I’m pretty sure I played Diamond first since I liked Dialga more. Waiting for games isn’t quite the same as an adult. As a kid, waiting a year for a game seemed like an eternity. Now it doesn’t seem like it’s too long of a wait.
I’m playing my old Diamond save file (the only one I’ve ever had since release) again now and trying to breed/train some good 'mon to get through the Battle Tower doubles. I can consistently get to around 35 wins but not much further. 37 is my record so far. Last attempt was going well until I came up against a Gengar that swept my Alakazam with Shadow Ball, and an Infernape that I did NOT expect to have a grass move (Grass Knot) which it one-shotted my Rhydon with.
Currently trying to breed an Eevee with a suitable nature and the Curse move so that I can (for the first time ever) do some EV training and build a Curse Umbreon to use a defensive wall.
As for Gen IV in general, Diamond was where my story with the games ended. I started playing with the original Red version and religiously saved up pocket money to buy each new one on release - Silver, Sapphire, Fire Red, Emerald, and, finally, Diamond. I’ve never bought or played a Pokemon game since and honestly don’t have any interest in the newer ones and the new Pokemon designs. I do intend to rectify some past errors and get hold of Platinum, Soul Silver, and a B/W era game but…ugh…the PRICES! Especially for Plat and SS.
Gen 2 is my all-time favourite, and I absolutely love Gen 3 too, but Diamond/Pearl are really good games. The music is especially fantastic and I clearly remember the aesthetics feeling like a massive leap forward from the GBA era at the time. And there’s mommy Cynthia of course.
Shout to the Pal Park that made importing GBA Pokemon a cinch using the dual cartridge ports of the DS. The daily limit sucked though, especially as I moved across hundreds from Sapphire, FR, and Emerald (including heaps of stuff that had previously been obtained from Colisseum and XD) Pokemon.
So this Diamond cart is pretty special to me as it holds everything from my GBA and Gamecube play-throughs and represents hundreds if not thousands of hours. I think my Pokedex is pretty near completion other than event Pokemon like Mew, Darkrai, and Arceus which I missed. Couple of trade evolutions too such as Magmortar, Electivire, and Rhyperior since I was playing these games alone by 2007 (nobody else thought Pokemon was “cool” anymore). Maybe I will try and pick up a cheap DS when I get one of the other Gen 4 era games and so some swapping between the two.
Does anybody know if a 3DS and DS connect to trade between? I assume they would.
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Yes, a 3ds and 2ds can trade, thankfully.
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Gen 4 appreciation 
Gen 4 is the best generation. D/P/Pt and HG/SS, I love all of those games and am constantly replaying them. Also, if you are into ROM hacks Renegade Platinum is amazing.
The sprite work in Gen 4 is absolutely incredible, the best in the series. One of the things that turned me off for B/W/2 is the sprites and UI were downgrades from Gen 4. The atmosphere they created in Sinnoh just feels perfect and they nailed what they were going for.
Some of my absolute favorite Pokemon were introduced too like Weavile and Electivire.
e: I know everyone raves about the music in B/W, and it is very good, as was mentioned upthread a bit the gen4 sound track is so, so good. There are a bunch of bangers and some real all-timers
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Thanks for giving that great synapsis. I think I might go watch this season now.!
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I meant a 3DS and an original DS (2DS is a redesigned 3DS without the 3D) i.e. will a 3DS communicate with a previous gen DS Lite?
Sorry! Yeah I meant a DS Lite too! All the names confuse me.
A 3ds can trade with a DS lite
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Awesome info, thanks for that. Unfortunately it will cost me now as I sold a DSLite AND my original 2005 DS a few years ago when I didn’t think I needed them anymore…
I’m no means a pro competitive player so don’t laugh too hard but, man, I’m struggling to get beyond 35 wins in the battle tower doubles.
Yesterday I fell at battle 35 again to some disgusting RNG…opponent sent out Dewgong and Mamoswine which are somewhat bulky tanks anyway. However they successfully landed Horn Drill and Fissure on the SAME turn and there was no turning around a 4-2 Pokemon count.
Can somebody correct me it I’m wrong but isn’t Fissure (and maybe all One Hit KO moves?) only supposed to hit it the target is slower? Both of my Pokemon were faster than both of theirs.
Speed is only a factor in Gen 1.
