
First, you must have some Ultra balls. I don't really know how many I should suggest that you have. If I have few of them, I run out of them, but if I buy lots and lots of them, I catch them with just a few. But I guess that's the better option, so you should buy 20 Ultra balls or so. Then, find one, see above. Put it to sleep. Switch to your False swiping pokémon and False swipe it to 1 HP. Switch back to the sleep pokémon. Then start throwing Ultra balls. If it wakes up, put it to sleep again. If your Sleep attack misses once, or if it wakes and uses Roar, just try again. Eventually, you should catch it. Then find and catch the other one(s), and you'll have the legendary dogs/cats/whatevers! Congratulations!