Pokemon Week! Generation 4: Bring on the Competition

Omg! Another freaking Bidoof, go away no one likes you! Sorry I was playing a Pokémon Nuzlocke challenge (more on that on Saturday) and I was a little flustered. Welcome back for the fourth installment of Pokémon Week! Today we are going to look at the fourth generation of games. In the year 2007, America would get Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl for the Nintendo DS. Since it was on a new system, it received a graphics overhaul. The games took place in the Sinnoh region and once again you could be a male or female protagonist who ventured throughout the land to battle a nefarious organization and eventually beat the elite four. While the actual storyline didn’t change much, it was during this generation that competitive Pokémon got a major overhaul. In previous generations, moves were based off type; for example, all water type moves were special and all ground types were physical. What fourth gen did was mix it up so types were no longer based off element and instead the actual move. For example the move surf was special, while a move like waterfall was physical. This meant in addition to natures and abilities which were introduced in the previous generations, Pokémon could be more specialized.

Also introduced was this amazing beaver…….for being a HM slave

In 2009 Pokémon Platinum was released and just like past games, it was a hybrid of Diamond and Pearl with a little added story. Then in 2010 Pokémon HeartGold and Pokémon SoulSilver were introduced. These were remakes of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver with some storyline elements of Pokémon Crystal. One of the coolest features of these games was that players could have their first Pokémon walk around with them, much like Pikachu did in Pokémon Yellow. Many competitive players think this generation was the most balanced and fun to play in, as in the next generation a new power would emerge that would change things. Stay tuned tomorrow to find out about the next generation of games and a small look at the upcoming Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2. Now if you excuse me I must go back to hunting for a non-Bidoof Pokémon.

By Arceus! These games need to happen to complete the cycle of remakes.