Appendix:Diamond and Pearl walkthrough/Section 1: Difference between revisions

On your way out of the house, your mother will tell you that your rival wishes to see you as it is an emergency. She also warns you to stay out the tall grass as [[wild Pokémon]] may attack. Just as you enter his house, Barry bumps into you. He tells you to come with him to [[Lake Verity|the lake]] and says that he will fine {{PDollar}}1 million if you aren't there. As he is about to leave, Barry notices that he has forgotten something and runs back inside the house. Head inside and upstairs, where Barry is deciding what to bring. He then notices you and rushes out of the house and will now be waiting for you on {{rt|201|Sinnoh}}.

 

[[File:Rowan Dawn Verity.png|thumb|left|Rowan's assistant Dawn/Lucas with [[Professor Rowan]]]]

After you reach Route 201, Barry tells you about the news report on TV about the Red Gyarados. He wants to go to the local lake to see if there is a similar Pokémon, and he will now follow you. Walk to [[Lake Verity]]. Upon your arrival, you see [[Professor Rowan]], and either {{ga|Lucas}} or {{ga|Dawn}} (whoever is the opposite gender of your selected player character). The two are searching the lake for something and discuss Rowan's return to [[Sinnoh]] after four years. They push past you, and Lucas/Dawn apologizes. Barry goes to investigate the briefcase Rowan left behind, but when you enter the long grass you are each attacked by a wild {{p|Starly}}. You then open the briefcase to find three [[Poké Ball|Poké Balls]], containing {{p|Piplup}}, {{p|Chimchar}} and {{p|Turtwig}}.

'''Turtwig''', the Turtle Pokémon, is a solid choice. Turtwig evolves into {{p|Grotle}} at Level 18, and then Torterra at level 32. Turtwig is a {{type|Grass}} Pokémon, and {{p|Torterra}} is a Grass/{{t|Ground}}-type Pokémon. Torterra has great Attack and Defense, but low Special Attack and Speed. If you don't rely on Speed to win, and like physical attacks, this Pokémon is a good choice for you. It gets {{m|Razor Leaf}} and {{m|Crunch}} pretty early on, and Earthquake eventually. Torterra also gets Wood Hammer from the Move Tutor. Another good move for Torterra is Curse, which boosts its Attack and Defense, its two best stats, while decreasing its Speed, which is already very low. It also gets {{m|Synthesis}} for healing itself. For TM moves it gets {{m|Bullet Seed}}, {{m|Return}}, {{m|Giga Impact}}, and a wide range of other moves. Also it gets TM {{m|Rock Polish}} to sharply boost its Speed every time it is used, which helps patch up Torterra's horrific Speed stat. {{m|Swords Dance}} is also good to sharply boost the Attack stat, but you should choose to use either this ''or'' Curse— not both. It can learn {{m|Cut}}, {{m|Strength}}, {{m|Rock Smash}}, and {{m|Rock Climb}} for [[HM]] moves, which will help on your adventure. Torterra does have a major weakness to {{type|Ice}} attacks, so be wary of that. In any case, Turtwig does quite well at the Gyms for the most part and is a very good choice.

'''Chimchar''', the Chimp Pokémon, has high speed and high attacking stats, but at the cost of having quite low defenses (these are usual for {{type|Fire}} Pokémon). It can use physical and special moves well. It evolves at Level 14 into {{p|Monferno}}, a {{t|Fire}}/{{t|Fighting}}-type Pokémon, and gains a ton of power, even immediately learning {{m|Mach Punch}} after evolving and learning one of the second strongest Fighting-type moves-- {{m|Close Combat}}, at Level 36. At this level, Monferno will evolve into {{p|Infernape}}. If you make sure Chimchar evolves before or in the first Gym, you shouldn't have trouble with the Rock-type Pokémon. Chimchar and its evolutions focus primarily on offense and speed, having very high Attack, Special Attack and Speed. Its Defense and Special Defense are low, but it has the power to take out most Pokémon in the game with one or two hits before they even get a chance to strike, so it's not really that bad unless there is a type disadvantage. Some good moves Chimchar gets are {{m|Flame Wheel}}, Close Combat and {{m|Flare Blitz}}. Chimchar can also learn {{m|Flamethrower}} at Level 41 if you don't evolve it until then, but if you evolved it, Monferno and Infernape can still learn via TM35, which can be obtained before the sixth Gym. {{m|Brick Break}}, {{m|Focus Blast}}, and {{m|Fire Blast}} are some TM moves to consider, although it learns many, many more, and even learns {{m|Rock Slide}}, {{m|Stone Edge}}, Earthquake and {{m|Dig}}. It gets the HMs Cut, Strength (a good attacking option as well), Rock Smash, and Rock Climb. In comparison to the other two starter Pokémon, Chimchar is probably the best if you're looking for an easier ride through the game. Also, if you don't choose Chimchar, you should know that {{p|Ponyta}} evolutionary line is this game's only other Fire-type Pokémon.

'''Piplup''', the Penguin Pokémon, has high defenses and Special Attack. Its Attack and Speed aren't that great, unfortunately. It evolves into {{p|Prinplup}} at Lv.16. When it evolves further into {{p|Empoleon}} at Level 36, it gains the Steel type, making it a unique {{t|Water}}/{{t|Steel}}-type Pokémon. The addition of the Steel type will give it a wide variety of resistances, making it take very little damage from quite a few attacks. Pretty much, only {{type|Electric}}, Fighting-type, and Ground-type attacks are what you need to watch out for— nearly everything else is resisted. Unfortunately, this good typing comes at a high cost: a movepool that isn't the best. Basically, its best level up moves are {{m|Metal Claw}}, {{m|Aqua Jet}}, {{m|Peck}}, and {{m|Drill Peck}}. With Empoleon's sub-par Attack stat, it is better off using Special-based attacks such as {{m|BubbleBeam}}, which Prinplup learns at Level 24. If you are fine using TMs and HMs on Empoleon, {{HM|3|Surf}} and {{TM|90|Flash Cannon}} are both very powerful attacks for Empoleon to learn. Also, Empoleon does eventually get the second strongest Water-type attack {{m|Hydro Pump}} at Level 59, but it has low PP and accuracy. In comparison to the other two starters, Piplup is probably the hardest to use. It will struggle with sub-par moves until you get the HM for {{m|Surf}} (right before the fifth Badge), but will then become much more useful. Teach it Flash Cannon as soon as you acquire that TM, and it will be very powerful. Don't think that Piplup is a bad choice— it's a great Pokémon and the extra effort of training one is well worth it.

'''All of the starters are good choices and it is down to your personal preference to make a decision.''' In any case, it's time to move on.

 

<!--[[File:Sinnoh Route 201 DP.png|276px|thumb|right|Route 201]]-->

Once you are on Route 201, head east through the tall grass. Two Pokémon, [[Bidoof]] and [[Starly]], can be found here, but they cannot be captured yet.

 

If you head west to [[Verity Lakefront]] after the first patch of grass, you can find a [[Potion]] near the flowers nearest to the lake's entrance.  Back to the east, head north through another patch until you reach a woman. She works for the [[Poké Mart]] and will give you another Potion for free. Continue east until you reach Sandgem Town.

* Obtained from the woman in the tall grass.|DP|display=[[Potion]] ×2}}