The first major choice of any Pokemon playthrough is which starter you should begin your journey with. As a veteran Pokemon player of nearly 30 years, I have chosen my fair share of starters over the years and have used basically all of them at least once. When it comes to Pokemon Gen 4, I’ve invested hundreds of hours across dozens of playthroughs of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, and their remakes, and only one starter has given me a consistent advantage.
There are a variety of factors that I consider when picking a starter for a given Pokemon playthrough. The most important of these is how well the starter’s typing and stats match up against the major battles I’ll have to face, such as Gym Leaders, Evil Team Leaders, and the Elite Four. Additionally, it’s important to consider when the starter evolves and at what level it learns specific moves needed to gain an advantage against opponents.
The Best Pokemon to Use in Gen 4 Playthroughs Explained
For players looking to complete the Gen 4 Pokemon games as smoothly as possible, there are a few mons they will want to make sure are on their team.
The Pros and Cons of Each Pokemon Gen 4 Starter
Pokemon Gen 4 is an important entry in the franchise due to the introduction of the Physical/Special split that separated a move’s Physical or Special status from its type. This change made nearly every Pokemon viable since they could invest in learning STAB moves that corresponded to their strongest offensive stat. As such, there are several pros and cons for each of the starters now that involve how freely available their ideal STAB moves are in the game.
Turtwig’s Pros and Cons
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Pros
- Grass-typing is strong against the first Gym
- Well-rounded stat spread
- Good offensive-type coverage when fully evolved
- Evolves into its final stage sooner than other starters
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Cons
- Torterra’s Grass/Ground typing is 4x weak to Ice
- Razor Leaf is its strongest Physical Grass STAB move until fully evolved
- Weak to Team Galactic Boss Cyrus’ team
The Grass-type starter Turtwig was the first option I ever chose for my first playthrough of Pokemon Diamond way back when it originally released in 2007. As a Grass type, Turtwig is in a great position for the early game with the type advantage over Roark’s Rock types. It will also be super effective against Crasher Wake’s Water types, and Torterra’s Ground type is perfect for Volkner’s Electric types. While I have fond memories of using Turtwig on that original team, I’ve come to learn that it has flaws that I couldn’t notice with my rose-tinted glasses.
Despite a good early-game setup, Turtwig can struggle later on in a Sinnoh Region playthrough. It doesn’t evolve into Grotle until level 18, the latest of the three starters, and as a Physical attacker, it only has access to Razor Leaf as a Physical STAB move until it evolves into Torterra. The real killer for Turtwig is its late-game weaknesses to Candice’s Ice types, as well as Cyrus’ Flying and Ice types, that prevent Torterra from truly excelling in Gen 4.
To counter its late first-stage evolution, Grotle evolves into Torterra at level 32, the earliest of the three starters.
Chimchar’s Pros and Cons
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Pros
- Good type match-ups against several Gyms
- Great move pool with STAB options like Close Combat and Flare Blitz
- Evolves into its first stage earlier than any other starters
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Cons
- Weak against half of the Elite Four
- Balanced stats mean it doesn’t excel in any one area
- Needs to evolve to be useful against the first Gym
Historically, I have been a fan of Fire types in Pokemon, but I have only become fond of a few Fire-type starters over the years. Chimchar is one of these starters, and my love for this Chimp Pokemon comes largely from its excellent move pool in Gen 4. When other starters are stuck with suboptimal STAB moves, Infernape has access to attacks like Close Combat and Flare Blitz, both brand-new to the Gen 4 games. Plus, Chimchar stacks up well against several important Gym Leaders, like Roark’s Rock types (if it evolves into Monferno and gets Mach Punch), Gardenia’s Grass types, Byron’s Steel types, and Candice’s Ice types.
However, Infernape does struggle against half of the Elite Four, including Bertha’s Ground types and Lucian’s Psychic types. In order for Chimchar to be useful against the first Gym, it needs to evolve into Monferno, meaning I’ve had to grind it up to level 14 before facing that Gym, since there aren’t many Water or Grass-type options to pick up before then. While some players may like the fact that Infernape is a mixed attacker, I would have preferred the mon to go all-in on Physical Attack to get the most out of Close Combat and Flare Blitz, but this isn’t the end of the world.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Piplup’s Pros and Cons
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Pros
- Strong against the first Gym
- Empoleon’s Water/Steel typing has a lot of resistances
- Solid Special Attack and Special Defense
- Excellent against the Elite Four
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Cons
- Move pool is limited without TMs
- Doesn’t match up well against other Gyms after the first
- Low Speed stat
Piplup is arguably the most iconic Gen 4 starter, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the best choice for a playthrough. Despite being strong against Roark’s Rock types, Piplup doesn’t really shine until late in the game, after it evolves into Empoleon. Once it reaches this final stage, the Water/Steel typing of Empoleon makes it a strong defensive mon, with a lot of resistances against trainers like Aaron’s Bug types and Lucian’s Psychic types. Additionally, Empoleon can deal super effective damage to Bertha’s Ground types and Flint’s Fire types, making it a fantastic party member for the Elite Four.
Unfortunately, outside this late-game surge, Piplup is hindered throughout the rest of a Sinnoh playthrough due to its poor type match-ups against Gardenia’s Grass types and Volkner’s Electric types, with no real advantage over any other Gyms after the first one. Empoleon’s move pool is also limited by its Special Attack-oriented stats, with the best move it learns before level 59 being Brine, and needing the TM for Flash Cannon to access its best Steel STAB move.
Flash Cannon is obtained via TM from defeating Byron in Canalave City.
Pokemon Pokopia Hasn’t Given Me a Reason to Pre-Order, But That’s Nothing New For the Series
Pokemon Pokopia is sadly continuing one of the most disappointing traditions of the entire series, giving me no reason to pre-order it.
After Dozens of Playthroughs, It’s Clear that Chimchar is the Best Pokemon Gen 4 Starter
Taking all of these factors into consideration, the starter I’ve had the most success with throughout each of my Gen 4 playthroughs is Chimchar. Although leveling Chimchar up to 14 so that it evolves into Monferno before the first Gym is kind of a grind, getting access to Mach Punch as a STAB Fighting-type move makes Monferno invaluable against Roark’s Rock types, and largely removes Chimchar’s biggest early-game hurdle. After this point, Monferno becomes a huge help against the next few Gyms, easily dispatching Gardenia’s Grass-types and taking down Maylene’s Lucario in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl swiftly.
Close Combat is also my favorite new move introduced in Gen 4, and Infernape is the perfect Pokemon to take full advantage of its base 120 attack power. Although Infernape’s utility is largely diminished after defeating Candice at Snowpoint City, my team is usually well-rounded enough by that point in the game that Infernape’s weakness against the Elite Four is trivial. I’m rarely unhappy when I choose Chimchar as my starter for a Pokemon Gen 4 playthrough.
- Released
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November 19, 2021
- ESRB
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e
- Developer(s)
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ILCA
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