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Pllatinum still has one of if not the best eras of cards with shiny pokemon
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Yes that’s right your beloved goddess Cynthia is called CAMILLA in the Italian adaptation, for absolutely no reason.
You better remember this information and I hope you feel uncomfortable like me now.
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Born '02 so 4th generation of games is what I was exposed to first with the anime and the games, I always wanted to collect the TCG but that was seen as a waste of money at the time so oh well, I don’t have many cards from that era I truly love anyways so it’s not a huge loss.
It’s the generation that gave us Leafeon, the best eeveelution, enough said. But besides that the soundtrack carries immense nostalgia and Eterna Forest/City carries that Sinnoh ~vibe~ as well as Mt. Coronet with the way it conveys a sense of urgency as you rush to the top of Spear Pillar to stop Galactic.
Physical/Special split was overall a net benefit for the competitive scene although when I grew older I came to love the gimmicky nature of having types determine whether a move was P/S since it breeds creativity in new ways. I still hate the EV system though. Gen I/II had it right with being able to max out all stats, if they were going to make it so you had to minmax for competitive they should have just implemented a more RPG like point system where you could assign EVs gained from battle at certain checkpoints. Maybe one day that’ll show up in a romhack.
Platinum will always be closest to my heart just for the memories alone of receiving it for Christmas, playing Pokemon Battle Revolution against my friend with our teams, and religiously watching SuperSkarmory play through it at the same time I did. Simpler times, but it still brings me the same joy as it did then.
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Thanks for that. I suspected it might have changed at some point (like many other things). Guess I just got SUPER unlucky then with taking two OHKOs in a single turn.
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So I’m finally playing HGSS after all these years…amazing stuff. BUT, I naively bought into that whole “the difficulty level has dropped over the years”, bowled into Goldenrod’s gym and Whitney’s Miltank swept my ENTIRE party lol. Had a full of team of Lv18-19 (the Miltank is lv19 for reference) but it was like they were all Lv5s or something 
Fast? Check
Bulky? Check
Hits like a truck? Check
Ruins 3/4 of my team with Attract? Check
Repairs all of my hard work with Milk Drink? Check
Uses ‘Stomp’ to devastating effect? Check
The classic Rollout hell? Check
Holds a Lum Berry? Check
I had severe Gen 2 era ptsd after that lol
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Update: Miltank nightmare cleared. Ended up getting the Clefairy down to a slither of health + paralyzed, leaving it there while I spammed Curse on Slowpoke so that when Miltank came out, it went down fairly easily to a couple 'o headbutts.
Also ended up getting a Crobat at Lv.23 which seemed super low to me lol. Was in the Ecruteak gym, and Zubat evolved into Golbat. One level later, straight into Crobat! Awesome. Seems like the Soothe Bell hold item bumped up the friendliness of Zubat a lot faster than I anticipated.
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The cards are cool. I like LV X’s even if they are essentially EX knockoffs. I also think lots of the art throughout the DPPt era in general is pretty cool.
As for the games themselves? They are the worst thing in the history of Pokemon and I will forever stand by that somewhat controversial opinion.
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Dropping by to say that if you want to avoid the “level curve is trash” mentality pervasive to these games, remember to use your trainer rematches after clearing the Radio Tower. It’s easy to abuse in Gen IV and there’s a decade of internet documentation to use for this game that completely ruins any haters argument outside of personal bias.
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That gym battle has been the only roadblock so far to be fair. Things went the complete opposite way a few days ago when I used a Girafarig with Psybeam to pretty much solo sweep the Rocket base in Mahogany and also the radio tower. 80% of their Pokemon being weak to Psychic was just too easy to abuse, and I’d never used Girafarig before so fancied mixing it up a bit.
But I will definitely be abusing that phonebook as you suggest as I feel a bit underlevelled in the low 30’s at Blackthorn. I’ve chopped and changed my party here and there along the way which hasn’t helped but I want to avoid using the same team that I always tended to fall into with the Gen 2 originals.
Current team:
Quilava
Quagsire
Gyarados (Red, obviously)
Magneton
Miltank
Skarmory
Not too hot about having Quagsire AND Gyarados but I just can’t NOT use Gary when it’s so good, and Quagsire has been a dependable tank thus far and not let me down. I really wanted to ditch one of them for Girafarig but can’t bring myself to do it. I already benched Crobat for Skarmory yesterday as I just see more potential (and Skarmory is one of my favourites).