Thinking back to the Sinnoh region

So I repurchased Pokémon Platinum version the previous Monday, and received it that Wednesday. I’ve been playing it pretty regularly, and while I do understand that Platinum is the more polished version of Diamond and Pearl, it fills me with a sense of appreciation for those games. It’s worth it to keep in mind that, as unpolished as Diamond and Pearl may possibly be, they did kick off what is arguably a pretty important generation to a lot of people. Personally speaking, I love Gen IV not just because of the Pokémon variety, but because of the Battle Frontier as well! In this edition of Colourful Thoughts, I’ve spoken with some PokéCommunity members and gathered their best memories of Diamond and Pearl; it’s pretty fitting after all, since their 10th anniversary has passed, right? So let’s get started!

Feel free to check out the rest of the rest of the discussion!

 tokyodrift

My best memories of playing Diamond and Pearl were definitely actually booting up the game for the first time. Sounds crazy, I know, but I think the improved graphics and the fact that a whole new generation comes with these games. Another one would be beating Cynthia for the first time. She’s a really formidable opponent and finally taking her down after many tries will always be one of my favorite memories.

— tokyodrift

Tempest

I remember when I found out where to catch Feebas over at Serebii, and also on how hard it is to find the tile. But hey, tried it anyway. Eventually I gave up in finding one after idk, 10 tiles, since I wasn’t a very patient girl. So I mashed the D-pad until I was facing the tile right next to the bottom left boulder in the lake and casted a line.

First thing I caught was a Feebas.

— Tempest

TurkishDelight

Oh wow I think I had the most fun playing DPPt over any other series of main series games (RSE came pretty close to be fair). There were so many reasons I loved it to pieces! The games story was pretty engrossing, what with Team Galactic’s plot and characters – Cyrus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars were all fantastic characters and add Charon to the mix and it gets even more interesting!

Underground was immense too, playing capture the flag was amazing and fuelled many a falling out between my group of friends hahaha. I loved mining for fossils and cool items, I swear I had about 800 Cranidos in PC on my Diamond from it hahaha.

The difficulty of the games was crazy too. My original Ruby run was solo’d by Ace, my Swampert, and so when it came down to Diamond I thought I’d share the love. I had a squad of Empoleon, Staraptor and Luxray going up against the Elite Four and boy was it tough. I got smashed by Cynthia’s Garchomp a billion times man. I’m not proud of this but I cheated to beat it the first time, my friend traded me his Level 100 Hitmontop so I could beat it hahaha.

— TurkishDelight

Sheep

Chaining for sure! Chaining for shiny Shinx in the beginner route, and hunting for Mesprit.

— Sheep

Harry

The feeling of moving onto the DS console instead of GBA was awesome, Pokétch, all the Pokémon introduced, and it just felt like such a giant step from the GBA generation

— Harry

 5qwerty

I didn’t get the games immediately, so I had watched my friends play for the first two years after release. I remember seeing my friend’s Staravia evolve into Staraptor, learning Close Combat, and thinking to myself, “wow, what a bunch of new and unique Pokémon”. I also remember waking up everyday to do the daily events – the Swarming Pokémon in Sandgem Town and the Ribbons in Sunyshore City. The Sinnoh Underground was always there whenever I needed a break, but still wanted to have some progress in the forms of items. Now that I don’t have a DS anymore, all I can do to remember these great games is listen to the games’ amazing soundtrack online – Route 216 is my favourite!

— 5qwerty

Aquacorde

My first steps onto Route 216 were amazing. I had never seen snow in a Pokémon game before, really, and it was such a beautiful route. It’s really what I remember when I think of Sinnoh –that snow-covered, mountainous path. I love it.

— Aquacorde

Thinking back, I remember when one of my best friends urged me to get Pearl because his favourite colour is blue and he wanted the blue mascot (which is Dialga). I didn’t like Palkia’s design, so I chose Diamond because of that. And what an experience it has been! Exploring Sinnoh has been like nothing else in any of the generations prior. The Sinnoh Underground? The Pokétch? A revamped Battle Frontier? Not only this, but significantly better graphics and gameplay, too? A mixture of these as well as the new Pokémon that were introduced solidified my decision of making Gen IV one of my favourite generations and really, one of the best games for me to play through besides Emerald.

For those of you who are replaying any of the Gen IV games, feel free to let everyone know what your experiences are in the Gen IV Travel Journal! Diamond and Pearl has surely left an impact on a lot of us, and will, for some of us, continue to set the example for how future games should structure their gameplay and features.

What are your favourite memories of Diamond and Pearl?

Edited by bobandbill and Sylphiel.